Hello… my husband and I are new to this app. It’s been okay overall, but a big issue is the fact that there is no way to report HO’s lying about what they say in their review about us. A HO we recently pet sat for did not leave a nice review, and said that we left her place “filthy” and that she can’t recommend us. Before we left, we literally cleaned the entire place and made sure it was sufficient, we spent the entire night before doing it and the morning after to make sure she came back to a clean home, yet she gave us a 2 star review and claimed that her kitchen and bathrooms were filthy, her sink was dirty, her dog wasn’t happy, etc. She said she had the house “professionally cleaned” before we left, which I’m not sure why is relevant since we are two humans that lived in a house for a month and we cook a lot, we don’t have endless money to spend on eating out. I’d just like to say, even though we cleaned THOROUGHLY, this is not a professional cleaning service app, this is a PET SITTING app where we do it FOR FREE, and we pay for it on top of that. I’d like to also mention that whenever we got there the dog seemed to be extremely shaky and almost acted as if he was traumatized, which we tried the hardest we could to make sure he was comfortable around us but he was very stand offish the whole time no matter how hard and it was like he reset each day, it was very tiring. She claimed he was abused as a puppy but she had him for SIX years. We didn’t leave a mean review or a review at all even with the new feature where the pet parent can’t see it because we wanted to be nice and also didn’t want to leave a false positive, but she absolutely ripped on us and took advantage of it, lying so much. Now our profile is down to 3 stars, because another sitter complained about us organizing TOO MUCH even though she asked us to help her move in. This app is so tiring, it’s like nothing we do is right and we can’t please people, even though we literally do all we can to help them, for free. Can someone please let me know what to do about this situation? Sorry for the vent, it is very frustrating.
You can write a factual non emotional reply to her review.
Is it public or is it only to her?
It will appear at the bottom of her review about you .(public )
You can also do the same for the previous review ( where hosts says you organised too much )
If you want to send hosts a private message you can also do that .
That’s very relevant, because she expected you to leave it in the same condition as when you first arrived, so it doesn’t sound like you met her expectations. Write your response to her review in a factual way, so that future owners can understand it from your side. Do not say in your response that she is lying, as it is her opinion on how she sees things, otherwise you’ll look bad to potential future owners, just stick to facts to address each of the issues she raised. Don’t do the negative tit for tat thing, don’t bring up the ‘free’ element in your response to her either, just stick to facts facts facts, so that future owners can make up their own mind.
Also, try to get some 5*s quickly, even if you just do a couple of really short local sits, so that her lower score has less of an impact.
I should have also said, obviously I don’t know the situation but if you now feel you didn’t leave it quite as clean as when you first arrived, then just accept responsibility in your response, because admitting fault goes a huge way with future owners too, especially if you haven’t been a member for long, so may have been unaware of how you are supposed to leave it. I’m not saying you did, I’m just saying ‘if’ you did it’s okay to take ownership of that.
It is important to try to look for communication style and expectations etc. before you commit to a sit. It is tempting to just want to confirming sits. But for them to be successful I think it is important to as best one can try to find a sit-partner that you share same level expectations with and have good communication with.
I agree that this is a petsitting site. However hosts often expect to get their home back as clean as they left it (and some are unreasonable and want even more) and they might be looking at other things than you did when you where cleaning. So you couldn’t win, some times.
I’m sure you worked hard and I have also got ducked a star when I had worked hard with cleaning. I now look closer in the listings for the wording they use regarding expectations on «clean»/ cleaning, and I also check the reviews the host has given other sitters. This will help me understand the hosts expectations towards sitters.
If you go to the listing of the host - press reviews - then you can for each review the host has gotten from sitters - press the sitters name/ photo and you get to the sitters profile. Now go to the sitters reviews and find the review that the host has given to the sitter. To backtrack how the host has «graded» other sitters will help you understand the host better and will help you figure out if this is a host you want to sit for. For instance - if the host has a habit of scrutinize for cleaning then maybe this sit isn’t for you.
