A few days before the end of a 3 week sit I got a message in the app from my sitter saying “Our plans have changed” we need to leave a day early. We were out of the country and on the road so we were quite distressed by this. They suggested boarding her the last night. I told them they would need to cover that cost. They said we should cover it. At this point I lost trust in their ability to sort out an appropriate situation for our home and pets. I had to call friends to step in and pick up our dog. To top it off, when we got home the side door to the house was left unlocked. Anyone could have walked in. Before I write their review I’d like to hear from this community. Thank you.
I am sorry that happened. While emergencies can come up that require a sitter to leave early, it does not sound like this was the case here, and it’s not right to just randomly decide you want to leave a sit early because your plans have changed.
This speaks to a lack of responsibility and reliability and it is definitely something you should mention in your review. And be clear that they decided to cut the sit short simply because their plans changed and not because they had some issues arise that required them to leave early.
You are also welcome to open a ‘member dispute’ against them. I believe you have to officially title your message that way to begin that process.
Not sure if this is your first sit, or if you have used the site before but not for awhile, but there is a new feature that pops up after you submit your review that asks if you would recommend this sitter. If you say ‘no’ you will have an opportunity to say why.
This is just for THS to track patterns to see if certain sitters or hosts seem to have issues that may need to be addressed, so I don’t think they are carefully monitoring each piece of feedback as it comes in, meaning this would probably not lead them to contact the sitter about what they did.
Again sorry this happened
“Our plans have changed we need to leave early” not an acceptable reason in my opinion. When you commit to a sit you know the dates. How would they feel if you arrived home early and kicked them out?
I would lodge a dispute and review accordingly, and I am a sitter. These are the type of sitters that break the trust that THS is built on.
I suggest you raise a member dispute against them, because they don’t sound like they should be sitting anyone’s home or pets.
Hi @Vsdownie and firstly, welcome to the Forum.
I am sorry to hear of your situation. Just to let you know that I have passed this across to the Membership Services team and someone from the team will be reaching out to you shortly, so please do keep a look out for an email from them.
Sam.
It sounds like they got another sit after yours that starts a day before yours end. Usually when this happens one person stays at the sit they are on till the end and the other person goes to the new sit. If they are not physically sick then any excuse to leave early is not acceptable. Did you ask them why they are leaving a day early? I would be interested in a specific answer, not our plans have changed. You can review them honestly. I don’t understand how they would jeopardize what may have been a 5 star review to who knows how many you will deduct now. Besides the fact it is just not something one thinks a sitter will do.
How irresponsible, disrespectful and , possibly, duplicitous.
I’m so sorry that you and your pup had to deal with this person and their priorities (versus their responsibilities).
Write an honest , objective review including their verbiage re: “plans” and their insistence that you pay for the repurcussions of their whims.
Good to hear that THS has stepped in and I hope that they’ll do the right thing.
I think this is one of the reasons that can be checked when one wants to cancel a sit.
Doesn’t it only apply if you are in confirmed application stage? Not once you’re on the sit? Otherwise anyone could press cancel anytime and not sure you can do that. #cancelledcomms
Truly sorry this happened to you and it’s totally unacceptable. The sitter should be reported to THS and reviewed accordingly. I can’t fathom the entitlement a sitter has to do this. 
Someone may think that’s a legitimate reason to cancel a sit in progress especially since the reason is almost word for word what the cancelation reason is in the drop down list. But they have to go through more steps once a sit starts.
It totally depends on their reason for leaving. If they had a very good reason then fair enough, things happen outside of our control. Apart from leaving the door unlocked. Expecting you to pay for care if they had a good reason is also fine, it’s your responsibility to have a back up plan, not hers.
However, if they did not give a very good reason, then I’d give them a lower score in organised, reliable, and self-sufficient categories.
From either side, it warranted a conversation about what they were trying to accomplish by leaving early to see if you could both come up with a solution.
It it was a blunt as you put it without leaving open the possibility of a compromise, then it definitely warrants a negative review.