Hi, everyone:
I’ve been a member for a little over a year, and my experience has been largely positive. There are so many great people in this community.
Sadly, my worst fear on THS just came true when a sitter came into my home and started “taking over.” She implied that she had a stronger bond with my dog than me, could communicate with my pet telepathically, and could magically see an outbreak of fleas on my dog despite her being recently groomed and bathed. I went along with it in order to avoid conflict while I was traveling/working, then at the end I gently told her that I didn’t see any fleas and didn’t know what to make of our different experiences. I wished her well and offered to pay for any discomfort from the “fleas.”
A couple weeks later, the sitter left a review that was hostile and aggressive, filled with lies and accusations, and demeaning toward me. She said that I have unresolved emotional issues, which is obviously something she would have no way of knowing, and it’s harassing and abusive to therapize someone outside of a therapeutic space. I feel so publicly humiliated and discredited. No one is applying to my current sit, as her smear campaign is working well.
I contacted THS to report harassment and received a boilerplate response that they do not tamper with reviews. This is such an obvious violation of their code of conduct and I’m shocked they’re unwilling to help me or remove the review.
Does anyone have advice for escalating a request via email? Or getting someone from THS on the phone?? Please help. Thank you kindly.
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The Urgent Support Phone Line is on your dashboard - it’s a 24/7 phone line .
Harassment - This is separate to the issue of getting the review amended .
To get this dealt with you can raise a member dispute about the harassment- send an e-mail entitled *MEMBER DISPUTE” - include screenshots of the text messages etc ..this will prompt THS to start an investigation into the sitters actions .
THS may decide not to remove the whole review and won’t alter the star rating but comments that are against the guidelines they should agree to remove . https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001756798-Review-guidelines
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You are allowed to respond to her review. You can reply below her review and mention your side.
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That certainly is a red flag. Without reading her review it’s hard to gauge what, if any TOS review rules she has broken. Maybe add to your post which parts of her review you feel necessitates the removal and the forum can weigh in. Also if the sitter is harassing you post sit you should certainly reach out to support with screen shots and have them investigate. Good luck.
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This can definitely help by simply describing the facts in calm language, as you’ve done here. Reasonable sitters reviewing your listing can generally recognize when a ridiculous sitter is at work through the combo of (1) your calm reply describing the scenario and (2) your history of positive reviews from other sitters.
If you’d like, you can also share your listing for feedback here on how to potentially strengthen it. Several other HOs have experienced an unusual drop in sitter applications lately, so there could be other factors involved in your current low response rate.
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I’m also debating whether this might be a good idea (I’m curious to hear others’ thoughts)…
In your listing’s main description, after the normal warm/welcoming about-me stuff, you might add a brief 1-2 sentences along the lines of " You might notice the most recent review on my profile was not so great. I’ve described the situation in my reply to the review, and I’m happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about the situation."
As stated, I’m debating whether/not this is a good idea…
Pros:
- it calls out the situation and directly addresses it
- it demonstrates and reiterates your calm and reasonable attitude
Cons:
- it might be overkill, if you already leave a solid reply on her review… and could maybe make it seem like you’re reacting too strongly to the sitter, which could add credibility to her allegations
- it might draw a sitter’s attention to the negative when they otherwise might not have been paying that close attention to it
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Just a thought: I was recently contacted by an HO when I hadn’t applied for the sit. We had a video call, out of curiosity on my part. The HO had one review, which was four stars but described one of the dogs as a “nightmare”. I asked the HO about this, and she said “oh that’s not the case any more”. She said she had reached out to me and others because she was having difficulty finding sitters. Er, that review might have something to do with it?
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Great advice here on how to escalate, and I do hope THS removes at least part of the review.
OTOH, if the review is as unhinged as it sounds here, smart sitters will see through it. I do think leaving a response is a good idea - I recommend making it very brief in contrast to her rant.
Sorry this happened to you
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You could try talking to a human being at THS. You might be able to get them to remove patently untrue things from the review even if they don’t remove it altogether. You can also escalate this by leaving a short to the point review of Trusted Housesitters (not the housesitter in question) on Trust Pilot. That might get their attention.
Another option is to leave a response to her review. I can understand reasons you would not want to do this. The response should be brief and unemotional. It shouldn’t go into your feelings, but should focus on the sitter’s behavior. Your own paragraph here should suffice:
“________ implied that she had a stronger bond with my dog than me, could communicate with my pet telepathically, and could magically see an outbreak of fleas on my dog despite her being recently groomed and bathed. I went along with it in order to avoid conflict while I was traveling/working, then at the end I gently told her that I didn’t see any fleas and didn’t know what to make of our different experiences. I wished her well and offered to pay for any discomfort from the “fleas.”
