Hey, Angela! It’s been a long time! Hope this finds you happy and well! Sitting post-Covid has had it’s challenges - cancellations, rescheduled dates, etc. Luckily we “landed” in a comfortable, repeat sit to recover.
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This sit was last month - had it been 5 years ago I’m not sure we would have continued. In retrospect, we should have told the owners we were not staying there and to work it out. We have a high ethic and we’re concerned about the pets.
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I know standards and expectations vary but your experience sounds like the worst of the worst. Given it was recent, what happened to the “enhanced cleaning” we are all exhorted to ensure?
As you say, we put the pets’ welfare above all else because that’s what we sitters are all about.
Hopefully, a never-to-be-repeated experience - stick with THS in future!
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Hey Toni it’s been a long time indeed … how are you both? We are well and sitting in Edinburgh at the moment, our first post COVID sit we’ve not been this “stationary” for over 14 years. So glad you are now in comfort mode once again and so sorry you had this awful experience … Take care, happy travels and it’s great to see you on the Forum you’ve a lot of great experiences to share.
Hi @Tonibme
I am sorry that you had to put up with this.
Dirty bed linen is my biggest nightmare. I would have walked for sure. Did you think about it when you walked in to the mess?
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We did the video call before accepting. It was in one of the best areas of the US, great neighborhood, no flags. With Covid, we never meet many of the homeowners - and these flew out the morning we arrived. When we have our car - we bring a set of our own bedding - it makes turnover day so much easier - I so glad we did!
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Good for you and so very sensible bringing the bedding.
I do understand that leaving the pets is impossible if the owners had already departed.
But even so it must have been a miserable experience.
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It frustrates me home owners have those little categories to rate on in addition to the regular rating - I wish housesitters got to as well
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Agreed, a sitter’s rating for different categories, such as cleanliness of home, could send a very clear message to other sitters and the HO without having to go into too much detail. I left a 4* rating once because mostly the sit was fine but the carpets (in a rented house) were disgusting (we kept our shoes on!) I made positive comments about the good things but it was still not obvious why I had deleted a *. To give an even lower rating would have felt mean because the owner (the tenant) was so lovely. I’m not sure I would have wanted to sit there if I had a young, crawling baby with me though.
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I agree. I would like to see a star rating system for different categories added to HO feedback submitted by sitters. Categories, for example, that included cleanliness, safety of location, temperament of animals, communication and other important aspects that sitters are otherwise hesitant to mention in their reviews.
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@Angela_L I know a new review system is in the making, but any approximate idea of when it will come into action? Some great ideas here! Thanks!
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Hi @Els we agree the ideas and feedback from members is so insightful we will update everyone as and when there is progress.
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I accidentally flagged this post and can’t seem to “un-flag” it! Sorry!
I wanted to mention that leaving a review about the homeowners is a “new” feature. We weren’t able to do that a few years ago - and never went back to write a review for older sits. Many of are repeat sits are no longer arranged through the platform but direct with the owners - we should be more diligent in having our homeowners go through THS (they complain about all the applications they receive) because of the benefits it affords both. Anyway, there may not be sitter reviews because it predates the rating system. What we always want is to be able to contact previous sitters directly!
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Interesting! So what is the year when sitters could start leaving reviews?
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My guess is early 2016. I’ve gone back through my reviews and I can see that I added homeowner reviews to the earlier ones around that time (whereas my first sit was December 2014). It’s likely I went back and did them when this was started as I’m generally prompt with my feedback.
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I agree, 2016 seems to be when I first did regular reviews of HO’s
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I’m so glad this is being discussed and agree that a system where you could leave a more segmented review, would be helpful. I’m guilty of leaving 5 star reviews when cleanliness or condition was an issue.
In my first sit I handled it by only talking about the pets and location—nothing about the accommodations. When I’m looking at a pet sit, if someone leaves a similar review, I’m now on guard. I figure there’s a reason they aren’t mentioning the accommodations. If there aren’t any inside photos or “stock” photos are used, that’s a red flag too. I’m now more interested in video conferencing to see if I can get a feel for the place.
Since I’m both a HO and a sitter, I invite the HO of sits I’m applying to, to look up my HO profile. It’s titled “Clean, Comfy Home in a Great Location”. Maybe it doesn’t matter but I figure if people see how I keep my house, they may be inclined to clean their’s before my arrival. Or at least they get a glimpse into my expectation.
On a weekend sit in Berkeley that had an iffy toilet and a kitchen faucet that was falling out from the wall, I left a cryptic sentence that I hoped others could pick up on. I said that it reminded me of an apartment from my college days. Then I went on to the great location and pet.
As a HO, I have my house professionally cleaned before a sitter comes and ask that it looks the same when I return. I’ve never been disappointed with the results. Having it thoroughly cleaned up front 1) reminds me to get rid of piles of paper/books, etc that may have become invisible to me 2) makes it easier for sitters to keep it clean.
It’s definitely a touchy subject and changing the sitter response into categories would help.
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Thank you @ShulasMom for excellent feedback from both an owner and sitter’s perspective.
Before I sold my home and became a full time nomad, like you I would give owners and sitters the “grand tour” of my home to let them see how I live, my profile copy is also positioned to manage their expectations. Honest communication is so important it can determine if the sit is right for everyone and help other members better prepare.
After 5 years of being in perpetual motion I have a home once again (a COVID decision making move) and the owner of the sit I have just finished had the grand tour when we video chatted, it not only shows how you live but is another connection in the relationship building process.
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Hi @ShulasMom 
I love that you have your house professionally cleaned before sitters arrive. As a housesitter, I’ve found myself in situations where I believe the HO has their house professionally cleaned. And I’ve often thought, I’d rather pay their cleaner to come clean before the HO returns than break my back to get the house back to the professionally cleaned standard. I’m very happy to keep things tidy and do light cleaning. But I often do long housesits - so by the time the housesit is ending, it could really do with that professional level clean. Would that be something you’d be ok with a sitter inquiring about with you? And, how might a sitter approach the topic without sounding like they’re not planning to keep it fairly clean throughout and just want that professional level clean for the HO return? Thanks so much!!
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