A cat woman left a terrible review, I made this appeal, do you think they will pull the review down? The review left by Cat Woman is highly emotional at the mention of a friend passing away. The review left by Cat Woman is not based on facts, she accuses me of stealing her “baking soda” that I took in error and have already returned and taking a bottle of wine that I replaced. The review is defamatory, it is not polite or respectful, nor did she carefully considered the review she wrote as she did not show any gratitude for the flowers and gifts I kindly left for her as well as the home baked goods I made for her. Cat Woman said the cat was anxious and had not eaten upon her return, this is unfounded, as she made a mistake on her return date, I didn’t want the cat to be without food so I went to the trouble of topping up the water fountain, opening a fresh can of wet meat, putting his favourite treats are for him to hunt, and made certain to top up his bowl with kibble. The Cat Woman herself is anxious, nearly all other Pet Parents go to the trouble of making the sitter feel at home and sometimes leave food and welcome gifts, it is not expected but there was nothing out of the ordinary and I feel like I am a target of her emotional condition and I felt she was had to have a sitter not because she wanted to, but as a necessity in her home for a cat she didn’t really want.
It’s unlikely they’ll pull the review unless you can prove lies or defamatory content. It sounds as if it was highly emotional so hopefully future hosts can see that. What rating did she give you? Best thing to do at this stage is pause, think it over and then write a factual, honest, non emotional response to her review instead. What kind of review did you leave her? #bestchance
Not a chance (based on the information provided).
Please clarify: You took a bottle of wine. AFTER she noticed the bottle of wine missing, you replaced it, is that right? Otherwise how would she have known you took it in the first place? If that’s the case then her review may be justified.
Regardless the best way to mitigate the damage is to provide a reasonable non emotional, non defensive reason in your reply (and you only get one shot at it).
If you have not yet replied to the review, consider posting a link to your profile here so members can give you suggestions on how best to reply. If you’ve already replied then no one can help you, it will remain to be seen if you have trouble getting more sits with a negative review on your record. If it’s the only one and you’ve got a bunch of positive reviews to offset then it may not affect you so much. But more than one negative review, and if you left an emotional defensive reply, then you may be in trouble.
How many THS sits have you done? Is this your first? You said she is not appreciative of your gifts. Your gifts would be of no importance to me in rating you as all I would care about would be the care of my pet and home. Why would she mention it in the review? It sounds like you think she should take that into consideration when rating you. I leave thank you gifts as well to hosts that I enjoyed my time there. I don’t expect to be marked on it. You said she didn’t leave food. She is not supposed to. It clearly states that you buy your own food. It sounds like you want to make her a bad host for not leaving food. You also drank her wine. Why didn’t you just buy your own? Sometimes a bottle of wine has sentimental meaning, given by someone special in their life of bought on a special vacation. The tone of your post tells me there is much more to this story but we only get your side of it. Has she had other sitters?
No, they will not take down her post. She stated facts as she saw them. How you reply to her on your profile page will be looked at by future potential hosts so reply in a factual way. You may want to wait several days to reply so it is non emotional. Hopefully you have been rated by other hosts that have left favorable reviews.
The baking soda and wine bottle incidents makes 2 things missing from her home - did she have to come to you on BOTH of these items after the sit? Or did you ask her if you could drink the wine and replace BEFORE you drank it? We are missing some context here. Your post here is very emotional, matching her emotionally charged review of you. This could simply be a misaligned sit.
As already suggested, take a deep breathe before replying on her review of you so that you do not make this worse. To answer your inquiry - no I do not think the review will be removed by THS. Here are there actual guidelines and info on reviews: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001756798-Review-guidelines
"By sharing reviews, members can help keep our pet-loving community super trustworthy and help fellow members connect with each other. For this open and honest system to continue helping everyone in the community, reviews must always:
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Focus on facts, not emotion
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Be respectful and polite
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Be carefully considered
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Relate only to the house and pet sit
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Be left within 14 days of the sit end date
Reviews and responses must always be given in accordance with the member guidelines, code of conduct and Terms and Conditions.
We also operate a 100% tamper-proof policy to ensure all reviews and responses are genuine and reliable. This means you cannot remove or amend the content. It will only be removed by us if it violates member guidelines, the code of conduct, or our Terms and Conditions. "
Not that this matters for your question at hand, just trying to get more context. Did you write a review for the Homeowner? What rating did you give if so? Curious to see if you rated the sit highly and if you had a good experience BEFORE you read the review she gave to you.
To be honest , the synopsis you’ve given - verbiage, examples, descriptions - sounds very subjective, emotional , and otherwise somewhat erratic.
