Thanks for your response @Carla!
Maybe I keep seeing older member profiles. One barely had any information filled out and what was there didn’t really answer the typical questions that you listed. Another profile (that has favorited my listing) only has a bitmoji picture. I’m not here to pick sitters based on looks, but do want to verify that the person showing up is in fact the same person who owns the listing.
I guess overall it would be nice to have a quick standard answer input form (multiple choice options to choose from) to alleviate the variability with how much people type, but don’t quite answer the questions and then an area where sitters can type a bit more about themselves to show their personality.
1 Like
@pergamino you are most welcome and that is another great suggestion. Feel free to DM me any profile links that look like that, especially if they only have the one photo that’s not even a proper photo and I will ask the Membership Services team to look at them.
@Carla Carla, if this is true, I see little evidence of it.
This past October, I sent support at THS an email with links to at least two dozen homes with no interior photos or that had no photos of the sitters bath or bedroom.
Just now, I went back to my original list (that I sent THS) and randomly clicked on several homes in this list and they STILL have not changed! This suggests that support at THS has not followed up on any of these listings.
Your company asks “What features would we like to see on THS?”
My response is two-fold:
-
Take some of THS’s increased profits and direct it to having customer service people who are trained well and fix things.
-
Resume the feature that allows homeowners to control how many applications they wish to receive before the listing is paused.
Thank you.
7 Likes
As a HO (on platform over 8+yrs) and HS (over 1 year) - I would like to see:
- Feedback and Reviews not show/ posted until and unless BOTH HO/HS provide comments. (This should provide better/ truer feedback/review).
- Like AirBnB - it would be fantastic if THS had a survey both parties (after the completion of a sit) if the applications/ profiles etc. were ACCURATE, Up to date, and truly “truth in advertising”. The survey should be around the pet care, cleanliness of the house, comfortability/ safety of the area (especially for single ladies) etc.
- Metrics for HOs to see actually how many sits a HS has had, so they can compare that with the number of actual reviews received i.e. many HO’s do not provide a review to a sitter if they have a few “negative” comments. Same should go for the HS to be able to see how many trips a HO had were NO HS commented (that a red flag for me as a sitter). We can currently sort of see this. There needs to be better transparency around vetting of the accuracy to candid reviews/feedback and counter replies.
- Lastly, better comminution around referrals! I feel like I am an ambassador for THS! (In many circles I am a walking advertisement! I had 2 people tell me they signed up, used my link, and I had to contact THS to ensure I got the added months. I am “marketing” THS in lots of locations where I might not KNOW if a person signed up as they might not be a close friend, but they use my link… I have NO IDEA if I am getting the extra months (actually, based on the experience with friends, I’m skeptical… sadly).
I love the addition of the AirBnB & LinkedIN Profiles.
=^…^=
Thanks for the opportunity to provide comments!
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Could search result listings come back in either alphabetical or chronological oder?
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Hello @KenandMary1998
I think that there may be some confusion about how the process works.
Whilst the listings ask for a photo of each room that the sitter will be using, each one is not currently mandatory. This is a work in progress as some members were struggling to upload photos as it was not something that they were not all used to or they may not have the technology to do so.
Membership services will upload the photos if the owner sends them to them and needs help.
Therefore if you have reached out to Membership Service they would have contacted the members in question and asked them to upload photos, explain why that helps their listing and offer to help them.
However, if the member chooses not to do that at present then the team have still fulfilled your request.
Each new listing is indeed approved by Membership services, please note as per my last post ‘new member listings’. They can not approve a new member listing with no internal photos. But old listings before these requirements do remain and appear as new when they post new dates. We are looking at ways to align these.
Maybe additional feedback would be to make photos of each room mandatory if that is something you would like to see.
Please be assured that we all work hard to help and support all members and I appreciate that it can be difficult to understand what is happening if you are not aware of the policies and procedures. Please feel free to ask Membership Services or DM me if you have any questions about these.
Best wishes Carla
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Hello, @TheVeganCleanPetsitters I would like to wish you a warm welcome to the forum community.
Thank you for contributing to this thread as an experienced member I expect you have lots to share, which is awesome and feel free to use the spyglass to search for other topics that might be of interest to you.
