Are These Good Reasons for Dropping a Longterm Client?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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Hi everyone,

I’m new to THS but not new to home and pet care. I have several clients that I’ve worked with for over 4 years and some on the newer side. To my understanding, no one has been unhappy with the services I’ve provided. All of my review on the profiles for other sites I am on are 5 stars.

In the past, I have brought on new clients via word of mouth and using other sites but I finally joined the Trusted House Sitters community so I could meet to furry friends when I travel.

Upon creating my profile, I asked a few of my long term clients/familes for refrences to help streghten my profile.

One of them left me a 4-star review with no explainiton as to why I did not recieve 5 stars. They literally said:

“Raven has been watching our dogs (Staffie and Pit Bull for two years). She takes them to the park to play fetch and for walks around the neighborhood routinely while we are at work. She also stays at the house with them while we are out of town. The dogs are well loved with Raven and the house is tidy. She washes her linen and after her stays. She is communicative providing daily updates with pictures and videos. She has been a big help to our family and we are grateful for her! She often works with us and our diverse work schedules and last minute planning of trips out of town. Highly recommended for dog and house sitting!”

But again, they left me 4-stars, which brought my brand new account down to 4.5 stars. I know some of you may be thinking that it’s not a big deal, but I strive for 5 stars.

I would have apprecated a constructive feedback chat at some point over these two years if they didnt feel I was doing something right rather than negitavely impacting my new account here.

I am currently house sitting for them right now until July 7, which by the way was one of many last minute requests that I accepted for them because they are regulars and I figured they wanted to enjoy the holiday weekend away.

Additionally, in my experience with them, the family has emphasized that structure comes before love and cuddles, so much that they are require to have on e-collars whenever they are not in their crates (which I dont love). They are also required to stay on their beds when ever they are out of their crates. They cannot be walked together so it is literally double the work (and these lil babies are STRONG) but I stick to all of their training commands and routines as best as I can. Its honestly the most strenuious sit out of any other client I’ve ever had. These are paid sits from a different arrangement/website, but they have tried to short me on my pay a couple times. I usually correct it before agreeing to stay and we move on, but still. It really is a lot and there is more but I dont want to speak badly of them, and may have already said too much. They seem like pretty kind folks and the pups are soooo sweet when theyre listening. But idk yall, this one is really throwing me off.

With all of this, I think I am leaning toward this current sit being my last with this family but wanted to ask ya’ll, do you think I’m overthinking this one? I dont think I am and I’m always going to listen to my gut but just curious what yall would do.

I feel undervalued and a little disrespected. Should I ask why they gave me the 4-star rating or should I go ahead and let them know at the end of this sit that I wont be returning?

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Welcome @raven.nicole! Look, I fully understand why you’d be upset with a 4-star reference as a starting point, but I think you’re overthinking it a bit. You are just starting out on here, and we often suggest to pick up some local, shorter sits to gain a few real reviews. This will then hopefully bring the 4.5 stars up again. As for the clients who gave 4 stars and seem to be difficult, I personally would finish up with them, they seem to be more work than it’s worth.
I just want to make sure you understand: Trusted Housesitters is a free service - you don’t earn anything by sitting. Therefore we don’t call the pet parents our ‘clients’, as they don’t pay us. We call them pet parents or home owners.

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As you have sat for these owners frequently who have been very happy with your services and you both know each other well, why not mention to them on their return that you were surprised they had given you 4* on your reference. If it was a mistake (and mistakes do happen when clicking a star rating), then they can either contact THS to have it corrected, or get them to confirm in writing e.g an SMS where they say it should have been 5*. You can then contact THS with this evidence to have it corrected.

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Hi there,

Thank you so much for the warm welcome and thoughtful response!

Just to clarify for anyone else that may want to respond - I do understand that Trusted House Sitters is a free exchange, and like I mentioned in my post, I don’t only do this for compensation. I joined THS because I genuinely love animals and was excited about the idea of connecting with new fur friends as I travel. However I know that some that use this serivce, may also use other serivces that do reqire pay, as well.

That said, I’ve been caring for pets professionally for over 10 years — typically in paid roles with tips, but not always. In this particular case, the family I mentioned does pay me. I’ve already submitted a couple of local applications on THS and secured my first sit, which I’m really looking forward to, so I feel totally great about that part of my journey.

