Thank you, definitely thought about that too… if nothing else, he felt safe and cared for.
Yes, its not really in fashion anymore😅
Always try, in all aspects, to honour commitments and rarely cancel anything, consider it rather flakey and sometimes unreliable too. But yes, sadly -today -that reflex can, in some scenarios, open the door to being taken advantage of.
Ultimately, while THS may not be directly responsible for the host’s blatant breach of basic terms, they did enable the situation by approving this host in the first place.
As far as I know, they’ve passed information from this thread on to their internal team, haven’t heard anything further yet.
THS of course have more background on the host’s account and setup - and also the staff and information to take necessary precautions, including involving appropriate authorities if needed.
But doesn’t change the fact that this should never have been allowed to happen in the first place.
Thank you, that’s exactly how it should be: a welcoming home, transparency, and a shared respect for each other’s time and effort. I’ve been lucky to meet many hosts who are just like you, so I know this isn’t the norm.
I dont see matyr or any other complex at work here, just a kind heart & sense of compassion & some humour in the situation
What would have happened to.the poor dog if she had up and left?
And what is the forum for if not share experience, good & bad?
I do hope you can manage an honest review though & hopeful that your next sit 100%, makes up for this one..
Is this real? It sound like a horror movie. I can’t stop thinking about the dog. Are you allowed to say where this was?
How can someone been prevented for not sitting for those type of people?
They only have this if you have submitted all the evidence ( photos etc ) to them in a member dispute.
THS don’t visit or inspect homes to see what the conditions are like . If a sitter finds a sit breaks the code of conduct they need to report it for THS to act .
Thank you, that’s incredibly sweet of you to say @Gina@raimis
Believe me, I was close to losing it. The hosts were off-grid camping in the mountains with limited coverage, so if I had ignored the 24hours notice and just left, who knows…the dog was on top of everything else on a very intense medication schedule.
@Nijoyce1@Silversitters
By any reasonable standard, this listing would be removed from the platform.
At this point, I’m waiting on a response from THS…they enabled it and are ultimately the ones who can prevent it from happening again - at least through this company.
Have you raised a Member Dispute ? (THS won’t remove a member based only a post in the forum )
If you have followed the process for raising a member dispute including sending the evidence ( photos etc ) then THS can investigate and remove the listing and ban the owner from the platform .
Please report back to the forum on the outcome of the Member Dispute.
The Forum team don’t raise member disputes. We typically look up the member’s user ID and any open tickets they have MS, and then ask the team to review and get in touch.
I can see that @buttercup has mentioned that they’re waiting for a response, so I’m double-checking things with the team, but if they did want to escalate to a complaint they can do so by reaching out to the team via email and providing any relevant info as detailed in this help article - I know you shared that link further up the page.
It’s a topic that comes up frequently on the forum and the information gets buried in threads so I have also created a new thread which may help @buttercup
and anyone else needing to raise a member dispute
With respect, you wouldn’t have left a living creature ‘in the lurch’ if you had terminated the sit immediately you realised the conditions (whilst the pet parents were still there), responsibility would have rightly remained with the HOs, and doubtless they’d have had to re-think the circumstances.
I feel it’s a bit like the predicament posed by puppy farmers; people who buy from such people to ‘save’ the pups actually facilitate the unacceptable conditions and behaviours. Only by calling people out on these issues can they come to realise what’s not acceptable.
I do realise you may not have immediately realised the extent of the issues you would face but, if you did so before the HOs departed, I feel it would have been more prudent to leave, stating very clearly why you were doing so.
I do hope you left an honest, factual review so that no other sitters unwittingly encounter such conditions, and that THS are taking action against this HO.
They would have soon realised if you’d walked away and immediately submitted a dispute. It’s up to each of us to make ourselves aware of the T&Cs and enforce them to protect ourselves (and each other), IMHO.
I think everything has been said on the subject. I can see why you didn’t leave. That poor old dog needed some love and care in the end of its days. You shouldn’t have been the one doing the care though. No wonder they scarpered without a proper handover. The shower situation was ridiculous too. Please reassure us all that THS are dealing with this and that the HO will never be allowed to hoodwink another sitter again.
@Happypets Though your views do somewhat contradict themselves, I understand the intention behind your comments - which, if anything, underscores the point; It’s far less straightforward in practice than it is in theory.
That said, the primary responsibility lies with THS to properly vet and approve the members and listings they permit on their platform - and just as critically, for them to act appropriately when it becomes evident that yet another one has slipped through the net.
It shouldn’t fall to individual members to shoulder the burden of enforcing the company’s policies, especially not when they’re the ones left managing the consequences.
THS don’t vet hosts - there’s no background check on hosts or check on their home .
“ 4. THE SERVICES WE DO NOT PROVIDE TO MEMBERS
4.1. We do not provide the following or any guarantees or assurances for any of the following:
4.1.1. the safety of an Pet Parent’s home and/or pet(s);
4.2.8. endorsement of or checking the accuracy of the Pet Parent’s Home Listing ;
It’s up to sitters do the checking and vetting for themselves . It’s up to sitters who encounter problems to report them to THS by raising a member dispute and submitting evidence . Then THS can take the appropriate action and remove members who are not following the terms of service that they agreed to .
@Ckone2541 Couldn’t agree more❤ @Aideen@Silversitters
I’m currently in contact with THS and have offered to share all documentation and details I have in relation to this.
Have reached out to them once before, last year(a reactive, aggressive dog) … based on that experience, I have to admit…my expectations are low.
That said, I’ll absolutely keep this thread updated with any developments or outcomes as they unfold
