OMG! I thought we were being a bit ott, but we locked our sideboard where we keep our spirits when we had/have sitters. We left out the wine which wasn’t particularly expensive but that wasn’t touched either. You must’ve just been unlucky. Poor doggies though.
I’d contact her/them and mention it. Also, can’t you respond to their review?
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Also, I don’t really drink hard alcohol, so both bottles were either nearly full (bourbon) or completely full/not even opened (tequila)
The site bugs you daily to write the review right away. Maybe slow the roll there?
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I did not know about the new system, sorry I let you and other HO’s down,. Trust me, i did think about that, but i was super concerned about her writing a review about all the “bad behavior” of my dogs and my cat, which she chronicled in Text throughout the 2 weeks and commented that "usually I wait to write my bad behavior report until the owner comes home, but in this case i would have to write a novel."And the ‘bad behavior’ she talked about was caused by her. I don’t consider scratching up a door because he’s locked out and not being let inside bad behavior. Nor do I think my 2 dogs wrestling is bad behavior. And I CERTAINLY don’t think that my cat scratching her claws on the welcome mat bad behavior. But apparently she does. IMO, she knows nothing about animals at all and shouldn’t be dog/catsitting. But that’s just me.
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I’m not sure of that. I had a very young 20-something sitter who left in the
Middle of the sit 2 years ago and both of our reviews are on the site, unfortunately.
First off, I did not know that the system had changed, so 1) I did review her with retaliation in mind (affecting MY ability to get sitters) and 2) admittedly, it was before I discovered my liquor bottles emptied and the scratches to the back of my bedroom door.
She took photos of the scratches to the outside door mid-sit with a note (text) to me about “bad behavior” on my dog’s part. I questioned why the dog was outside and the door closed. She said “it was only 10 minutes” but the only reason he would be scratching like that is that she didn’t respond to his barks – and it was probably more than 10 minutes.
I guess I am a bit surprised at the backlash to me. If you came home to all of that and your dog upset, I don’t think you’d be too happy at people blaming you either. BTW, i did ask her about the booze and I cannot post her response on this site as it’s NSFW.
Disappointed in the lack of support here but i’ll continue to use the site but will be more careful. Just because someone is background-checked doesn’t mean they are a decent human.
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I don’t think the backlash as it feels, is intentional @emilygcohen - members are just asking questions and trying to get a full picture so that you get balanced advice and opinion. On a forum it’s sometimes hard to hear (& doubly so if you’re feeling a bit bruised). Reviews are done so that’s that. Post an honest, factual measured response to hers and be done. Definitely hide the booze in future JIC as that’s not normal behaviour at all. Very sorry for your poor pooch in all this and you could reach out to THS support and ask for assistance but it may be limited as it’s all now in the past. #onwardsandupwards
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Take a photo of the door scratches and the empty liquor bottles, as well as her NSFW msg, and contact THS membership services and tell them you want to raise a dispute about a sitter you reviewed incorrectly before you discovered the issues. See whether they can help you. They might not, because you’ve already written your review, but that’s all you can do at this point.
In your place, if she’d already mentioned that she’d drank shots, I wouldn’t have written a review till after checking the liquor, but that’s water under the bridge.
She shouldn’t be sitting, because she mistreated your dog and drank your liquor.
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Apologies for the ‘backlash’ here. As explained later on in the thread, it was due to the fact most of us were unaware you didn’t know about the new system. As a result, your initial post read as though you had left a good review despite having had a horrendous experience with a sitter, and we were disappointed and confused that a home owner would not accurately represent such a poor experience in the reviews. This does a disservice to good sitters and home owners alike, while allowing an incredibly poor (and potentially neglectful) sitter to continue on this platform without consequence.
We now understand you were not aware of the blind review process, and so your response makes sense. The previous system was unfair and led to reviews that were not representative of the circumstances (or just not left at all). There was no intention to blame you, we want to support you in a fair system here. I hope you can appreciate where we were coming from 
I agree that the dog was not displaying ‘bad behaviour’ but was responding to the circumstances he was put under. I also agree that she should not be on this platform, given she has displayed a lack of consideration for your property and possessions, as well as unkind treatment towards your animals, all of which is completely counter to the THS ethos. I hope your subsequent experiences are more positive.
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emilygcohen - We are all on a learning curve here not matter how long we’ve been doing this so no need to apologize - esp for being in a stresssful situation.
In our experience when a Sitter/HO does a lot of complaining? It has turned out to be a defensive move because they are trying to forestall a negative review about them.
Given your account of the situation, her notes about your pets bad behaviour may have been her way of making you worried about saying anything about her behaviour.
In the end, your home was safe, your pets are OK (now!) and you were able to take your trip. Chalk it up to “lessons learned.” Next time you need a sitter, read carefully their past reviews and hopefully you’ll ID someone(s) who are truly caring & respectufl people (I’d say that’s most of this community!)
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Emily, regrettably the backlash is a result of your not being honest with your review.
Edited to comply with posting guidelines
How inappropriate. Maybe take time to read the thread before responding and it’ll answer your question. But blaming the OP for being unaware of a policy change is ridiculous.
@emilygcohen I’d request that an admin close your thread so people stop coming on here and attacking you. The reaction to your post has been really shocking to me with people being unbelievably rude to you for an understandable mistake on your part and lack of reading comprehension on theirs.
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It appears only one post was rude and attacking. Previous ones were misjudged on the basis it was unclear that the OP was unaware of the updated system, as opposed to a lack of reading comprehension. I for one have apologised for this and fully appreciate the OP’s dilemma, given the previous review system.
I agree this thread should be closed to avoid any further animosity towards the original poster or subsequent responders @Lily_V
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IMO several of the responses were rude and judgmental without taking time to understand the situation. I do appreciate that some folks, including you, did go back and apologize for the initial misunderstanding but several others did not. This whole thread has been very disappointing to me.
I have just finished a sit and the numerous reminders (over a couple of days) I received to leave a review mentioned the blind review system and how it works.
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Yes, I agree. It is disappointing when people do not approach a situation with compassion. I have come to realise that this is fairly standard on these forums, having been on the receiving end of vitriol myself.
It also seems that when one person writes a critical post, others decide to put their 2 cents in, resulting in what the OP aptly described as ‘backlash’.
I stand by my comment that the review left was incongruent with her experience, while completely appreciating that the old system left home owners and sitters alike in a bind as to how to leave a representative review without fearing retaliation. I have been in such a situation myself. Fortunately, that is no longer an issue. There is a balance between getting a point across and doing so in a manner that is helpful and not accusatory. I agree that this thread failed on that front.
I’ve not received the messages and I’ve not received the ones that the HOs get, so I can’t speak to what they say. Do you get the HO ones? We all know that messaging is inconsistent in most ways on THS except for how consistently it differs between what HOs and Sitters see.
ETA: I was curious so I just went and looked. The review reminder email was in my spam and said nothing about how the system works, just to go leave a review.
I am a sitter and my reminders definitely explained the 14 day window and how the blind review system works.
I presumed (possibly incorrectly) that the homeowners get the same.
If there are any homeowners out there perhaps they would be kind enough to let us know whether your reminder explains the system.
Unfortunately it is all too late for the OP as they left a premature review.
Apparently different sitters get different emails because you can see from the screenshot that there is no info on how the review system works in mine.