I’ve just received a review from a sit which has left me quite upset.
When I arrived at the sit, I noticed there were cameras which I chose to ignore as it was last minute before they were leaving and I hate confrontation- also I’d just travelled from the uk to north Wisconsin so I was really jet lagged. There were 3 cameras and they said they only look in on them periodically. It wasn’t until later I looked into the rules and regulations. But where else was I to go? The HO had gone to Australia.
Anyway I gave them a great review. Totally cleaned the house as I always do - and my past reviews always state how clean I leave the house.
I got another sit which started the day after this sit finished, so I ended up leaving first thing in the morning in the same day HO’s came home.
My review stated I left the day before, which was incorrect. There was cat poo on the stairs and vomit throughout the house.
The only stairs lead down to the basement and I very rarely went down there. I did venture down 2 days before I left and there was no poo whatsoever on the stairs. As far as vomit is concerned, one cat vomited every second day, and I went over the floors with a fine toothed comb almost everyday.
Oh and I forgot to add rinse aid to the dishwasher so the dishes came out chalky….
Anyway, I’ve just had a sit I really wanted declined because of this review.
My options now are to reply and state my case. But I can’t find how to reply to a review.
Or
Ask them to change their review and point out the cameras were against THS and I believe law
Or
Report them to THS
Any suggestions? I’m so upset. I take great pride in how I leave. And I totally cleaned their car and left it with a full tank of gas. Plus left them with fresh cold brew and fresh vegan creamer, the kind they drink for their return.
In the web interface, go to “Past Sits”, choose the sit, click on “HO’s review of you”, choose “Respond to review”.
There is no hurry, no deadline. Try to sound clear and concise and completely sane and not upset. Let someone else read it before you post it. (I got similar criticism about poo.)
@Soultreader So sorry, you sound like a lovely, caring, considerate housesitter. It’s a pity the owners didn’t see the little extra efforts you went to. You did everything right. It helps me to think of things this way: “would I do the same again?” Yes? Then I’ve done things right and I can stop fretting (but it takes time to stop fretting!).
As for the review. I don’t think THS allows for reviews to be changed, so you might have to leave a reply. But WAIT. Wait until you feel cool, calm and collected before attempting a response. Responses should be factual and non-emotional, otherwise future hosts will think you’re a mess. Just hang on a few days, you can even practise on us and we will tell you if your response sounds professional. Good luck, the feelings will blow over eventually and the review will get buried.
Did you contact THS support during the sit about the cameras? Get pictures of them? Have written communication with the HO about the cameras? Did you unplug them? Not blaming you, but you definitely should have taken immediate action. They are against THS and believe Wisconsin state law (each U.S. state determines their own laws on such issues). Please file a complaint with THS about the cameras. Attempt to have the review changed, since it contains information that is not true.
When replying to their review, as @pietkuip stated, be careful with the wording and tone. You’re trying to basically put out a fire, not fan the flames. I left a 4* review for a HO. Not horrible at all, but I did mention some items that could use more clarity or agreement prior to confirming. Their response was almost raging, even contradicting the review they left for me. In the end, I think potential sitters will read their reaction and steer clear. They did much more harm to themselves than I did. That’s not your aim.
And I will add to please mention the cameras in your response to their review: interior cameras are NO NO NO .
Future THsitters deserve to know.
In future applications, you may want to call attention to all your great reviews and plainly state that you are happy to discuss any reviews on your profile for clarification and context.
It’s probably not worth asking them to change anything. The best thing you can do is respond with no anger in your tone or need for vengence. Start with the cameras. Admit that you didn’t realize they were against the rules, but want to begin by warning other sitters that they are there, and that you should have mentioned them in your review of the home. Then go through list of what is simply not true in their review.
You will get other sits. And this one won’t be noticed much. You can also bring it up yourself on chats before homeowners do.
@lou28,The OP states a review has already been left.
@Soultreader, did you mention the indoor cameras in your review?
Your efforts have been rewarded with hostility, and that’s going to hurt. Did the pet parents agree to your leaving in the morning and do you have that in writing? You can’t be held responsible for what occurs after you leave.
