We’re struggling a bit with how to review our last sitter. She was ok. Here were our concerns. None of them major, but they added up to what we felt was less than a 5 star review, but I want to be fair and kind:
She rescheduled our meet/greet several times (to be fair, we asked to reschedule once as well).
She parked in our neighbors driveway for the meet/greet but didn’t want to move her car b/c the dog she was currently sitting for was in the car. So the meeting was super rushed.
We were adjust our travel plans last minute due to fires in the area we were meant to be travelling, so we didn’t confirm arrival/departure times until the night before. I asked when she was available, and when she told me the time and I told her that would work well, she then asked to push her arrival back by another hour (our preference is to do a warm handoff).
One of the two entrance doors was not latched when we arrived home. This is probably the most concerning thing. She had called the night we left to let us know she couldn’t get the door to lock- that she entered the code, but the outdoor knob wasn’t engaging to allow her to lock the deadbolt. We had tested the code with her before she left, so I wasn’t sure how to fix it and suggested she use the front door instead. When we got home I saw that the deadbolt wasn’t latched and the knob had been turned to the locked position, but the latch hadn’t actually engaged, so all you had to do from the outside was push and the door would open. So essentially the house was left accessible for the several hours after she left until we arrived home. The house shifts during certain time of the year so you have to pull the kitchen door in and up to get it to engage. I think it’s so automatic for us that we didn’t think to mention when we showed her how to use the code to lock/unlock the door, but I find it really concerning that she didn’t make sure the latch had engaged. Isn’t that like housesitting 101- make sure the doors are locked/latched?? Luckily the door was not actually open and all pets and items were accounted for.
She left an open bag of dog poop on our front porch (when I asked about it she apologized and said she didn’t mean to leave it there).
She didn’t empty the litter (which we requested to be done daily)
Under our stove where lots of models have a warming drawer or drawer for pans ours just has a panel on it. It was sitting on the floor when we arrived home. Guessing she was looking for a pan, but just left it on the floor without mentioning it to us.
I don’t care about this last one, but I mention it only as part of the larger picture- she accidentally left 3 things behind. I found something on the ground in the living room, in the drying rack in the kitchen and a glass container of food in the fridge.
Any of these things on their own would be no big deal, but it felt like the combination of all of them made her stay less than ideal. I wish you could give partial stars. The pets seemed fine when we arrived home. The house was clean. She sent us a couple updates on the first day to show the pets were adjusting well and she let us know when she left. That being said, our overall experience with her wasn’t that great and we personally wouldn’t invite her back.
I want to leave an honest review for future home owners, while also being fair to her. Feels a little like a fine line to toe. I know to sandwich any negative feedback with positive feedback, but I’m not sure which details I should/shouldn’t include. Or whether to submit my review, but send her a private message with feedback as to why I wouldn’t give her 5 stars. Any input would be appreciated!
For the first two concerns - An in person meet and greet before the sit isn’t the norm for an unpaid Trustedhouse sitters sit - was that your requirement or something the sitter suggested ?
I get what you’re saying about it being an overall thing vs anything huge/specific, & if we graded properly on this service then an overall 4 stars would probably make sense. Unfortunately the culture here is that anything less than 5 stars overall indicates that “bad things” happened.
Listed individually, most of these items come across as a little nit-picky when balanced with the service provided — & if you just dock the star & don’t explain, or conversely if you list all of them out, I’d be concerned that you might come out looking the worse for wear…particularly as you’ve admitted you had some reschedules & changes on your side that required extra flexibility to accommodate you.
If the pets were fine, an alternate solution might be to just dock a star in Pet Care & Self-sufficiency, then note the catbox & the door being unlatched. Possibly also a star for cleanliness re: the bag of poo, although she did say it was an oversight.
I think 4* for a tendency of being generally careless… they might get a surprise but be motivated to tighten up their act. Meanwhile future Hosts might not care much or a few might be very fussy and swerve this sitter thankful to you for the heads up.
It sounds like you didn’t mesh well with this sitter and may have been a little put out with her from the beginning.
Having an in person meet and greet is rare. Did you ask for it? Some sitters might find this an imposition.
Despite the reasons, leaving your departure details to the last minute didn’t leave the sitter in a good place to make plans.
Whenever I have done an in person meet and greet it has been instead of a warm hand over. Perhaps your sitter saw it that way too?
It seems like the door problem could have been addressed ahead of time by making sure it worked properly before you left.
But it does sound like she was a bit careless in forgetting things (haven’t we all left something behind). The litter certainly should have been dumped and leaving an open bag of poop is odd.
This obviously was a 4 star experience for you (and perhaps a 4 star sitter). But I think you should consider the sitters point of view before you write your review.
Sounds like the sitter wasn’t great, but the hosts weren’t either. Like having firm timing at the outset and making sure the sitter knew the lock worked funny are any decent host’s responsibilities, IMO.
If I saw a review the mentioned what the OP did here, I’d know to steer clear of their sits.
I think you’re viewing her in a very harsh way, there’s only a couple of things that are slightly concerning to me.
Bin Emptying - yes that’s odd if you requested it.
Empty the litter - yes that’s odd if you requested it.
I agree with @Maggie8K , please remember @pdxpetparent that sitters can read the reviews you write for other sitters too (if they want an incite to an owners character/personality) so it may prevent them from applying if they read you wrote a review about:
1 dog poo bag missed
1 pan got left out
A pre-visit was mentioned in a negative light
Arrival time wasn’t met, when it was never discussed at a much earlier date.
