Looking for feedback from sitters on how to address a negative review (for cleanliness, listing accuracy) next time I post a sit. Only after the review period had closed did information emerge that paints a fuller picture.
My dog had been coughing just before I posted the sit, vet diagnosed bronchitis and gave him some meds which were finished by start of sit. I told sitter about this in our phone interview. Sit seemed to go OK. I periodically checked in with sitter to ask how things were going. They responded the dog was doing well, didn’t have any questions or comments. So I was taken aback when their review took off points as noted above. Sitter’s review said they’d had to clean up after my dog (though didn’t specify what).I suspect they thought I hadn’t been upfront about my dog’s health or habits. In my rebuttal to the review I questioned why the sitter hadn’t mentioned this to me during the sit. I also expressed concern that anything that had to be cleaned up could indicate a medical problem and that they should have alerted me. Fast forward a few months and it turned out the vet had initially misdiagnosed my dog: rather than transitory bronchitis, he actually had more widespread respiratory disease (and two months after that he was diagnosed with a spleen tumor, which may have been present at time of the sit). I also learned from neighbors that they’d seen the sitter running with my dog. The vet said given my dog’s advanced age and respiratory condition, running was probably too strenuous and may have prompted vomiting. That may explain why my dog had “incidents” on the sitter’s watch. I’m not sure what else it could be, as my dog didn’t have any such issues either before or after the sit.
My concern is that potential sitters may look at this last review be put off. FWIW prior reviews were generally positive. What do you advise I say or do next time I list a sit to address this? Thx.
Unfortunately you don’t know what you don’t know until something changes so you see things differently.