I originally posted this reply on the pausing applications thread, but think it might be a topic if it’s own.
I received a THS email survey yesterday and genuinely do not understand what they mean by ‘quality’ of a sit. @Ben-ProductManager can you shed any light on this?
We are currently on a sit for a lovely small cat, in a small terraced house in Bromsgrove, is this a lower ‘quality’ sit than a mansion in Gloucestershire?
They all have plusses and minuses and who judges ‘quality’? Are lower quality homeowners to get a reduction in membership fee as the poor dears can’t afford it like a millionaire can? Will sitters taking on a 'lower quality ’ sit get a refund?
This is terribly decisive!
As an afterthought, if there are different quality of sits are there different quality of sitters?
Who is to judge me?
Not all sitters ‘fit’ all sits, but they all have a perfect match
I haven’t done the survey yet, but when I read ‘quality of a sit’ I think of the combination of:
-is the house clean
-have they prepared a welcome guide
-have they been considerate in leaving space in fridge/closet
-do the pets behave according to the listing
I can’t imagine they mean quality (as in value) of the house. I think they mean, is it a quality sit - is it an equal/mutually beneficial exchange - does the sitter get as much from the sit as the owner.
@JackieX I got this survey as well. I read the quality as @botvot suggests. I think they are asking if sits were good post sit. That’s how I read it as I’m not sure what else it refers to?
I actually looked at the question from a completely different angle. I was mainly thinking of the quality of the listing. So many listings I have seen this year are extremely brief, lacking important information, and with very few useful photos.
Personally it gives me the feeling that it’s just been thrown together with very little thought and that leads me to believe that even if I can obtain the required information, the mutual respect, and good communication that is imperative between owner and sitter will be sadly lacking. Therefore I do not apply.
I will say this about the survey. I do think its based on feedback regarding the pause in applicants. Interesting enough, I am on the site both as HO and sitter. My daughter is on the site as a HO. We both received the survey and its clear I received the sitter survey and she received the HO one. We are both extremely opposed to the Pause in Applications, while I was able to complete mine, after she kep giving it two stars and really offering up her negative views, it actually “paused” her remaining response. She wasn’t disrespectful, but she was giving each question a low score. I guess they truly don’t want to hear any negativity and want this pause pilot to be acceptable. IMHO, I really think a letter or a important pop up on the front page of the platform should explain about this new process. If only 5% of members belong to this forum and have read about this, that is 95% who have know idea. I’ve applied for a sit last week and it is showing reviewing applicants, but I can almost guess the HO is patiently waiting for her usual 10-15 before replying. She likely has no idea her post is paused waiting for her to make a move. I’m going to look at joing House sitter America. Its a shame since I have 27 5 star reviews, but I don’t like this THS controling the narrative.
I’ve only applied for and completed one sit over the summer, so I based my answers on the listings I had seen while searching.
While it may not be possible to identify a high quality sit from its listing alone, it is occasionally possible to identify one that appears to be at the other end of the scale. I can think of one listing in particular that made me wonder how the HO could imagine any sitter would want to apply. I cannot recall seeing any listing like that previously.
Maybe THS messaging is being misinterpreted my a small minority of new owners?
@anon36831737 yes, I think a lot of new owners need a lot more guidance. It is actually all available but finding it can be challenging lots of time needed to read it and implement it. Maybe a but more prompting would be useful.
Sure thing. Of course, they should. In addition, detailed info and guidelines on how to proceed at different stages of the process should have been given to all 100.000 members before the test began
Instead, we are either fed with scraps of information that only raise more questions or if the questions get too uncomfortable denied access to the thread
are you active member on THS? Do an search of Trustedhousesitters in your email, maybe it went to your junk box or you missed it somehow. I know a lot of us got it. Mine was geared towards sitter questions and my daughters seemed gears toward homeowner. Either way we both expressed negativity towards the pause application pilot.
@richten1, I think both interpretations of the question are valid. It’s a pity some of the questions were just a yes or no answer and couldn’t be elaborated on.
I’ve thought about this, ie if I was a HO ( I am, but I get friends to look after my own dog if I travel), who was posting for a sitter.
I personally would look every.single.day.
The safety and comfort of my dog would be paramount and I’d want to review every single sitter who applied, as they applied, in case that one was the ‘right’ one. I wouldn’t want them to get away!