These things happen. Just shrug and bury the review in other good reviews. Should you wish to, you can reply to their review. But be sure to keep it factual, as emotional responses can backfire. For instance something like «we’re sorry you were not happy. We spent the last day cleaning for your return. I will send you a dm to get feedback on how we can improve. It was great to be able to spend time with (pet), Thank you» or something along those lines.
After I was more diligent to find not only a sit but also a good match I have gotten 5* every time. When we see eye to eye it becomes a win-win.
It’s such a shame your first couple of experiences were not positive. If it’s any consolation, anyone reading the reviews on your profile will likely be confused as to why one HO states you did too much, while the other states you did too little! I would definitely advise writing a response to the review, stating that you cleaned thoroughly and are disappointed to read it is not up to the HO’s standards, to the extent you have been marked down. @HappyDeb has given some really good advice about not doing tit for tat, as this will only reflect poorly on you. You are representing yourself and best to remain unemotional if possible.
At my most recent sit, a professional cleaner came in for 3 hours once a week and left the house sparkling. I have had cleaners come in during sits before, but none to this incredibly high standard. I said to her that I thought I was good at cleaning until I saw how she left the house! The point being, we as house sitters can spend a lot of time cleaning but it’s unlikely to be at the level of a professional cleaner who does this for a living, so it is unreasonable of the HO to have similar expectations of you.
We did write a reply and took your advice. I would like to note that the night before we left we vacuumed, swept, and mopped all of the floors. We vacuumed all of the furniture. We sprayed, cleaned, and bleached the kitchen sink and bathroom sinks. We cleaned and bleached the toilets, cleaned the tables, polished the counter tops. We put everything back where it should’ve been. Then the next morning, the day we left, we washed and dried the linens and blankets, and we made the bed as well as tidied up the guest room.
Thank you!
Awesome, thank you so much. We felt like we left the place cleaner but maybe she was just in a grumpy mood, who knows.
In the future, take pictures of the rooms you will be using upon arrival and when you depart. A before and after. From what you are stating, you clearly did not leave the place “filthy”, just not to the standard of a professional house cleaner. I’ve never had this complaint from a HO. However, if a HO were to write an exaggerated complaint, I’d file a dispute with support and include the photos.
To protect yourself in the future a video of the home on arrival and when leaving is worthwhile doing. If Member services need to get involved then you have proof.
It sounds like you cleaned everywhere thoroughly, so you know yourself that you’re good sitters, so try to switch off to her now. We’ve had brilliant owners so far, but I know from this forum that were bound to have some bad HOs at some point.
Play it by ear, and see how you get on, but you when you apply for more sits, you may find you need to address the lower score, and say you hope they read your response to their review. But just play it by ear and see if you get accepted or not. I’d focus on a couple of local ones and last minute ones, as you stand a much higher chance of getting those ones, just until the 3*s falls lower in your review list.
I trust that you did clean thoroughly, and that the Owner is being ridiculous!!
So that you can continue to take advantage of the incredible benefits offered through THS exchanges, you might consider offering to PAY the same “professional” cleaner that the Owner used, at the end of a future Sit, especially if the Sit is for one month or more. This way, no Owner can blame any cleaning issue on YOU.
To me, it would be well worth spending $100-200 (USD) in order to pack up and leave without cleaning or laundering.
For a month long Sit, I would still do a bit of cleaning each week just to keep things nice, but the final clean for a larger home is a lot of work!! I get it!!
I realize this is a slippery slope, and some Sitters will vehemently disagree with me. Most of the Sits that we do have regular cleaners coming anyway, but it sounds like for this particular Sit, they don’t have regular cleaners, and they hired a SPECIAL ONE TIME cleaner so that the house would be clean for your arrival.
So many varied situations!
I have absolutely considered hiring a cleaner for the last clean because I hate it because I get both totally OCD and totally avoidant about it so it takes forever. lol. my upcoming sit has a cleaner every 2 weeks and I’m going to ask to arrange for them to come the day before they return so the house is sure to be clean for them to their standards (which I think will be pretty reasonable). and it’ll save me the effort. I do, of course, do standard daily cleaning to keep on top of things.