We had a sitter recently who we had several issues with having to explain everything constantly to despite it all being in the welcome guide, was late arriving by several hours and the same with leaving (to the extent I got home from my holiday and gave him a lift to the train station to get him on his way).
We left a fair review that if anything was over generous, and he has left what I feel is a retaliatory review slating that we didn’t provide all of the information on the animals care despite it all being in our extensive welcome guide and everyone else has said how detailed and accurate it is (we actually took 2 dogs with us as we had a feeling he wouldn’t cope) and he has made a comment about some of the cleanliness but hasn’t elaborated so I have asked for that expansion as it’s highlighted in the listing that it’s an older property and not a show home and I’m quite unsure to what he has eluded to.
His feedback has really gotten me down as I’ve taken it personally but we bent over backwards when we were on holiday answering his constant WhatsApp messages despite everything already being in the welcome guide and we feel we were more than fair in our feedback and probably should have rated him less (we actually gave him 5 stars overall but some of the details a 3 or 4 such as organisation and self sufficiency).
I’m not sure what to do or what forum users thoughts are? We have had several sitters and 5 star reviews until now but this has really been a kick in the teeth after everything we did for him and provided him acknowledging English isn’t his first language
I’ve had a read of your sitter’s feedback and don’t think it’s as bad as you say. You may have hit the nail on the head when you say English wasn’t his first language. Maybe you should have a couple or family sitting for you in the future. As a single sitter I wouldn’t cope with 4 dogs, 3 cats and gerbils and wouldn’t want to be dealing with puppy pads. I know you took two dogs away with you but that is, I imagine, unusual. With all those animals I would imagine it’s difficult to keep a home sparkling clean and maybe that’s what the sitter has been used to.
As others may well say you need to just put it down to experience and move on. When the new review system is implemented there won’t be retaliatory reviews however, as I said, I don’t think his review is too bad. Also with the new review system we may all need to prepare for a few with less than 5 stars.
We’re also with @Smiley on this one @iamplankton - that review really isn’t that bad at all. He might be a sitter who loves sparkling modern houses (& hailing from the Welsh hills myself) that’s not what your sit is but he may not have quite realised that with the language and cultural differences. It wouldn’t put us off applying either FWIW. A couple would be good going forward and every sit always teaches us something new on both sides of what we need from sit & sitter. #onwardsandupwards
Yeah the number of animals is a bit much for one person
Thank you both - I was really quite upset but actually on re-reading it this morning, it’s not as bad as my head first processed it as. I had a bad day yesterday so this was a bit of a ding in the armor but thank you and yes - I think couples are the way to go to spread the load around.
Well done. Good thinking 
Sounds harsh, I don’t actually mind if a place isn’t quite as clean as it could be, as long as the photo’s have matched what I am going into, and your photos don’t look pristine, they look like a normal lived in home with dogs.
You have dogs, there is going to be fur, and the dogs are going to smell of well errrrr ‘dogs’. I’ve read his review, it doesn’t sound too bad, could be worse, and sitters may read it simply as lost-in-translation.
Personally I’d send him a DM and ask him in a nice way why he rated you the way he did. It sounds like you went above and beyond in different ways though. If he doesn’t give a half decent answer I’d contact support to change your own score or see if there’s anything that they can do, as you can evidence the messages and additional help you had to give, as he didn’t seem to understand your Welcome Pack.
What???
@HappyDeb Are you really proposing that the HO retaliate against a sitter’s feedback? And that THS support help the HO with deducting stars?
yes maybe that is a little extreme, I maybe shouldn’t have written that, but their photo’s do not look pristine. I score based on whether the photos and text matched what I found, plus a good dollop of what the people were like, and he stated they were ‘extraordinary’, and how lovely the pets were.
you knocked off 4 stars in 3 categories, which is a lot, as according to your official explanation (on his profile, not on the forum), his time management was the main problem. Yet he couldn’t do anything else than take off 1 star for you, as pet sitters only have the choice between 1,2,3,4,5 stars, no categories to rate HO on.
He might have worked really hard for this pet sit and thought losing stars in multiple categories was unfair.
