I’m sorry but with 2 bad reviews (and only 3 good ones to offset them) you will have trouble getting sitters especially when one review says it’s the dirtiest house they have ever been inside of and another says it smells like urine. Your comments to those reviews don’t help you either. It would have been better if you acknowledged the issues rather than be defensive and deny them.
Odd. Based on @BonnyinBrighton 's comment yesterday, I was able to view sitter Caitlin’s profile (I cannot access it today though). She had 11 reviews over the course of about a year, the first of which was from the OP. The OP docked her 2 stars overall primarily for unwatered plants that died and for which the OP requested partial reimbursement (Caitlin declined). Subsequent reviews mentioned satisfactory plant care. Two other reviews docked a star. One seemed to be a miscommunication about washing the bedlinens and one because the sitter left prior to the HO return and the HO had anticipated the sitter would still be there.
Yes, that’s exactly what I read.
@Gigi26, I agree with others that the only way to overcome the impact of the reviews and comments is to address the issues mentioned and clearly state in the listing that they have been solved.
The pictures don’t help either. The bed looks totally uninviting and back up the idea of untidiness. The cupboard under the sink would benefit from some maintenance too.
I am not judging the way you keep your home. I do believe that everyone is entitled to live as they please but if you are having trouble attracting sitters, you may want to consider some preparation for hosting them.
Your dogs look gorgeous. Good luck!
And very much illustrative of how we each perceive these reviews differently….
That one sitter who I did not want to name to give her privacy has several 3’s in the subcategory for cleanliness. When her name is kept repeated here it stays with hosts who view this forum. The OP still has 0 applicants for all three dates requested. It seemed like one bad review did not hurt her from getting sitters but now with two it does not look promising.
I do think however that it would appear to me anyway that the sitter in question is judged 5* on cleanliness in clean homes but 3* in not very clean homes (it appears they don’t clean up so much as they think the HO doesn’t care). This to me is interesting and just maybe not so clean HOs aren’t aware of their own mess/muddle until they go away and come home again and then find it easier to blame the sitter. Who knows- just speculation on how we all read reviews differently.
as others have said, the cleanliness cannot simply be ignored. I recently stayed in a filthy home and reviewed it accordingly, that owner also denied there was a problem. They have a sitter right now, and I will be watching for that review with interest.
I notice you mention bicyclists, there is no such word, it is cycllsts.
@Gigi26, welcome to THS Forum.
Gosh, there’s oodles of great ideas raised by thoughtful Forum members.
Our contribution is one of mindset. THS provides a technology platform. Neither Pet Parents nor housesitters are somehow guaranteed or entitled to receive applicants or confirmed sits. Pet Parents that offer a reasonably fair trade; invest time and effort into their listing; and accumulate good reviews are often attractive and receive plentiful timely applicants. Same for housesitters.
‘Need more applicants’ is perhaps better presented as ‘Seek improve listing’.
For what it’s worth, as experienced housesitters, if we see one bad review to a great listing then we’d ask about it in video call. Stuff happens. If we see two bad reviews then we would not apply unless there was compelling evidence in listing that identified issues had been acknowledge and resolved. All doable but you may need to try hard for next housesit or two. Advice on other threads in regards bad reviews - on both sides - is generally to smother bad past reviews with plentiful good future reviews.
Agree. It’s projection or a case of dirty HOs expecting a free deep clean. My one and only 3* for cleanliness was for a filthy home. I literally opened the fridge door and said “nope.” I never even entered the kitchen after that. The bedding had not been changed and it and the room smelled terrible. There were beard hairs in the bathroom. The sofa smelled hideous. I took care of the pet and that’s it–otherwise I cooked and bathed etc. elsewhere.
Is that an office chair at the kitchen table?
Hi,
The issue of the cleanliness would also put me of. The mention of two that it is not clean and the other don’t say anything about the state of the house. (I call it “reading between the lines”)
So hope that you sort this out.
Also, the sits you list are very short. So for a couple of days, it would not be worth the effort for me. (traveltime/ costs, the time to settle in, bonding time with the pets, clean the last day.)
Maybe this is different for others. But it could be a reason that less sitters apply.
I see now a new picture of the bed? Looks good.
Maybe you could place more pictures about the inside of the house.
The photo showing just the closed bathroom curtain doesn’t bring something…
Good luck.
I would never apply for a sit with these kind of reviews, especially because the last review said the photos belied the actual condition of the home.
That — combined with the location far from much notable to do or see — makes it an easy sit to skip.
Thank you for your insight. I do appreciate it.
I’m slowly upgrading the listing but working this weekend doesn’t help.
We just received another applicant. Perhaps the changes I’ve made have helped.
Yes! We have a family member with severe back issues.
I would replace the shower curtain with something new and fresh. It looks heavy and dated.
I agree with others, 2 bad reviews and it is a definite no for me. The comment from previous sitter that pictures do not reflect the actual home is also a huge red flag.
Yes the one review where the HO was surprised the sitter had left before they got home was the unbearable sit where she held her nose and stuck it out the best she could…. I’d call that brave. She only left once she knew they’d landed safely..this sitter has been to my mind making the best of a bad job in some cases… and maybe taking on sits that others would’ve passed on.