We had nightmare sitters. Without going into all of the details, here are the highlights.
They did not follow any of the instructions in my very detailed guide, Had someone stay with them (unauthorized), and they put a blow up bed in my living room), left a day early with no warning, cat litter box was never cleaned in 1.5 weeks, cats took to peeing in the house (never done that before, but what choice did they have), incense burned and also weed (toxic to my Parakeets), birds left covered all day long, blood on sheets, house absolutely filthy (took my housekeeper 14 hours to clean - usually takes her 3 to 4 hours), all throw rugs had to be washed, dog had to be brought to my daughter’s home as dog would not eat, etc.,
Here is the question. I am scared to leave a review as they work about 30 minutes away from my home. I am afraid of a reprisal. They have not left a review of me - tomorrow is the deadline.
Thanks for your thoughts. I have filed a complaint with TH, but they have so many requirements for the complaint, such as lots of photos. I did not get home until my housekeeper had cleaned the house, and she only took 3 photos.
So sorry you found yourself in this situation. Sounds heartbreaking for the pets and lots of hazzle for you.
Have you had any kind of communication directly with them? They might well leave a review of you, still. Sometimes members in a situation like theirs would leave a very bad review as they expect you to do the same. So that is a risk, too.
For you in addition to other hosts/ members it could be best to leave a review. It could be both honest and neutral. Just describing.
«Unfortunately, it seems our Welcome Guide was not followed for the care of the pets. Our cat started to pee indoor, she has never done that before, the dog wouldn’t eat and it seems to have been incense and/ or smoking indoor which affects the health of our birds. A substantial clean of our home was needed, althoug the health of the pets was our main concern and we were worried as the pets were left one day early without warning. We’ve been in contact with THS to get guidance on our concerns.»
You could ask your housekeeper to write a brief statement about what she encountered. Even without many photos, a written account from a third party can help support your case. Even if it’s after the fact, write down everything you remember in detail. This can help if member service follows up or if you need to address the issue later.
What a terrible outcome from this sit @FrancesNapa. Did they have THS reviews? Did you have a video call before confirming them as your sitters?
If you don’t leave a factual, unemotional review for them, there will be no record on the sitters’ profile to show this sit took place. Therefore, future owners will have no idea what they are like.
They still have time to do a last minute review of you which you can respond to.
Reviews are blind to stop them being retaliatory so please, do review these sitters.
If you’re afraid, don’t review them but do be prepared to respond to their review of you if it’s negative in any way. It’s an ugly side of human nature that some people become proactively defensive when they know they’ve done something wrong. There is no deadline for posting your response so you can delay it until you’re comfortable.
As an HO, a sitter’s profile missing 2 or more HO reviews Is a major red flag for us. While it’s better for the community if both sides honestly review their experience, it’s not important enough for you to take on a lot of anxiety.
Sorry for your miserable sitters.
@FrancesNapa this is shocking, I’m so sorry for you. Please do leave a very factual review much like how you have described the situation here. It’s important other owners know about these sitters appalling behaviour. Please also lodge a complaint about them with THS so hopefully they will get expelled from THS. Make sure you call it a member dispute in your email title to support@trustedhousesitters.com
Thank you. We had a video call, all of their work references were easily verifiable, their initial application was full of how wonderful they would be, etc.
We hosted them for dinner the first night, and we reviewed all of the instructions with them.
Thank you. I am still negotiating with TH about my complaint. My housekeeper was so upset she was in tears. She and I have been friends for more than 20 years.
If you don’t review them but only respond to their review of you (if they leave one) your comments will only appear on your profile not theirs so future owners will never see your comments. If you review them directly, you can still respond to their review of you, but at least your review will be very visible to other owners on the sitters profile. Be factual and unemotional.
I think you should review, their behaviour was not minor. I understand the fear of retaliation, but you have details of them and cameras, surely this would be unlikely.
Thank you. I regret not having TH intervene while they were in my house. In hindsight, I should have had TH ask them to leave. The smoke, the friend staying in the house when not authorized, and the dog not eating were all red flags. I have had such lovely sitters before so this was a real shock.
So does this mean that responses by HOs to sitter reviews are only ever seen on the HO’s profile but not the sitter’s?
Figuring out/learning THS’s ins and outs sometimes feels like trying to untie a tangled rope with the lights off.
I am so sorry you and your pets experienced this! It’s horrible and should never happen. My guidance is always to review for the sake of other HO’s, but in your case I do understand personal/home safety make you reluctant. Be aware that missing reviews only show on the app, not the website, so it’s not enough to hope other homeowners will see a “missing” review. Maybe they even had missing reviews from their previous sits and of you were on the website you may not have been able to tell. It’s a real problem that website and app don’t offer the same experience.
I sure hope THS does the right thing (boots them off) and that your pets are all okay.