Further, your description of “The Cat Woman” herself contains just the type of concerns that you allege she has written about you, overarching and incorrect assumptions (“…nearly all other Pet Parents go to the trouble of making the sitter feel at home and sometimes leave food and welcome gifts…”), and gross postulates about her and her pets.
From these details, I’m guessing that her review will not be pulled down because of your perceptions of “defamation”.
If you’re capable, a factual, non-emotional, and non-defensive response to her review may work in your favour.
I don’t understand can you help me please?
- How can somebody accidentally take 2 items? Did you leave in a rush, or did you believe a bottle of wine was fair as no obvious gift was left for you?
- The description you give sounds very odd in terms of the tone, are you feeling ok?
- Why was there a mix up around dates?
Hi Bonny and THS Forum,
Bonny I would like to thank you for asking questions when you needed clarity, it is much appreciated. You are right, to ask, my post is terrible, I wrote it after taking about two hours to write a professional non-reactive response to her, and based it on the THS Review Guidlines Policy.
I was very upset as she had made a special request for a female sitter with a New Zealand accent, so I had to reply, it was only one week and I had to carry my belongings and two boxes of comfort food and luggage up three flights of stairs to the tiny attic, there was no where to put my food in the tiny pantry, so I made room by moving her stuff when I found the wine, it was late, I was tired and thought I would be able to replace the exact wine, but the store didn’t stock it, so I bought her another bottle that was about $36. I knew it was going to be a lot of work especially as the cat was reactive, it hibernated most of the time,hissed, clawed and even thumped me on the head, but I was flattered because of her special request. I was able to win the kitty over eventually. It even hissed at the interview, and the owner said she had also been thumped on the head.
I did some baking there as I have food allergies and thought the baking soda was one of my ingredients, but clearly it was not, I was rushing to get out as it was getting late. I have since returned the baking soda. I thought it was a small item but she turned it publicly into a big issue, she could have asked if I had it. No, I never expect gifts, but usually the people are really nice, this was unusual.
The end date that was requested was wrong, as she wasn’t going to be back until 6 o’clock in the morning, that meant the kitty was going to be left alone for over 12 hours, I thought that was too long, it is possible she was angry because I could not accommodate her. It is not the sitters responsibility to cover for the pet owner, and it was a lot of work.
Contrary to the negative impression the review creates, I went far beyond the agreed-upon duties:
• I cleaned the fridge, bathroom, floors, kitchen, dining, and living areas.
• I stripped the bed sheets and took care to leave her home exactly as I found it.
• I left special gifts for her return: a vase of flowers, homemade cookies, granola, and a necklace.
• I watered all plants, about a dozen, and took extra care that caused me to be late for my next sit, proving my dedication to the kitty cat, and to her.
When I told her about the wine she expressed that it was sentimental, and it was all over then, nothing else mattered. I did my best to console her but nothing else mattered, anything I said was polarized.
Before I was able to respond there were six cancellations, since my response has been up there are zero and I have two in person interviews coming up this week. The four- and five-star reviews are a true reflection of my service to others, one said there should be more stars for me, and other says exemplary, this was an insult. I have worked in health care with seniors for over 25 years, I am used to listening to people, a lot of people talk about their problems. I have patience and empathy for people, we are all broken living in a broken world just trying to get by.
Sometimes I need to remind myself that the reason why some people get pets is not necessarily for the welfare of the pet, but when I am in someone’s home I try to tell myself the human is more important.
This is way out of line, and your pressing need to consume her alcohol may indicate a bigger problem not the least of which is that you see nothing wrong with taking it and you continue to validate your actions in this regard. Your newest post, while going into more detail doesn’t really say anything different than you did the first time around.
If it doesn’t belong to you, don’t take it. It really is that simple.
@Trasee I read your last post in detail but first I stopped abruptly when you wrote that you drank the homeowners bottle of wine. Naughty, naughty, naughty! A sitter, a friend, a relative, nobody should ever drink someone else’s wine without first asking - ever. I have seen wine in homes and thought, hmmm can I replace this at the local bottle store and I Google that. It shows me whether it’s a cheap or easy replacement but then common sense prevails and I leave it. I’m not that desperate for a drink 
I can understand the homeowners reaction after she said it was sentimental. It could have been given to her after a loss, a special day/achievement or anything special to her and now it’s gone. I see why things couldn’t improve from that point, she was mad as heck and nothing else you did for her to “compensate” (and this is how it would have been viewed) could have brought back that special memory for her.
My suggestion is to just move on and put it down to experience, nothing good can come from this now, it’s done and dusted. We must learn from our experiences and get on with life, it’s far too short to worry and dwell on such things that mean nothing in the end. I wish you well.
