@Marmar I’m very pleased to read you had great support from THS and that you are out of that situation and have somewhere to go to help recover from it. The owner could review you still and it could be quite damaging. Best to make sure you have reviewed this sit honestly and factually, especially where you have raised it with THS. Mentioning it was terminated with the help from THS needs to be included. I hope your next sits will go really well.
Morally coerced
Here is a link to the member dispute process
In your situation it can be a straightforward email to support@trustedhousesitters.com
with the title “Member Dispute - third parties living in the home “
Copy in a link to the listing .
Attach Screenshots of messages where you discuss with the host about the third parties - their message that suggests coliving arrangements and your offer to stay only if the tenants leave - the hosts reply . All proof that third parties live there and share common areas .
You might consider also raising a separate member dispute for the sit where the dog had undisclosed medical conditions.
The purpose of raising a dispute is to protect other sitters from having the same experience.
There are many sits listed in the U.K. so even with no reviews you can afford to be very choosy about the type of sit you apply for .
Wishing you all the best for future sits .
Thank you and I agree. Sorry for not getting back earlier. There’s very bad connection where I’m staying so I had to get to a cafe to respond. They were blaming me for not agreeing because “they didn’t have anyone else to sit the dog”. They lied and their lodgers were rude, yet I am to blame for not wanting to stay for another 25 days. I’ll raise concerns about the other sit as well. Still I doubt if the first dog will be alive still for her to have another sitter. It just feels so wrong and I don’t have any reviews from her and the last one will probably give me a bad review. I know it’s not me because everyone in my neighborhood would trust their dogs with me and I have been a super host on airbnb for many years with 300 good reviews only. Luckily where I am staying now has 5 adorable cats and they are like balm for my soul
I did do a video call. I was sold on the dog and the couple seemed nice. But it wasn’t as advertised and I didn’t know I needed to ask if they were adhering to the THS rules specifically. I just assumed they did. And perhaps I would have stayed if the twins weren’t so passive agressive and respected my privacy and working hours. But I really felt like I was the one that had to consider their schedule and any attempt to create some boundaries was over-riden within an hour of setting said boundary. I only stayed as long as I stayed because they said they’d respect my boundaries and that the owners kept saying they were going to talk to the women and that they had “a solution”. Well the email with the solution was worse than I could have imagined and more restrictive. Just confessing that I was like a live-in nanny and had to consider the work, sleep and cooking schedule of the women in the house. Next to giving the dog my best and not be stressed out because theyd come down to do laundry and cook whilst I was working on my computer.
Thank you! I will do my best to write an accurate review. Next time I will pick based on the owners, not the pet’s impression and of course ask them more specific questions like “do you have anyone living on the premesis whilst you are gone?” and “can you give me a full picture of the health of your dog?” all written of course. So they can’t later say they told me in a video call. I hope next HO are more honest and respectful people.
Yes absolutely. At the same time that I was unable to give informed consent to begin with. It’s not the best situation. Very dishonest. Very selfish to put a stranger that travels from another country to yours to watch your beloved pet in such a situation. Trust goes both ways.
No, it is not usual to ask if hosts are adhering to the THS specifically. By signing up you agree to comply to the rules.
In general if you have a video call you might be able to see more details than on the photos of the listing. It doesn’t exclude hosts who - apparently- consciously don’t follow the THS rules.
Still I am wondering if this was a first time host or not. This doesn’t mean ‘all first timers are not ok’, but it may mean that you, we, can choose to do more to decrease the chances on a similar devastating sit. Like specifically asking in writing, due to negative experiences in the past, how your privacy is secured (or something along the lines).
I mean it’s good suggestion to ask about privacy matters specifically. So nothing is left unsaid. Just to double check. But it was not their first time. They had two more people leaving them a reviews. And none of them mentioned the twins lodging there. I know for a fact that the women have been living there for years. So obviously it wasn’t their first time and omitting the whole set up, both by the sitters and the HO lacks transparency. The reviews just focused on the dog.
Wouw. Ok. ‘Remarkable’ would be a severe understatement.
Wishing you - much - better sits in the future!
P.s. Note to myself: if few reviews only mention the pet(s), double check the specific situation or don’t apply.
This is the trouble with people not wanting to leave bad reviews. If the other reviews has mentioned the lodgers or better yet reported to THS this would not have happened. The whole read between the lines thing sets up newer sitters to fail, because you go into thinking the best of people and that they will do the right thing and follow the rules. Sadly not always true and some bad hosts are getting away with it. Of course it also goes the other way with bad sitters too. #truthinreviews.
@Marmar Were their other two sitters new or relatively new as they may not have known about the Third Party Policy or just wanted a 5* review themselves? By just focusing on the dog, that says a lot! Did they mention the dog’s health at all?
I am starting to realise how under valued house sitters are sometimes. It might help sitters if THS would allow an optional fee for sitters, this would make the POs realise we are not their lackies. They are onto a good savings, all that is required of them is a little bit of trust, that is sometimes ignored when they violate the policy and install hidden cameras. Quite appalling. I mean if you are going to trust someone you need to show them you really trust them. THS does a good job of the due diligence, both parties are vulnerable, after all, it is not Untrusted Housesitters.
I’m not sure how an optional fee for sitters would work or would benefit sitters. It would create a 2 tier system and suggest that those sitters who ‘opt’ for a fee are somehow better than those who don’t. Or have I misunderstood what you’re saying?
I don’t understand what an optional fee would be for…and, for heavens sake, don’t go suggesting such a thing! They’ve already introduced the unpopular fees for sitters and owners that kick in at renewal. THS don’t monitor the listings, that’s quite obvious.