Yikes!
I’m so sorry that happened to you and your pups. 
These sitters should be banned from THS.
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BTW, I’d suggest that hosts who don’t get many sitter applicants to choose from — like you didn’t, given circumstances — just pay to hire a professional sitter instead of potentially settling for a sitter(s) whom it’d be hard to check out.
Plus, when you’re going away for a longer stretch, more things can go wrong with your home and pets. If I were going to pick a sitter with no previous reviews and give them a shot, as you did, I’d do it for only a weekend, and not during a stressful time, as for a funeral, and not up to three weeks, for example.
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For a longer time, that is expensive. Possibly even more expensive than the damages that this sitter caused.
The HO said that there had been many applicants, but I guess not more than five (unless they deleted and unpaused). It seems that the sitter that they chose came as a couple, unclear if this had been expected.
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You’re not the best promotor of the concept of THS!
The whole ethos of the company is trust.
We all have to start somewhere and if a new trusted house sitter gets the opportunity to do a more desirable sit early in their sitting days then they absolutely should be allowed that opportunity -good luck to them.
Bad sitters, new or experienced, are not common. It is not fair to allow the actions of one bad apple to reflect on all new sitters to follow.
Paying cash for a sitter does not guarantee a good experience.
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Why would paying for a sitter make a difference? I recently did a sit for one month (not through THS) in Western Australia. The owner had chopped and changed dates after confirming me and I was unable to sit for a few days at the end so her good friend was taking over. However the friend got ill so the owner, at the last minute, got a local sitter, allegedly the best around, who was paid. Funnily enough that sitter had approached her and told her not to take on people like me who were “just looking for a holiday”. As usual, the dog (an 8 month old puppy) was my priority got a long walk in the morning, and I took him to a dog park every evening and rarely left him as requested. I discover that the paid sitter went to work every day (hadn’t told the owner) and didn’t take the dog out for walks, causing him distress and two escapes into a neighbouring building site.
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It’s not my goal to promote THS. Rather, it’s more important for pets to get good care, whether that’s via THS or elsewhere.
With a site like Rover, someone could check out reviews and typically have greater choice in a pinch, say what OP had with an unproven sitter who then ended up causing them the kind of grief that leaves them upset even six months later, as they mentioned.
THS can work out well in various circumstances, as most of us have experienced. But it doesn’t have to be the solution in every case.
And of course even pro services can let you down at times. That’s obvious to any of us who’ve lived in the world. But all a person can do is take an approach that gives them the best odds of success. In a case like the OP’s, using an untried sitter during a time of stress and at the last minute, I’d say having reviews on Rover are still better than going with an untried sitter on THS, all else equal.
Note: I don’t promote THS or anything else just because I might have something to gain directly or indirectly as a sitter. I just consider what’s the best potential outcome, period.
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I’ve read your post and replies…I also can’t see a problem. Yes, of course sitters are looking for a free place to stay…you’re looking for a free house and animal minder. It’s a fair swap in my opinion. As for them staying after you’d returned…you didn’t tell them they’d have to go…still no problem. You could’ve made new friends. Fabulous, no one should have too many.
Ah, I’ve just read the continuation….yes I’d be pretty cross too.
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Hi @Rlean808 and thank you for the additional information and clarifying what happened. I completely understand why you were upset and quite rightly so. I am sorry to hear that this happened and as sitters ourselves we always put the care of the animals first and take pride in doing an excellent job so to hear that this happened is very upsetting and I would urge you to be completely honest in your review.
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Paid or unpaid, some people will disappoint in either scenario. The thing about trust is that it’s not always rewarded, but when you give and receive trust and everything works well, it’s one of the ways to make the world a better place.
I’ve been disappointed and exploited a couple of times as a sitter, but wouldn’t make a post asking people to beware of xyz. We are all different, and there are risks in getting a pet sitter, but in most cases it does work out well for both parties.
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Now that makes more sense as to warning about the sitters.
What did you say in your review about them? What did you rate them?
I do hope you left a review so other can be saved from the same fate.
There have been many threads here about sitters not looking after pets. The lesson I take from all of these it to avoid any sitter who doesn’t have a number of good reviews and if you want to go further I would suggest limiting sitters to those who joined before the gold-rush period after 2020-odd. Find someone with a review from 2019 or before and you may be less likely to encounter someone only wanting free accommodation as advertised now by THS.
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What does changing dates have to do with sitters leaving the dogs alone for such a long period?
They would have done the same thing without the changes.
Yes, for uncertain dates it might be better to use a paid service, but nevertheless these sitters wer not reliable or trustworthy.
My comment has nothing to do with the sitters leaving the dogs alone. It was posted in response to the comments it quoted (the reason I quoted them) and the only information supplied by the OP at the time. It was several hours after I posted it that the OP supplied the information about what they actually were unhappy about. Since the moderators held my post for several hours before allowing it to be posted it is essentially out of sequence.
@cawosey Limiting to sitters who joined before 2020 would rule out lots of great sitters. Just because I joined after 2020 doesn’t make me a bad sitter. All the HOs who have selected me as their sitter would say otherwise, and have in my 27 excellent 5-star reviews.
Maybe look at experience and reviews instead of the year a sitter started with THS.
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You must have missed the first half of the sentence where the main point was to stick to people with a number of good reviews and that looking at the join date was an additional option so I’ll post it again here:
The lesson I take from all of these it to avoid any sitter who doesn’t have a number of good reviews and if you want to go further
In the end it’s up to the owner to decide what criteria they apply to the sitters they choose.
Yup, that seems logical.
@Rlean808 Thank you for sharing more information about your experience. I can see that you have received support from other community members, which is great! I know that you mentioned this happened a little while ago, but please do reach out to the Membership Services team here if you need any further help.
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Echoing few others… I read it as the owner not understanding that last minute changes are just as stressful for the sitter. I had a repeat sit after a lovely experience the first time, but the owner became ill, and had to return to see her doctor. My sit was cut short by about 70% and scrambled to find other lodging options, which cost me extra $2000 that I didn’t plan into my budget. It was in Iceland -one of the most expensive places on the planet. I feel sometime owners forget that TH is for equal exchange, and not an unpaid worker.
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As bad as this was for you, I don’t think the owner did get ill on purpose. I assume she would have preferred not to shorten her time away.
Sometimes life happens…
That’s so so terrible. I can totally understand how you still haven’t got over it, it’s appauling. 