It’s also strange when there’s no review at all. I once had a host—a very demanding woman, but I managed to find common ground with her. she reminded me of the kind of people I grew up around, so I knew how to “handle” her. She clearly didn’t like having new strangers in her home, when she needed a sitter again, she asked me to come back. I was too busy, though. She then said she’d put the dog in a kennel for a month! I was horrified—the dog was adorable! I begged her to give the THS another chance and find a sitter. She did find one, of course, and told me the person seemed nice. When I checked a month later to see who it was and look at the reviews, I saw they hadn’t exchanged any, even though that sitter had written reviews for everyone else. I realized there must have been a conflict, but it was good that the host didn’t ruin the sitter’s reputation.
Once on a sit abroad I asked the iwner " why do you seek sitters unpaid when you could afford paid ones ?" ( he had told he did not kmow what to do with all his money…)
He answered ne " paid sitters are motivated by money, i assume unpaid ones by their love for animals"
I don’t apply for those either. Most of the time there’s some sort of clue in the wording of the listing that shows they’re difficult to please.
Sometimes, it’s even the explanation why they dock stars that puts me off. Once I was going to apply for a lovely sit in a great location, gorgeous view of the sea and what seemed a nice, low maintenance cat. Then, I saw they had dock stars. They said they came home late to unmade beds and admitted they had left the beds unmade because they had left early in the morning. They left a mess and they expected to come back to a tidy, spotless place. No way I would apply for those hosts.
That’s very good to know you steer clear of mean spirited reviewers with petty reasons for docking stars. I lost a star in each category because the “ cleaning wasn’t up to our standard” this had a knock on effect that affected my responsibility rating, my care of the pets etc.. grossly unfair. It didn’t alter my 5 star average though was listed as a 4 star.
In my right of reply I said “ you can’t please everyone.” I hope others, like you, will be warned off such Home Owners who don’t deserve the services of excellent sitters. Sometimes you have to leave it to karma!
Sometimes the reason some HOs don’t leave reviews is that they know there’re problems on their side, which they are afraid the sitters would reveal in their reviews. It’s normally not because they don’t want to ruin the sitters’ profiles. On the other hand it’s normally the sitters who worry about ruining HOs’ profiles. This is interesting. Many HOs couldn’t care less about ruining sitters profiles.
It goes both ways. From what I’ve read in this forum, there are a lot of HOs that will give sitters 5 stars because they either don’t want to upset them or effect their overall ratings.
I recall many HOs say that they don’t like deducting stars because sitters may not pursue their listings.
Hence the reason why there are some HOs and sitters with excellent ratings that don’t deserve it.
I just had a horrible experience with a sit I just did in Coventry. I will never do this again. The dogs were not easy to walk, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, 22kg, and 25 kgs. They constantly pulled hard on the leashes. At home they were wonderful, but I couldn’t handle how they were on walks. The owner is away 3 months at a time, and her mother lived in the house. The mother tried throwing me out half way through, even though I had made appropriate arrangements with the owner. Owner said her sister and mother were behind trying to kick me out. She begged me to stay, and sent over gifts as an apology. Then at the end, I got only 1 or 2 stars for the whole sit. I left the house spotless, yard clean, towels & sheets in the laundry. They complained that I was “too weak” to walk the dogs, but I am a regular gym go-er and I ride an 800 lb motorcycle. I am not weak! I just don’t want to walk dogs that are not leash trained, and pull the way they do! I will not be held responsible for anything that goes wrong in that situation.
@Pcollins747 Was this a THS sit ?
The mother living in the house is against THS rules -
“A pet parent must ensure that their property is vacant and that no other person will be living in the home apart from the sitters. This includes (and is not limited to) no family members, tenants, or employees.”
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001881117-Guest-third-party-policy
You can raise a member dispute about a third party living in the home.
I hope that you replied appropriately to the review by stating facts. What did you write in your Review of the sit, were you honest?
I recommend not responding to their review. While imperfect, it was still good. I would’ve left you 5-stars across the board even if you didn’t follow instructions perfectly, but I don’t really see an opening where you can respond. The ridiculous request to come back for an exit interview could’ve been mentioned on your review of them, but that opportunity is now gone and doesn’t seem appropriate to mention in response to their review of you.
