@Makelikeanapeman
In that case you can mark it down for inaccurate listing .
@Makelikeanapeman when you first descrubed āclutterā I was imagining ornaments and knick-knacks on every surface, and that wod be something Iād live with for a few days.
However now you have clarified that you had to climb over a rolled up rug to access the bed and that there were boxes everywhere it is clear that it was more than clutter. Iām not sure what the right word is though.
There should have been an effort to clear some space and allow unobstructed access to the bed. It does seem inhospitable.
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Wow! I would never say anything untrue! Are you saying would or that im indicating that i would? Im not sure where that came from.
Yes, the apartment looked cluttered from the photos. But i couldnt see the extent of it - stuff piled on the floor, boxes lining a wall, no place to put our stuff.
I thought i tried to express that i liked the homeowner and wanted to be kind. How does that translate to saying anything untrue? Please correct me if i have misinterpreted what you are saying.
If i am going to be true i would mention all the stuff you cant see in the photos.
This is not a 5 star house sit for me. And i dont think it would be for many people. I probably wont mention in my review all the other stuff that would make other people pass on this sit but dont bother me too much because im more tolerant of certain things. But one of the very least things i hope for on a sit is place to put my stuff.
Sorry, the untrue comment got me a bit riled up.
Yes, a form for feedback would be helpful.
Thank you. I am now realizing that my definition of clutter is different than others. Clutter for me is not knick knacks but unavailable surfaces, including the floor. I didnt feel like getting into the details was necessary. I guess i thought people would take me at my word that it is an uncomfortable situation. I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt that they arent the bad guys.
I guess i didnt understand what you were trying to say. Im sorry. Weāve given 5 stars to sits that i didnt think were so great and i wouldnt return to. The people were nice and the home was nice enough and the pets were fine. So i get that. I dont believe people need to go above and beyond to derserve 5 stars. Meeting the basics is fine. Ive given 5 stars to very nice homes, fun pets, and very welcoming hosts - this above and beyond is conveyed through my review. Ive also given 5 stars to sits that i enjoyed but im sure other people would have been very unhappy with.
Im not judging the clutter. There are boxes lining the wall in the bedroom and piles of other stuff on the floor. There is a rolled up carpet on the guest room floor and one propped up in the bathroom. There are hardly any surfaces to put anything on.
Yes, the pet parent is nice.
Im not sure how you define welcoming. There are clean towels and sheets and room in the fridge. That is nice. The clean towles and sheets are the minimum that i would expect. There is no place for non-fridge food, which means that there is no counter top space in the kitchen now. She could of very easily ckeaned out a cabinet for our food. It would have been more welcoming if a cabinet was cleared out ahead of time. There is no place to put our clothes or our backpacks. It would have been more welcoming if she had cleared out some hanging space in the closet or replaced some of the piles of stuff in the guest room with a cleared flat surface that we could put our packs on.
Yes, the place is basically clean.
There are other issues with the dog that other sitters would have a problem with, but im fine with, so i havent mentioned them here. I certainly dont want to get into it with people whether these are valud issues ate not. And my bigest concern with the dog barking is that it disturbs other people. Im quite fine with dogs barking if its outside and not disturbing people.
The pictures dont show the whole story but what they show is mostly accurate. I was unaware of the boxes and piles of stuff. I was unaware of how hard it was goingbto be to navigate in the kitchen or to pass from one room to the other.
Hi @Makelikeanapeman, just think since bringing this to the forum, your days at the sit are reducing! You know deep down, how you are going to review this sit. Although itās great to have lovely owners, thatās not part of the review except in regards to hospitality and communication. Where you have explained further what the āclutterā is, I would be concerned from the safety point of view should I trip and fall because of the rugs or not being able to move freely around a room. Perhaps itās time to concentrate on the sit and the doggie as Iām thinking replying and justifying to every comment is adding to your stress!
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Ok. I understand the confusion now. You have several comments and i missed a few of them.
This one:
I dont think all home owners on THS are on a budget. But some probably are. I shouldnt have indicated that this homeowner might be on a budget, but i only did so it gives me a reason to not give her a less than 5 star review.
I think homeowners are here for a variety of teason just like sitters. I would like to think that homeowners are here because of quality pet care and because they enjoy the idea of an equitable exchange.
Ok - the other comment i missed was about the young house sitters that uou encouraged to have leave eatlrly. You are very generous.
This has made me recall a sit we did where the floor and counter were sticky but the home owners had just cooked us dinner the night before and had a super early start the next day. I was fine with that. I dont think that they realized about the stickiness. We wiped the counters and mopped the floor. It was an old house and had dirt in places like window sills that was no doubt there for years. Ma y thi gs were much cleaner after we left. But this stuff doesnt bother me too much and it was a good sit. 5 stars. These people welcomed us into their home with dinner. They made sure we had room to put our stuff.
