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It would be neat if we could put comments on profiles

Submitted by cyclopaedic on Fri, 2006-02-17 17:05.

It would be neat if we could put comments on each other's profiles, to let people know how good (or bad) a host or guest a member has been.

‹ distance to tourist sites Comment section from those whom we host... ›
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This is now available

Submitted by rfay on Sun, 2008-04-06 12:11.

This feature is now available - see this post.

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Hospitality issues: hosts and guests

Submitted by marymadison on Thu, 2007-09-13 22:21.
I have been a hostess for warm showers for two years now and have had 47 guests so far. All of them have been a joy and everyone that said they were coming showed up. I guess I must be lucky. I am an aging widow who still does touring myself and have never felt threaten. I guess I have always had a naive trust of the biking community both when I am out there biking and when I am being a hostess. I hope I do not some day regret my faith in humanity but so far so good. If I had a negative experience the first thing I would do would be to report it to Roger. I think the site is safe and is a real gift to us all. I would surely hate to subject myself to a rating system although there is definitely a "biker's grapevine" out there as many of these bikers tell me when they call or e-mail that I was recommended by someone who had stayed here before. I don't baby them, or wait on them, just give them a comfortable place to stay with a bed, bath, cooking and refrig. facilities, and sometimes companionship if I'm around. I also provide a place to work on bikes, etc. but all of that is spelled out in my description on this site of what I provide.
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You are an inspiration to us all

Submitted by rfay on Fri, 2007-09-14 23:23.

Your hospitality is an inspiration to us all, and is what Warm Showers is all about. Thanks!

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What about guests who ask to be hosted but never come ?

Submitted by Wilmotte on Fri, 2006-11-24 05:16.
What about guests who ask me to be hosted but don't show up and don't even call to tell they have changed their mind nor apologize for not coming. Of the 6 people or couples who asked me to be hosted at my home, only one came, and the others never called me or sent an email to tell me they wouldn't come and that I shouldn't stay home and wait for their coming ;(
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Be prepared for guest who never show up

Submitted by fipocula on Mon, 2006-12-11 05:22.
It happend to us as well. Since then, we do not prepare anything for the guests. That means, our guestroom stays clean and ready anyway and the bathroom also. But we don't provide our fridge or freezer with extra food. When guests dont come, we do not loose anything and we are even less disappointed. When they come, very good. We have always enough food for one night. If they want to stay longer, we take them with us to go to the market or supermarket.
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Rating or vouching for

Submitted by sanlevrier on Mon, 2006-07-10 11:32.
If you have any questions about this, take a look at couchsurfing.com....this can be used to decide if a host is a good match for you...it can also help to increase safety to know that others have stayed there etc...it also gets people used to being on the site... s
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comments? yes yes!

Submitted by senecja on Thu, 2006-11-23 05:20.
hey there, writting comments is a very good thing. i registered to ws recently but i've been using hospitalityclub.org for a year and a half (it's similar idea-to help all kinds of travellers find hosts). i hosted lots of people through this. it's very useful, and nice at the same time, to see what other people said about the person. on hc beside writting a comment you may mark 'trust him/her' and also 'i checked identity' (by seeing passport or something). it's really usuful to know if other persons-hosts/guests - trust a mamber or not. this works pretty good and i think its no use to put rating system. well, i wouldnt know how to rate people actually... it has also other adventage. you have list of your hosts/guests in one place. it's easy to find and contact again a person you met, especially if you are very active member.
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I think you found the place

Submitted by ®oger on Sat, 2006-06-03 09:42.
I think you found the place to comment on the hosts, .....Right here.....

Obviously saying that the last visitor smelled bad is not enough, one has to let everyone know the name and surname of this individual and also the reaction when the piece of soap was offered.

By the way the Warm Showers List is not a nursery or a geriatric center or a bicycle shop.

Please do no forget that, you may ask for something but never demand or whine when refused.

-Roger
Call now for a free gouda! That's right - have some cheese with your whine!
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private conversation

Submitted by franco on Thu, 2006-03-23 03:33.

I would suggest to add - on the member's profile page -a list of WSL members hosted by that member, so that any other member who plans a visit to that host can inquire previous guests about the kind of hospitality they received, and any other practical information and suggestion regarding the stay (what no to do, how to make the host more comfortable, information about the host's personality, and so on...).
Then I think members could speak out with more honesty and detail about their experience, without fearing to offend their ex-host or being misunderstood.

Of course that is only possible if guests report the names of their host(s)

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How would this work?

Submitted by rfay on Sun, 2006-02-19 20:54.

I've thought about this and wonder how it would work. We *could* do a rating system as well.

Issues:

* Why would you rate somebody who took the time and effort to host you? People are doing this out of the goodness of their heart, so it seems odd to "rate" them, and negative comments seem out of place. Now positive comments (the only kind I've ever needed to offer) might be great.
* If a guest was bad, it would be good to know about it, yes. But perhaps that should just be reported to Roger, who could correspond with the offending guest and delete their account. It seems like something like this should be resolved.

On the other hand, perhaps *good* notices about a guest would make the next host more comfortable.

I'm interested in your feedback about this, so bring on the comments!

-Randy

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comments on hosts or guests

Submitted by Yomontaria on Mon, 2007-09-10 02:21.
My main concern is safety. When I registered for this sight, the first thing I looked for was comments on the profile, which was not available. It was not that I wanted to check to see if the host baked cookies for me, but just to be sure the host was not a wierdo that just signed up for the sight and had not been reported as being a problem. The ebay model would be ideal if it was possible to implement.
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comments on profiles

Submitted by Velomad on Wed, 2006-04-19 10:53.

We agree with you Randy - everybody has different expectations but the simple fact that if someone has been generous enough to host someone - the guest shouldn't be complaining even if they felt that they could have had more.

There are of course always exceptions - maybe if someone said that they would host you and then changed their mind when you were on their doorstop (though there could be a very good reason) might be worth a comment, or if a single female cyclist experienced unwanted attention from her male host (this latter happened to me even though I was with my partner at the time. Not through the WSL I hasten to add!)

But personally we think that this is very unlikely to happen through the WSL. More likely the guest is likely to give offense - for example we had a cyclist stay (yes this time through the WSL) who despite our request not to bring meat into our house when we agreed to host him still did so. We were very upset at the time but realised that this was not malicious in any way - simply lack of thought.

We certainly don't like the rating idea but having heard of a cyclist who accepts hospitality and then steals from his hosts maybe a comment box might be worth adding.

But we support your idea that any negative comments should be referred to yourself and Roger before being posting as something which may seem serious to one person may not appear quite so bad to someone not involved.

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Richard and Stani
www.velomad.com

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rating not neccessary

Submitted by cyclopaedic on Sun, 2006-02-19 22:54.

Just a simple comment regarding anything special the host or guest did. I think we all try to do something nice when we receive or stay at a fellow cyclist's house. It could be as simple as:
Date+Name: "I had a great time staying at Randy's house. He gave me a nice guided tour of the town and his family cooked up an awesome meal that kept me well fuelled for miles the next day."

In effect, a person's profile becomes their on-line guest book that future contacts can view.

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