Applications with no reviews - Advice on what you request

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
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Hi everyone,

I’ve been using THS as HO for almost two years now and have never had any major issues. I wanted to get your thoughts on what’s reasonable to request from a pet sitter who has no reviews on THS or any other platform (e.g., other pet-sitting apps, Airbnb, etc.).

Would it be appropriate to ask for a copy of their ID before arrival? I’ve never requested this—or any personal details like full name or address—from my previous sitters, but they all had multiple reviews either on THS or other platforms.

I’d love to hear how others handle this situation. What do you usually do to verify a sitter’s trustworthiness? I know all sitters have to start somewhere, but would be happy to read your advice as HOs.

Thanks and kind regards,
Cristina

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You can ask for what you want. I suggest mentioning it in your listing, so it saves everyone time if they don’t see a mutual match.

I never was asked for ID, even when sitting as a newbie. The only occasions when I thought that reasonable: when I drove hosts’ cars or they needed to get me access to their building or community amenities.

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Not sure ID will really change much on their reliability or skills @mrsbls, but you could ask for it. Why don’t you have an open conversation with the potential sitter and say “Look, I really like you but you have no reviews. Is there someone I could chat with that you worked with or whose pets you have looked after in the past to get a better sense of your character?” Even that type of interaction will cement your gut feeling on the person & their suitability and fit. #nothingtolose

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Worth noting: Even decades ago, while I was in school, you could get a fake ID for $10 USD. Nowadays, technology is so cheap that I bet more criminals make their own.

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ID-papers and other can be so easily made or bought. Personally, I wouldn’t give out id-papers unless valid reason - for instance needed for insurance, guest certificate etc.

What is the purpose of asking for it - why do you need the info? THS has checked the ID of sitters?

THS has spaces to provide links to AirBnB profile and LinkedIn, so nobody should be surprised if one ask for that, if they have it. You could also ask for phone no and e-mail (which is a great advantage communicating during sit).

I’m not sure what the documents were supposed to do, apart from adding to a feeling (?) in that case the videocall might be more important.

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So this sitter dont even have a friend reference, or someone they have walked their dogs or a work reference? Im surprised to hear they were able to join without any type of reference. I remember when i joined i had to have some type of 3 references or wasn’t able to contine my profile. With that being said i think with out any type of reference i would ask for what you feel is appropriate. If this person doesn’t have anyone that can say one good thing about them I think will have a really hard time getting a sit. THS does a background check ,but that dont tell you anything about that person.

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The requirement for references seems to come and go with THS. Like when I joined two years ago, no references were required. I didn’t bother — just produced a robust sitter listing and included LinkedIn and Airbnb. With those, plus identity verification and background check in the U.S., I had no problems landing sits.

I started off with a few sits across the country from my coast and then quickly started landing U.K. sits. That included London and Glasgow.

There’s no sure-fire approach to getting sits, because everyone’s backgrounds and experience differ. And of course, hosts have different preferences and priorities. Some hosts are more trusting than others. Some want to give newbies opportunities. And so on.

For hosts, the more demanding you are, the more you’ll tend to limit your applicant pool. Like many sitters think it untrusting to ask for IDs, so such a host might actually filter out many experienced sitters without realizing it.

For instance, there have been recent threads in the forum and on the unofficial THS Facebook group with hosts saying they require liability insurance if no premium membership, or 20+ great reviews, etc. Or some hosts want telecommuters, because they think they’ll not leave the sit home or pets.

Personally, I have premium, 20+ reviews with five stars across the board, and telecommute full time. But I skip all such listings, because the hosts seem overly demanding or entitled. Like even if I telecommute, I’m not going to voluntarily pay to travel and then stay locked in someone’s home. :joy: I can always stay comfortably home and/or pursue reasonable sits and/or do nonsit travel. Many sitters can. We aren’t desperate.

I’d be perfectly happy to be skipped over by overly demanding, entitled hosts. Some want the equivalent of professional sitters, but just don’t want to pay for it.

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@Garfield . Yes THS have the identity of the sitters, but they won’t give that information to the HO if there are any problems. I would at the very least, want to know the sitters full name, and where they are from, if I was entrusting a stranger to look after my house and pets. Especially if they have no reviews at all.

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We have never been asked for ID by an owner before. The main occasion when it’s totally fine to ask for ID is if you are giving them the use of your car (we’ve never used an HO’s car).

We didn’t have any references at the start as I didn’t see the point in putting biased reviews from friends and family when we’re in our 50’s and 60’s with a lifetime of knowledge, HOWEVER we did put our LinkedIn details in our profile, to help give assurance to owners as to who we were, I’m about to remove the LinkedIn part actually, given the number of reviews we have now.

