We have just returned from a housesit in Brittany where the homeowner has been unbelievably rude and disrespectful about us and our housesit on Facebook. We don’t want to reply on this social media as we will get a backlash from the people who believe her lies. Suggestions PLEASE
Block her on Facebook and take screenshots of all rude messages or comments. Then report her to THS membership services.
With people like that, don’t communicate with them — it just fans their flames.
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I would let it die by not commenting or giving it attention. Posts that get attention can also due to algorithms be more visible to more people. In my opinion people who slanders others will often see that it backfires as not many will be aquainted with such people, who knows who will be next to feel their rage.
What you can try is to report the post to Facebook. It rarely works as I think Facebook will also take into account freedom of speech, but sometimes reported posts will be taken down.
You can of course also reach out to the host, tell them that you have been informed that they have said this and that online and ask if they can inform you more and also that you wish they had contacted you directly.
If a THS-sit - take screenshots etc as Maggie8K suggests.
Edit: if you at all want to contact the host, in my experience people think they can say anything online, but if one pick up the phone and call them, they are rarely confrontational and often they will back off. It is interesting how many can’t stand up in person for what they find appropriate to shout out on social media. 
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Don’t engage. Nothing you say will help. block her, report her with screenshots, and move on.
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That seems less of a problem than a character assassination in a review on THS. Had they written a review for your sit?
(I very much doubt that Membership Services would get involved. But of course, you can try.)
Are they tagging you on Facebook? Or mentioning your name on Facebook? If so, that seems like harassment and an invasion of privacy. It’s publicly disclosing information that you didn’t agree to, providing others access to track you, etc. As someone else mentioned, I wouldn’t engage, but would screenshot and send to support@trustedhousesitters.com. I’d also contact Facebook and report. And if it’s a part of a Facebook group, report to the moderators.
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Was this sit about a missing cat?
We are new to this forum and thank you all for your very constructed replies. We were THS Members before Covid and always had 5 star reviews so we have found this sit quite upsetting. We have reported all problems, with screenshots, during and after the sit and have been told to do a review but doesn’t this open the opportunity for the homeowner to reply. Can she post a review without us doing one? At present she just calls us the dreadful Housesitters on Facebook with no names but her latest comment is that she has spoken to THS, explained her reasoning and they have refunded her so I hope is is just another one of her lies. As advised by some of you, we will block her and move on but with housesits like this we may decide to leave THS. Happy housesitting to you all!
Yes, she can post a review even if you don’t. She won’t see your review before she writes hers so you should be honest but unemotional about the situation. I know it’s hard to be unemotional if you’re feeling attacked, but it will only make you look bad. don’t address her attack on Facebook, just factually write about the sit. If she writes you a negative review, you can respond to it on your profile, but again, but unemotional and just state the facts. If you have a series of 5* reviews and then one oddball people are less likely to take it seriously as, with a proven track record and one crazy review, it will make it seem like the HO is the problem, not you, as long as you don’t get defensive.
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Thank you so much for this advice and we will follow this and move on. We have already blocked the HO Facebook and feel better already 
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Posted before I realizedissue was solved.
Thank you for thinking about joining the thread as we thought it had finished but our lovely homeowner wanted the last word on her 1 star review and it read “ I’ve had so many very good house sitters, but this couple were not.” we hope that any future Housesitters will see that there is a hidden agenda with this ‘lady’. Big question - should we just move on or respond. I think we like the move on option.
I would probably just respond with a few basic facts. Again, no emotions, just facts, to tell your side. But, given you have other good reviews, just leaving it is an option as well.
In my opinion it gives me a bad vibe if people are very argumentative and defensive in reviews. So I think taking the high road and move on is the best decision. Many will read both the reviews both you and her have given. We can’t really know for sure what is «the truth» so I think being factual and balanced (saying both the pros and cons and not «horrible sitter! 1 *!!!») is what wins in the end.
What feels right to you? You come across very polite and reasonable in this thread and I think if you are able to communicate this way in your response, it will bode well. Personally, I wouldn’t feel comfortable having a review like that on my profile without an opportunity to defend myself and counteract what has been said. As @CreatureCuddler suggested, if you are able to state the facts in an unemotional way and not get nasty (as the home owner has), this will reflect well on you. You are more than welcome to post your response here if you’d like us to review it before posting.
