Does anyone think that the review time period of 14 days is too short? My homeowners missed out on being able to leave a really nice review for me because they missed that 14 day window. When you think about people just getting home from holiday and having to unpack and settle back in to home, work, childcare, housework, yard work etc it takes a good couple weeks to get reorganised let alone having to be pressured to get a review done. I just think even one more week, so 21 days would be a bit more feasible to allow people time to catch their breath. What does everyone else think? I’d love to be able to do a poll. They did leave me a lovely comment attached to my review of them which I really appreciate. But unfortunately it doesn’t show up on my profile….
I always remind my HO’s if they havent done one in the first few days after a sit.
You can always request a reference via email, still on the trusted site but in a different place
We tend not to sit for people who don’t leave reviews - personally I find it incredibly rude that they couldn’t spare a little time just to sort of officially say thank you after we have put so much time and effort into caring for their home and pets.
I do explain before agreeing to sit that we expect a decent review within 2 weeks afterwards. That it’s very valuable and is basically the only way I have a better chance to secure future sits. Blank reviews can often be taken as a red flag so it can be damaging to us if we have missing reviews. I also nudge via WhatsApp after a few days incase they have forgotten.
Maybe in future you could also do this?
I do think 2 weeks is adequate time for someone to spare 20 mins,
No I don’t. Initially I thought it would be a problem, but most owners review us on the first day after we leave, only the odd one has been 2-3 days later. But I typically say or write (if leaving a note) to say when I’ll be writing my review for them (ie the following day), which basically prompts an owner to do the same.
We’re a very easy-going couple, but I feel the least an owner can do when we have dedicated our whole time to them for a certain period, is write the review quickly, before their normal life takes over, and likewise I feel the least we can do as sitters is write our review quickly, when the owner has entrusted the care of their beloved pets in our hands. Fortunately we’ve had amazing owners, who have reviewed quickly.
It takes literally no more than 5 minutes to leave a review, they are given over 20,000 minutes to do so.
It is more than enough time to leave a review, and we should not be making excuses for those that don’t do so.
I get multiple reminders to leave a review, no way could I forget or not have time. I think the 14 days is more than enough. If it isn’t then a reviewer is simply not that invested in the process.
@Melody , I think 14 days is sufficient. 1 week has been plenty of time for the majority hosts we have sat for but the extra 7 days allows for any emergencies that might arise on a hosts return. If a host hasn’t found the time in 14 days they probably won’t make the time in 21 or 28 days .
It comes down to what a person prioritises.
On a recent sit a host had to return home early because of a serous accident whilst on holiday overseas. They had a gruelling and painful 24 hour +return journey with flights and transfers. They eventually arrived at their home in great pain at midnight . They needed hospital visits immediately on their return , so we didn’t expect writing a review to be immediately top of their priorities. We were pleasantly surprised when they wrote a review first thing in morning after their return.
Before the 14 day deadline there was no deadline at all . Without a deadline some members never got around to writing a review at all…
@Melody I find 14 days is ample time for reviews to be completed, especially by HO, as they tend to be briefer than the ones I do as a sitter. In fact, since the 14 day deadline has come into force, reviews by both parties have generally been completed the day after the sit has finished when the experience is very fresh in our minds. If HO is new, I explain the importance of the review, not just for me but also for them to secure sitters in the future. As @ziggy points out, we also receive reminders once the sit has finished, so there’s really no excuse for the deadline to be missed.
The price for that would be that it could take even longer before the review show on your profile, considering the blind reviews. That would be very unfortunate for hosts and sitters trying to find good matches.
No thanks from me. I submit my pre-written review the day after the sit. It isn’t hard. Someone that can’t prioritize it within 14 days and nudges from THS - would extra days really be what it took?
Assessing whether to apply I look for hosts that leave reviews. They don’t have to be raving (I like factual and honest) but fair reviews that they actually submit.
14 days is more than enough time to be able to fit in 5 to 10 minutes to review a sitter, unless they are in a coma!
14 days is a very generous time limit.
Like others above, I receive and write my review on the first day the window opens.
I communicate via whatsapp the day after departure anyway to ensure everything is in order and to remind them to write my review.
This is fresh in everyone’s mind before memories fade.
If they can’t be bothered to write it within 14 days, what makes you think they would be bothered from day 15 to 21?
Agree @Itchyfeet and additionally the longer they leave it, the worse the recall of the HO on the helpful and pertinent details of the sit and sitter so speed is your friend! #seizethemoment
I get your point about people being busy after returning from a trip, but honestly, I feel like writing a review doesn’t take more than 30 minutes, if that. It’s not like you’re writing a novel, just a few sentences about the experience.
That said, I understand that some people might need a gentle reminder or a little more time to get it done, so extending the window slightly could help. But I do think 14 days is generally reasonable for most.
Our reviews are usually very detailed, the ones we receive average around 4 or 5 paragraphs (we have about 20 reviews, all 5 stars), and we’ve never had to wait longer than 3 days. I suspect it’s because the communication before and during the sit is so on point, that everyone involved knows exactly what is going on.
As with everyone else, I think 14 days is more than enough. It literally takes 2 or 3 minutes to do the review, and it’s much better to do it fairly swiftly, while everything is still fresh in the mind.
I agree, that if HOs (or sitters) can’t find even 3 minutes in their schedule to review you, that shows a serious lack of respect and appreciation.
I forgot something at a sit once. When i went to retrieve it, the homeowner literally wrote the review in front of me as i sat in her office. It took her 5 minutes at most.
I think more than 14 days would create a higher chance that the reviewer would forget to do the review.
I haven’t had trouble writing or getting reviews written within two weeks.
That’s included:
- Hosts writing promptly, though they had a family funeral to attend right after their travels.
- A host writing promptly, though they started a new job right after their travels.
- A host writing promptly, though they were injured during their travels and had to return home for follow-up care, including surgery.
- Hosts who wrote promptly after rushing home to have their elderly dog put down after catastrophic seizures.
When I choose hosts to sit for, I always check whether they wrote reviews for previous sitters. If they didn’t, I automatically skip them.
As a sitter, I make brief notes as a sit unfolds, which makes it easy to write a review.
That’s true for HOs but not for sitters. The only impact for sitters is that the sit doesn’t count as experience or they miss a glowing review.
I have seen a couple of reviews for dummy dates created just for the purpose of writing the review. But, as others have mentioned, I think if communication goes well and HOs have a history of writing reviews, chances are that they will do it fairly quickly.
That’s right but some owners check the reviews sitters write before agreeing on a sit and they would see those comments.
HO here, I feel 14 days is sufficient. Any more time, I would forget to do it. We try to complete it within a couple days after we return from our trip.
It’s not that it’s too short, it’s that most hosts and even a lot of sitters probably aren’t aware of the new system. Yes, THS sent emails, but not everyone reads or even sees them and most people aren’t on the forum.
If you know this system exists, let other people know it exists.