What kinds of thingsShe accused me of causing plumbing problems (in a house with 50+ year old plumbing, and evidence of a 2nd floor leak that she admitted to me was a problem when I contacted her, then blamed me in the review for it. The wackiness goes on, she did not post most of it but what she posted was pretty damning- she claimed (last in a list of complaints, that her dog lost weight (I soaked her food so she would eat all of it each day after the first full day leaving the food dish half full- and no response from HO travelling in Egypt). I did reply calmly AND I suggested she use the member dispute process, and we exchanged a few more messages, during which she blamed me for REALLY crazy stuff- for frost on her 3 season porch windows!? (after 2 weeks of 40-50 degree temperature swings in the midwest, every one expects porch window frost so this was utterly baffling.) She also complained that I left her kitchen a mess, but I cleaned it pretty thoroughly the day I left- it turns out she was referring to DURING the sit, when her son stopped by to examine the plumbing and found the kitchen a mess because I was in the middle of cooking all my food for the next 2 weeks (a giant pot of soup).
It is just wacky. She said she felt taken advantage of. I pointed out that I just watched her dog for almost three weeks so she could take a Nile cruise. And the only facts she has straight are that I used some of her sugar and cooking oil. Beyond a bad review to accusing me of damaging her house and harming her dog.
Should I push her to pursue a dispute, so that she will need to provide evidence that I am at fault, or should I just drop it. I did the calm, factual and reasonable response to her review. and I am about to rent an apt. so no longer will be house-sitting full time, but hope to use the site again a few times a year, plus I just hate that people will think I am terrible when the reality is that the poor woman may have some dementia going on. She does not seem to understand that I LIVED in her house in exchange for the dog care, and in an old house in winter there simply are risks. (I know- I lived in that neighborhood for 12 years, so: ice dams, icy sidewalks, old plumbing and electrical in 100+ year old houses- oy!) But I would not let somone use damaged plumbing without warning them first!
No one likes to come home from a long exhausting trip to plumbing problems but I just cannot see how a reasonable person could blame me for a leak she said she knew existed AFTER I saw some drops of water from the kitchen ceiling after taking a bath and contacted her immediately. I used the dishwasher twice and that broke too- she says she rarely uses it and THAT can cause it to break. She told me it cost her $800 to replace. Again, I suggested she use THS member dispute process but she did not. Should I push her to do that? Not sure it’s purpose, but in this case hoping that her lack of evidence and her far-out claims might prompt them to remove the review (if they EVER do that-they said they don’t unless it is non-PC- even if it contains lies. )
I’d just drop it. It sounds as if you believe that, if the HO pursues an official dispute, THS will explore evidence and exonerate you. I suspect it’s more likely that you’ll be suspended pending investigation and things will get a whole lot more nasty. They almost certainly will not remove her review. The best thing you can do, IMHO, is to leave a calm and factual response to the negative review, then put it behind you.
Get another sit ( last minute/ short local ) and the negative review will soon be buried among 5 star reviews. Any host reading your reviews will see that the negative review looks out of place and draw their own conclusions.
We were invited to a sit last year but had to decline. It was in a lovely home with 2 gorgeous cats and the HO communicated well, so we were sorry we couldn’t help. Out of interest, I later checked reviews for the sitter who did confirm and was shocked to read the HO had left a damning review, claiming the sitter had ruined her ceiling because the bath in the room above had overflowed. The sitter’s review confirmed the ceiling of the room below the bathroom had been damaged but claimed it was due to leaking pipework, and stated the HO was attempting to pursue her for damages.
Curious if she had other reviews or were you the first sitter. I think you should contact members dispute to have the review removed. If she doesn’t have a lot of 5 star reviews you have a better chance of having it removed.
I would respond to her review and leave it at that, unless she tries to get you to pay for damages. It does sound like she was unreasonable (you can’t have caused the leak and normal use of a dishwasher would be expected unless she told you specifically not to use it). Dogs can be off on their appetite when their owners are gone, she should have responded to help you figure out why and what to do.
But really not much to be gained from engaging with her any further.
That is what I am hoping. I will have 2 good reviews later this week.