The purpose of this post though, was to address the feeling of being undervalued by a family I thought I had built a great relationship with and to connect with other sitters/homeowners that may have had a similar experience with families (or pet parents/homeowners/sitters) in their history of these types of exchanges.

You mentioned I was overthinking it, but also advised me to move on from this family because they sound like a lot more work than they are worth, which, in a way, validates the concerns I expressed. Seems a bit contradictory :confused: I know everyone’s experience with home care is different and that some of us do it a lot more than others (and for different reasons) so I completely understand how you could have misunderstood but either way, I’m looking forward to finding my own rhythm here as I navigate a new platform. I appreciate you taking the time to respond and share your perspective.

Happy Fourth to you and your family. Stay cool and take care!

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Hi Temba,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!! That’s what I was thinking, it could have been a mistake. That’s why I considered reaching out when they return to get clarity and feedback if it wasn’t and mistake. I really do strive to provide excellent service when caring for someone’s home. I take care of pets like they are my own and always leave the home cleaner than I found it so this was just confusing and a little disheartening. Additionally, due to some of my other concerns, and others I chose not to mention, I am leaning more toward ending the relationship, or at least cutting back on accepting the last-minute requests because they often make my life a little more complicated. Thank you again for sharing. Happy Fourth! Stay cool out there :yellow_heart:

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I agree with @temba. It seems to me it must be a mistake, as the wording is very positive. It might also be that they consider 5 stars is perfection and that either doesn’t exist or they think you would be perfect if your rates were cheaper or something like that.
If I were you, I would talk to them and clarify that. The rating can be corrected by THS. It has happened to me twice and they were very efficient fixing it.

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I think what I meant was: you are overthinking the 4.5 star average. I didn’t mean you are overthinking the family’s value of you.

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Definitely talk to them. Sometimes people do things quickly and she thought she clicked 5 stars and never looked before clicking off. After two years I’m sure she values your worth. If by chance she said, no I meant 4 I would end that relationship. You know your worth and I would also be disappointed after two years caring for these dogs.

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Two separate things to address from your original post:

  1. If you want to fix the four-star issue, then talk to those clients and see if there was a mistake that they’re willing to help correct.

  2. Then, once you’ve fixed that (hopefully), you can decide whether to cut them off as clients. You mentioned that they’d been iffy about paying you for at least a couple of past sits and you seem to feel under appreciated, especially given that their sits are high demand vs. other clients’. If so, why not replace them as clients, if you can get better ones?

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No you aren’t overthinking it, I’d be gutted too in your situation. But look at it this way, you’re never ever going to sit for them again, so why not just ask them why they marked you the way they did, they may have actually made a mistake and hit the wrong button. I know that may be feel a little awkward for you to do, but at least your head will either switch off to them entirely, or if they made a mistake they could try raising it with the support team.

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People who demand their poor dogs are either in their crate or bed the whole time, and use shock collars, are quite the opposite of my idea of ‘kind people.’ That’s cruelty. I wouldn’t sit with those conditions anyway.

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Two angles for my response : 1) We’re ALL perfectionistic (errrr, at least I am…) so anything less than the best SEEMS like a failure. It isn’t ;and, most people look at the big picture which includes all of your other reviews, your history and details in your profile.
2) You can end a sitting relationship for any reason you choose. If you feel disrespected, unappreciated, etc. that is valid and , if it is sufficient enough for ending a “ltr” then that is valid, too.

Sure, a conversation never hurts but I’m betting that, given your history and good relationship with this client that little to nothing would be gleaned from such. If they had deep, significant concerns they wouldn’t have maintaned the relationship for so long and they certainly wouldn’t have written a very positive review including a strong reccomendation.
TBH I’d have great concerns with the e-collars and being forced (!!!) to stay on their beds when not crated !?! That is horrible. Poor pups.
And their trying to short you on pay “a couple of times” says heaps about them . Once ? Sure we all lose track from time to time.
More ? Nope. This is scamming and complete disrespect for you and your services…especially in light of a history and their “gratefulness”.

Argh, just ANOTHER reason I HATE this constant star rating system we’re forced to endure at every turn these days.
I hope that you sit comfortably with whichever decison you make…because it will be the best one for you !

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Welcome to forum @raven.nicole !