Usually I would say never ask for ID (because THS has our ID - even though I know they won’t share it with you), but if they are new sitters, you need something to help you feel a little more assured as to who they are, or what they are like personality wise. It’s totally natural to want that.

You obviously have a sitter in mind, so trust your gut and intuition about them, ask for their full name and why not mention your concern to them, and ask if they have LinkedIn, or similar with them being new to THS. Personally I wouldn’t share my facebook page as a form of verifying who I am, but that’s just me, even though some owners we’ve sat for have it via naturally becoming friends.

Ask them, if they are sensible and responsible, they’ll understand why you are asking given they have zero reviews, and if they don’t understand then they’d be useless at dealing with the slightest issue that arises during a sit, so that will speak volumes anyway.

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Easy answer. If you’re not sure if you can trust them, don’t accept them to sit for you.

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One pet parent asked for my home address and I gladly gave it to her. I would want to know about the person staying in my home and taking care of my pets. If that made her feel better than so be it. They also had a gated community and the guard took a copy of my license. He said he does that with all guests. I have been to other gated communities that do that. That bothered me with all the fraud out there but nothing I can do at that point. I joined one year ago and three references were required to make a profile. I didn’t know it changed. I wonder why. They did a complete background check on me. Don’t they do that with everyone? If so the host doesn’t need a copy of the license except maybe it will make them feel better.

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12

If they are local , you could suggest a meet up- they can come and meet you and your pets before confirming the sit . We have done this .

If that’s not an option definitely a video call to have a chat before you decide if to offer them the sit.

All sitters have already had their ID checked by Evident in order to have their profiles on THS . So that is not required again unless perhaps you will be allowing them to use your car in which case you may need to see their driving licence ?

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Love :heart: that. It is helpful. All things being equal… I’d choose you bc of that.

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I haven’t linked it in my profile as the profiles are open to all on the web, but I offer it in my application.

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15

Is this the situation you currently face @mrsbls or a hypothetical situation?

If after reading their application and profile you feel they could be a good fit, I would be messaging them saying this. However, you would hope they understood that as they are new to THS and therefore have no reviews, you need either a couple of references (which used to be compulsory) and/or a Linkedin or Airbnb link if they have those. Setting up a video chat would also be advantageous to gauge how you both responded to each other.

As others have said, sitters do have to meet certain verification levels, with the US making a Background Check compulsory. With identity fraud a huge issue, I would not be comfortable providing a copy of my ID beforehand but would be happy to show it in the video chat. Does it though verify their trustworthiness?

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I usually have a choice of sitters so I tend to decline people with no reviews, but a couple of times there was something in the application that made me feel a connection. If there were a reason I sensed the sitter would be a good match and they didn’t have reviews, I would absolutely ask for a linkedin or some other “real world” thing I could see. I don’t know what I’d do with a driver’s license frankly, and I wouldn’t ask for one as that could set up alarm bells, but something that is already publicly available would be another matter.

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Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. I received several great pieces of advice, and I appreciate your insights. The importance of a video call is clear—I always schedule a quick video call with potential sitters before confirming.

As far as I know, reviews are not mandatory to create a profile, though I believe they can sometimes be a bit biased. The suggestion to check LinkedIn was a great idea, as was @Cuttlefish’s recommendation to ask if there’s someone I could speak with for further reassurance.

@temba, I’ve encountered this situation both in the past and currently. Previously, I always opted for someone else that also liked, but had reviews or references, when faced with this dilemma. That’s why I was seeking advice, and I found the input here really helpful.

Thanks again for your support!

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At the end of the day, we all started out with nothing. So it is so good that you look for solutions. I think the general rule of meeting each other through video call, talking things through and trusting your gut feeling is most important. In general in life - gut feeling has served me well - or at least tried to warn me…. :face_with_raised_eyebrow::smirk::smile:

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19

Only once have we been asked for ID: a German couple in France wanted us to send pix of our passports. We thought it odd, but loved the location of the Sit, hadn’t done many yet, so we did it. When we arrived and it was clear we were exactly as/who we’d said we were, they laughed about it and said we must think they were crazy but they’d had an experience where someone turned up other than the Sitter agreed to!
That said, there are other things you could ask for that would tell you a lot without asking for something sensitive like ID. Two we’ve provided: LinkedIn Profile, TripAdvisor Profile.

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Why not have a video call with them and see if you “click”?
Sometimes it’s best to rely on instinct.

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