So yeah, i totally get where you are coming from.
And this is really my problem here:
I feel like my review will have an impact. But as fair as i want to be to the homeowner, i want to be fair to other sitters.
Sometime as a sitter i see sits that dont look great from the pictures but have great reviews. Sometimes it is obvious that the HO just didnt have tome to tidy up before they took the pictures. I read all the reviews. The reviews are important to me.
I know itās awkward leaving a less than stellar 5* review for a HO; just had my own first experience doing so. However, there are a few sits I would not have taken if others had left more honest reviews, not just hidden innuendos or no review at all.
I had one, luckily short, very similar sit at a cluttered home; I would say borderline hoarding. Although I could see some of the clutter it was at least double what was in the photos, which of course, were strategic. In one corner there as a massive pile of recycling, like someone had dumped a trash bin full of, well, trash. I slept on the sofa in my clothes. The two prior reviews said how amazing it was. Sorry, they all had low standards or werenāt being truthful. So Iād ignore the comments that you knew when you took it. Thereās a difference between too many tchotchkes and being in a house so full of clutter you canāt move or clean up properly.
Iām in a similar situation, in an area I decided not to relocate, but need to stay for an extended period. I do, however, find that most HOās really do either like or want someone ālocalā. So if they are getting someone they feel more comfortable with, I feel like they really should take that extra step to make the home livable and accommodating. It would have taken the HO maybe an hour to clear out some space and they chose not to.
@Makelikeanapeman Trust your instinct and rate it honestly, as you would have liked to read the review before choosing. Forget everyoneās differing opinions on here, itās just noise. Be true to yourself.
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Thank you so much for understanding what im saying. Im so sorry you had such a bad experience. Honestly ive had some bad experiences in gross houses too but theese were outside of Trusted House Sitters. Some of the worse houses that ive done have been for friends. So in comparision this house sit is good. But still, i dont think a 5 star sit.
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Thank you. Im all up for differing opinions. Thats why i came here. And some of this discussion has helped.
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Be honest about the good stuff and take a star off for the elements that made the sit more challenging for you . Dont hold it against the lady for wanting to keep her power bills down That sounds like a perfectly reasonable request to me
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As a sitter, I appreciate transparency for other sitters. If you would not return to this sit, why not (I know you have stated this). This is something I would want to know as I consider applying for future sits. If the sitters say only good things but in reality would not return there, then it is not a 5 star sit as far as they are concerned.
There are diplomatic ways to mention the negatives.
āFido is a very vocal pupā¦ā, āif a well organized, clutter-free apartment is high on your priority list, this may not be the sit for youā (or find another word for clutter). āif a roomy, spacious apartment is important to youā¦ā
I DO think it is important for sitters to state why they would not return to this sit.
I appreciate the heads up from other sitters.
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Sorry, I didnāt meant to imply that you would! I just meant sometimes reading reviews people tend to read between the lines for stuff not said. Like if a review does not specifically say that things were neat and orderly, and something is just slightly hinted at. I just meant you could review the good stuff, and not mention the bad publicly, but maybe in private feedback. I realize itās a dilemma because you want to be honest and warn other sitters.
Those specific concrete examples are the sort of things you can mention in a review. They canāt be argued with, they were real. Take photos!
Hello @HelloOutThere. It is fine that we see these things differently, but I feel like you missed my rationale for āgiving a passā as you say.
If something is egregious and against the rules, then whether or not the listing names it doesnāt matter. It should be reported as well as considered negatively in the review (stars and wording). So, an aggressive dog, a third party on site, indoor cameras, for example, would all fall under that.
But, if something is a matter of taste, life style, or just plain reality, if the listing is clear about it, and the sitter knows in advance what they are signing up for, and it is NOT AGAINST THE T&C, then it seems rather unfair to ding them with a star. Certainly one can put the information in neutral/careful/kind words in the review, to inform future sitters, but that is less insulting than deducting stars.
Stuff like this might include the following, as long as mentioned/pictured in the listing or on the video call:
- Clutter, maximalist decor
- Pet behaviors or special needs requiring extra work/consideration (including barking, which is very common in some breeds)
- Noisy streets, stairs to climb, ants (all of these are issues at my house),
- Scents/aromatherapy in the home, outdoor cameras, etc.
Deeper into this post, the OP has provided more details describing the home as having a large number of boxes, and rolled up carpets blocking access to the bed etc. And they mention that those things were not apparent in the listing/photos. That is quite a different thing from the original question. With that in mind, I would at the very least, describe that situation in the review to alert future sitters. Still not sure I would deduct a star, but I might.
I would leave a 5 star review. Could you have moved some things around to make more space? And then put things back at the end of the sit? Iāve had to do this. In May I stayed in an extremely tiny studio with one dog. But it was 2 blocks from the beach so I couldnāt complain. I just know I canāt stay in such a small cluttered space again.
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