If there are specific things she is lying about, you coud point them out objectively. You need to look like the sane one here and that means not reacting emotionally. I don’t know whether or not you left a review for her that covers this stuff, but if you didn’t, your response should not be a review as that will look vengeful.
If you aren’t getting applications now it could have to do with other issues in your listing. You could share our listing on a thread and ask others for help in making your listing more attractive.
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Thank you so much for the responses so far. I’ve applied some of the advice in terms of leaving a calm response and addressing the hostile review in my intro as an anomaly amid multiple 5-star reviews from other sitters.
Someone also suggested posting the review here, and I’m willing to do that, but it’s also very painful for me to keep revisiting her false allegations and extremely long and emotional rant, so let’s start with the parts that I view as personal attacks and character statements. These are the parts I’d like removed:
–This was my first unsavory experience that I do believe had absolutely nothing to do with me and rather unresolved emotional issues of Annah’s origin & journey…
–I think Annah seriously needs to work on her trust issues within herself…
–Although she has many books in her home on personal transformation and might work in tandem to that world on healing and reconciliation cross culturally, she does not exhibit or practice these skills…
–Annah also I think must have something in her own personal life that happened which shows up in projection and pressure on the sitter…
I have our text chain to prove that I was polite, supportive and responsive throughout the sit, so it feels so violating that the sitter has chosen to publicly speculate about my life and inner world. It’s completely out of line with focusing on the house and sit, being constructive and stating facts, and avoiding personal attacks and character statements. Again, it’s not appropriate to psychoanalyze someone without their consent outside of a therapeutic space without any professional expertise. Saying that I have “emotional issues” also seems very sexist to me, as we live in a world where women are commonly labeled as crazy and hysterical as a way of discrediting them.
I am in communication with THS via email and in the process of setting up a call with a manager to discuss. Am I wrong to think these statements are out of line? I am willing to consider different viewpoints on this.
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Totally inappropriate-
THS Review guidelines state that content must always
- Focus on facts, not emotion.
- Be respectful and polite.
- Be carefully considered.
- Relate only to the house and pet sit.
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001756798-Review-guidelines
Glad that you can speak to a manager- please report back on the outcome . (
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I don’t think anyone is disputing your claim that the sitter is out of line in her review. There is no other pont of view here. No one is defending the sitter for writing an inappropirate review.
I sit and host, and if the sitter applied to my sit and I read the review she wrote and saw her remark about your “origin and journey” I’d immediately pass on her as a sitter. If I were applying to sit for you, I would completely dismiss her review.
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Raise a dispute with THS.
In the meantime, I’d respond to the review in a not too detailed way along the lines of
I would ask potential sitters to please read the other reviews I have received. There is obviously a back story regarding this sitter that I am happy to explain to any interested sitters.
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Oh boy. I’d include similar language in your response to their review. Demonstrates housesitter character.
Lots great advice already given. Supplement them with future orientated comment. There are plentiful threads on THS Forum in regards how to respond to a negative review. Alas stuff happens. One piece of advice given by a veteran - don’t remember the person - was to move forwards and smother recent negative review with plentiful future positive reviews. For housesitters, this may involve applying for local, short duration sits. For pet parents, this may involve proactively listing short housesit opportunities - take a break somewhere, etc - so that next time you need a housesitter for a proper trip and/or longer duration then recent reviews are all great.
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I get that this review is very unpleasant, but these examples are so off the chain that leaving the review as is would show that the sitter is the one with issues to any reasonable person looking at your profile.
I would also never engage a sitter who had left a review like that.
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Thank you, Marion. It’s helpful to hear that from another sitter.
I didn’t include the context for why I’m asking whether I’m getting this wrong, which is that the THS rep who replied to my initial email told me that the sitter’s review is respectful and courteous because, at the end of a scathing rant, she wishes me well on my healing journey. I kid you not.
That really threw me off, but I’m coming back to center with all of the support from other community members. Super appreciate this forum!
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Please also raise this when you speak to a manager ,
in addition to dealing with the inappropriate review,
And the member dispute about harassment,
THS also need to better train their support staff … instead of support when you contacted them about this , this agents response has made the situation even worse! 
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It’s possible in such a large group of sitters worldwide that a very very few may experience mental health issues at one time or another, I feel you may have come into contact with maybe a sitter who is experiencing a temporary or chronic condition. It can leave the ‘victim’ feeling puzzled and confused. She might need help and support. It’s absolutely not you, it’s her. I hope you get plenty of future 5* reviews as you seem a very level headed person. Our British Queen Elizabeth 11 famously said ‘recollections may differ’ when some pretty weird accusations were levelled at the Royal Family.
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OMIGOD. Some people shouldn’t be doing customer service!
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If any of her accusations re: mental/emotional health issues were true, this would be a massive violation of your privacy. I imagine TH would not want to be complicit in promoting this behavior.
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