Thank you for your help and, if you don’t mind, we would be most grateful if you, and others, could cast their eye over our response to homeowner’s review. Here goes:
Strawberryjen advice
We have an inkling your review has nothing to do with the loving care we gave your pets and livestock or the respectful way we looked after your property in your absence but more to do with the Trusted Housesitters Code of Conduct for homeowners which states “I will ensure my home is vacated for my sitter throughout the duration of the sit, with no third parties present other than my confirmed sitter.” Before we started the journey to your property you asked us on the THS messaging section if we would be able to do the changeover for your other 2 gites whilst there and we clearly said that it was against this Code. Your reply was “No problem” and that you would blank off the booking dates during our sit so we thought all was happily agreed until the day before you left for your holiday when you surprised us when you stated that you had just taken a booking for a lady and 3 children who were to stay in the gite next to us. If it had been a separate garden and entrance we could have said yes but it was a communal garden and entrance. We then mentioned the Code of Conduct again and, although you were disappointed you agreed to cancel the booking. You also wanted to leave your house unlocked so that your regular egg customers could just go in and collect their eggs. Although we offered to deal with these sales you felt it easier to leave the house as they normally expected. We asked you if you could do a signed declaration to confirm this (as recommended by THS) and you obliged with a signed, typed letter.
We were saddened that you felt it necessary to post such a review as all we can emphasize is that we looked after your animals really well for nearly 3 weeks and they were all healthy and happy when we left and the gite was clean and tidy with bed stripped and all washing left in the communal laundry room.
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IMO this is too long and sounds defensive to me. I’d shorten it to something like:
I’m sorry you felt the need to leave such a review, but I just wasn’t comfortable breaking the THS rules of no 3rd parties on the property after you changed your mind and rented out your Gite during our stay. I had already compromised by leaving the door unlocked at your insistence so people could come inside and buy eggs as they wanted, but that was as far as I could comfortably go for my safety and that of your pets.
Despite this, I enjoyed caring for your pets and I believe I did a good job keeping them happy and safe and handing your Gite back over clean and tidy, as expected.
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Hi @Ivy1,
Thanks for posting your response here. It’s slightly difficult to give feedback without seeing the HO’s review, but I think much of what you’ve written alludes to their review anyway.
I think your response is good. I have made a few grammatical changes and have broken the review into smaller paragraphs for readability. As it is quite long, I’ve removed some extraneous text that isn’t relevant, and highlighted the fact you were not comfortable with people coming in to take the eggs, as she would normally do. I’ve also added a sentence at the end to conclude. Personally, I don’t believe your response should be succinct. I believe details are necessary in order to provide a clearer picture of what happened and a short reply reads a bit disinterested to me. Maybe there is a way to meet in the middle. Ultimately, it’s your call! Feel free to discard any changes I’ve made:
We believe your review has nothing to do with the loving care we gave your pets and livestock, nor the respectful way in which we looked after your property in your absence. Rather, it appears your grievances are related to the Trusted Housesitter’s Code of Conduct, which states, “I will ensure my home is vacated for my sitter throughout the duration of the sit, with no third parties present other than my confirmed sitter.”
Before we arrived at the sit, you asked us if we would be able to do the changeover for your other two gites whilst there, and we clearly stated this was against the Code. Your reply was “No problem” and that you would block off the dates of our sit. However, the day before you left, you surprised us by stating that you had just taken a booking for a lady and three children who were to stay in the gite next to us. As this meant we would be sharing a garden an entrance with strangers, we mentioned the Code of Conduct again. Although you were disappointed, you agreed to cancel the booking. You also wanted to leave your house unlocked so regular customers could go in and collect their eggs. We offered to deal with these sales, but you felt it easier to leave the house as they normally expected, even though we were not comfortable with strangers entering the property in this way.
We were saddened that you felt it necessary to post such a negative review. We were committed to providing the best care for your animals for nearly three weeks. They were all healthy and happy when we left and the gite was clean and tidy. The review is not reflective of our ability as house sitters. Rather, the home owner was disgruntled that we were unable to abide by her terms, which were at odds with the THS Code of Conduct and had the potential to put our safety in jeopardy.
Maybe shorter? You have had great suggestions, so just add to the pile:
We believe your review doesn’t reflect the care we provided to your pets and property. It seems your concerns are related to the Trusted Housesitter’s Code of Conduct, which states, “I will ensure my home is vacated for my sitter throughout the duration of the sit, with no third parties present other than my confirmed sitter.”
Before our arrival, you asked if we could manage the changeover for your other two gites, which we declined as it was against the Code. You agreed to block the booking dates, but the day before your departure, you informed us of a new booking for a lady and three children. Given the shared garden and entrance, we reiterated the Code, and you canceled the booking.
You also preferred to leave your house unlocked for egg customers, which made us uncomfortable, though we offered to handle the sales.
We are disappointed by your negative review. We cared for your animals for nearly three weeks, leaving them healthy and happy, and the gite clean and tidy. The review seems to stem from our adherence to the THS Code of Conduct, which conflicted with your requests and could have compromised our safety.
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I would go with @CreatureCuddler 's revision which captures the core issues very succinctly. I know in situations like this, the inclination is to give a lot of details, but it usually doesn’t come across in a good way to other hosts and sitters reading it, who have no knowledge of either party or the situation. Ultimately, this is the audience people have in mind when responding to the review, not the person who wrote it.
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