Ah OK, I see. The magic of the app.
It is possible to see the most recent sitter profile. He has not received all 5 star reviews in the past and can respond with some aggression when challenged per a previous homeowner. My suggestions: no draft review to the sitter, deduct stars for the numerous unauthorized guests, do the review soon as the 14 day window is almost over.
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We had reason to mark down two sitters which then resulted in an official complaint. Since then we have listed 7 dates and had no applications - might be a coincidence but as prospective sitters can see the conversation between us and the sitters we feel it might be putting off applicants. In our case we had greasy finger marks around on the bedroom wall, dirty dishes put back in the cupboard, failed to water the garden and more seriously left a day early leaving my pets unattended. THS investigated and gave us 3 months free membership. I feel we have to warn prospective owners but is this putting off sitters.
It’s not an ‘all or nothing’ situation. When I’m discussing expectations with a sitter, I say I’m open to them having visitors with my prior agreement (eg a previous sitter had family locally. I was happy to say of course her elderly dad could stop by). I do specify no overnight guests.
Many dog owners specify the amount of time that their dog(s) can be left. That’s another option for you.
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I’m thinking if you listed those details in your review, quality sitters would apply and reassure you of that not being acceptable.
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@ChicagoGracie Leave an honest review but one based facts, not assumptions. You make a lot of assumptions.
•You were ambiguous and stated the sitter/guest could have people over to visit. Now you’re assuming that the relationships with the guests were “swipe right”, which is baseless. Put that in a public post and it could be deemed slander.
•You assume they broke a dish. You don’t know because you didn’t ask.
•You assume they overfed the dog. But you don’t know because you didn’t ask.
The overnight guest was a violation, but in order to leave that review, you need to explain how you know, which will likely cause a lot of great sitters to swipe left on your future listings. It will probably be a red flag regarding the trust terms, lack of full disclosure, and concern for nit picky dissecting of their comings and goings. You clearly didn’t mention monitoring the sitter/guest prior, so the bad behavior reads as 50/50.
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@lou28
The OP’s listing disloses the presence of the Ring camera. The OP clearly states that she wasn’t monitoring in real time but reviewed after the sit when there were concerns. The sheer volume of visitors and one being there for several days? No way is this 50/50 bad behaviour. I think it would be a travesty to omit this from a review. Future HOs.deserve to be aware.
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@MaggieUU Disclosing a ring camera, which was created to monitor theft and break-ins, is not the same as using it to monitor an invited sitter/guests comings and goings. Two vastly different purposes. Even ring cautions against such monitoring without disclosure. If HO’s have no shame in doing so, they should state they will be reviewing footage to use in their review of your sit. That makes it upfront, honest, clear. And making assumptions and conclusions in a public forum on why the guests were there - and the HO did state there could be non-overnight guests - is problematic. If posted that the person had hook-ups with strangers (which is what the OP posted here) in the home, could the other party take action? 100%. It’s not fact, it’s assumption. Thanks for your input but stating it is not 50/50 bad behavior is simply your opinion, not fact. I typically agree with your posts, not on this one.
Frankly, you’re being kind with a 3 star review.
If I set out specific rules about my home and pet’s care and the sitter broke it I’d not be so kind… especially not about strangers in the home, especially especially ones they didn’t seem to know well, and enough extra food to cause a dog to gain 2 pounds (over how long was this?? That’s big worry if short!).
I had a sitter in the past, long before being a part of THS for my eldest cat who both failed to do things they were supposed to and did do things they did NOT ask were okay and shouldn’t have been done… then lied about it. I left one heck of a Yelp review for that service (the person who watched him wasn’t even the person who I’d met as the assigned person…).
You set out specific rules. They blatantly broke them. Nope! As a sitter now and a past pet owner I find it appalling.
Calmly state the facts. Future HOs need to know what happened; Don’t worry about any back-and-forth in review replies, just don’t engage if you don’t wish to. But put out the facts so that future HOs are aware.
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@lou28
Fair enough, I didn’t anticipate that you would agree with me. Just keep in mind that your statement that it is 50/50 bad behaviour is also simply an opinion, not fact. I am a sitter only, not a HO I find that I tend to take the sitter’s side in most forum posts. Not on this one.
