Hey there folks.
I have been house sitting for about 6 to 7 years but full time since August 2020. I have had so many great reviews but got one not long ago that I was a little disapointed with. I have to say that trough my life I have not been good at anything… But after starting doing house sitting I have started thinking that I am pretty good at it and I always try to do my best and considre my self doing a pretty good job. I have even a few times been asked to come again and I have also got some request from people I have never contacted. So when I got this review with 2 topics 3 stars and 3 topics 4 stars I was sad to say the least. I did my best,treated the dog as I always do with love and respect and kept the place clean and cleaned at the end so was really sad to not getting a better review. I have 26. 5 stars reviews and this one. At another platform I have 13. 5 stars review and then one with 4 stars in one of the categories. So the avarage there was 4,9. And then in one more I have 9 5 stars. And I have a few times been asked to come again so I just hope I am doing some thing right 
And with one HO I requested a review and never got any reply. Then not so long ago I sent a message asking if they could leave me a review and if not why not.I have seen they have read it but still no response and I think that is rude. Well sorry about my long post but just had to put this out there.
Hello Bravo 1239 - it sounds like you’ve done an amazing job of house sitting so far with all these great reviews so you’re obviously doing something right. I’m also a sitter with THS for seven years now and three homeowners never gave me reviews despite messaging them numerous times. I also received one very short one sentence review recently which was very disappointing. Like you, we treat every house sit the same and look after the pets the same way and when we leave the homes we leave them spotless. So don’t take it personally - you’re dealing with all different personalities on this site and some people just aren’t as considerate as others and I agree with you - it’s rude.
Hi @Bravo1239 - Firstly, You are wrong when you say that through your life you have not been good at anything, we are all good at many things but often don’t see it ourselves 
It is great that you have found pet sitting, it is obvious that you love it and from what you say it sounds that you are amazing at it, I bet the home owners feel really lucky when you apply to care for their home and pets.
The issue you have come across, and most of us will come across at some time, is that when you are dealing with the general public, you can not please all the people all the time. You can provide exactly the same service to 20 people, 19 will give you 5 starts but there will always be one that is not satisfied for whatever reason. Don’t let it bother you, it is not important.
Reviews are there for future home owners to see what past home owners thought of the service you gave. When a future home owner sees 25 five-star reviews and then suddenly one critical review they will wonder what was wrong with the home owner that gave the critical review, they will not think that suddenly your standards have dropped.
My only advice to you is that you have more than enough great reviews, if anyone in the future does not leave one then don’t chase it up. It does not matter if the odd owner doesn’t leave one - After all, No review is better than a bad review.
Don’t let this upset you, it will have no effect on you getting future bookings and will soon get lost as you collect more five star reviews along the way
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Agree with both @Globetrotter and @colin - you sound like you’re doing a great job! Dont be disheartened.
This is so true! I always read the owners’ reviews of that sitter (and any others they’ve have had). Most of the time I think either the owner was too fussy or that there’s been a miscommunication which can happen to any of us.
I just received a 5 star review which was rather blah - didn’t give me that warm, fuzzy feeling. I gave the homeowners an over the top review saying how much I would love to do a repeat sit. In reading the reviews of the other sitters they had, they were all given over the top reviews and the homeowners said they would love to have them back - all of them except us! I feel like they weren’t happy with something but I guess I’ll never know what. We treat all the pet(s) with love and leave a spotless house. It’s really hard to read between the lines. Feeling a bit disheartened.
If it bothers you, maybe ask them and see whether it’s something you might consider changing. If it turns out to be petty or such, then you’ve at least got clarity.
I agree but my husband said just let it go. Will mull it over!
I understand the inclination to analyze their feedback of you compared to prior sitters, but if it were me I would probably just let it go.
If you can honestly say you did a good job with the core aspects of the sitter’s responsibilities–clean house, proper care of the pets, good communication,etc.–if they did happen to have a problem with anything, there is a good chance it could be something kind of petty, unreasonable or the like. And feedback of that nature really wouldn’t have any real value.
While the blind review system hasn’t completely eliminated the problem of people being reluctant to give negative feedback, it definitely makes it a lot easier; and if they were really unhappy with anything, there is a good chance the review would have reflected that in some way.
That it is a 5 star review is all that matters and I don’t think future hosts will read too much into the fact it wasn’t super-detailed.
Appreciate your feedback! I did actually text them and they read my message but have not responded so I guess I’ll never know. We encounter all sorts of different personalities within this organization and realize have to go with the flow
UPDATE: I heard back from the homeowners and this was the first time the husband left a review for the sitters whereas the wife had written the past reviews. Obviously he isn’t the warm and fuzzy review guy but she is but now I know and she thanked me and said everything was great so have closure!
Glad you got closure and clarity.
FWIW, often people skip things — as your husband suggested — because they worry about hassles or messiness. But shying from such repeatedly actually can mean missing opportunities to build “skin.” It’s the path of lesser resistance to skip being direct, for instance. But it’s worth considering that building skin over low-stakes stuff actually can help make being direct easier and easier over time. And there are cumulative rewards with that in life.
It can be especially easy for folks to start avoiding while young. There can be cumulative costs to that. Like when you look in the workplace, people who afraid of being direct, asking Qs, etc., can often get skipped for opportunities, promotions, raises, etc.
I mention this, not because of your specific case, but because often there are sitters for instance who get taken advantage of, who put up with more than they should, etc. Well, if they don’t learn to start being more direct, it will always be easier to not say something, easier to avoid. That can lead to repeatedly being taken advantage of.
That’s a real shame and it’s not necessary. That’s especially the case when being direct and raising questions don’t need to be confrontational — they can be done politely, conversationally, etc. But folks who don’t get the practice in won’t learn how.
Loved your feedback Maggie8K and there is a happy ending to this - we’ve been invited back to this sit with the adorable doggies which we loved so much so it all ended well and I’m super glad I reached out for feedback to the pet owners
Very glad to hear that!
Just ask the wife to do the next review @Globetrotter 
Glad to hear things worked out well! We found ourselves in a similar boat once and asked for private feedback to help us improve. Turns out, we didn’t put enough effort into protecting the furniture from becoming the cats’ favorite scratch pad. Lesson learned: next time, bubble wrap everything! 
Literally when I read your post this was the first thing I wondered! So glad it wasn’t anything they were unhappy with.
For a sitter, there is a lot to write about: the adorable pet, the lovely home, the nice town, etc etc. For an owner not so much. They return, they see that the pet is happy, that is about it.
So I was completely content when an owner wrote: “I have no complaints”.
Hi @Bravo1239
Don’t be disheartened by a few missing stars - it sounds as though you have a really good track record. Maybe ask yourself what you think the pets would have rated you for this sit, if they’d been able to, since they’re the ones that really matter. Hopefully your answer will give you a boost!