Dishonest Review from Sitter

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

I have used THS 3 times and had amazing experiences until this last sitter… My fault for booking her too quickly without researching her a bit more - she saw my listing and was at the end of her AirBNB cancelation window so asked us to decide quickly. Reviews were good so I went for it!

She had a very anxious personality, requiring a lot of confirmation, hand-holding and she either didn’t read my welcome guides or has a very poor memory. Day 1 they admitted to leaving the front door open when they initially got to the house and my dog got scared and ran off. She has never ran off before! The sitter messaged me every day with concerns which was really interfering with my vacation. She berated me for using a Garmin PRO collar on my dog - we use it to allow our dog to explore the Alaskan wilderness off-leash; we can call her back with a BEEP if danger is near her or.if she goes too far. The sitter assumed that my dog got scared related to the Garmin collar…. Which is packed away only for use on adventures. And she loves whenever it comes out as she associates it with freedom to run! I understand that opinions are welcome in reviews but the sitter also blatantly lied that they were searching the neighborhood for my dog “for hours” when based on their texts to me and doorbell cameras she was back on the property in 20 mins and back in the house in less than an hour. They gave me a 2/5 for pet behavior even though it is in my welcome guide and I mentioned on our intro call that our dog would be nervous at first and to watch for the hair on her neck standing up. She needs a gentle voice, snack, and petting our other dog for reassurance. They also gave me a 2/5 for communication as they were frantically looking for the airport parking ticket in the truck we let them use and it was right on the dash. He said it slipped behind the dash, but never mentioned that to me until the review. The review went on to say that I told them my dogs likes to be choked on walks?!?! I have saved all their text messages and mine and I never said anything of the sort. At the end of the sit, the sitter told me she left gifts for the children. I feel like she was trying to buy herself a good reveiw. I gave her a 5 star as point blank - my dogs and house were well cared for. I didn’t want to fault her for leaving the door open (DogSitting 101: Close the Door!) But accidents do happen and I also didn’t want to fault her for our personality conflicts or dog -rearing differences. Do you ever feel like a sitter has fabricated their review assuming the HO is going to give them a poor review?? Gaslighting? THS does not mind the lies, as “they are entitled to their opinions”. I do have the option to sue for defamation and losses if I end up not getting any further sitters booked (not really a concern as I have had house sitters for years and NEVER had an issue). I researched this sitter after the fact and based on her social media profiles and her reviews on other websites, I would have not booked her!! Lesson learned: do your own research!

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2

You can reply to her review but do take a deep breath and think carefully about what you say as others will read it . Maybe bullet points. I think it would be a step too far to sue for deformation of character. You have said you gave her 5 Stars, reviews are blind so it would have been better to give other home owners the full picture.

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3

You wouldn’t win if you filed a deformation law suit and probably couldn’t even get an attorney to take the case. It’s like suing someone for leaving a bad yelp review or Amazon review or Airbnb review. People are entitled to their opinion. I would wait a week before you write a reply. Calmly state the facts like car keys fell behind dash as they were getting into the trunk and they did find them. Door to house was carelessly left open and dog left for an hour adventure. Why you gave them 5 stars as you like looking at the positives although there were issues you now think you should have taken into consideration before writing the review. If you have a lot of 5 stars from other sitters, this one off review probably will be taken with a grain of salt by others.

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4

@GiuliAK I hate that you had this experience! I’ve only been with THS A few months, but what I take into consideration is this: read all reviews for owner and if there is 1 unkind review, but all others appear factual and highly rated, then I proceed with my application. Even as a newbie I’ve come across a handful of reviews that were downright nasty. I would think that any qualified sitter would do the same.

Hugs to your pup for a frightening experience :slightly_smiling_face:.

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5

Well, you complain about her, him them (presumably it was a couple…) but then give them 5 stars as, rightly, they looked after your dog and home well so that was well deserved.

You realise that you should have done your research, so lesson learned as you say.

It does rather make me laugh that you think you can sue for defamation of character and losses. Good luck with that!

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Unfortunately you already gave a 5 star review even though you had what sounds like significant problems with them. So now you need to think carefully about your response. If you mention things she hasn’t referred to in her review then it will just appear to be revenge (as you didn’t bring them up in your review). Just deal with each issue she raised and give your version. Ensure it is factual and unemotional.

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The good news is an outrageous outlier review probably won’t cost you many sitters. A response from you with vitriol and threats to sue for defamation will stop many sitters from applying. So think carefully before you react.

Reviews are opinions and both homeowners and sitters can leave reviews that others might disagree with. Reviews are often read with a grain or two of salt. If you have a great, unique location, which it sounds like you do, and are generous to sitters – loaning a vehicle – which it sounds like you do, then one bad review won’t ruin your chances with sitters.

If there are outright lies in the review, you could contact a human – not the bott at trusted housesitters and use the magic word “dispute” and show texts or photos or whatever you need to in order to make clear that factually what the sitter said is just not correct. They probably won’t change the stars or take the review down, but they might remove false statements.

You could respond to the review. Your response will appear under the review. HOWEVER, if you say stuff about defamation and suing, or you personal attack the sitter as a liar, you might find difficult to get another sitter so please don’t do this! Write a draft that takes out all the emotion. Then write another draft and/or take it through Chat GPT and ask for a rewrite that just states facts withoutout any emotion. This isn’t about your feelings, it’s about disputing the statements made by the sitter.

Saying “This is not what happened” is better than accusing the sitter of deliberately lying no matter how much you want to do that.

