hello all, A very young couple who left me a negative review full of false accusations, which I have provided evidence to trusted house sitters to dispute their false review. I asked THS to please remove it as I provided all evidence, including crime reference due to missing items, and yet ths replied saying that because the Review wasn’t rude or threatening the HS have the entitlement to put whatever they see fit. Even though I have provided evidence to what they have said, it is completely untrue. I feel as though ths have not gone through the evidence I have provided. I am unsure what to do now as my profile is now tainted with this false review, which I have evidence to dispute. I’m really stuck. Any advice welcomed
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I have no insight on whether THS will ever remove that review, as it appears they wouldn’t. Were there any issues throughout the sit? Do you know what happened that pushed them to write a review like that?
If you truly believe they are in the wrong, you can reply to their feedback. Why don’t you gather your thoughts and in a calm and concise manner, explain what happened. Don’t get carried away with anger and strong words in your review since it might come across negatively. Just state the facts with the proof that you hinted at here.
Also, what did you write in your review to them?
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Reply to the review factually and unemotionally, stating exactly what happened. You must have left them a review, did you put what happened? THS very, very rarely remove reviews, and even more rarely, remove such sitters from the platform.
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You need to write a factual and non emotional reply to their review of you @A.ViLo03 & also write a review of your own (if you haven’t already) from your perspective. (& it’s not more than 14 days since the sit ended). Do you have other good reviews? You can also reference their review in your listing & say something along the lines of “I’d be happy to discuss the issues with the last sitters as this is not a true reflection of my hospitality or the situation.” Or similar. Then you’re being open & up front and not hiding from it. Sometimes things go wrong and we can only move forwards. #tellusmoreplease
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I feel for you, but you are stuck with it, it’s their review is their opinion as they see it, and that is what the review system is in place for. The way you recover is in the way you respond to their review on your profile. Don’t get personal, don’t get opinionated, you need facts facts facts, do not do tit for tat, raise above it. Because a good sitter will see one poor review in a sea of good, and realise it coud just be a ‘bad’ sitter.
We’ve sat for a few owners that has had one bad review among plenty of good ones, because we read the bad ones thoroughly and can tell from the sitters review that it was themselves that seemed to be creating issues probably to defend themselves as back up plan incase they received a poor review from the owner, it was the same on all occasions. Which is why we also read the owners response to their poor review, if they do the tit-for-tat thing then it’s negative and we won’t apply. Whereas if an owner state facts in their response, in your case about the crime aspect, then that’s great for us, that’s exactly what we need to hear, and we would apply without thinking twice about it.
And begin your review with something like 'I hope future sitters will read all of my good reviews. Here are the facts… bla bla bla.
You could even put how many good reviews you have to date, to add extra goodness.
Don’t write it in retaliation to them, don’t acknowledge them at all, or it will bring out the angst in you, so switch off to them. Write it as though you are writing that response for your future sitters. Facts facts facts!
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I’m sorry this has happened to you, and agree with the above responses. It seems THS are unwilling to remove the review. I would advise taking some time, have a cup of tea and writing to the sitters in a kind and measured way, informing them of the impact their review has had on you and suggesting you come to some kind of understanding that results in them removing the review. Of course, this may not work if, as you say, they have posted a false and accusatory review in the first place. In which case, your best bet is to respond to the review publicly, including stating that you have requested the review be removed and provided evidence to contradict the claims. Potential sitters will likely pay as much attention (if not more) to your response, than to the review itself so this is where you represent yourself.
Just yesterday, I was looking for an Airbnb and one piqued my interest. Among many positive reviews were a few less positive ones. What put me off was the owner’s response - it was nasty and immediately prevented me from considering their place. Had they been courteous and kind, saying to the visitors that they are sorry this had been their experience and would make the necessary changes etc, I would have been much more interested. All is not lost. Please let us know how you get on.
