just reading through this, and I am looking for the HO rot see which one it is as I think there should be a sort of “list” for sitters. but didn’t find it…
So cannot find who you are talking about which is the same really as not leaving a review…
who is it then?
naming and shaming people publicly would be a pretty crappy thing to do, even if they’re not a great HO.
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Hi @Jazzys welcome to our community forum, will you be joining our TrustedHousesitters community in the New Year, we would love to welcome you back. …
We don’t allow personal details to be shared across the forum, neither do we allow detailed discussions of sits from either owner or sitter perspectives, there are always two sides to every situation and one sided discussions are of little benefit to members or our community, plus we are very mindful of member’s privacy and security, this is after all a public forum.
I hope you will take a tour of the many other interesting conversations …
Angela & The Team
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I have left a private note along with my public review for AirBnb hosts, but more often have communicated directly with them in person, or I have left a note or have them a direct text.
I would probably not use this capability if it were built into the new THS review system. I will already have the HO’s phone and can text them directly or send a note through the THS interface.
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This I think is becoming a real issue, like Facebook where you only post positive things.
I have done sits which were good but in reality not 5 star for example no enclosed garden so took a lot of time taking dogs out to pee. House not so clean or comfortable etc. But I have been too concerned to be truthful for fear of not getting a good review which would jeopardise getting good sits in future.
So it’s 5 stars all round which really defeats the purpose of the review system.
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This helped me to make my decision. Today is my last day of a week long sit. The house is really untidy to the point where they didn’t bother to clean the shower, leave clean towels or toilet paper. I know this is how they live so it probably didn’t occur to them to clean before they left.
The positive is the animals (three) are sweet, but I want future housesitters to be aware because I rely on the reviews as well as a solo traveler. I will mix the positive with constructive feedback.
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A ‘private Facebook group’ for sitters only would surely degenerate into a forum for throwing brickbats at some homeowners. It’s not something I would consider being part of. It goes against the reasons I joined THS in the first place. I’m sure THS would look upon any Fb Group of this nature with disdain.
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Hi Colin Looks like most of us can relate. Firstly, I fully support an Airbnb feedback model - short, transparent & effortless. Most importantly it builds a profile so trends can be noted. Personally, after a similar deep clean experience a few years ago, I have become more discerning & ask for photos of home functional areas if I cannot visit the home in advance (or a video walk through). It gives me an immediate sense about acceptability/ cleanliness standards. Regards, Lisa
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Very good example and well put. Yes, we tolerate a lack of cleanliness because there is no way around it unless the home owner is asked to rate their cleanliness on a scale of 1-10 and we could agree or disagree
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I’m newish here, and I have to admit I did not read every single post in this long thread, but I want to point out something that I feel pretty sure wasn’t mentioned elsewhere, and that is the existence of a power differential that exists between the sitter and the homeowner that prevents honest reviews. If a sitter is using the site to travel when normally they would not feel able to afford to travel to a desirable place, for example, to warm climates in winter in the northern hemisphere, they may feel it is not in their best interest to leave honest reviews of less than optimal homes or pets, particularly if the sitter is new and needs positive reviews to get new sits. In a highly desirable sit where there are 30 other applicants, the HO is probably going to eliminate you if you have even ONE less-than-positive review from a HO. That is pretty powerful incentive to leave positive reviews of HOs.
Another problem is that sitters in highly desirable sits with lots of applicants don’t want to confront HOs directly with problems because they know they are not in a position of power. They can simply be negatively reviewed one time, and that will be the end of their THS career, particularly for desirable sits.
Until THS finds a way to circumvent this problem, I don’t believe there will be many transparent reviews of homes here because the sitters will feel obligated to leave positive reviews in order to get more sits.
I think there needs to be a way to leave feedback for the HOs that is only for the HOs and THS admins to see. It’s just good policy for anyone to criticize privately, but complement publicly, but it’s especially important in a community like this when there is a sitter/HO power differential as described.
How do you review your boss at work? It’s the same problem here, in many ways. How do workplaces get reviewed on sites like Indeed.com? Can’t some of those practices be used on THS?
Here’s another idea I’d like to submit for consideration: When you have LOTS of reviews, 40+, for example, the likelihood of your having one bad review increases. It’s just statistical reality. The many, many good reviews SHOULD outweigh the one negative one, and the large number of good reviews should work in your favor as a sitter so that the power differential is mitigated to some extent. I hope HOs take this into consideration when choosing sitters, but this isn’t helpful for new sitters.
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I have really found this thread interesting. I am a HO on THS, and I really enjoy learning about experiences from the sitter’s side of things.
