Question about missing reviews

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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Missing reviews: do they make you hesitate?

This question is for both homeowners and pet sitters.

When I am considering a sit, I naturally look through the reviews, as I assume most people do. Something that catches my attention is when a completed sit appears in someone’s history, but no review or feedback was left.

When it happens once, I do not think too much of it. There can be all sorts of reasons. As I understand it, if neither party leaves feedback, nothing will appear. But when I see several completed sits without any feedback, I have to admit that a small alarm bell starts ringing.

I sometimes wonder whether both parties decided not to leave feedback because things did not go entirely smoothly, but neither wanted to give a lower rating or write something negative.

There seems to be a strong focus on receiving five-star reviews. Personally, I do not believe that five stars have to mean that absolutely everything was perfect. We are all human, and unexpected situations happen. It is possible to give an overall five-star review while still describing the circumstances honestly and respectfully.

I have done this myself. It was a wonderful sit overall, but there had been an emergency before our arrival, which meant the Welcome Guide had not been properly completed and some important information was missing. We later discovered that the dogs needed to be fed differently from what we had initially been told. The situation was corrected, and the sit itself was fantastic, so I gave five stars overall, but a lower rating for information and communication, with a factual explanation. The dogs are still alive and happy, but they did receive rather more carbohydrates than they were used to.

To me, that feels more useful than pretending everything was flawless. A review can remain kind and appreciative while still giving an honest picture.

So I am curious: when you see several completed sits without reviews or feedback, does that influence your decision? Do you see it as a possible warning sign, or do you assume there is probably an innocent explanation?

P.S. Photo is from dog Patcho in Costa Rica where he plays with a dog toy we took with us as a gift. Not a good photo with us as the focus was …somewhere else :slightly_smiling_face:

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I clicked your profile, you’ve only completed 5 sits via THS, so maybe you’re opinion comes from other websites.

Our personal experience is that we’ve only seen the odd one missing occasionally, not several unless they’ve been on THS for over a decade and then it’s a little more understandable anyway.

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Multiple missing reviews on a Homeowner’s listing profile would make me hesitate. That used to be a sort of code for a less-than-stellar sit prior to blind review implementation about 2 years ago. Keep in mind that repeat sitters may not do a review after each sit for the same Homeowner (I don’t know why, it isn’t an onerous task) so I would take that into account.

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For the moment, it’s only on a host’s profile that you can “see” a blank review; a sitter’s review history doesn’t even list the sit if they didn’t get reviewed…it’s as if it didn’t happen. So the only way you could tell is if you come at it via the host’s profile; eg:

You’re a sitter considering a listing. You notice a blank review from a previous sitter in their history, so click on that sitter’s name to see what the host said about them, & find there’s no mention of that sit for those dates. Ergo, neither reviewed the other.

I agree that for me this is a yellow flag, & means I look more closely at the host’s other reviews to see if there’s a pattern to be discerned. If it’s just the one, though, everything else looks normal, I don’t give it much weight.

I did have one listing where the host had repeated missing reviews, and it turned out that they often failed to review their sitters as well. Even though the reviews they did have were all 5-stars & positive, I knew it was a yellow flag, but ended up taking the sit anyway. While it was not an unbearable sit, it had some challenges to overcome (cleanliness & communication), & I learned the lesson about ignoring yellow flags.

In the end, I left a review that would clue in future sitters while not being punitive. The host lost track of time & didn’t leave me a review at all (so it was a pattern for them), despite an email/text from me requesting they do so as I was newer then & needed the sit-count. They eventually did leave a response to my review of them, which included an apology for not reviewing me along with a positive endorsement — although no potential host will ever see it, because there’s no related sit to refer to this host listed on my review history. But I guess at least potential sitters for them will see it & perhaps it will give them some context, at least. :woman_shrugging:

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@HappyDeb Yes, it is just last year that we started with pet sitting. This year we sold our house and have time to look through the many beautiful opportunities! We are very grateful to be part of this friendly and respectful community :heart:

Because of scrolling through the many possibilities all over the world - the world is our oyster for a year we decided - I noticed that this phenomenon happens sometimes.

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@MaggieUU Thanks for your answer, if it is the same sitter it indeed makes sense.

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@MerryPuppins Thank you for sharing your experience in such a friendly and respectful way. It confirmed what my gut was already telling me.

That said, I would never base a decision on one factor alone. I also pay close attention to the overall vibe, the rest of the listing, the context, and of course the video call.