@carpediem16 if you have posted your review of the host it will be published at the end of 14 days or sooner if the host posts you a review. I.e If they don’t write a review at all yours still gets posted when the review window closes.
@Lokstar Thank you.
I actually am not a fan of this. Because if they don’t write one, then I’m inclined to mention that in my review - not really very considerate of them not to leave one. Also, they have the opportunity to respond to a review so if I want to be really honest about something that wasn’t great, now they can refute it (I presume that stays the same as it is now) while I don’t have a review from them.
So…hm…am not sure this is a great deal for the one party who has written a review.
I have just written a review under the new system, on the first day after the sit, where normally I might have waited for the HO to write first.
And as usual, I gave five stars, it was a good sit. But did not “good” correspond to four stars? And the THS prompts rather emphasize that one should leave an “honest review”. This is from the email, it is repeated in the popup in the app or the web:
I did not really explicitly write that sitters should not expect a TV - I left that between the lines, when I wrote that I was listening to the radio 
(I do not really miss a tv, though. But a microwave would have been convenient.)
@carpediem16 Our policy has always been to request a review ftom the host first and we will continue to do that. With the new blind reviews we’ll be waiting for the notification the host has reviewed before writing ours.
Today we wrote our first host review under the new system, after getting such a notification. In the past we’ve often been influenced by what the host writes as to how we review them. If its a great review we try to reciprocate as far as we can. If its not as good as we expected/deserved we sometimes didn’t bother to review or wrote something less enthusuastic than we might otherwise done.
Ofcourse that method is a bit calculting but we sitters sre sensitive souls!! We always do our best whatever the circumstances and we just want to feel appreciated! And sometimes that’s not the case.
The difference today was that- not knowing what the host had written- we wrote a very simple but positive review. It was in truth a bland sit, a 3 night gap fill, where we did not meet or even speak with the host. A key in the flowerpot handover. It was just OK- nothing special at all. No welcome message or gift/offer to use anything. But also nothing particular to complain about. The house was clean, the bed was comfy, the cat was sweet etc So the minute we posted it we saw their review- more detailed and enthusiastic than ours. But I think we deserved it and we felt ok with what we wrote. The host and sitter are always going to experience the sit differently so perhaps the blind system WILL encourage a little more honesty and/or less false positivity given in fear of negative response.
At least we can still respond to reviews either way so whatever the outcome everyone gets heard.
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I feel like this new feature is odd. There should be a feature similar to what Airbnb does where you are invivted to share private feedback. That would actuallly be helpful for the otherwise petty stuff that you aren’t going to ding someone on in a review. I don’t think this needs to be reported to THS. THS should be encouraging MORE direct communication between sitters and pet parents.
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+1. I was aware of this change, but unfortunately missed the 14 day window due to it being a heavy holiday/birthday season for me, lack of internet for 3 days, and being sick for a few days. Apparently some sitters view missing reviews as a sign that something about the sit wasn’t good. I hope these folks realize that sometimes stuff happens, and lack of review isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I have a question regarding the new review system.
Say a sit went ahead and neither the host or the sitter reviewed within the 14 day window would the sit still show on their profiles?
Yes, @Twitcher. Same as the previous Review/Feedback system, the sit dates would show, but no Review.
Thank you @PetSitterBug 
If one side doesn’t review, does the review still get posted?
Hi @Looney yes after the 14 day period has passed the review will still be posted even if the other member hasn’t left a review.
@pdxgal leaving a review is an act of kindness. I do it immediately (now the day after per system capablities).
It’s etiquette to leave a review for the other party as a positive way to wrap up the mutual exchange. (Even if only to warn future parties about red flags).
I would consider it thoughtless and bad manners not to leave a review for either the HO or a sitter, especially if the sit was good.
This is not a criticism of you individually, but of the mindset of not leaving a review because someone is too busy.
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I added to my sitter departure check list in my welcome book, a note about the new 14 day window to review and the UTC time zone.
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Had the same issue. My previous pet owner wrote me that he was very busy and didnt know about the change that reviews must be done in this period. He asked me to send him an invitation link for an external review so he can at least give his review. Sometimes I got reviews after weeks but I at least got them. this new system has pros and cons. A good review is just the biggest thanks you you can give as it will help to be accepted by future hosts.
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Is “an invitation link for an external review” something within TH? Are you referring to when a sitter requests references to accompany their profile?
He sent me that link earlier today where the explanation is written. Still need to send it myself. https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360002090958-How-do-I-ask-for-a-reference-
@pdxgal , you can request an external reference by clicking here:
https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/user/profile/edit/references
It will take you to the external references that are on your profile now. To request a new one, scroll to the bottom and click on the button that says Request Reference. You can send it to the owner whose reference did not make the 14 day window. Their review will appear as an external reference.
In their review you can suggest they can say that it is for the sit you completed in ___ location for ___ dates and that in the changeover to the new review system, they did not realize they only had 14 days to complete their review so they have submitted it as an external reference although it was a THS sit.
I’m sorry, Carla, but the reminders are simply not happening. We left a review for our last sit which was the 14th repeat for that particular HO who never once had failed posting a review herself. However, this time she became seriously ill after returning from her trip and missed the 14-day deadline. Then she approached THS, explaining the circumstances and asking for an extension of the deadline which was denied. Out of curiosity I asked her if she had received any reminder by THS. All she got was one message that we had written a review which she would be able to see after posting her own review. No more reminders which is not at all what THS has been promising when the new system was introduced. Very frustrating, on top of the fact that HOs and sitters are treated differently with regard to the rating categories missing for sitters.
Great suggestion!
Hello, @weltenbummler Welcome to the forum community, it’s lovely to have you here 
Thank you for sharing the homeowners experience with the review reminders. That’s such a shame that you did not get your well-earned review and that the owner became unwell, I hope that they feel better soon!
There is an email flow designed to be sent out at different stages after the sit, if the owner is concerned they did not receive all of the emails that they should have, they can reach out to the Membership Services team, who can check with our email provider as to what emails were sent to the member and check if there were any issues with those emails.
I hope that helps, my DM’s are always open if you need anything else.
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