He also is starting his journey as a Pet sitter, so could be really gutted by that, as in his eyes, he thought he did a very good job. But you also agree, that he took great care of your fur family and left the place ultra clean, which is my eyes, is the most important!
What I think is more delicate, is not his review or the loss of 1 star for you : it is for potential sitters in the future, reading his review of you, clicking on his profile, and reading the review you left for him. Sitters might think you will deduct a lot of stars in multiple categories, and some pet sitters just won’t risk it (being late, in the UK, with very regular train strikes, bank holiday air traffic control disasters like we saw on August 29th, traffic jams around airports, etc. these things can happen, and it is unfortunate, but it doesn’t always reflect the overall"performance" of a pet sitter. Yes, a responsible pet sitter will give themselves more time, but these things happen, even for the most experienced travellers.)
I am in no way saying that they will, as you give a clear explanation of why you deducted stars, but 3 categories is a lot, mostly for poor time management, so I’d be careful before applying.
Overall, don’t let that get you down. It’s tough to receive imperfect ratings on your fur family, home and overall interactions with people, but please don’t let that annoy you. The right people will always find you!
By the way, your doggies are all super sweet and look like really good doggos 
Thank you. His time management and also his constant hand-holding as he didn’t read the welcome guide. We almost turned around on the first night and came home as he just didn’t seem to be getting it but I think that was a language barrier more than anything
I’m glad you’ve had time to reflect on this @iamplankton as I agree, his feedback is not as bad as you first thought. It would appear that language may have been a barrier so he may have had difficulty actually reading the Welcome Guide and needed verbal instructions instead.
Things to ponder:
Did you have a video chat with him?
Was he your only applicant? If so, did you feel you had to accept him rather than not get anyone? If not, why did you choose him and not another applicant?
As others have said, and you have acknowledged, a couple or even a family with older children (if you have enough beds) may be the way to go in the future.
As a sitter, I would be a little confused by getting 3* and 4* in categories but then an overall 5*. THS used to determine the overall rating but recently changed it for owners to do this. As a result we are seeing ratings that don’t quite match like yours.
Something to keep in mind is we never stop learning from each experience and how we can improve.
Hi, so he was our only applicant and we had flexibility with dates so decided to give it a go and we did a video call. We actually printed out a bespoke welcome guide that was very simple to understand as we thought language may be a barrier and we couldn’t fault the care he gave the animals and how he looked after the house. We did however have a nightmare with him arriving about 6 hours later than agreed and having to constantly message to make sure he got to the house (the dogs left with him had been left for 12 hours by the time he got to the house) and then he was constantly messaging asking questions until the end of the sit with things that were written out for him. He even asked me to help him find a hostel to stay at after our sit so it was very intense for us to sort him out if that makes sense and is why we knocked him down on reliability, organisation and self sufficiency. We asked him to leave the property by 1pm and we returned around 1:30pm to find him still at the house which was slightly awkward and I gave him a lift to the train station.
I guess everyone’s feedback is subjective and it’s the only sit we have had a problem with, everyone else has been stellar and we have awarded all 5 stars to, I guess we also need to learn from this and ensure expectations on all sides are managed and communication is really clear
It will have been a learning experience for him as well @iamplankton. I see he finished a sit the same day yours was starting and was relying on public transport to get there which might not have been as simple as he had thought.
The other suggestion for you to consider for future could be inviting the sitter/s to arrive the day before, especially where you have a number of pets.
If I remember well, their original pet sitters had cancelled back in August, so a few weeks before the sit dates (or was that another sit @iamplankton ? I remember you saying, in another post, you had contacted 100+ people), so he would have been the replacement for the ones that cancelled.
sorry if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure there was a thread about it
That’s unfortunately not something we can really do as we don’t have much guest space and I always feel awkward with people in my space if that makes sense as we only have one bathroom etc
Yes, you are correct!
I fully understand @iamplankton.
Thanks everyone for the advice and tips and just listening 
@iamplankton going forward with 8 pets to care for (including one with dementia ) I think that an in person hand over of an hour or more would be essential for the sitter and pets ( even if English is their first language)
Sitter’s definitely want a welcome guide with all the responsibilities listed but It’s much easier to take information in and get the routine right if you are shown rather than have to read an extensive guide as you arrive after a long journey.