I just wanted to give some hope to sitters who have received a bad review and how it impacts future sits.
We received our first bad review and of course, we felt it was unjustified and hurtful and knew we would never get another sit again.
It followed 5* reviews with glowing comments from Hos.
We had already applied for sits when the review dropped and also have confirmed summer sits.
I was mortified and knew I had to address it during the planned video-chats with the prospective pet parents. Both of these owners offered us the month-long sits (in beautiful locations).
Truthfully, I was a little emotional because I donât think I wouldâve offered me a sit after that review. I think it takes a special homeowner to do this.
Thatâs it really.
I hope it helps other sitters to see that one bad review out of a lot of 5* reviews doesnât mean you wonât find another sit.
Glad to hear that you moved beyond the bad review. It being an anomaly should actually help, because reasonable hosts will take it in context and the ones who arenât able to, youâre better off avoiding anyway â those will be riskier sits to begin with.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps balance all the negative aspects that, understandably, are more often discussed here.
This proves once again that honesty is the best policy.
Sounds like you are well on your way to burying the âbadâ review. Well done
In my response to the review, I took advice from this community and was unemotional & factual. I think it helped a lot. It was the best advice.
Hi Lola,
I also just received my first 2 star review on cleanliness. HO arrived early and I didnât have time to finish everything. I went out of my way and took the pets to the dog park, car rides, washed the pets and even ordered food and toiletries items (like coffee and shampoo) that I used as a replacement. Her pets slept with me, we did evening pet events, and I took amazing care of them. I completely understand. I also beat myself up, and realized I had to move on. I did ask for specifics on how I could improve, with no reply. In the end, I left a very cordial and pleasant comment to her rating.
Sorry you had this experience. It is a sucker punch feeling but youâve already moved on. Best of luck on your next sit - it will happen. There are understanding homeowners out there.
Iâm a pet owner and reading reviews is a bit like reading Trip Advisor or any other review site; you have to do your homework. One bad/not great review in a group of great ones suggests an issue between people for whatever reason and what is important, to me anyhow, is the quality of the reply and what the issues were. Iâve actually specifically been to restaurants where I thought they replied really well and dealt with what may have been an unfair judgement. I know that having sitters staying is for longer than a meal 
but the same principle applies. Does it sound like a valid issue or does it sound like the sitter was left with an unfair review and how did they respond to the negativity. Is it something that would be an issue for me or where they facing an unreasonable âhostâ. Itâs all about your personal take on a situation not to mention personalities! I have to say so far so good for us, all our sitters have been amazing, so thank you!