I just finished a pet sit where the woman left me a positive comment but only 3 stars total. 2 stars for self-sufficiency, 3 stars for organization and 4 stars in every other category.
I was livid. I made a huge effort to get to this woman’s small country village…I treated her to dinner the first night because she claimed to have “forgotten her wallet” at home. I paid her 10 euros in gas money when she drove me to the airport on the way back (and then had to shell out another 35 euros for an Uber since there were no busses running from the tiny airport).
I spent SO much time out of my day walking her dogs, cleaning her garden, cleaning her house, speaking to her (and listening to her moan about how she had no money!) --and then she went and left me a 3 star review! I mean…seriously?
The first night I met her she went on about how she had such great pet-sitters in the past, one couple who chopped driftwood for her and left her a fridge full of food. It made me uncomfortable, as if she were hinting at me to do the same…I felt very used from the get-go.
Anyway, I asked her why she left me such a bad star rating because I did everything right (and her comment was positive) and she said that basically I was annoying her during the pet sit by asking her questions while she was gone. She says I wasn’t paying attention when she gave me instructions (which is not true) - it’s possible one or two things slipped by mind, but she never gave me a welcome guide or any sort of written instructions (she never even had photos of the pet sit on her profile - i accepted it based on the positive reviews from other pet sitters). She responded “you disrupted me during my family vacation to ask me for Jim’s number” (this was when the water suddenly cut off at the house…). She also said I should have observed more carefully that the dog liked to drink water out of the bucket - and I didn’t refill the bucket. Umm is this that big of a deal? I always made sure that the dogs had enough water. If I didn’t fill up one specific bucket, is it that big of a deal? She should have TOLD me it was important if it was! It was like she was trying to find things to deduct my star rating. She said I also should have known where the brushes were kept and apparently wasn’t paying attention when she told me…I explained that I am a visual learner and when I’m fed a ton of information orally, it’s hard to remember everything (Lesson learned for me to write everything down from now on.)
She said she felt like I was taking advantage of her and just wanted a rent-free workplace and everything else came secondary. WTF?! SHE took complete advantage of ME! I did everything right (except maybe missing a few apparently important instructions). I mean…Is it a crime to be working while I’m there? Also…isn’t it the pet-owner’s guide to provide instructions and a welcome guide?
Bottom line: I feel like this review she left me was very petty and unfair. Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience? I am feeling very put off pet-sitting right now. I had a bad experience with my first pet-sit as well (where the woman wanted my ex boyfriend and I to pet sit for her for free after the pet sit was over and basically took complete advantage of us). Would really love to know if there is a way to filter out the crazies on this platform. Cause I seem to attract them.