Lock - she told you she was struggling, that’s when you should have got your emergency contact to pop and help. I’m not saying it’s right to leave it unlocked because it’s definitely not, or maybe she thought she’d locked it when she hadn’t… but she told you she was struggling with it, so don’t hold it against her when you didn’t action help there and then.
Neighbours drive - she went out of her way beforehand to visit… not many would, she went above and beyond the norm, so you shouldn’t judge anything linked to that in a negative light. She was trying to keep the other dog calm, and her obligations are to the other dog at that moment, not you, she obviously was letting the dog stay calm and sleep for just a short while, whilst trying to help you because a pre-visit benefits an owner, not a sitter.
Sorry but based on your honest post I would just call this a draw and let it slide with a neutral five star review. I think both parties were a tad off.
I’d likely give her 5 stars overall, and doc a star in the subsection of self-sufficiency (not locking doors, sticking to agreed upon meeting times, leaving poop out, parking at neighbors) and communication (meeting times, leaving the panel off the stove without telling you). It sounds to me like she is doing her best but might be young and inexperienced with ‘adulting’.
I wouldn’t mention the meet and greet. She did you the courtesy of coming to your home in person (which is not typical at all) and she was clearly on another sit and had to prioritize those responsibilities first. So, I wouldn’t complain about reschedules when it’s really a favor that the sitter did to meet you in person.
For the rest of it, maybe remove a star from clean and tidy for the dog poo and stuff left behind, and one from pet care for the unscooped litter boxes.
The lock issue - well she called you for help and it’s not clear whether you told her lock it from the inside, or lock the deadbolt from the inside. Just locking it from the inside she did, it really isn’t her fault the lock was wonky. She may have believed it was locked. Really for the future have someone look at the lock and get it squared away - or just tell sitters to use only the front door going forward. Since there was no harm done I would chalk it up to a lesson learned and move on. I wouldn’t mention it in a review as you are also kinda at fault for not giving clear instructions.
I think your instinct to be honest but fair is exactly right. From what you’ve described, I wouldn’t focus on every small issue individually, because that could make the review sound harsher than your overall experience.
For me, the unlocked/unlatched door is the one issue I would definitely mention. That is relevant to future homeowners because it concerns home security, even though it sounds like there was no actual harm or loss. I’d also mention the litter not being emptied as requested, as that was a clear agreed responsibility.
The other things could probably be left out of the public review, particularly the items she accidentally left behind. They add context to your experience but aren’t necessarily useful to someone deciding whether to host her.
I’d give her credit for the things that went well: the pets were fine, the house was clean, she provided updates and let you know when she left.
You can also send her a private message with the additional feedback. That gives her an opportunity to learn from the experience without putting every detail into her public review.
Personally I wouldn’t want to sit for you if you left a review about these things. It’s easy to leave a bag of poo, she obviously put it out in order to put in the bin but forgot, easily done. I have left things behind, in fact on my second sit I left a whole drawer full of clothes! Fortunately I was able to go back to collect them. She told you she was having problems with the door and you weren’t able to help, I had a sit where I discovered, after owner had left, that the back door didn’t lock. When I contacted the owner she told me it hadn’t locked for ages. Now shouldn’t you have sorted that out before I sat? I felt quite insecure all the time I was there. As others have said, a meet and greet beforehand is unusual and she obviously did that out of kindness as was on another sit and obviously her priority was that dog at the time. You messed her about with timings….
As you say, the pets were fine and the house was clean. They are the main things surely? Be careful how you review this sitter otherwise you might struggle getting future sitters.
Like others say, I think you are nitpicking. I’m a HO and sitter. I have had about 16 sitters at my house and there is always something less than ideal, but rarely worth mentioning in the review. I have needed to replace skillets a few times because sitters obviously burned them. There have been streaks on my shower glass (probably equivalent to your open bad of dog poop). Sitters have washed a blanket that I specifically wanted to dry-clean (and said so in the Welcome Guide). Plants have died. I have never docked a star for any of these because overall the house was clean, the pet was great, communication was wonderful, and the sitter might have had to deal with unexpected problems (e.g. a plumbing problem).
I don’t expect perfection, especially when I am not paying the sitter. I even had one sitter leave a door unlocked at the end of the stay. I mentioned it to her privately, but didn’t dock a star because it is a mistake that I could have made.
If she didn’t clean the litterbox for the entire stay, I’d dock a star for pet care. That is unpleasant for the cat(s).
Otherwise, you probably need to adjust your expectations, or expect to be disappointed after every sitter.
Do you mean she never cleaned the poop and pee from the cat litter? For the entire stay? Or do you mean you asked her to replace old litter with new and she never did that.
How do you know it wasn’t cleaned…was there x number of days worth of poop in the litter (not sure how long you were gone), like it was obvious it wasn’t cleaned at all the entire time she was there or is it possible between when she left and you returned the cat pooped a couple of times?
Just wondering about that one…
If it was very obvious the litter was neglected the entire time, I would mention it.
When I leave a home before the owners return I always clean the litter before leaving a sit but worry that the cat/s will poop and pee plenty just after I leave making it look like I had not cleaned it that day!
@weRPAWsome And always remember: if you give feedback wouldn’t it also be fair if the host also asks for feedback? A post is always perception ‘me’ regardless how ‘objective’ the OP tries to be.
I had the same thought soooo many times.
Some cats can make a total mess in and outside their litter box with one visit…
But also with tables, kitchen counters and other dark/black surfaces.
I always hope for the best and some understanding on the host side.
People have written out thoughtful replies to the OP’s dilemma and two days later, they have not replied at all? Is that right, or have I missed something?
Hi all. Thank you everyone for these insights. This is a new experience and new forum and it really helps to get a baseline for what common expectations are or aren’t. Thanks again all!
