I posted the other day about a sit where the cat didnt come in til ages and i had to stay up and wait, and there was an outside camera i didnt know about. I did this sit because on the profile the person said she rarely got respite, and as im local seemed like a nice thing to do.
I thought about it and i left a 5* review because it seemed extreme to dock a star in any category. In the review i mentioned the difficulty getting said cat in and that she had spent time calling him. And turns out the camera was in the listing but i obviously missed it, or it has been added in since but as i couldnt be sure, didnt feel right mentioning it.
It wasnt a bad sit, but it was incomparable to any others i have done before. However i also didnt feel right docking a star just because i didny enjoy it as much.
Anyway, she has gone and docked me 2 stars in reliable and organised in her review of me! With no explanation in the review at all!!! Tarnishing my precious 5 star reviews across the board- i am really hoping this wont put future hosts off, what do we think?! I have 15 5*reviews otherwise.
I would have understood it in the self sufficient category as i did need her help to get the pesky cat in, but i am a ridiculously organised and reliable person so feeling a bit disappointed.
I know i need to get over it, but i had a bit of a weird feeling after i met her the first time and didnt want to do it, but thought its only one night. Really should have trusted that feeling!
It’s a five star review. Not sure why she dinged you those two stars. You could ask her privately, but I think any public response to a five star review other than “Thanks” is asking for trouble. I both sit and host. I read the comments and if I saw the five stars I might not even read past that. If I did and saw the deductions, it might make me read more of the reviews looking for hints as to why and/or read the reviews you wrote or ask you if you had an idea of what happened. I wouldn’t rule out a sitter with 5 stars review because one homeowner took off a couple of stars in categories. However, if you wrote that the star deduction made you feel unappreciated or suddenly got nitpicky about the sit, it might put me off.
There’s always a possibility that the dinged stars are a glitch. Or she was anticipating you knocking a star or two off. You could ask her privately. . . . As an aside, I thought TH did not allow one-night stays?
However there aren’t many sitters looking for one night sits - except perhaps when starting out and wanting to build reviews quickly or to fill a gap between other sits .
Might be a glitch as has been reported by others on the forum .
Overall the review of you reads well and I don’t think that it will spoil your chances of sits in the future.
I notice that in the review you wrote of the host you have said that “ I would definitely return “ - do you really mean that because I am sure this host will be inviting you back ?
I would definitely ask. If it is a mistake I think you can get THS to change it with the host’s permission.
If it’s not a mistake, then lesson learned, when a sit doesn’t go well for some reason, cover yourself when leaving a review for the other party so you can have some leverage and refer back to it if necessary to strengthen your half of the “he said/she said” argument.
Its not a glitch, i messaged her to ask why and she explained that it was because i left earlier than anticipated, despite her having said it was fine to leave after i fed the cats in the morning.
Eek i need to take ny listing off my profile… not because i mind people seeing but what if she is on here?!
I said i would return before i realised how fussy her review would be. I messaged to ask why the docked stars and the reason she docked the stars was because i left earlier than she expected, even though she said i could leave after i had fed the cats in the morning, which i said would be after breakfast!
We actually got docked a star overall for this same reason - ( we have 40+ 5 star reviews )
2 x cats for a six week sit . The hosts said that we didn’t need to be there when they arrived back - we agreed a midday departure as our onward journey was a minimum 4 hour drive . We left at the agreed time and got docked a star overall and for the organisation category because they stated in the review that they would have preferred an in person handover when they got back !!!
It hasn’t stopped us getting accepted for sits as their review doesn’t align with the 30 + other sits that specifically comment on how organised, reliable etc we are .
Most other hosts that we have sat for are quite happy if we leave before they get back so that they can get settled back home in their home after a long journey .
A brief reply to the review might be in order, although then it brings attention to the so-called “difficulty” that prompted a docking of 2 stars in a sub category that might be overlooked by potential hosts.
Something along the lines of “My apologies for leaving early, it was my understanding that we worked all that out and you were aware I was leaving before your arrival, having tended to the house and pets as we agreed”.
You’re bulletproof. Any host that leaves a negative review for a sitter with over 40 5 star reviews is painting themselves out to be an as… well you know.
There are over 200,000 members on THS. 10% would be 20,000 forum members.
Even if 2000 members were actively participating on the forums, that would only represent 1% of the THS member b ase.
A more reasonable guesstimate is that there’s perhaps a few dozen regulars, and maybe 200 are active at any given time, who post only occasionally and read only a few threads. That’s less than a tenth of 1 percent of the THS membership base.
Upon reflection, I think you deserve a pat on the back for doing a local one night sit @catscatscats24..
How about this for a review response …
“Thanks _______. I am glad that I was able to help you out by doing this one night sit for you. I realize they can be a real challenge to get covered.”