@ChicagoGracie please include the guest information in your review to help future HOs. No need to mention the suspicions of hookups (maybe those details are what caused your post to initially be declined)
PS I am Canadian so, yes, that is how we spell behaviour
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I’m a sitter and agree that this was bad behaviour. They knew about the ring camera and that you didn’t want overnight guests. A sitter who isn’t planning on doing this shouldn’t be put off by a review mentioning it. If you’re worried - you could always say that you don’t use the ring camera routinely to monitor sitters, you just noticed unusual activity. It’s a real pain when you feel watched to make sure you’re taking to dog out at the right time for exactly the right amount of time! But a sitter like that shouldn’t be on the site. I think you probably have a good case to make to member services to complain about the sitter.
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I agree that characterizing the short visits as “swipe right” is an opinion and one best left out of a review. The pet parent could just say three short visits under an an hour by people unknown to the petparent.
The purpose of those visits – showing the house to Aunt Ida who lives nearby, allowing the nice young man who needed to use a landline for reasons – is irrelevant. The point is these were strangers and the homeowner didn’t want strangers in her home.
How a petparent comes by that information – a ring camera or Mrs Kravitz across the street, is irrelevant.
IMO, petparents with ring cameras need to walk a fine line. I understand the objections to being monitored, To me sitters need to imagine they are being monitored in the sense that if you have party in a house, the neighbors are going to see something. If you are away for 8 hours and the dog pees, even if you clean it up, there may be a stain or floor damage or a tell tale odor, or other evidence. If you know the HO has ring cameras, you have to assume they are going to notice stuff – like strangers at the door. That’s different from a HO constantly calling and saying, “I see you left at 10AM. It’s 2:00 PM now, are you on your way home?” That’s monitoring. If I was a sitter and that happened to me, I would mention it in my review.
If I am a different homeowner looking at reviews and trying to choose a responsible sitter, it is irrelevant to me whether or not the neighbor said something like, “The couple who were taking care of your dog seemed nice.” And that’s how the HO discovered that someone was there that they didn’t know about, or whether a camera on the side of the house caught a different car. As a homeowner, I would want the previous homeowner who experienced that to put it in their review because it is very relevant information.
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If you haven’t already, I’d suggest you address this directly in your listing, asking responsible sitters not to rule you out.
Very well said @Marion 
@Marion Reread the OP’s post and comments in this thread. She clearly states that the sitter/guest is allowed visitors; the HO is very ambiguous in what she tells them. So, it is after-the-fact after reviewing footage and deeming those guest not ok. Very very subjective and unclear. Maybe the HO needs to take this as a learning lesson and in the future be clear, as others have suggested.
If a HO is going to choose to have neighbors spy or review footage afterwards, just state clearly that is part of the terms of the sit. Again, if there is no shame in such behavior, be open and clear. Why would HO’s object to this? It gives sitters/guests the opportunity to pass if that is something they are uncomfortable with. How cameras are being used is a fine line and using them to monitor a guest is becoming legally murky; exterior cameras are basically being used as if they are interior cameras. And posting details or footage regarding what you see on camera is actually illegal in certain U.S. states if no crime has been committed. So yeah, how information is obtained is relevant.
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Deleted because I realize I said what I needed to in the previous comment and I never suggested that “spying” on someone was okay.
Give @ziggy a break 
! I’m an older single and I didn’t know that !
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Houseguests without my permission is a deal breaker, that is why it is listed in my profile at least in two maybe three different sections!!! and its not like I’m against a solo sitter having a friend stop by, but I need to know who it is, name, a little background and Absolutely NO Strangers ever, ever, ever.
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Looks like you’ve already received really good feedback. I think as homeowners (and sitters alike) we should be giving honest reviews. We had a sitter who prior to our sit received all 5s. We gave them an overall 4 but rated cleanliness/tidy as 3 and pet care as 4. Had we heard what our neighbours had to say prior to posting the review, the sitters would not have received a 4. I didn’t discuss my ratings with the sitters prior to posting. When they saw the ratings they were livid. Called us selfish, unappreciative, etc. It was very stressful but we had the facts supporting our rating (very fair). I wouldn’t want uninvited guests in our home so I’d really like to know if a previous owner experienced this. Sorry for what your are going through.
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Regarding the “missing, possibly” broken dish. I’m a sitter, and I know things get busy at the end, and if the HO returns while we are still there.
Personally, I would like the HO to ask me if I knew the whereabouts of the dish.
But, I would also leave a note for HO explaining.