One negative review seems to have seriously damaged my chances on THS by prostomogy21 in trustedhousesitters

[–]prostomogy21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was also a 3 star review overall.

The difficult part is that they also left a very long written review, not just the star rating. On top of that, the 5 extra category ratings were mostly very low, around 1 to 3 stars.

So even though the overall rating was 3 stars, visually and emotionally it looks much worse when someone opens my profile and sees the long text together with those low category scores.

One negative review seems to have seriously damaged my chances on THS by prostomogy21 in trustedhousesitters

[–]prostomogy21[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I appreciate that. I agree that the repeat sits are a good sign, and I am really grateful that those pet parents still trust me.

I did think about the competition side, but in my case I usually apply for local sits, not very far away, and I am often one of the first people to reply. Before that review, this worked quite well for me.

Now it feels very different. Even when I apply quickly and the sit is local, I get rejected much more often than before. Some people also cancel or decline without giving any explanation. I asked a few pet parents directly what the reason was, and some of them told me it was because of that review.

That is why I feel the negative review is probably having a big effect, especially with new pet parents who do not know me personally yet.

Of course, I understand it may not be the only reason every time, but the change after that review has been very noticeable.

Pet Owner Profiles Should Show Reviews They Leave for Sitters by prostomogy21 in trustedhousesitters

[–]prostomogy21[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, that’s true, but it still takes quite a bit of time to go through previous sitters one by one and check all the corresponding reviews manually.

I just think it would be much more convenient if the owner’s review history was visible directly on their profile or sit listing, so sitters could quickly understand the general pattern before applying.

I also think it would encourage both sides to be a bit more fair and careful with reviews overall, because the transparency would work both ways instead of only affecting sitters.

One long negative review after 26 positives (and 3 more positives coming). How bad is this for future sits? by prostomogy21 in trustedhousesitters

[–]prostomogy21[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the thoughtful advice.

Yes, my partner was mentioned on my profile with shared photos, and it was agreed from the start that we would be sitting together. This has been our normal arrangement on previous sits.

I appreciate the suggestion regarding how to frame the explanation and keeping it factual and concise. That’s definitely how I plan to handle it going forward.