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Hi @A.ViLo03, welcome to the forum. You have already received great advice. I completely agree the best thing you can do now is contest their review in a factual, unemotional way. Some people have posted a draft here on the forum and people have help to edit it so that it’s nicely worded. You could do that if you feel comfortable with sharing it.
I hope you can soon move on from this bad experience.
Good luck!
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Hi @Cuttlefish
Sorry, I am a little confused here. With the blind review system, reviews cannot be reviewed until both HOs and sitters have written and posted their reviews. If the OP has written his/her review and If the OP is asking for the sitter’s review to be removed, doesn’t that indicate that both reviews have been posted? But if the OP did not write a review, isn’t it too late?
Sorry, I am also a little confused here. Are you saying that the OP discuss what happened on the sit with previous sitters?
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@A.ViLo03 Did you raise a member dispute ?
You can appeal THS decision and ask that it escalated to a manager .
There is an official procedure for doing this - taking into account the evidence ( you mention a crime report ) THS can remove them from the platform . The review may stay but people will see that the person who wrote the review is no longer a THS member.
It appears from member’s experiences related on this forum that if you use the word “complaint” rather than “member dispute” no action is taken by THS.
If the outcome of the Member Dispute Appeal is that they are removed from the platform- you could also comment on this in your reply to their review
“please note after investigation by THS this sitter has been banned by THS “or something similar
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Yes to the first bit, you’re right, if the OP can see the bad review then it’s too late for hers (if she wrote one or not). Now she can write a measures response to the review (no time limit) that tells the other side of the story. The adding the “this is what happened” comment to the OP’s listing is to protect herself from future sitters caution 
if they don’t know the whole story. #sorryforconfusion
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I am sorry. My fault on the latter part. I was reading the thread from the OP as the OP was the sitter. So when I read “last sitters”, I was wondering why the OP would communicate with the last sitters. 
#mybad
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Like others have said, it is only in very rare circumstances THS will remove a review. It’s a tricky thing because on one hand I see where they are coming from with a blanket policy like that, but I think there are instances where they should be more open to doing this, such as really egregious accusations for which the person can provide solid evidence to the contrary.
Like others have said, your best bet will be to reply to the review in a factual, non-emotional way. The advice to approach it like you are responding to future sitters rather than the ones who wrote it is really good because that is essentially what motivates the desire to respond.
If it were me, the first thing I would lead off with is that you provided proof to THS that what they said is false, but were told they were unable to amend or remove the review. Mentioning you took those steps lends credibility to your feedback.
Sorry this happened…I know it must be very upsetting. But so long as you handle the feedback in the suggested ways, it will probably work out fine as far as getting future sitters.
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You have already received some good advice. I would add that you might want to look at other reviews this couple have received which might shed some light on any pattern of behaviour. You can search for sitters by location.
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Here are some things you can do:
- File a dispute regarding the sit. That might bring this to a different level and involve a resolution. Use the word “dispute” when you talk to a human about what happened.
- Write a point by point unemotional rebuttal to the negative review.
- Leave a review about what happened on Trust Pilot as this might get THS’s attention.
- If the review is causing you not to get sitters, do not renew, and let THS know why you are not renewing. There are similar services out there.
- If you still have people applying for sits, then be prepared to answer questions about the review when you have a video chat.
- If the review is bothersome, but you still have people applying for sits, move on.
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In general a review that is their opinion can be negative even if that opinion is wrong.
However if the review is false and defamatory then you may be able to get it removed on the grounds of being defamatory. The acceptable use policy for THS does not allow uploading of content that is defamatory, obsecene, hateful inflammatory etc (you can read the code of conduct for more) and it must be lawful. If you feel it violates the code of conduct then you can contact THS and request that it be removed. If they do not comply you can pursue it further by contacting the service provider who hosts their website as they will likely have similar restrictions on posting defamatory content.
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I agree with Marion, write a review on trustpilot, they will respond if it’s a one star review.
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I see that this situation is currently being handled by the Membership Services team. Since some of the details shared here differ from those reported to Membership Services, we will close this topic to additional comments.
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