Some think that the best mark is an illusion that hardly anyone can reach, and they will save that mark for the impossible, unicorn experience as @Newpetlover says.

I agree with @UKSITTER1 on

Personally, I would never take a sit with such pet practises.

I’ve had hired help in longer periods of my life. As an employer, I’ve always done my best to be fair, and as I’ve usually been happy, I have tended to give them more or given them raises yearly without them having to ask - because good help is hard to find, and I wanted them to choose me over other clients if a situation should occur. (I knew some of them had several opportunities. ) Which they did, it seemed.

Choose sits and people that appreciate you. It is hard to see great, hospitable hosts struggling to get a sitter while bad ones are allowed to keep on (re. topics where they are left off the hook without reviews). A good sitter is a blessing, know your worth and remember to have criterias for a sit yourself on THS.

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Most people sitting on THS are not also “full time” petsitters. They are trading pet sitting skills for travel accomodations. While sometimes people repeat sits at locations they want to be in, it’s not the same as having a “regular” paid client. The relatonship is different or should be. This is a mutual match.

I have no advice to give you about dropping a long-term client.

That said the 4-star reference may not be helpful to you in terms of finding sits on this site. References are really placeholders until you get site reviews but the can help you land your first sit. You might consider more “character” references from people you know even if you have barely sat for them. I know from experience that if you don’t like a reference, it is difficult to get it deleted. The person who wrote it needs to contact THS and tell them they want to delete it. I would recommend that you contact a human at member services and find out exactly what the process is.

Then I would recommend that you ask the longterm client to delete the reference. Don’t even try to get them to change it. Just give them a reason, for example: “I realize the culture of the site is very different from professional sitting, and this won’t be helpful. Would you mind writing to … and letting them know that you would like to delete your reference?”

Then make sure to get references from people you know well. The references mostly just need to emphasize your character – that you are someone trustworthy and easy to deal with who know how to care for pets. Make sure the people writing the references understand this. You don’t want a reference that makes you sound like a house cleaner because then people will expect a housecleaner. You want a reference that will make people feel safe about having you stay in their home.

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@raven.nicole, funny thing. After lots housesits and extensive use of THS Forum then I don’t think that we have ever seen the word “client”. Clearly a common word in many professional aspects. But seems fundamentally against the culture of THS. As experienced housesitters then if we perceive that potential Pet Parents take perspective of employer-employee … yep there’re out there … then we typically walk away as it’s often the tip-of-the-iceberg of expectation issues and relationship type.

So our question is what type of relationship do you seek? No judgement at all, simply an open question. Client relationships presumably paid compensation and you provide agreed services. Peer-peer relationships, i.e. THS, is a non-cash exchange and where both parties offer something and receive something. With THS, there is no employer or boss or client. Peer to peer.

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@raven.nicole When we first joined THS, with absolutely no pet sitting experience, we asked two old friends to write character references to get us going. They both wrote very positive things. However one gave us 5* overall but dropped a couple of stars in the categories!! When we asked why? he said he did not think it would be believable to give us a perfect rating! This was many years ago. We explained that with THS, unlike airbnb etc, anything less that 5* across the board would raise questions/cause doubt. He immediately contacted THS and upgraded the * ratings.
So in your case I would definitely explain this expectation to your client. A THS exchange IS different from a paid exchange. They obviously do value your services if they frequently call you back therefore, based on that continuity alone, they should give 5*. If they refuse to get the 4* upgraded to 5* then drop them as clients. They are not understanding/supporting you even in this very simple way of providing a 5* recommendation therefore do not deserve your ongoing loyalty. And even if they do change it I, personally, would not continue with them anyway as their treatment of their dogs does not sit well with me. And it sounds like you already feel unappreciated by them as well.
In any other field a 4.5 average would be excellent but unfortunately with THS nothing short of perfect 5* is acceptable for most people. It does make a mockery of the rating system, if you are expected to rate 5* everywhere for every one! But that is how it is at the moment. :woozy_face:

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When our friends joined THS on our recommendation they asked one of their parents to write a reference since they had frequently taken care of their home and pet when they went away .
The parent gave them
4 stars overall-as they said they didn’t think a perfect 5 would be believable :rofl:.

Subsequently they have had over 10 sits with THS and received 5 stars and glowing reviews for all of them .

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