So here is how my latest sit went down: I applied to a sit that looked good to me. Profile was great, lots of info and photos, almost exhaustive details about the pets, and all five star reviews from other sitters. When we arranged to talk I thought I knew exactly what I was walking into, which is great because I’m an animal person, not a people person, and I’m not great at talking with people. We chatted a little bit about ourselves, she asked me some questions, all the usual stuff, and then she casually drops the “roommate” bomb on me: there would someone else living in the house. That really threw me for a loop and all I really remember after that is her saying how great the roommate was, but that I wouldn’t see much of her and then moving on to talking about the housekeeper. So I stumbled my way through that conversation and afterward thought about cancelling my application, but ultimately decided to go through with the sit because although it wasn’t an ideal sit, I thought it could still be an okay getaway for me and I could do a nice thing for the HO who, aside from this one faux pas, seemed like a nice person.
The sit went as expected. It was fine for me if not exactly what I had initially been looking for. I took good care of the pets, the HO seemed happy with me, and we kept in daily contact and were on good terms throughout the sit. The only other slight negative for me was that the bottom floor of the house was being rented out as a separate apartment and it was only mentioned upon arrival. Not a huge deal, but something I would have liked to have known about before agreeing to the sit.
So the sit went fine and I was going to write off the whole episode as one of those weird sits I occasionally find myself doing, until the review issue popped up. I always try to leave kind, but accurate reviews, so I gave her five stars on everything except on listing accuracy (four stars) and mentioned that there was a very nice roommate. The HO later texts me to say she is “heartbroken” that I have mentioned her roommate in the review after having agreed not to and I have put her in a very hard situation where after ten years she may not be able to use THS to find a sitter anymore, and can I edit my review? WTH?!?! I have zero recollection of the HO asking me to omit something from my review and I can’t imagine agreeing to that. I assumed the roommate was new which is why she wasn’t mentioned in any previous reviews, but apparently the HO has been getting sitters to write selective reviews?! This just seems wrong and deceitful to me. I get that having a third party at the house isn’t in line with THS rules, but I feel that in attempting to conceal one infraction she has committed a more serious one. I see plenty of listings out of line with THS policy and occasionally even sit for them; the thing that matters to me is that they are completely upfront and honest about the sit so I can decide whether it works for me. Complete and honest HO profiles (and sitter reviews!), is that really too much to ask?
Thoughts about this? Is there any scenario where you as a sitter would agree to omit something pertinent from a review? What is your take on the HO’s actions? She seems to think it’s totally fine to keep relevant info off the app so long as she discloses it to potential sitters in conversation. Could/should some THS rules be changed so HOs aren’t enticed to leave important info out of their profiles?
There’s no need for THS to change the rules to prevent third parties as there is already a rule prohibiting it.
If the host fails to omit this information from the listing there’s no way for THS to know about it unless it’s reported and clearly no sitter is willing to do that despite the obvious deception on the part of the host and their intention to keep this information off the platform.
No one can force a person to write a review in a certain way. There is general reluctance on the part of members to give anything less than 5 stars to the other party which of course undermines the “trust” which is an important part of this service.
I don’t think there is anything ‘enticing’ owners to be dishonest in leaving things out of their listing. The only benefit to those who break the rules with their published listing but who then verbally advise potential sitters of the reality is when a potential sitter accepts the sit…
My issue is not with the third party it’s with the deception and the attempt to manipulate sitter reviews. If THS didn’t have a rule about third parties, I would have had no issues.
The HO definitely broke the rules in the first place, but ultimately she was aided and abetted by previous sitters. It’s this “everyone gives everyone else 5 stars” mentality that’s the problem. Don’t see a solution to this though.
@lotus
Thank you for leaving an honest and accurate review . You did the right thing .
This host clearly knows she is breaking the terms of service by having a third party in the home during the sit.
That’s on her , not you .
This is why THS have a policy NOT to allow changes to reviews after they are submitted.
“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. “
I accepted the sit because the HO needed a sitter, I needed a getaway, and the third party wasn’t a deal breaker for me. Pretty simple. THS is a matching site. As long as people are honest and everyone is happy with the arrangement I don’t see a problem.
No need to regret reviewing accurately or to try to change your review.
In your place, I’d report the host, both for knowingly hiding that they’re violating THS terms and for asking you to change your review.
This host clearly has misled sitters and tries to shuffle off responsibility where it’s not due — you did nothing wrong by reviewing accurately and probably have saved some other sitters from unknowingly accepting sits with this bad host.
Both parties aren’t being honest as it clearly goes against THSs rules. Edit to say this is like knowing the home owner had a dog that bites, but accepting the sit anyway “because the HO needed a sitter and I liked the sit” and then getting bitten.
Sorry, but it doesn’t seem like that to me at all. I did not know that the reviews weren’t honest until after the sit or know about the HO’s attempt to control reviews. Everything that I did know about beforehand I was ok with. (If I know a HO has a dog that bites, accept the sit anyway and get bitten, I am fine with that.)
Yeah, what is she going to do? Respond to your review with " I asked her not to mention my roommate that contravenes the rules, but she did" . You are overly kind and she is taking advantage.
I’m torn. Yes, they violated THS rules, but was totally upfront about the roommate. She entered the sit 100% fully aware. However, if something went wrong between the sitter and roommate, then you could have a serious issue that the policy was specifically meant to avoid.
Yah, I can see it like an owner saying the dog may bite when you’re sleeping, taking the sit and giving a good review because the dog didn’t bite. Not good.
Anyway, the HO must’ve said not to say anything during your initial chat and when you review. No other way they could’ve violated the rule for so long.
The host also hid this ^. And whether or not the sitter was OK with the roommate being declared upfront, the host clearly doesn’t care about flouting THS rules. So seems to me that the sitter shouldn’t be surprised that the host otherwise breaches terms. And to me, if you accept a sit knowing that the host flouts rules, then you’re knowingly taking your chances and will have to deal if they further push things.
You are overly kind and she is taking advantage.