Blind reviews were supposed to fix everything. But judging by the forum posts, I don’t think it’s worked out that way. Many sitters will still skip the review altogether rather than post even 4-stars as they are afraid that homeowners won’t accept a sitter who gives an “honest” review. Homeowners have the same fear, probably even more justifed that giving a sitter a less than stellar review for anything less than seriously injury to the pets will result in sitters staying away. We’re still patting each other on the back with 5-stars as the standard. The “no-review” option by the way does no harm to sitters as there is no record of the sit visible to hosts while it’s possible to see missed reviews for hosts, and some sitters will stay away if there are any missed reviews.
Meantime, sitters and homeowners continue to read between the lines – not always successfully.
IMO, THS could do better. Hivemind, what are some ideas?
Probably an overstatement. I think the review system has improved since I joined in 2022 with the addition of blind reviews and categories for sitters reviewing HOs. Not perfect but the ‘honesty’ part is on us, not THS.
Did anything in particular trigger your post?
Probably (1) too much time on the forum reading about people not reporting issues in their revews because of various “reasons”. (2) Old guilt about a sitter I gave 5 stars to because I didn’t want to seem “petty” but definitely should have written more honestly about something they messed up. (3) Irrational fear that a couple of missing reviews on my listing are somehow costing me great sitters (4) Mixed feelings about a couple of sits where I should have said something about the clutter.
I just hear this sentiment again and again in the forum from both sitters and homeowners that there is a “cost” to leaving a less than stellar review.
Quick question: Does that mean if a host praises you and thanks you for everything over WhatsApp but then doesn’t bother to leave a review afterwards, that housesit isn’t visible on my profile at all?
I’ve had this happen a few times recently, and honestly, it doesn’t make much sense to “push” them for a review if it doesn’t show up as blank anyway. I’m fine without it in that case.
Yes. Future homeowners won’t know the sit happened unless you leave the homeowner a review. So if for example you write in your applicaiton that you’ve done 5 sits but there are only 2 reviews showing on your profile the host might think something is amiss.
If you don’t write a review for a homeowner, then nothing appears on the homeowner’s listing, but sitters who look in the app can see a sit history that show you did the sit and you didn’t leave a review. Many will take that as a “sign” that the sit must have been problematic and you didn’t want to leave a bad review.
@buttercup if you are experiencing hosts thanking and praising you over WhatsApp but not leaving you a review I wonder why you don’t directly ask for one? When you have done a great sit and given your best the very least the HO can do is to give you a well earned review. Reviews are the currency of THS. For me a lazy host not bothering to review takes the shine off even the best sit. Most people appreciate acknowledgement of their efforts, especially in such an exchange of services like a THS sit.
For me the stars aren’t the most important, and I’m not necessarily bothered with 3,4,5 stars.
I’m more interested in the text. IMO if a member deduct stars, it should be reflected why in the text. Otherwise no one will know what that is about, if it is something that bothers them (or not) and the other party won’t know what to fix or how to do better.
In the same way I can give 5 * all over and give info. in the text that I know sitters could find important to know (pullout-bed, pets in bed and so on).
I had no idea about that—thought it would just show up as blank as it does for hosts. Thanks for clarifying. @Silversitters@Marion
Got 20+ 5-star reviews, and hosts read these but rarely the profile unless they’re working in the same field etc. So I guess some of them feel there’s no real need to leave a review— which, in my case, is true. But clearly that wouldn’t be ideal for newer members.
Completely agree @Lokstar it’s lazy and a bit rude too in my openion. I did, and since one wanted me to come back for a returning housesit, they instantly left a review after I “pushed” and explained the importance of it (new members).
THS already goes to great length to remind people to leave a review with pushmessages and email notifications, which should be enough, but clearly not always.
@Marion although not perfect, I think the review process has improved over the last 12-18 months. Now, while I’m browsing listings, I do see a fair few more with deducted stars and explanations than 2-3 years ago where everything was 5 stars, and the odd 1 star where something went horribly wrong.
I’ve noticed that whilst most reviews do give 5 stars overall some do deduct a star in one or two categories ( most often for cleanliness ) so I think that the “new” blind reviews are much more useful to sitters than before the change .
I also find the changes made to the review system a definite improvement to what it had been. I notice members are being more honest and stars are being deducted because the reviews are blind. The system is more equitable now where owners are star-rated in categories too. There will never be a perfect system because it’s the humans who complete the reviews not the model THS has created who determine its success.
I’m yet to find a review system that’s perfect and as someone who used to review restaurants for a particular region we struggled with how to modify/improve the system to be fair and balanced. We ended up with a scoring system out of 20. But the really important component was the actual wording of the review.
I think the THS system (like airbnb) is as good as it’s going to get but THS needs to emphasise that reviewers need to be honest and add context in the written component.
For instance our current sit is great but the house was far from clean when we arrived so 3 stars for cleanliness but in our written review we will mention the issue and also mention the HOs mitigating circumstances (I won’t go into detail here). I feel that’s enough heads up for future sitters and hopefully will give the HO some tips for the future.