Do you mean food for the cats, or for the sitter?
Me too, @Snowbird . It’s obviously a concern, if all the cat food was used up during the sit but not replenished or communicated.
Going forwards, always state frequency of required updates and reiterate in your Welcome Guide, so you and the sitter are both on the same page.
It sounds as if you’re furious at yourself, for not leaving an accurate and honest review. Had you stated the facts, this sitter’s review of your sit would have fallen flat.
As others have already said, leaving a calm, balanced and factual review helps protect you from unwarranted claims by less than scrupulous others. All you can do now is counter his claims by leaving a response (and some excellent examples have been suggested).
It’s a shame this was your first THS sit, since this will be your one and only review. That said, the right response will reinstate your credibility.
I’d urge you to thoroughly read reviews before confirming another sitter, looking out for pointers relating to self-sufficiency, communication and cleanliness. Also check what sitters have written in their reviews for HOs, to ascertain what’s important to them.
@Marion makes a pertinent point:
Some responsibility for this unfortunate situation is down to you, since this has clearly not been a successful match. In doing things a little differently next time, you will doubtless achieve a better outcome. We all learn, as we go along.
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How did you choose? Was he the only choice?
Yes to all of this.
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Sorry, you came on this platform for help and to vent and I dont blame you. We should be supportive and lend a listening ear and not be shaming or blaming you. I hope you can pick thru the responses and find some good supportive advice here. Sorry for your poor experience.
Sorry somehow I missed your post the first time around. I do suggest that new members think about the possible unanticipated backlash and damage to their own reputation may occur as a result of leaving a negative review.
That does not apply when the sit has gone bad, the parties are adversarial and a negative review is expected from the other member. In this scenario, leaving a negative review is the best strategy.
This is dishonest game playing. Good people leave honest reviews, keeping it simple.
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That may or may not be true, however one thing is certain, in the context of this particular topic, whether a person is judged to be good or bad is irrelevant.
@Sean, your experience is horrible and not representative of THS housesitters.
To answer your question then we’d encourage:
- Take a deep breath - let emotional frustration subside
- Take your time to ‘reply’ - each party has just one opportunity to reply to a review, and there is no time limit
- Review THS listing - ensure contents are complete; add new content to reflect any learnings
- Reassess housesitter applicant process - reflect, as appropriate, on attributes that have worked in the past
- Revisit due diligence questions - enhance questions in video call process
- Learn from experience - apologies but ‘zero communication’ is, at least partly, your fault - related pet parent expectations vary enormously and frequency of communications is easily agreed at outset of sit
- Consider well-reviewed sitter for next sit - given first bad experience then an experienced sitter may reduce your risk next time
- Keep smiling - lots of great housesitters out there. and plenty happy pet parents
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Yes. We said he was welcome to human food. I was referring to cat food.