Did the cat who vomited every second day become ill during the sit or was this an ongoing condition? If so, was it declared in the listing? Dod the cat pee and poop outside the litter box during uour stay?
I would respond with something like:
'I am both saddened and shocked to have received this review, since I am a consciencious and houseproud sitter, as my many previous reviews will demonstrate.
I left this sit on the advertised sit end date, at a time agreed in writing with ***. One cat had a medical issue not declared in the listing and I was only advised about this on arrival. Since this cat suffered from frequent bouts of vomiting and faeces incontinence, I can only assume the issues of complaint must have occurred after i had vacated the property.
I am very sorry that ***** is unhappy, since I looked after her pets and home with the utmost care for the entire duration of the sit.’
P.S. Not a lot of point in mentioning the indoor cameras in your review response, since it doesn’t relate to the pet parent’s complaints. That really needed to go into your review of her, to make future sitters aware.
Considering the owners breached the terms of the site I would raise a dispute with member services and then you can also try and prove the review is factually inaccurate if they’re lying about when you left and you have evidence to back this up. We had a negative review removed because the HO was removed from the platform for breaching the rules so it’s worth a try. Hideous for you to have done a sit with cameras in situ, they sound like truly appalling home owners who shouldn’t be allowed any more THS sitters. You were in a vulnerable position being in a new country so I can see why you chose not to report them to keep the peace but I do think it needs to be flagged to member services so they can’t treat anyone else as badly in future.
Thank you for your response and for drafting a professional response without emotion.
This is a huge lesson for me. I was treated like “paid help” from the moment I entered their property, and it almost put me off this house sitting game. But then I thought of all the lovely people I have met and cared for their homes and pets.
@Soultreader, as ADF says, it’s worth trying to get this review removed as the pet parent didn’t adhere to the T&Cs on two counts: they had indoor cameras and didn’t detail their cats medical issues in the listing.
It’s ironic that it’s seemingly those very same undelared medical issues which have caused the problems referred to by the pet parent in her complaint.
@Happypets Nothing in my comments stated a review had not been left by the HO for the OP. My comments were regarding the OP leaving a response to the HO’s review. And that the should contact support to have the review removed, or at least nonfactual info removed.
Per @ ADF comments, if the S/G has support showing the cameras were present, the HO should be removed from the site and their review of the OP removed in conjunction. In WI the interior cameras would likely be a misdemeanor, or even felony, crime. Really serious.
I am sorry that you had such a hurtful experience! You don’t need pictures: Any written evidence, perhaps a text from you to the H.O. about the camera’s would suffice.
Please sitters, learn from this experience and document everything in writing. Send texts confirming your agreements with the H.O. It’s your only defense against the rare H.O. who turns out to be unscrupulous, dishonest, or delusional.
I’ve done close to 30 five star sits for wonderful HOs but had one bad experience that could have ended my relationship with TH. Only those texts saved me and proved that the HO were lying.
To answer the question about affecting future sits, I’m a HO and always read all of the reviews. Everyone is different and some people just don’t like giving a perfect score, and I take that into account with sit applications.
So rest assured, there is no way I would discount someone for not putting rinse aid in the dishwasher, or not taking bottles to the recycling, or any other homeowner tasks, my cats and their care are what is important.
This is so wrong in SO many ways.
We have only done one sit where we knew there were cameras (and another were we think they must have had cameras after the fact from comments made which seemed a little weird.)
Unfortunately at the time we didn’t know THS has an explicit rule banning cameras. We just were horribly self-conscious the whole time.
As it happened, neither HO complained about anything to us - but BOTH left no review (so we didn’t either). With hindsight I think they left no review worried we’d make commentary about the cameras.
Now I think if I realize a HO has left cameras on, since it’s in violation of THS rules, I will mask them & send the HO a note cc’ing THS and citing the THS rule, adding, “I’m sure they’re not on, but the presence of your cameras makes for a very uncomfortable stay so I’ve taped them over.”