Ever since the review system upgrade, there are many more sitters and hosts with 4-star reviews instead of 5 so I wouldn’t worry about it. The only situation I would think this review could hurt you is if you were to apply for a highly-desirable sit with multiple stellar applicants.
I have 50 sits. Forty six are about how great I am, fabulous with pets, home clean and tidy. Then you get those people who say you are 4 stars in self sufficiency – because the power cord on their RV was frayed…which they knew, didn’t realize it was as bad as it was. Or in trying to clean the bathroom floor, the cat got sick from the cleaning fluid still on the floor…maybe and said I was too clean…only 4 star review I got. Or the one that said I didn’t clean the floors, which I did, and glad her dog did NOT lose weight??? Because I didn’t want to drive her to the airport, which I did but I did have an attitude about it. No payment. My attitude was because she just expected that of me. But exit interview is way over the top. THS is a mixed bag, both with HOs and sitters. They could institute a fee system based on quality. If you have 20 five stars, you get 5 sits without fees. If you get 3 or more sits with 3 stars or less, you pay a greater fee. That would clean out the list.
Stars and Stripes? It certainly full of red flags disclosed or undisclosed after the sit is safely over the true colours are finally revealed. It’s why it is so much easier to stay with who you know, thinks you are great, and just do repeats ! I like the challenge of the new but it’s definitely getting more risky. The more reviews I have the more I feel brave enough to challenge the unreasonable expectations and responses via their reviews of me. It’s sad it’s got to this.
I wonder what will make me stop pet sitting ? The poor review ? The nightmare sit? The nightmare Home Owners’ expectations and demands they feel are perfectly normal?
So glad I don’t need to play along for any other reason than the ones I do now namely I like most of it..
I certainly don’t want it to get more expensive for me so no more price rises for sure.
Taking on a new sit experience is always brave so maybe a price reduction in that case? As an incentive?
Playing safe is becoming so much more attractive. I’m getting requests from people not in THS who want to pay me and make arrangements via WhatsApp as they know my heart is in the right place. Ironic isn’t it? Will I quit while I’m ahead?
On reflection the worst cuts and the deepest are where THS let me down. I can generally cope with the rogue Home Owners and the challenges of their undisclosed pets’ behaviours. Once I don’t feel supported or taken seriously then I’m definitely heading out.
New balls, please?
It’s funny that you say that, because I think the same way. I’ve passed on a few sits solely because the homeowner seemed like the type of be tough on a review, and I deemed it not worth the risk to the 5-star rating on every sit so far.
Funnily enough I raised what I felt was an unfair review with my future reviewers and they responded by giving me exemplary reviews in defense ! It needn’t be a death knell. I was obviously heartened by the subsequent reviewers who stated they had me lined up for more sits without any hesitation. That was most gratifying. I do feel I have a solid fan club.
It’s convincing the new Home Owners one is as good as the reviews say you are that can get tricky. Trust is not something I take for granted. I usually send photos and step counts to show yes I’m up early and out with the pets as I said I would be.
I guess it’s the brave but doubting world we live in.
Trusted Housesitters can sometimes feel like it has a hollow ring to it.
My sister in law wouldn’t give her key to anyone that isn’t family. Her neighbours don’t get one. It’s why some pet owners never feel they can go away at all.
The more I pet sit the less inclined am I to resume having my own. The tidying up and handing back process to ensure a good review is feeling more like the inevitable bitter end.
On a thread here a Home Owner wanted a post sit interview process too. This feels to me like the long goodbye. No thanks. Over a frank whatsapp you can tell me how to do better if you don’t want to mention it in the review for whatever reason. Otherwise this is getting creepy!
Definitely not worth the risk. I passed on a sit recently whose owner docked a star for a sitter couple in cleanliness, despite the dates were perfect for me and location was the region I need to be in, and it was the only sit with the right dates and location. In the reply to the review, the sitter couple defended themselves, also mentioned that the HO had pages of dos and don’ts on everything to follow, the couple felt they couldn’t relax. I don’t want to give myself the challenge to win their approval. They didn’t have any applicants and they took the listing off.
Any hosts with pages of dos and don’ts and/or who ding sitters on minor things are good to avoid. Some people are so entitled it’s ridiculous — they have no concept of a fair exchange.
Glad the sitter flagged those hosts for other sitters to avoid.
The mother left on vacation and I was there in her absence.
I was completely honest and factual without being in any way nasty.