I have been a sitter with Trusted House Sitters for over 2 years and have clocked up 18 lovely 5 star reviews but sadly my last sit did not go well and I received a 3 star review and some comments I felt were not a very kind or accurate representation of the circumstances of he sit . As a result I pulled back and have undertaken no further sits with TH for several months now but feel surely my 18 good reviews still have value and I’m trying to find the confidence to get back into the ring with it all
Just wondering how other sitters have fared in getting back on he horse in moving past a bad review when their track record as a sitter is otherwise fantastic . Interested to hear other peoples experiences .Also when applying for future sits is it wise to refer to the poor review and try to explain it or wait to see if the new prospective HO brings it up ? Thanks
My last sit last summer got me a three-star review. After that, at first I did not have any problems, two applications that were both accepted. I did not mention my last review and they did not ask about it.
Now, when applying for a trip this spring in England, I have a really nice sit of three weeks in Cambridge confirmed, but I also had had a bunch of unsuccessfull applications. In one case the HO explicitly mentioned my reviews, did not ask questions, just declined even though I was the only applicant!
For this summer, I will do a repeat sit in Groningen. Last year, that was a perfect sit for me, and owners that became friends.
It hasn’t happened to us @wendywindow but it always might so we feel your pain. It’s one in many and there are always oddballs out there. I think yes to referring to it in applications but in brief along the lines of “You may notice that amongst my 18 5star sits, I have one less than stellar review that I’d be very happy to discuss with you.” Or similar. Nothing to hide and shows confidence in your abilities and track record. #getbackonthathorselady 
I second this 100%.
I haven’t gotten any negative reviews (yet), but I figure sooner or later I’ll run into an unreasonable or irrational host and get one. What I realized when I’ve read threads like this: There’s an advantage to booking a few sits ahead (if that would work for you). That’s because, if so, then you’d have a head start on quickly getting more positive reviews to help dilute a bad review.
The above of course assumes that you don’t actually do something that multiple hosts find objectionable.
Now with the blind review system, I think the platform will see more reviews with less than 5 stars. You’re very fortunate to have so many other great reviews. I say you get back in that horse sooner rather than later. I know one day our family is bound to get our first negative review. You can’t make every pet parent happy and things are bound to wrong. It’s just life
Good news that you have managed to go on to plenty more successful sits 
Thanks so much for your encouragement Cuttlefish … Thats a great suggestion re briefly mentioning the less than stellar review .I also wrote a very comprehensive reply to the review as well whihc any rpospective HOs can refer to …
Thanks so much for your encouragement . 
It’s really a numbers game and all in the odds. The more sits that you do the more likely you will get dinged at some point. The advice above is sound. Meet it head on and be transparent. Good HOs will work it out and soon the bad review will be buried. Good luck.
As an owner I read most of the reviews and specifically seek out the less than 5 star reviews. I don’t necessarily care that a sitter gets a bad review or two - I look at their response (was it logical and factual or emotional?) and if they have more than one unfavorable review I look for patterns (e.g. do the bad reviews mention a specific issue like lack of cleanliness). But if a HO is just irrationally nit-picking I think that comes through in the initial review and the response.
Its up to you whether to bring it up but if it bothered me I would likely just decline right away. So consider that they read the review and don’t care about it. If you bring it up you may come across as a bit defensive - discuss it if they bring it up but otherwise I would let it lie.
That is how I was thinking. And then there may be HOs that do not look at reviews in every detail. That was my impression of my HOs in Stockholm. They did not even ask about my 3-star review at the handover when we were having coffee.