When looking at possible sits, I have noticed that in the feedback & sitters section there seems to be an increased number of past sitters whose feedback is not available. Would it not be a better idea to keep this info available, as it is valuable when applying for a sit.
Thanks
Hello Rose
Welcome to the family
Hi @Rose welcome to the community and congratulations on contributing your first post, an excellent one to. Thank you for joining, we hope you enjoy the conversations, connecting with other members and we canāt wait to get to know you better and share in your TrustedHousesitters journey.
Angela & The Team
Welcome to the forum Rose.
To answer your question.
From a technical view:
If you can see a sitter name but no feedback then it is because the Sitter has not given any feedback. Even if a sitter leaves THS, a given feedback is always visible.
How you rate that is entirely up to you. Some think the Sitter was too lazy or forgot it, and therefore there is no meaning behind it. Others believe something was not so perfect, and they left it out on purposet to avoid a negative review from the HO for themselves.
Hi Windtalker
See you are from NI, we are in Scotland but I am from Belfastš
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Thank you Angela.
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Hi Stefan,
Thanks for that it just looks as if a lot of people are no longer signed up as sitters. Could there not be some other indication to say no review / feedback was given?
Thanks
Rose
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This is an interesting topic as when I first started with TH - a negative feedback from a sitter was I felt almost frowned upon (as was really rare) so I feel sitters just didnāt leave feedback for the sits they didnāt like and when I would look up new sits - if there was lots of previous sitters that had not left feedback - that would just be a huge red flag for me NOT to apply.
The the feedback system changed and for a while if a sitter left no feedback that just wasnāt registering that former sit at all, and I thought that was really odd (and worse than before). So I think it went back to just showing as no feedback.
Sitters I feel are being a bit more honest in their feedback, however I say that I did see a HO that had a 5 star review from a sitter couple I knewā¦ so I sent them a private message (weāre IG friends) and I said - so how was it in āXā with that dog/cat āXā as I thought Iād applyā¦ their response was "OMG donāt it was awfulā¦ yada, yada, yada!
Clare
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If thereās a sit Iām particularly keen on but the previous sitters have not left feedback - I do look at the dates of those previous sits - as people didnāt really use the feedback system several years as well as they do now, so I donāt really take really old sits with no feedback as a warningā¦ but certainly if they are fairly recent, and have no feedback Iād have second thoughts.
Sometimes I actually apply to sits (even though I canāt do the dates) so I can message the HO and let them know that āalthough I canāt do those datesāā¦ it would be good to get feedback from their previous sitters if they hope to get many responses. Iāve usually got thank youās back for taking the time to let them know this.
Clare
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Hi @Rose.
Welcome to the community forum.
If a member has asked us to delete their information from our system in line with GDPR, we have to delete the information written in the review/feedback.
However you will see the following, āFormer Memberā where the memberās name should be, no written information, the star ratings will still remain. This way the members donāt lose out on their ratings.
I hope that helps in answering your question.
Kind regards,
Katie - Membership Services
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I will admit that āpast sitter reviewsā are important in my application decisions. If there are no reviews and many sitsā¦ It does give a poor impression and makes me wonder why.
I check to see if any sitters returned (I noticed a returning sitter may not leave a review, a 2nd, 3rd time. ) A returning sitter is always a plus in my book. Very short and basic/generic reviews, could mean āwas okā¦ but wont be backā. Hey, not every sit is someoneās ācup-of -teaā, We all travel differently.
I have noticed that more current reviews are getting more detailed, which I love! I like it when a sitter mentions not only their experience with the property and pets but expands on what they enjoyed about the local area: favorite restaurants, local hikes, attractions, etc. Also, adding cautions like "dog is strong, will need a strong walkerā¦ or lots of stairs, so need good knees. " These details help match the right sitter to the right House-sit.
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As a sitter, I didnāt realize for a few years that we could provide reviews on the homeowners. I think it was due to the fact that I never had a homeowner request a review. I guess I was more concerned about getting good reviews from the homeowners as a newbie sitter! Now that Iām more of a seasoned sitter I make sure to provide reviews for the homeowners 
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Hi. It may not be that you didnāt realize, but more likely that this option wasnāt available. Iāve been in THS for 7 years, and it wasnāt available when I started. I canāt remember exactly when it was introduced, but @Angela_L may let you know. I know sheās provided this information before, but Iāve searched and canāt seem to find it right now.
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Hi everyone - when I joined THS as a sitter in 2013 the feedback facility wasnāt an option. When the homeowner left a review for me I replied which acted as feedback, but of course future sitters canāt always see that.
Now I reply and leave feedback but I have said all along that it is quite confusing. Sitters often leave their feedback on Trust Pilot rather than the THS website.
To sum up - lack of feedback in the earlier years is not always a red flag.
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Reviews and feedback are so important with any product or service but for our community even more so as we interact on a very intimate level, there is nothing more personal than inviting someone to care for your beloved pets and home and to walk in the shoes and lives of another family.
Itās also not just about being a āGood or Badā sit where it can make all the difference is helping make the right choice saving time for everyone. Is it the right fit for sitters and vice versa?
An arrangement being the right fit is key to a successful experience.
@Snowbird I will have to check my THS history book again to see exactly when the feedback option was introduced, I want to say 2016 but will check the ālibraryā on Monday.
Just for reference it is possible to give historical feedback by going into your dashboard and āLeave Feed Backā this will pull up a list of completed sits which have no feedback from you.
I just thought to look at the āleave feedbackā for homeowners section of my dashboard, where there are ones listed where the account was closed by the time this option came into place, Iād say it started early 2017. That fits in with your memory of it too, I think.
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Hello
not sure if you can help but I have filled in and completed a number of feedbacks that show on my dashboard but do not appear on the THS site? It will seem to homeowners that I have not given them any feedback?I have asked the BOT twice to no avail and miss the live chat facility that seems to be missing - please can you advise as we are full time sitters and our reputation is key. Members now for over 8 years.
Hello @Travelbuddies and welcome to the Trusted Housesitters community. I hope youāll enjoy connecting with other members and joining in the house sitting, pets and travel conversations. Itās always lovely to hear from other full-time sitters!
Iām sorry about your live chat and bot experience. Membership Services are on a fast track to get all support services back to full strength following earlier cut-backs due to the affect of the pandemic on travel and housesitting. In the meantime, to help with your particular issue around feedbacks, Iām tagging @Therese who will be able to assist with this directly with you.
Meanwhile enjoy exploring the forum and we equally look forward to following your ongoing house-sitting journey Where are you house sitting now, which country?
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Hi @Travelbuddies ā¦ let me have a look at this for you and I will email you through membership services. Kind regards Therese
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