I concur. I just responded as well. The human milue… We do it for travel, scenery, animals, and exposure…but it’s ALWAYS the humane aspect which comes into question.
I’ve been in all sorts of environments. Some of them not the nicest homes, apartments condos farms… But the people, pets and places were stellar. Top tier. Not everyone has the best of everything. But if they are the best people, we can make anything good come from it.
Go back to lying about our experiences? Au contraire. I prefer intelligent and intellectual people. Those who see you had 70 great reviews and 2 bad ones and read between the lines. I’m satisfied the wrong person will choose me now.
The owner was upset because of the last line in my review and she didn’t like it. It’s a private text message to my husband, and I think receiving that message caused my husband stressed out and hurt, and he expressed that to me, which I can understand, I felt stressed and hurt too after reading the message.
The basement has access to the main part of the house, the son mostly kept to himself but we can hear him using the first floor bathroom (basement does not have bathroom) and I ran into him in the kitchen twice during his stay, but he didn’t cook in the kitchen, which made it a little easier.
I am actually confused about previous sitters for this house sit. As mentioned, the house owner complained and expressed her dislikes to us about the past sitters, so we know her story of the last sit: Somehow two separate sitters from THS (who don’t know each other) did the sit for her at the same time. I don’t even know how they worked it out with the platform. She mentioned many issues with the sitter and it sounded like a very messy situation. But when I checked, there’s only a very brief 5 star review by one sitter, saying that the house is nice.
Thanks friend, I used to be a push-over, and I am still learning to stand up for myself without aggression, and take the impact of my honesty without regret.
I think my husband replied to her and apologized for my review, just to make peace. He lost a night of sleep over her message. I don’t want to argue with him about it since I already I explained to him why I left such a review and told him that I don’t regret it. He can say whatever he feels to the house owner and I won’t judge him…
Many of us relay on honest reviews when we are considering applying so yes honestly is needed. I did have a few sits I was on fence about and the reviews helped me decide
I think you did the right thing. I don’t consider reviews (mine or the HO’s) for them or me. The reviews are for the sitters to help them decide the character of the HO and for HO to decide the same for the sitter. There is A LOT of trust that is required to leave your pets with a stranger/care for a stranger’s pets in their home, regardless of background checks. There is so much that can go horribly wrong. Honest reviews help to demistify a bit of the unknown. I don’t think it matters what your reveiws are…like one person said, one bad review will not negate several stellar reviews. On the bright side, every situation, whether it is positive or negative, provides opportunities for reflection and learning…even if that is simply an affirmation of your boundaries. Please continue to be honest and leave honest reviews…the rest of us will thank you!
This is against THS third party policy so if you would have been within your rights to leave the sit when you found out and future sitters may decide to do just that .
So IMHO you were were absolutely correct to warn future sitters by way of the review. You are also protecting the owner who seems unaware that a sitter could leave the sit if she insists that the third party will continue to stay at the property.
If you choose to do so you can inform the owner of this by sending this link
OR you could inform THS BY e-mailing support@trustedhousesitters.com they can then send a “reminder” of this policy to the homeowner .
You were absolutely correct to warn future sitters so that they can ask appropriate questions before agreeing to sit.
I think there was a thread on the forum about such an arrangement. Maybe by an HO who was considering to let two applicants share the sit. Or maybe started by a sitter who had been accepted to do the sit like that, and had apprehensions.
There was a guy on the fb group asking to share sits with other sitters for long sits in S. America so that they could take time out (days) to visit the local area….but people highlighted all the issues. He was pretty irritated that mostly people thought it was a terrible idea.
I’ve seen such ratings, but sometimes see that the sitter or host has hinted at something in their written feedback or been explicit. Because of that, I read all reviews and suspend my belief in star ratings alone.
Sometimes, people are being too nice. Sometimes, even though there were elements of a sit that could’ve been better, depending on how the sitter weights those elements, it could still be a great or good sit. Also depends on finding the right fit sometimes — what’s an undesirable sit to me might be terrific for someone else, and I recognize that.
So sorry you’ve encountered this thoughtless HO. If I were you, the only thing I regret would be giving them 5 stars. All that plus their reaction? Naaah, they didn’t deserve it.
And I agree with @pietkuip : I definitely won’t be able to keep it in, and their messages can go straight to archive.
You did the right thing. This is a worldwide organization and, as a Housesitter I want the truth and a full scope of what to expect. This wasn’t a private arrangement where the issues could possibly be overlooked. We are all here to help and look out for each other and the only way to do that is with an honest review.
@Blanca I’ve always been honest in my reviews even before blind review was released. I had my first nightmare sit in Malaysia this year in which I honestly rated 3 stars with commentary as to why I rated as such.
@Rainaire honest reviews help others to make informed decisions on whether or not to apply for sits. So please do not feel you have to rate every sit 5 stars regardless of the outcome. I have a question - did both you and your husband complete this sit or just your husband and he relayed the issues he encountered on the sit to you? Then the HO was upset with him directly thinking he wrote the review? In either case - based on what you’ve shared - it sounds like a nightmare sit that should have been rated accordingly.
I still believe that honesty is the best policy, you did the right thing so future sitters can be made aware. I had to give a 4 star on a previous sit because the HO failed to disclose some things both in our conversations and the welcome guide. After becoming aware of this as she had left me a written version of the guide, and had something penciled in which went against THS standards. I brought this up immediately in a text yet felt I still needed to make furure sitters aware. So keep being honest regardless.
OK, reading your further comments, now I think this HO sounds like a liar. You & your husband should chalk it up to “all kinds of folk in the world.” Don’t let her continue to live rent-free in your heads 5 more minutes!
As a single female sitter I would have been very uncomfortable arriving to find the son in the basement with access to the house areas I was using. I would probably have raised with THO and left the sit as it’s against the third party rules. It might be they would only accept couples, but I would definitely want to know in a review if there was someone else in the house without being given prior notice.