I have wondered if people will blame a sitter in order to get some work in their house paid for??!
One thing I have learned from reading these is that sitters ofren leave good reviews regardless of the circumstances unless things were really bad. So not sure I always trust sitter reviews to reveal the whole story. It may not make sense with the THS system as I am not sure HO check my reviews of other HOs- but if I saw a sitter complaining about sits I might not be inclined to use them.
I hope everyone is right that the poor reviews will be buried, the rest are all 5 star (one 4 star from a HO who told me I did not have to clean thoroughly b/c her housekeeper was coming the next day, and then dinged me for not leaving things spotless.
THS has a pretty firm policy about not altering reviews except in exceptional circumstances. There is no clear list of what these circumstances are, but it appears it would have to be something pretty egregious , like saying something racist for example.
You definitely do not want to encourage her to open a member dispute against you as this will will do nothing to change the review.
That is designed for serious complaints and can put your membership in jeopardy. While I’m not sure if they do this in every circumstance, some siitters who have experienced this on the forum have said their membership has been suspended while the site was investigating the complaints. And I’m sure you don’t want that.
I know it can be frustrating when there are unfair and untrue claims in the review. But that’s what the responses are designed for and that’s the best people can do to refute them.
Either party - host or housesitter - can initiate a member dispute.
But we’d agree with wise counsel from other THS Forum members. Take deep breath; forget about it; move forwards and smother challenging review with plentiful positive reviews. Keep smiling - plenty of great sits out there
So I gave her a good review (before I saw her review) because this was a good sit. She was reasonable when I contacted her about problems, and her son was involved to keep things in the house from becoming bigger issues. I only found out she was unhappy when I saw her 2 star review, a few days after leaving. She did not even contact me to discuss any of the issues, at least one of which (that she THOUGHT her dog lost weight) I would think a reasonable person would just want more information so they could take the appropriate action. Was the dog just stressed with the owner gone or was there a more serious issue. Instead she just implied that I had neglected her dog out of the blue in the review several days after she arrived home. I really had no clue that she was utterly unreasonable.
I suggested she pursue a claim because that would require evidence, and that might force her to rethink her accusations and hopefully remove the review, but it does not seem it works that way. Still, accusing me of harming her house and dog- the things I was there to care for, does seem like a serious issue.
In my discussion with THS CS, I was explicitly told that only racist, sexist, ageist or homophobic etc. content would be removed. No matter how untrue or nasty the rest of the review- only the stuff that is not PC will get taken down.
Thank you all SO much for weighing in on this one and helping me let it go. I really enjoyed her sweet little Corgie and I loved being back in my old neighborhood. It was Christmas and I made cookies and Stollen (I even left her a loaf- before I knew that she did not really seem to understand than in exchange for watching her dog for almost 3 weeks that I was going to LIVE in her house. Yes, I cooked and baked. I washed dishes and bathed. My son even came over to watch a movie with me (she gave permission for this but later said she did not).
I know this is all REALLY over the top that I did those things. What is worse is that I used her eggs (I replaced them but she still complained) and a bit of avocado oil. Can you BELIEVE the AUDACITY.
Seriously I wonder if she has a bit of dementia coming on. She is active but elderly.
Write a measured response to the review that includes things like “Having been in very regular contact with you during the entire sit this review is a total surprise. 1. Dogs can go off food when they’re missing their owners. 2. You told me the ceiling leak was an old problem you were aware of. 3. There was no mention of not using the dishwasher. 4. I replaced items in the kitchen that I used. 5. You appeared entirely happy with my care at all times. (& so on) It would have been fairer & more honest to discuss any of these “concerns” when I raised them with you and not in far hindsight. Or similar. Don’t be defensive but do state the truth. And then walk away and don’t look back! #onwardsandupwards
This makes sense from a management POV- staff cannot be mediating every disagreement. I wish there were a bit more help though. The HO seemed to have no concept that having someone else live in your home for 3 weeks cannot always go perfectly. After the plumbing issue the first night, EVERYTHING was some kind of malfeasance. I may has well have emptied her bank account and tried out all her adult toys as far as her reaction went.
