New to this Forum but have been sitting for awhile. Just noticed that a previous house sit location was changed to a new location complete with a new photo. In chatting with THS they say that when the pet parent changes their location information then previous sit locations also change to the new pet parent location. BIG PROBLEM with this flaw in the system. It says I did a sit where I didn’t! If that information is not accurate then what else is not accurate? They don’t seem to concerned. I know I am.
I’m probably missing the point you are trying to make, but aren’t the how and the what more important than the where?
If you did a sit taking good care of X and got a great review for it, why would it be important to know if you were in a location rather than another?
Well, maybe one would not like it too much if it looked as if one had visited for example Russia after February 2022, when one had not done that.
From this perspective it does make sense!
Locations should stay accurate.
If I am applying for a sit in a popular destination, such as the city of Chicago and have done previous sits in the city, I’m going to mention it. I’m going to reassure the PP that I’m familiar with the area and I won’t be off sightseeing because I’ve been there before. That’s just one of example of the need for accuracy.
That happened with one of my first sits. After that, I have mentioned the location in my reviews. I might say “This was a wonderful sit for Jenny and Fido in Denver”.
My workaround would be similar to @Lassie. All my feedback/home reviews are location specific. (I also always mention whether or not a car is needed as I think it’s good info for other sitters.) I recently completed a sit for a family that is subletting one home while living in the other. I guess if they move back it will look like I did a “local” sit in Brooklyn and I could imagine an HO who was looking at the phone app and seeing my history might ask me about it, in which case I’d tell them, but this really seems far fetched. The thread title makes it sound like pet parents are actively changing the locations in sitter histories. They aren’t. They are accurately updating their own location. I doubt THS is going to bother changing the system so that people would see the past location in the sitter’s history, but this feels like it should be in the thread for suggested technical improvements.
I sat a few times in one location in England and the owners have moved to Ireland. It doesn’t really bother me and the owners can explain it.
Maybe they have just moved house. Don’t really see what the problem is.
We have a couple like that and are not that bothered, a review is a review. Occasionally you will see home hosts adding to their profile that previous reviews were for a previous address.
This is a technical limitation of THS, not something sketchy. And like Colin, I’ve seen various hosts note that some reviews were for previous homes.
Your title implies this is something HOs are doing, and that’s not true. If an HO moves, it makes all of the past sits appear to have been in the new location. This is a software issue that is not unique to THS. CS and Airbnb are the same (although rare in Airbnb, as most hosts would create a new listing, but I do have one prior stay that shifted bc the host used the old listing). On CS, hosts would often include on their profile something like “reviews prior to such and such date were in Other Location X”.
I like the idea of making reviews location specific, as Marion suggests, but not sure that the majority of HOs would bother unless they are also sitters. That also won’t help for existing reviews that now state the wrong location. Perhaps you could add a response to any reviews that don’t already have one that clarifies where the sit took place.
I didn’t intend to imply that the pet parents are doing anything improper - they obviously are not. It is a flaw in the THS program/system that should be addressed. My issue is my sitting history indicates that I sat somewhere where I didn’t. It has nothing to do with the review they left me.The first word in Trusted House Sitters seems defeated. I report a house sit location that the system doesn’t support. One of us is wrong and it’s not me.
So does mine but it doesn’t bother me. What is more important, I think, is that you looked after a home for the owners who have reviewed you and their pet(s) no matter where they were living at the time.
This has happened to me a couple of times. I know one sit was in Devon and then said Spain, although I believe owner then came back to Uk, so could have changed again. Haven’t checked back. Another I did in the Cotswolds now says London. Feedback I gave regarding the lovely countrey location is not London.
I totally agree with Goingplaces… I think it’s an in justice to us as house sitters to change it on our sits. I understand it’s a software issue but believe it is fixable. I’ve had quite a few international sits and now some of the people have moved back to the US so it looks like I’ve spent a lot of time in Seattle!
This happened to me on one of my earliest sits - it was in New York, but now looks as though it happened in California. Because NYC sits are so difficult to get, I was annoyed that the location didn’t show correctly. Ever since then, I list the location in my review, eg I say “I loved taking care of Fluffy in Brooklyn NYC”
The pet parent of my very first sit on THS moved from Montpellier to Lunel which is reflected in my review. It does not bother me.
Good idea but then they need to read everything to understand where all you’ve been… I just think THS needs to fix it for us!
I had someone invite me to a sit saying they saw in my reviews that I had done a sit in their area previously. It was a state I’ve never sat in (the HO I sat for moved to that state recently) and don’t plan to ever go to. This is an issue that THS should really fix.