You can also add your TrustedHousesitters profile to your forum profile, that way another member can see your listing and sitters profile and get to know you and offer any feedback.
Here is how:
Thank you for your feedback and for recommending us so much. That is great 
As long as they use your personal link to sign up, then you should see the tally of months go up at the bottom of your dashboard under ‘refer a friend’, as it automatically adds them.
The product team will be able to see all of your feedback here and thank you for your contributions.
Best wishes Carla
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Why not let the homeowner choose the number of applicants they want to receive before cutting off new ones?
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Could the availability calendar be displayed more prominently on sitters profiles and format changed to highlight unavailability rather than default white unavailability?
I am declining at least 1 sit a week due to people “inviting” when I am not available. It seems HO either don’t see the calendar or don’t understand it.
Many thanks.
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Hello, @Cath I would like to wish you a very warm welcome to the forum community.
Thank you for your contribution to this topic and you can search for other topics using the spyglass.
You can also add your TrustedHousesitters sitters profile to your forum profile so that other members can view your profile and give you feedback and tips.
Here is how:
Best wishes Carla
I just got excited about discovering the filters on my favourites. I set it to ‘Currently seeking a Sitter’ but the first 10 I clicked in to were already reviewing applications. So I kept scrolling and I can see those with dates available but they are few and far between. (13 of the first 100! 33 from 263 in total. Or, to put it another way, 87 from the first 100 in the list and 230 of the total 263 are UNAVAILABLE to me) . It seems pointless (and depressing) to show those already at the reviewing stage. Could the results from this filter actually show sits with the possibility of applying please? I have many favourites, most of which are in desirable location and in different timezones, so its already hard enough to get an app in. I thought this function could be a game changer. But in its current form its not.
4 Likes
Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but a way to limit the number of animals to be watched. If it’s only me sitting dogs, I won’t feel comfortable with more than two. There are also a number of sits with a large number of cats, dogs, or both, that make little sense for an individual or even a couple.
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I would like to be able to set Newest as my default label instead of having to reset it on each search. I have no use whatsoever for the recommended label. I constantly have to check and change it back to see the Newest listings.
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How about being able to add a link to each of your profiles on the THS web and app if you have a combined membership?
Like the airbnb and LinkedIn links?
Or at least add an opt in to link the two profiles.
And/or to be able to link/unlink as needed.
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Have HO & sitters have equal verifications.
In place of the references on the HO listing show
“Feedback ‘X’ #”
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I have been using this app for about 10 years. I haven’t had horrible experiences but, I’ve also had some eyebrow raising ones and I do not think THS has a very good dispute resolution approach. I use apps like Zipcar and others, that mitigate some forms of dispute by requiring specific actions on checking in and out. I think THS should do something similar.
-Require a housesitter to take pics of major spaces when they arrive and when they leave: mitigates disputes about condition of home and cleanliness, etc.
-Require owners to also take pics of major spaces before the housesitter arrives, especially in cases whereby the housesitter and owner do not meet in person.
-Answer key questions as part of the check-in and check-out process on the app, for example: did you clean your space before leaving? Was your space clean when you arrived? Did anything break or sustain damage, etc.
-For owners, a Q&A about the pet would also be helpful for sitters - health problems, noise and other issues, etc.
I recently had a housesitter who left my home very dirty and after 24-30 hours of travel I was not elated to realize I also had to clean.
Zipper will not let a renter get into the car until these checkpoints are done, and after the lack of dispute resolution I experienced it would be good to have something more objective and ideally, would mitigate some types of dispute.
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My experience of THS dispute resolution was not great and it’s put me off renewing my membership.
I think your ideas are fantastic. The fewer opportunities for failings, or misunderstandings, the better
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Hello, @delawrence23 I would like to extend you a warm welcome to the community forum and thank you for your contribution to this topic.
You can also use the spyglass and search for previous topics and other discussions that you can reply to.
Please feel free to add your TrustedHousesitters listing link to your forum profile, so that other members can get to know you and give you feedback and tips.
Here is how:
Best wishes Carla
1 Like