I think another issue is: one party responds to a review or feedback, thinking they are leaving feedback or a review of their own, but that’s not actually the case. This happened to us on 3 different occasions. I then had to direct the HO to the actual place to leave a review, while thanking them for their response to our review - pretty confusing!
That’s exactly what happened with one of my applicants, mentioned above: Reviews not reciprocated - #24 by Lassie
So I ended up reaching out to both of them and they kindly left me reviews (5*) so it wasn’t anything I did wrong, thank goodness!! One of them didn’t know how. Not sure about the other but I never clicked her “ask for feedback” button so maybe she just wasn’t sure how without that. Thanks for ya’lls encouragement!
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Thanks I’m going to try your template. Many sitters seem to think responding to my review of them is the same thing and don’t also respond to my request for feedback. It’s a terrible system… but we don’t need to rehash that LOL
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Hi @judif, as a sitter, I sometimes take a few days or even a week to review if I have gone straight to another house sit & have my hands full. But so far, I always do review.
TBH, I guess I may decide not to volunteer a review at all, if there were mostly negatives that I experienced. Because it just feels bad to leave a lower star feedback, even if very legitimate, as I would not want to make it difficult for their next sit.
It’s a toughie…
I like the suggestions for private messaging them. Perhaps doing so informally on WhatsApp as a first step? Less official maybe?
Best wishes,
Jamie X
if their performance was bad, it should be difficult for their next sit. You don’t have to ruin their chances, and it may be something they can correct, but future HOs should know that something needed improvement.
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Hey @jesstheglambert, you sound like a thoughtful, considerate & generous HO! As a sitter, I wish all HOs were this caring.
I can understand why you would feel the way you do. Hope you don’t take it too much to heart, or that it gets resolved for you.
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Hey Lassie,
I hear you! 
And do agree in principle.
I am new to this still. I guess my (theoretical) tussle with myself on this is that I think some of this can be subjective. Eg, i might think a home is unclean. But I am super fussy about clean & tidy. I know other people who are not. So my opinion if I say a home is really dirty, may not tally with someone else who may feel the same standard is just fine. And how could we gauge that?
Any thoughts on how to reconcile this concern? I am probably just overthinking it! I guess I would just like to be super fair, if possible.
Thanks!
Jamie X
Hey @Cuttlefish, I hugely agree! It would be a fairer, broader and more equitable way forward. If a home was unclean, for example, it is only fair we as sitters can rate the level of cleanliness etc too. That may raise the game for standards all round…
THS, may we please have the same review system as HOs? It may be a beneficial way for sitters to be seen as having equal status with HOs. And that these standards work both & will be appraised both ways.
I would love to know why it is not a reciprocal, mirrored system, currently. If anyone knows do shout out.
Best wishes
Jamie x
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I am a sitter and HO here.
Some things, like cleanliness, are very subjective. If the sitter/HO left a filthy oven, dirty toilet, walked food into the carpet, etc - there is no doubt. But if the sitter/HO didn’t wipe the inside of the microwave, or left a few dirty dishes in the dishwasher - that’s borderline. I wouldn’t do those things, but maybe a sitter/HO would forget to clean some things. If the HO was new to THS, I’d probably suggest that they would have more success with sitters if the house was left cleaner.
I was dinged a star for tidyness as a sitter once because some of the items (coasters, a broom, other minor items) were not returned exactly as they had been. I thought that was petty and would never even mention it to a sitter I had. Most of my sitters have moved items, and once they haven’t rearranged the furniture or hidden all my kitchen knives, I don’t care.
I have commented in a review if the sitter didn’t follow my instructions (especially re critical pet care) or if the home where I am sitting is missing an essential feature (working shower!).
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Hi Purdie,
Just interjecting. =) It sounds like you haven’t had a bad sit yet, so one option is to just cross this bridge when it comes. And any questions then you can ask on the forums again. =)
That said, here are some off-the-cuff thoughts:
- If something felt wrong with a sit, was it a one-off or likely to repeat?
- Did you notify the HO (e.g., message, email, voice chat), and do you feel they will make it a non-issue for future sitters? (e.g., WiFi didn’t work, but in the future it will)
- There’s the score/stars and then the text. The stars are probably the most important. Dinging even one star stands out.
- HOs can reply to feedback, so you shouldn’t feel too afraid to be honest.
- Maybe there will be an improved system in place by the time this comes up. TH definitely knows that many people don’t like the system.
- What’s the point of doing something?
- You want to convey constructive criticism to the HO to help future sits go better. In theory, this can be done privately.
- You also want to convey information to potential sitters to help them gauge a sit. In that case, you may have to write some constructive comments in the feedback (and maybe lower a star). Like if the pillows were lumpy, say, “For some reason, I couldn’t get used to the pillows, so consider bringing your own.” (Unless the HO already said something like, “Oh! I’ll try to get more comfortable pillows/choices next time!” Then I’d skip the comment in the feedback.)
- If anything’s really bad, you’d report that to Membership Services.
Trust in yourself.
“When you grow up you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world-try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family life, have fun, save a little money. But life-that’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact. And that is everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it-you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.”
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Thank you Geoff.hom for your wise words. I wanted to let you know that I recently had cause to take your advice on a review.
I did not dock a star, but I made gentle observations. Was still hard to do!
I still have mostly very good sits and feel grateful for all my positive experiences and many THS adventures.
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