I recently had a sit, mom and 8 yo son, that were here for 2 weeks. After settling back in, my husband and I noticed two broken up lights and a broken garden statue. I recently had time to review the video footage from our outdoor cameras (which they are aware of and it is noted in the guide) and sure enough…her kid purposely kicked his soccer ball into them on multiple occasion. You would think he would have stopped after breaking the first one! He even kept kicking the ball into the fence and our palm trees (causing the pokey things to chip off — I don’t know the formal name). I also saw him standing on our outdoor table and sitting on our dog lounge chair (there is a weight limit, and he is above it!)…fortunately they aren’t broken.
There is also footage of him throwing rocks on our roof. The rocks could have broken a window and will clog our gutters.
I reached out to the sitter via text and sent her the links to request payment, but she hasn’t responded (sent via text and whatsapp). I also sent her an email through THS, no response. I reported this to THS (with the videos) and awaiting a response.
Any advice on how you handled this situation? There are plenty of things I learned about this sitter after I reviewed her (from my neighbors and the videos) that I wish I knew so I could have noted it in her review.
One lesson learned: no more kids at the house!
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Not a happy kid, then. I feel sorry for him. Not going to school, nobody to play with.
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Had you already left a review by the time you noticed the damage? Did the sitter have anything to say about it when you contacted her, or was it just a request for payment that she ignored?
If it’s too late to include this in your review, I would push hard with THS to amend the review. This is someone who should not be housesitting. I kind of doubt they will do it, but if they do, I’d focus only on the damage with video proof - not any hearsay by neighbors.
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It is unfortunate that you found out about your damaged property along with this sitter’s behavior prior to your submitting your review. And unless THS will amend your review, as @belluca suggested, future sitters will not know about the experience you had with this sitter and her son.
Since she is not responding to your texts or taking accountability for her son damaging your property, you did the right thing in reporting her to THS. Afterall, you gave her an opportunity to make things right by reimbursing you, but instead she has not responded.
Since you have reported this to THS, not sure what else you could do. Hopefully, she will do the right thing and reimburse you for property damage.
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I did leave a review upon my return, unfortunately, as I found out so many negative things afterwards. In the future, I will wait.
I sent her the videos that clearly show her kid breaking these items and I sent her the link to show the cost of the uplights and told her the cost of the garden statue (I bought it from homegoods, so no link and I don’t have my receipt, but it was $40 so not expensive)…she did not respond to any of my messages.
She should be able to sit if this behavior continues and I hope THS does reach out to her and note this in her records. In the event it happens again, she should be removed.
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@zonx78 Perhaps a lawyer or the police will have better luck getting a response from the sitter?
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@Crosswords_and_puzzles
I think the cost of any action by a lawyer may be higher than the cost of replacing the damaged items and because the damage was done by a minor, the police wouldn’t be interested i feel either.
Its another moralty case sadly, and some people have no morals.
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@zonx78 I agree with @belluca file a member dispute with THS and push hard to amend your review. Stress the fact that you have video evidence to support your need to amend your review to include factual honest information of your experience with this sitter. This is horrible for you and your personal property has been damaged with no restitution from the sitter. In my opinion this instance should deem the sitter not qualified to be on the platform. She should be removed! How many homes must this person and their kid damage before THS takes action!
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@zonx78 welcome to the forum .
From what you have said this family shouldn’t be sitting on THS as they didn’t show respect for your home. There are many families who house sit on THS who take great care of the pets and home and are asked back for repeat sits .
This is the process for raising a member dispute and the only way that THS will investigate and take appropriate action against another member (which can include removing a membership from the platform )
To do this you will need to send an e- mail to support@trustedhousesitters.com
Title : Member dispute
State your membership ID number,
a detailed explanation of your complaint and include any relevant evidence that you may have. Supporting evidence THS accepts are:
- Time and date stamped photos
- Time and date stamped videos
- Screenshot of email, texts and any other messages on our platform that is in relation to the sit (it must be a full thread conversation, not one message screenshots)
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Before any of those, I might contact social services. At least the boy did not kick his ball against the pets. But in Sweden, his situation (loneliness, boredom, isolated from peers, not attending school) would be a reason to do an orosanmälan, a report of concern. And then professionals can sort it out.
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@pietkuip
Wow, interesting to consider!
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@Hallt64 I agree. It isn’t worth the time or the money. We can replace these items and remove the rocks from our roof…but this is about doing what is right and informing other HO’s about this sitter and her kid.
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@kimshady I did file with THS and they will have give their decision within 14 days. I sent them the links with the time stamp showing when he damaged property. I am actually going through all the videos now to see what else was done (they were here for 14 days so takes times). They had great reviews and her and her son were very kind when we met them. I did have to ask her to take our pup out more as her activity level was low (Not doing the two walks a day per the welcome guide. I have the whistle device that tracks her activity and health!) She said they were sick, so I believed it. Looking back now, I feel like it was all a lie.
We shall see what happens!!
What is even more strange, when I google her phone number, another name comes up as the owner. I did a background check on the phone number and the sitter isn’t related to this person. Perhaps a friend gave her the phone, but I find this very odd!! Her profile says she was background checked. I will note, I have zero plans to harass this person, but now I am curious and concerned about who this person is. Plus I went to school to be a detective so my mind starts going all over the place 
Thanks to everyone for your sound advice!!! Appreciate it!
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Greetings Members,
I am noticing a theme in here…does THS do much when ANY dispute happens? Reporting to THS…do they get things done? In this unfortunate example, will the sitter and her son be banned in “14 days?”
I have been reading a lot on the forum…the common occurrence “contact THS” seems to yield the same results…which doesn’t seem like much.
I hope this HO is able to rightfully amend the review to accurately reflect on the sitter and her son.
Please note, while not always as easy as it seems (and surly, not worth $40), the membership levels also come with different levels of insurance. For example, as a sitter if I negligently damage property and the HO has a certain membership level (I believe it is the second tier), they do have some protection. Something to note for all.
Happy Wednesday!
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I don’t think it is much of a stretch to imagine that this boy is capable of harming pets.
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@TravelMan - if the formal “member dispute” process is followed THS do investigate and as a result in some cases have removed membership.
However when contacted with a complaint member services rarely/ never advise members about the formal process for raising a member dispute in the first place . Since members aren’t made aware of the process - it’s likely that not many formal disputes are raised.
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