A bad review means a lot more than nothing, it can be the difference between applications being accepted or declined, and if it’s the latter then other plans may need to be put in place such as trying other platforms or even starting over with a new profile.
@anon30676025 that’s definitely true but when something is broken it can’t always be fixed, such is the case in question here. The review has been done, it can’t be changed, no other options but to move forward. And when I said mean nothing, I mean at the end of life, or house-sitting, it really does mean nothing. Also, one bad review does not necessarily mean the end for this sitter or any sitter. If they have MANY bad reviews, then that’s a different story but one does not constitute the end.
Also, the OP states that she already has two “interviews” lined up since this issue with a bad review so obviously it has not impacted her sitting going forward.
Since the OP takes no responsibility for her actions and plays “the blame game,” starting over for her will eventually result in the same outcome. I think a mature attitude is needed for this type of living situation.
I’m assuming the x6 cancellations are confirmed sits or maybe were simply video chats for sits you’ve applied for? I think you’ll need to take full responsibility and definitely NOT blame the HO or this will be interpreted very badly during your 2 in person chats with future HOs. And of course they may not have read the damming review or simply be desperate or indeed very poor sits that others wouldn’t choose to take. I’m just wondering why you might think it was OK to use a bottle of wine that’s not a gift? I can’t quite get your thinking here…. it’s definitely a mistake so please own it.
Thanks Jaxson
I appreciate your concern, but if you are going to respond to a problem it is always important to read the message with the intention for why it is written if you want to be helpful.
Hi Kelton,
You are right, it definately was naughty of me, but how do you read that I see nothing wrong with my actions? I confessed it in my response to her, it was a poor judgement call. My intention of coming to the forum was seeking support to have the accusation of theft removed. I replaced the wine in good faith as was my original intention, not the exact label but it was a good quality wine, she claims I stole the baking soda, I immediately returned once I realized what happened, it accidentally got mixed up with my baking supplies, it doesn’t warrant a police investigation. It was a mistake, I am not validating but trying to explain, there is a difference.
The judgments are humbling.
Hi MTBer,
The review I gave was 4 X four stars and 1 X five stars, but the logarithm ended up as a three star, I don’t understand how that happened. It was focused on the space, with compliments to her creativity, the community vibe and the cat and his behaviour. I thanked her kindly for repsponding to my questions. The cat was almost unmanageable until it started to give me messages that he missed his routine walks which I was not allowed to give him as the PO said he was scared of strangers, so I let him on the balcony which she was uncomfortable with, but agreed to, and at night we went down the stairwell which she said not to do, so I waited until late at night to go downstairs, he loved it, his mood changed remarkably.
She said the cat was anxious when she got home, and accused me of not feeding the cat, this is factually incorrect as she made an error in her return date putting pressure on me to stay another night when I told her a could not, thus leaving the cat unattended for over 12 hours, that made him anxious. To ensure the cat would be cared for I placed extra food out specifically for this situation. I understand it would be difficult for a PO describe a reactive pet, they don’t want to throw people off, but they need to give some descrption of how they manage. I also left tips for her and future house sitters to help manage the cat. I don’t know why she worried about me taking him for a walk in his carry bag, pets are at their best when they keep their regular routine, routines help normalize us, and make happy pets. If she worried about him and wont let sitters keep the cats structure, then maybe it’s not wise to leave him because animals can get grumpy. I recently sat for a German Shepard that was reactive and the owner was happy when I told him I distracted the dog with treats and positive affirmations.
I can’t say I really enjoyed this sit, it upset me as she didn’t give enough direction in the Welcome Guide, When too much information comes flooding in it disapears, it needs to be in writting. To be honest it was a lot of work for a short stay, there was only a small amount of joy with the cat when I was able to get him to play and when I broke the rules and took him downstairs. Other than that he mostly hibernated and needed to be handled with kid gloves, or oven gloves in this case, thankfully I didn’t get a scratch of bite.
My two cents worth here: I understand why you would open that bottle of wine, thinking you could replace it. I personally think they HO should be more forgiving. And getting upset over a box of baking soda is ridiculous.
I am sending you a hug, Trasee!
@Rhonda it’s not about the wine itself it’s about the emotion and the story behind it. It could have been a special gift from a deceased partner/friend/child/parent or a farewell gift from someone, a special thought. Maybe it’s all the HO had left, a moment in time. All I have left of my father is a simple handkerchief, if that went missing it would break my heart - it was a simple, dumb memory of him that means nothing to anyone else but the world to me. You simply cannot replace these things I’m sorry.