I try to leave our house “clean and tidy,” and normally when we leave and have a house sitter, I am part of the crew leaving just before the sitter’s arrival. We have one trip coming up where I have to trust that my husband will have everything in hand (I leave a week earlier). I’m feeling a little jittery about that one 
From our end, we have almost always had awesome experiences with our house sitters. We did have one where, when my husband came home a couple days before me, he warned me that I wouldn’t be happy about the state of our home. I won’t go into it, but the result was a long conversation with our sitter and a mutual decision we would not leave THS reviews. This was the sitter’s first sit, they did not treat our house well, and we learned a lot. This sitter has since gone on to receive many 5 star reviews, so we are really happy for their success.
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Hi Colin
As a veteran house sitter, this may be tough love, but you may just need to relax some of your expectations. Houses, pets and people are varied and not all of them are going to have the same values or share the same standards as each other, or you.
Essentially, I would suggest that the reason house sitters do not leave negative or explicit reviews of their sits is due to the reason mentioned above, the fear of reprisal from homeowners who feel judged, plus the fact there is no monetary exchange, so its not on the same footing as leaving a damning review of a hotel or retail shop, finally its possibly mostly to do with house sitters needing to develop or already being personalities who can roll with things. Considering that there would be homeowners who host sitters that have lower standards of house keeping may help you in reconciling your challenges. Returning to a house in worse condition than it was left in and having to clean it after after a house sitter would possibly not be un common.
While a better and more equitable review/rating system is an obvious way Trusted House Sitters could serve its customers, in my experience of 5 years with them, despite many suggestions and a lot of assurance that their product team are considering improvements no changes have actually been actioned. It’s not their priority.
Good luck with future sits and adventures.
Kind regard
Alex
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Hi @alexhoney , That incident thankfully now is a distant memory - since then we have done 13 great sits so understand that we were really unlucky to be invited into such a filthy home so early in our house sitting adventure.
Our expectations of the cleanliness of homes we are invited to sit in is extremely reasonable. For our own self-dignity and self-respect we absolutely refuse to relax them so much that we would ever stay in such a disgusting place ever again.
Having read some of the responses to my original post it seems some sitters in the group are mistaking my description of that home as ‘very untidy’ - This is not the case, it was about as filthy as you can imagine - it is difficult to explain without expletives.
If other sitters want to relax their expectations so low that they are probably risking their health to stay in such a disgusting environment then that is their decision entirely - personally, if we ever have the misfortune to walk into such a place again we would immediately turn around and walk out again .
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As always, @Colin, you have expressed yourself well here. I am always impressed by the way you handle responses to those who reply to your posts. Sometimes that can be difficult to do, especially when we may feel slighted by a person’s comments. In my experience on the forum, having now been here for quite some time, you have provided balanced, thoughtful, and respectful comments. And yes, no doubt you have learned a lot since your first sits with THS.
@alexhoney, I encourage you to read the many suggestions from supportive and caring forum members on how to leave a balanced review. Without such honest but respectful reviews, we are not supporting each other. Provided the reviews are factual, rather than personal standard comments, they can be extremely useful.
I agree that the review system is flawed, and there is room for improvement, but defaulting to avoiding reviews does not serve either a homeowner or a sitter in this community. In seven years with THS, I have always left a review of the sit. However, I will include comments that should help guide future sitters. For example, in a home that might not meet my cleaning standards but be acceptable to many, I would not comment. However, one that has many stairs, that might be a hinderance for some, I will mention that point. Balanced and respectful reviews are one of the many useful tools on THS that makes it stand out amongst other housesitting websites. This is my personal opinion.
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All very valid points your making @Snowbird, however it’s seems there’s been an oversight or assumption that I was advocating for sitters to leave reviews or not leave reviews. Neither is the in fact my view. I’m not sure how I could determine what is best, right or wrong for other people. Besides which, as we’ve both already stated everyone’s expectations both homeowners and sitters relating to shared living is different.
In conclusion, the more telling point raised from your, my and Colin’s (as well as many others, having read the threads) contribution is that THS continue to fail to address this issue in any meaningful way.
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In Airbnb you can send a private message to a home owner as well as a public review. Would that be a viable option?
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Hi @alexhoney thank you for joining in the conversation, a very important one.
The review system is on the roadmap for development and we will update members as this progresses. All member’s feedback and suggestion will be taken into consideration when formulating a system that is fair and works for everyone.
Hi Angela
I appreciate your time in monitoring forum posts.
I am already aware of some of the issues impacting your customers, such as the calendar functionality and membership loyalty rewards have been referred to product development for consideration.
I was advised of this after providing feedback direct via the contact form in 2017. I’m not sure if a road map had been created at that point in time.
However I can safely assume the journey hasn’t started, maybe it’s the longest road ever made, or perhaps the map flew out the window and has never actually been seen again.
All the best
Alex
Thank you for your candor Alex, much has changed since 2017 both on and off the site. development is very much centred around priorities and delivering key functionality demands for members. The review system is one key focus for 2022 … you will not have to follow the road for another 5 years of that I am sure.
Safe travels,
Angela
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