Recommend a member

Product Updates
1

We’re proud that 98% of housesits end with a 5-star review and now we’re focussed on raising standards even higher.

Recommend a member
Recommend a member2062×1086 217 KB

Here’s what’s changing
First up; once you’ve written your review, we’ll show you a quick preview before it goes live, so you can see exactly how it’ll look.

Next, you’ll be asked ‘Would you recommend them?’ If you select “Maybe” or “No” we’ll ask for a little more information.This is an easier way to share feedback directly with TrustedHousesitters in your own words.

Note: The image above summarises the process for owners, the process is the same for sitters.

Why are we doing this?

We’ve spoken about raising standards across the community and great communication is at the heart of that. Whether that’s making it easier to share when something isn’t right about a listing, or now, making it easier to share your experience.

If something feels urgent or important please reach out to Member Services directly, as you normally would. This update is designed for the things that are on your mind, but you’ve been tempted to let slide.

What happens next?

If you choose not to recommend another member, it won’t directly or immediately impact their account or profile, but where there’s a pattern of concern, we’ll take a closer look.

How will this be launched?
This is a new process, so we’re introducing it gradually, starting with owners using the TrustedHousesitters app. Next will be sitters using the app and following that, members using web.

Why app first? The majority of members use the TrustedHousesitters app to confirm sits.

Over the coming weeks, we’ll be reaching out to members by email to share more about this.

Update: Sitters leaving a review in the TrustedHousesitters app are now able to recommend the owners they sit for. (4th Aug '26)

2

@Mark_B you’ve said it’s starting on the app, because the majority of members use the app to confirm sits, and I understand that, it’s a five second process to click accept… but this isn’t taking place when they’re confirming a sit.

It is when writing a review and that’s a much longer thing to do, I would have thought quite number (like me) prefer to do that via the web, so they word it right, and click on the correct number of stars.

Can you confirm that more people actually use the app to write their reviews too? If so fine, but I’d be amazed if they do, it’s too clunky and easy to hit the wrong buttons.

3

I am really not comfortable about completing the new review section on whether as a sitter, I would recommend a Home Owner.

We are all so different in what our ideal pet sit should be. What might suit one, may be far from ideal for another. And whilst the home & pets might have been great, a sitter might just not gel with the Home Owners, or vice versa.

Surely the best tactic is to continue with factual reviews from both sides, without any recommendations or even awarding rating stars.

4

I only use the web :+1:

5

@Mark_B, interesting developments.
If a THS member chooses not to leave a review then would they be prompted with the recommendation question?

Multiple Forum threads have noted that some members that have faced a poor but not terrible experience choose not to leave a review, rather than commence a potentially hostile review-reply.

6

Take my down vote :-1: Why would you complicate a blind review system?

7

Hi @Mark_B :slightly_smiling_face:

I think this is a positive initiative if it helps identify genuine patterns rather than isolated experiences. The additional context behind a “Maybe” or “No” recommendation should give THS a better understanding than star ratings alone.

My only question is how transparency will work. If recurring concerns lead to THS taking a closer look, will members be made aware that there are issues they should address? It seems important that people have an opportunity to learn from feedback and improve, rather than concerns simply accumulating behind the scenes.

I support the aim of raising standards, and I hope the process strikes the right balance between encouraging honest feedback and ensuring members are treated fairly.

:paw_prints::heart:

8

I only use the Web when I am writing something, and use the app for other functions.

I spend quite some time writing up my review but there is no way that I am going to start completing the other pages unless there is something really bad about the sit.

9

Oh come on, 98% of sits end in a five star review but we want to raise the bar higher!? Really? So you want 100% 5 star sits. Ridiculous. The fact that your stats say 98% strikes me that 5 stars is often meaningless as nobody is game to leave less, see many posts regarding this. Better to spend your time weeding out sub standard hosts and sitters.

10

Great question; seconded here. Thanks for thinking of this; it’s a very likely scenario.

11

These are good points.

I personally suspect these behind-the-scenes ratings will eventually end up contributing to some sort of “weighting” of sit applicants and/or hosts…possibly floating higher-ranked candidates to the top of display lists…but I guess we’ll see.

Could also just be internal information-gathering. There have been so many discussions re:fair/accurate reviews and the 5-star bias. Using this metric will give THS an idea how far off public reviews are from the reality, and could indicate the need for changes to the review system overall.

12

Hey @Mark_B ; can you share the “Why we ask” content?

13

Seems like THS is trying to nail folks down, because some still struggle with being honest when it comes to reviews currently.

14

As evidenced by many of the posts here, even with the blind reviews, people still struggle to leave completely honest feedback, which showed that the nature of the old review system–while certainly a big barrier–wasn’t the only issue. Reviewing an experience like this on either end isn’t like reviewing a restaurant or some other business. The more personal nature of the exchange among other things can make it more challenging.

Obviously there is no perfect system as you can’t control what people write, and there is only so much the site can do; allowing members to submit feedback completely anonymously about their experience with a particular host or sitter is probably the best way to get the most honest feedback.

But overall I do believe that the positive feedback on most hosts and sitters is genuine for a number of reasons, such a most sitters sincerely want to do a good job, and most hosts are reasonable, kind people who appreciate and understand the nature of the exchange.

It will be interesting to see how it goes.

15

Agree 100%

16

I’d like to know “why we ask” also.

I do not like this at all. The reasons I sit are often times very specific. Even if it is a good sit for me, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to other people. This doesn’t make them bad sits. It’s just unless you have my exact circumstances, I probably wouldn’t recommend most sits - even if they are 5 stars sits.

17

@Makelikeanapeman, your point is entirely understandable (and we’d agree for our own preferences) but we don’t interpret the proposed new protocol as impacting you.

It appears that responses to recommendation question are visible only to THS staff, so your recommendation response would not directly impact future housesitter applications.

It appears that any THS escalation requires multiple adverse responses - “where there’s a pattern of concern, we’ll take a closer look”.

18

It appears that you may not be able to submit a review until all steps have been completed.

19

This reminds me of some carpooling platforms asking passengers for completely anonymous feedback about a driver’s driving skills. But that information is actually very useful and it’s being displayed as some average grade on the drivers profiles, while the drivers don’t see who sublitted what.
I am not sure how this would work with THS though, as usually a HO has just a couple of sits a year, so they may be able to deduct who rated them badly, so people then again wouldn’t be honest in their assesment.

And just a “would you recommend” seems not really helpful to me, as it’s very subjective. We had challanging sits that I would still recommend and would return to anytime. And we had some smooth sits I wouldn’t, though nothing was wrong, all 5 stars, it’s just a personal preferance. Then someone else could feel exactly the opposite.

I think a completely anonymous feedback on “sit advertised against the reality” (or something even more useful) could have a general score that would be added to the HOs profile every 2-3 reviews - so they couldn’t tell who graded them what… Just at the top of my mind… I am sure someone could come up with a better solution in 10 min of brainstorming.

And as some already mentioned, the profiles and sits should be scanned better for cameras, 3rd party issues, and any other requests that don’t match the terms…
Recently I have seen someone listing “walking the neighbours dogs” as a responsibility… and they already had 2 or 3 themselves. I mean, what’s next? You just walk the dogs for the whole village all day long… :smiley:

20

Perhaps pick up any shopping the neighbours need while you are out. Also tend to neighbour’s gardens (as mentioned in another thread).
I get the impression from some listings (which basically are a list of instructions) that hosts think we get paid by THS.