Concerned About Trusted House Sitters' Vetting & Customer Service – Advice Needed

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
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Hi everyone,

I’ve been a Trusted House Sitters member for several years and have generally had great experiences—until now. I recently had a very unsettling situation that has left me questioning both the vetting process and the level of customer support provided by THS.

A few months ago, I confirmed a sit with a seemingly lovely couple who had an autistic son. We did a meet-and-greet at my home, and while they arrived about 30 minutes late, they seemed kind and genuine. They had several great reviews so I confirmed them for a sit that was scheduled to start next week.

Fast forward to last week, I received a message from the woman claiming that her son had accidentally deleted her THS account and she wanted to ensure that the sit was still confirmed. I checked at the time, and it was, so I didn’t think much of it.

Then, yesterday, I suddenly started receiving new applications. When I checked the platform, their account was inactive. I reached out to them, and they told me they had been “going back and forth” with customer support, trying to reactivate it. They sent me a screenshot of a new account they had supposedly created, but I couldn’t find that one on the platform either.

At this point, I contacted THS customer service myself to understand what was happening. Initially, I was just told their account had expired, and there was no record of their support history. After pushing for more information, I finally received an email stating that they had been permanently removed due to a serious complaint (presumably from another sit).

This is where I’m really shaken—I have no idea what that complaint was about, and my imagination is running wild with worst-case scenarios. The fact that they blatantly misled me makes it even worse. I know I caught this in time, and I’m grateful for that, but now I feel like a paranoid homeowner. I live in a pretty desirable area and, thankfully, I’ve had a few more applications come in, but I can’t shake this uneasy feeling. I don’t want to unfairly judge new applicants, but I also don’t want to ignore my gut instincts.

I actually have a meet-and-greet scheduled tonight, and I’m not sure how to handle it. I don’t want to come off as overly suspicious and scare good people away, but I also feel like I need to be much more guarded after this experience.

For those of you who have been long-time members, how would you handle this? Should I escalate my concerns further with THS? Have you ever dealt with something similar? How do you balance being cautious without becoming overly paranoid?

I’d really appreciate any thoughts or advice!

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If these sitters have been kicked off the platform, I’d be inclined to send a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ message, citing that they’re no longer THS sitters. End of. Sounds like you’ve dodged a bullet.

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So this is a meet and greet with a new sitter? I would just say right away that you’re a bit rattled because… and if your questions seem intrusive that is the reason.

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Hi @Yammytown, welcome to the forum.

I am really sorry to learn what happened to you and I think THS should have got in touch with you and informed you about the situation instead of activating your listing without your knowledge. I think what they did is wrong.

Regarding your fears, just try to think that you have successfully been using sitters for several years and you will probably continue doing so. This was just an unfortunate case and you’ve dodged that bullet. I think prospective sitters will understand your concerns and will put your mind at ease.

Good luck.

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Welcome to forum @yammytown !

I certainly can see why you are upset. I think you should have gotten a message from THS when your confirmed sit was no longer a THS sit.

The system did work in a sense, they were kicked off the platform and you got to get new applicants. I would assume that THS can not share personal data with others, and can’t share privileged info of members with other members. So I would guess they can not give you the reason.

People are people. We have no guarantees. Whether it be a friend, a spouse, a colleague or a petsitter - we can all be surprised or shocked even if we thought we knew someone closely for years. Of course one would be rattled afterwards and wonder if one could ever trust again. I have a vivid imagination and can surely relate! :flushed_face: But in the end - most people are nice people, and not trusting again would take away so many great experiences.

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1 100% agree!

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If the sitters are no longer members of THS, there would be little point in attempting to escalate. What more can they do, realistically?

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I saw your post on the FB group. You have a huge number of replies there but incase you didn’t see my comment- I’ve copied & pasted here..

I would absolutely recommend you do not choose brand new sitters with no reviews on the site. With your recent very unsettling experience its better not to take any risks. We all have to start somewhere and everyone needs to be given their first break. But in your case- let someone else give the newbys that break! You would feel more reassured choosing some one with a strong track record of trust and reliability - like us (100+ 5* reviews!) There are so many experienced sitters on the site. Choose one of them- if you can- to restore your faith in good sitters. Good luck!

