How do you red flag a potential mis-leading house sitter?
I think the only thing is to send an email to Membership Services with your concerns. I believe the address is support@trustedhousesitters.com
Or if they had been doing a pet sit for you: write an honest review.
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Agreed! Use the review system, but try to be factual and not emotional so your review is clear and understandable to future homeowners.
Potential? Hmmm, better to be sure @ashleighk
so it won’t backfire on you.
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Do you mean there was a difference between what was written in their profile and what you uncovered in a video chat? Or have you done deeper research into the background of the sitter and uncovered something else …….
in which case I’m getting the popcorn 
ready 
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Yes
This couple appeared to be the dream duo
I was totally taken in with their slick video presentation
But a few red flags were appearing
Is there a way to red flag 
a house sitting couple?
It’s difficult to answer as you’re being so mysterious. Unless the couple actually did a sit for you and you write a review then no.
You could initiate a member dispute for THS to investigate. Also what do you want to achieve, what’s your purpose?
Edited to meet posting terms
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So… you want to warn others off a couple that you didn’t have a good vibe with?
Unless you have evidence of some crime or fraud, I’m not sure what a cryptic post here accomplishes…?
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How old would you expect someone to be with a headline on their profile of 10 years experience in house/sitting?
What would be a reasonable amount of time to share your references phone numbers?
The minimum age for joining THS is 21, I think, so they would have to be in their 30’s. Have they got reviews?
Young people can have experience of owning and caring for pets since childhood. Teenagers can have been babysitting.
It is a bit unclear what this “years of experience” is supposed to mean.
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| Chrissie
3 June |
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The minimum age for joining THS is 21, I think, so they would have to be in their 30’s. Have they got reviews?
Their headline reads
Our Experience is 10 years
THS allows a couple to combine their experience
We didn’t notice the age until I was checking with our insurance as I had offered them our car along with a 3 month sit
Drivers under 25 need to be named
One half of the duo was 35 the other 21
The 21 year old was arriving 2 weeks before the 35 yr old
5 glowing reviews all external
I did ask for the references phone numbers but they were never sent
I did start to doubt my decision
They come across as the dream team as they have described them selves
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External reviews are usually from friends or family, so are bound to be glowing. I would be very hesitant about putting a 21 year old on my car insurance, have you checked the cost? Insist on getting contact numbers from the references. I can understand why you are a bit concerned.
I wouldn’t really expect anything in terms of age. If their age is of importance to you the easiest way is to ask them.
Since it’s a couple they could be combining their respective experiences to get to 10 years. They could have been doing this since they were teenagers. So they could easily be in their early twenties.
If you have an issue with a specific sitter on THS you should follow the advice @pietkuip gave you at the beginning and email Membership Services with your concerns.
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Not clear what red flags you’re seeing. Sounds like you don’t think these folks are what you thought they were, but that doesn’t sound like they were misrepresenting something. Maybe you just assumed incorrectly. Are there more details that you’ve not mentioned?
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Welcome @ashleighk
Sitters ages are shown in their profile ( most of us don’t like this for various reasons but it’s not something we can opt out of ) if that’s important it’s there for HOs to check before considering an application.
I don’t think it’s misleading in itself to say that we have x years experience of looking after pets. If an owner wants to know more the time to do that would be during their phone/ video call conversation before they confirm the sitters . HOS can ask in a friendly way “ I see that you have 10 years of experience, that’s impressive …I’d love to know more about that ….can you tell me more about that ?”
We had 8 years experience of house sitting for friends family and colleagues before we joined THS platform.
Also the time to check out the external references would be before confirming the sit. Once a sit is confirmed neither party can’t cancel unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The sitters may have already paid for plane tickets etc as they are committed to the agreement made.
Did you discuss and agree that only one half of the couple would arrive for the first two weeks ? If this was not agreed with you before you confirmed them as sitters then you don’t have to accept the arrangement.
Did you know that THS only verify the primary member of the couple? Is the person who is coming first the primary member ?
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Thanks for your advice
I wasn’t overly concerned about the age if I had been sent the phone numbers to have a chat with the reviewers.
Young people can be amazing caring for animals but they usually haven’t had a lot of experience owning or running a home.
They did change their Headline to 5 years experience
They also claimed they were in the country but told me they were over seas
I am in a unique position where I can be both a house/ pet sitter and have sitters in my home
I hope to get the balance just right
I am assuming there are more sitters than home owners on this forum?
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I don’t know how many sitters V homeowners are forum members but sitters do seem to engage with the forum discussions more frequently than home owners.