It’s awkward because you already gave the sitter five stars so you might start with some explanation of that eg: “We were surprised by this review. There were problems with this sit but we gave ______ 5-stars because we came home to a happy dog and a clean home. _______ carelessly left the door open on her first day and our dog ran out which he’d never done before. As it was the first day, and he was found we overlooked that in our review. There were a couple of other things we overlooked as well. [Then name one or two like the airline ticket she couldn’t find].

In your second paragraph start going through what you feel are lies or outright distortions and just say the truth. “Here’s what actually happenened” or “This didn’t happen.”

If there is any criticism of your sit that you think is fair, than it’s fine to take responsibiility for that.

Remember, you are writing this for an audience. That audience includes other sitters AND other homeowners who check for the reviews that sitters leave.

I sit and I host. If I see a host has an outlier bad review, I’ll dismiss it. If I see a host overreact in a response, I’ll move on.

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“I gave her a 5 star as point blank”

I often see complaints about HO and sitters on the forum only to read that they gave them 5 stars. It’s great that members want to let forum readers know about horrible sits, and ask for advice. But we don’t know who they are and can’t avoid them unless you review accordingly.

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The basic responsibility of a sitter is to keep the pets safe. Leaving the door open, accidentally or otherwise, and allowing the dog to escape for an hour is a failure. Your dog could have been hurt or even killed in that hour.

There are some things you can chalk up to accidents - broken dishes, etc. that don’t really matter. This is not one of those cases. I would not have left her 5 stars at all.

As far as her review, like others have said just wait a bit to calm yourself and reply factually. One odd-ball review won’t hurt you going forward.

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10

I didn’t even go into it on my reply to review, just stated that I am sorry their experience didn’t match the experience of all our other sitters over the past several years!! And you can clearly see my 5 star reviews from more competent past sitters. I did send them personal messages regarding the lies and the OBJECTIVE DATA I have to disprove them with doorbell camera footage and the messages we had exchanged over the week. I contacted THS, a person, and they said the review seems fine. I asked the sitters to request to remove the lies, the star ratings can say the same, but they basically paint a picture of me as an abusive pet parent… I have been sitting dogs since I was 12, it is very upsetting!

My dad is an attorney and would file the paperwork for losses, but I know that would take up far too much time. I may just go as far as to file the paperwork to make my point (petty, I know!)

Why would someone go so far to lie trying to make a HO look bad? It boggles my mind unless they really thought I was going to dissect them on a public platform, so they preemptively were trying to cover their rear ends. I just hope that’s not the standard! I maybe would only reduce her to a 4 star for the lack of protection to my pet on the first the day. And then I would add A LOT more detail regarding the specifics to allow future HOs to see the bigger picture.

I was upset at first, but after researching the sitters further, I realize it’s not my problem. I already have my next sitter booked and know it will be another 5 star experience all around!!

11

I do hope so but it’s a shame your last sitter moves on with another 5 star review on file.

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@Twitcher

I wish they would say “they were lousy and I gave them 5 stars and they gave ME a bad review” in the first sentence so I wouldn’t waste time reading a lengthy post.

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13

Absolutely :persevering_face: I am usually better with handling manipulative behavior and conniving tactics!! Lesson learned to just leave all the facts in the review and not omit things that went wrong even if overall my listing expectations were met. I changed my listing to make things more clear and hopefully prevent the wrong people from even applying.

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14

I found the sit and the reviews. Honestly, the way the sitters wrote their review doesn’t even make a lot of sense. They blame you for not telling them where the parking ticket was, but did they ask?? They acknowledge that they left the front door open and that the dog ran out, and then say they were not prepared for this. Huh?

I’m sure that they wrote this review expecting a bad review from you. I’m a homeowner and a sitter, and this review would not put me off sitting for you, but it would deter me from using these house sitters.

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15

I run a dog boarding business so insinuating that I abuse my dog can be extremely damaging to future business. I have saved all my evidence, knowing it would be a pain to file, but just in case :grin:

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16

I just figured this platform was held to higher standards and professionalism. I get it now after reading similar posts :laughing:

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17

Write a poilte follow up reply to their review, like they left door open and dog escaped. That on their review will be way worse than what they gave you.

Then move on, you have learnt a good lesson and will research your sitters more.

There’s plenty off good sitters ahead for you

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18

There are terms of conduct for both homeowners and sitters, but if you return to the idea that we all pay the same membership fees and are equal members trying for a more or less equitable no cash exchange, there really aren’t “professional” standards required on either side, and the review system is meant to apply a community standard.

As a sitter, I always do a daily update with text. This is what I do on the paid drop ins and walks I do for my neighbor/clients. As a homeowner I expect daily texts with a proof of life photo. When sitters don’t seem interested in meeting that expectations, I decline them.

I noticed a recent change on the THS website. It now states that homeowners “vet” sitters. I think the mistake is to believe that anyone who joins as a sitter is somehow vetted by THS as though this was Mom & Pops petsitting service where they had people on a payroll and paid to have them insured. Similarly, homeowners aren’t vetted either and sometimes get called out by sitters for violated terms or the “spirit” of the site.

There has to a process of choosing each other and making sure the expectations on both sides are understood and there is a level of trust to start with.

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19

Yet felt the need to comment. Hope you are having a better day!

20

I’m not understanding why you left a 5 star review for a sitter with whom you had so many problems.

I just recently left a 5 star review for a poor sitter but I explained my reasons (I don’t want to seem like the bad guy because this sitter had a stellar 5 star record prior to their sit with me), but I don’t see what motivated you to grade them much higher than they obviously deserved, especially given that they allowed your dog to run out of the house and into potential danger.