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I agree THS can do nothing now regarding @yammytown but they could and should make and enforce a protocol to address these situations in the future and make sure HOs are aware that they no longer have a THS sitter instead of reactivating their listing without their knowledge.

That protocol should include a similar treatment for sitters with confirmed sits for HOs who have been expelled from the platform.

It would also be good to know if the other party’s membership has expired and not been renovated.

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Good advice given by @Lokstar . It’s probably not the best idea for first time HOs to host newbie sitters, since the old phrase ‘blind leading the blind’ springs to mind (though I doubt that is very PC, nowadays). I’d also suggest opting for an experienced sitter who has numerous 5 star reviews (and actually read those reviews, to ascertain whether previous HOs have identified great pet care, regular updates, excellent communication, home left in a clean and tidy condition etc). Once you know what to expect from good sitters you’ll be in a better situation to discern whether or not to take a chance on someone who is new to the platform.

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I totally agree, @Newpetlover . I may have not properly interpreted the comment made by the OP, since I thought it related to escalating her concerns about the initially appointed sitters.

When sitters are kicked off the platform, you’d think/expect it would be standard practice for THS to inform HOs who have outstanding confirmed sits with those sitters. I’m shocked to learn that isn’t the case!

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I also feel THS should have a duty of care to their members.
If a membership expires or a HO or sitter is removed from the site the least they can do is advise their members if future confirmed sits are showing.
The OP was very fortunate to have discovered her intended sitters were no longer members.

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Hi @yammytown

Sorry to hear about this - I can totally understand why you’re feeling shaken.

I had a look through your conversations with Membership Services, and while I can’t go into specifics, I can see that one of our team did reach out to any members who had an agreed sit with the person that was removed from the platform.

It looks like you didn’t receive the initial email that was sent to inform you about the change in circumstances, and that we had to resend the email to you.

I can see that we’ve asked the agent who emailed you to get back in touch with you, and I think that they’re best placed to help you understand the process we use in this kind of scenario.

We have some really lovely sitters here on the Forum, so I’m hoping that they will help restore your confidence with their advice and experience. Thank you to those who have responded so far1

Jenny

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I think they should use an alternative means of communication, one that made sure that the member has got the message. Emails can get misplaced or lost in spam.

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If they don’t have an active account, they can’t sit for you through THS, and whatever the drama is, or the truth of it, you can politely let them know that for this sit at least, you aren’t comfortable going forward outside of THS. It’s not personal. They don’t need to explain anything. You don’t need to justify your decision.

I’d move on after that. I wouldn’t expect THS to give you any more information about what happened.

I don’t think this type of thing happens often. As for being “overly suspicious” it’s your home and your pet and you have a right to be cautious. I often choose sitters who have some easily findable online presence or offer access to linkedin, and that’s in additon to reading both the reviews they’ve received and the ones they’ve written. THS isn’t a service, it’s a matching site, and beyond an ID check in most of the world and looking for actual criminal records in the US, THS doesn’t do vet its members. This goes for both homeowners and sitters, so we are taking risks. You do what you can to mitigate those risks, but if it’s too much you can hire a local sitter with no bad google reviews and great local reccommendations or you can board your pets.

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I agree. Personal emails have become fairly useless due to so much spam. THS has phone numbers as well, and it’s own messaging system. This is super important information that needs to get out to people. Using the THS message system and texting people that there CRITICAL information about an issue with an upcoming sit would get there attention.

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Happy to pass that along @Newpetlover - I’m not 100% sure of the process but I’ll check as I can see how a phone call might be helpful in this sort of situation.

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Surely there should be a way to automatically contact any host with an outstanding sit booked if their sitter is removed for any reason. Making sure the outreach is acknowledged? Same as I’d expect if a host gets removed from the platform.

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Hi Jenny, I want to let you know that I never received any email or phone call from your agent. I have checked my junk/spam folder several times and there is nothing. Very disappointed with the lack of communication and followup.

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Hi @yammytown, I’ve checked in with the team to find out a timescale for when you should expect to hear back from the team. In the meantime, if you do hear from them, please feel free to let me know. :slightly_smiling_face:

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