Out of interest @pietkuip, did you review them?
Yes, I had written a positive review of them, quite immediately. There were no issues, pets were happy, and the home was in perfect shape when I left it (also thanks to a cleaning lady).
But then the HO asked about a vacuum cleaner that was broken (using a word for “bent” or “broken in pieces”). I told them that it was working when I had used it, that it had connected when I had put it back on the charger. The HO replied that they would ask the help about it.
This week I asked via Whatsapp if they had found out more (and I reminded about the review deadline), but that went unanswered.
That’s so disappointing @pietkuip especially as there were no issues and you had assured them the vacuum was intact when you left.
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I personally avoid HOs with blank reviews. It is not the case that they are from people who are no longer members. My sitter profile has reviews displaying from ex members. I am also wary of HOs who don’t leave reviews. I click on the profiles of sitters who left reviews and if the HO didn’t leave a review for them, I find out if that was a one-off or a habit. If they never leave reviews but always recieve them, that comes across to me as pretty arrogant, so I move on.
People do occasionally forget of course. And some people don’t want to leave a review after a bad experience. Although people might be more brave and honest now there is a new review system.
But I always ask for a review and tell the HO I will leave them a review. I’ve been lucky so far. Everyone has left me a 5 star review, even the couple of ones who had illegal cameras. I never said anything under the old review system as I didn’t want a bad retaliatory review. I just left them a 5 star review first. Yeah I know… I’m a chicken! …That might change now though under the new review system!
Recently I contacted a homeowner who hadn’t yet left a review ( they had said great things about our sit on WhatsApp)
They apologised and explained that shortly after they returned home they received some bad news and they had to travel to deal with a very serious family emergency .
Given the circumstances I did not pressure them to leave a review by the deadline.
I will be happy to sit for them again in future if they ask me .
No review can be a red flag , but there also can be a genuine reason why no review has been left .
I’m in a similar situation having recently completed my first sit, the HO hasn’t left a review despite me messaging and requesting one, she agreed to do one but still hasn’t. I’m really disappointed as would have loved some feedback on a sit which I thought went well.
Hello and welcome @Clawspawsntails!
In those follow up reminders, did you think to mention the 14 day window to write the review?
If you completed your review, the home host would get a THS prompt as result to leave their review as well.
Yes, it is very important for a sitter to get a first review. I would have mentioned that and also that it does not require a long text. The important thing can be very short, something like “Perfect!”.
Missing reviews are a red flag for me. As are omissions in a review such not mentioning the state or comfort of the home.
This is something I’m apparently missing…how do you know if there’s a missing review?
The home owner was aware it was my first sit, I’m really disappointed there was no review left and actually concerned that she wasn’t happy (although she was very friendly when I messaged to ask her to leave some feedback)!
No, I didn’t mention the review period, I didn’t think I needed to as the home owner has had several sitters in the past but only some of them have been left reviews.
The 14 days period is a recent innovation on THS. The HO should have gotten a reminder by email from THS about that but it is not always that those get noticed.
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THS should level the playing field and show when a sitter did NOT get reviewed for a particular sit. Why? Because the H.O saw an untrustworthy side of this sitter, knew that the sitter had access to personal records for an extended period, and feared what that sitter might be capable of, especially when the behavior differed so radically from expectations (all previous reviews were 5 Star). I felt terrible NOT leaving a sitter review because I wanted to warn other HO’s not to engage this person (still active). Sweet, polished, well-spoken on the outside, presumably wealthy, travels the world on her own dime, but an uncarng slob at heart. My apt floor was so dirty that it was sticky. I still found long black hairs everywhere 6 months after the sit. But the worst was how callous she was towards my poor old cat who was miserable and hiding when I got home. The litter box was filthy w active mold forming. The whole apartment smelled of ammonia. The sitter did not change the litter in 6 weeks but kept adding new litter. My poor cat ended up peeing on the couch. After a 12 hour trip, the 1st thing I did was clean the litter box. Yes, sitter sent me periodic pix of my cat in the apt, always saying everything was fine. Without surveillance cameras, we just have to “trust”, as the company name guarantees. THS! There are more details on why I reached the conclusions I did. But the bottom line is: some people are scary, in an unhinged, vindictive way (although not in a physical way). I’m sorry to let down the team. Please change your policy, THS!
Good luck to all!
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Hi @sadiethecat, Welcome to the forum.
I am sorry you had such a poor experience. I can understand your reluctance to leave a review and I completely agree the lack of reviews should show on sitters profiles. In fact, I think everyone in this forum agrees and has repeatedly asked for a change.
Regarding the reasons you give, a lack of review is not 100% a red flag, there could be other reasons. Even if taken as a red flag, it’s just a vague sign of a particular HO’s or sitter’s dissatisfaction with a particular sit. It could be incidental or something irrelevant to other people or, as it is in your case, a very significant negligence of mosts tasks involved in sitting.
IMHO, the need to correct this imbalance between HOs and sitters is more than enough to change this issue. Then everyone can draw their own conclusions and make an informed choice.