One bad review has made it impossible to get a sit

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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I know others here have struggled with this, but I feel at the end of my rope, despite perusing advice from previous posts. I was a pet-sitter informally for many years without THS, got nothing but positive feedback, and loved it because I love animals and connect with them easily. I’ve also always loved to travel but can rarely afford it (I’m a civil rights/wrongful conviction attorney making very little money). Needless to say, THS was a gift from God because I am very good at caring for animals, I am very diligent and thoughtful, and I’m a hardworking professional who understands the importance of providing excellent care and services.

When joining THS, I have asked my references to review me, and all 4 of them gave 5-star reviews. Then I started getting THS sits, and the first two gave me 5-star reviews (one was 4.5 stars but said nothing bad at all). Then I had my 3rd sit. I got an absolutely disasterous review that contained multiple lies. I was shocked. The reviewer accused me of leaving her home a complete mess (which I would never do and did not do), leaving rotting food in the fridge (not true), and - the worst - neglecting her cats to the point of her being forced to take them to the hospital and get them treated with medications. I have no idea why the reviewer did this. During my sit for her, I fed and played with and cuddled and doted on her cats, who snuggled with me and purred and showed nothing but happiness. I sent the reviewer pictures as proof to reassure her that all was well, even when not asked (which the reviewer also lied about - accusing me of not updating her about her pets). I cleaned like crazy before I left the apartment, despite having little time to do so because the reviewer decided to come back early and gave me only a few hours of notice about that. The only issue was that I left a small stain on her sheet (because, lucky me, I had my period - sorry if that’s TMI). After working furiously to remove the stain without luck, I bought an expensive homemade candle and card, in which I told her about the stain and offered to Venmo her the amount needed to replace it, with my information included. I left the candle/card in the clean apartment with the happy cats, and followed up with a text asking how she’d prefer that I pay her. She asked for $200 to be sent to her boyfriend’s account. That’s right - $200 for a sheet. But of course I went ahead and paid it immediately. I received no acknowledgement of receipt of payment, but the money was definitely transferred via Venmo and gone from my account.

Two weeks later, the reviewer posted the disparaging review. I wrote a reply responding to each of her concerns in a polite and displomatic manner, pointing out inaccuracies as delicately as possible.

Since then, I have received nothing but rejections in response to my applications. People see the bad review and nothing else. I asked THS for help, and provided DOCUMENTARY proof to counter each of the reviewer’s lies. THS refuses to remove the defamatory review and says its decision is final.

I am so heartbroken about this. I’ve tried addressing it in my applications, but the homeowners just ignore me. If anyone has advice, I would be eternally grateful. Despite the fact that the reviewer is no longer on THS - and I’ve pointed this out in my applications - this reviewer has more power over my ability to travel, as someone with very little money, and to connect with people and pets through this platform. And unfortunately, THS has a monopoly on this field - there is no other platform that is so well-respected and that has such a large membership base.

Any help/advice is DEEPLY appreciated! Thank you.

Elizabeth

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@El_Skyway To build up some new positive reviews have you tried applying for some local last minute sits ? (Even if they are just for one night )

If you do a good job and have reasonable hosts you will quickly get more 5⭐️reviews and then this bad review will appear amongst lots of positive ones .

Focusing on this issue in your applications will likely be off putting with hosts thinking that there is going to be drama if they choose you as a sitter. So I wouldn’t go into details about the negative review in your application ( but be willing to address it unemotionally - only if hosts ask ) focus on your experience and skills as you likely did with your applications before this incident .

There seems to be an excess of sits listed for the holiday period so maybe look to apply for those dates at the end of the year .

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I know it’s hurt you, but it’s time for reality! I don’t think you are seeing things clearly! You have only had a few sits… so the reality is, you are waaaay less likely to be accepted over someone with more reviews. But the fact you also had a 4.5 star, makes me think that perhaps you aren’t doing things in the way THS sitters do, because you are new to THS specifically. Because 2 out of 3or4 marked you down, I’m not sure how many it is.

We got a great tip right at the start, and it was to leave a home as though you’d never been there in first place, as thought the owners had just left (or better).

In the case of the bed sheet, I don’t know where you are, but the easiest thing if anything like that happens is to order one from Amazon, it’ll be with you the next day, and you wouldn’t have had to say anything, necessarily.

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Hi @El_Skyway, welcome to the forum.

I’m sorry this is happening to you and I am not sure if I I can be of any help, but I will share my thoughts.

I think it is a good idea to address the issue in your application but if this is not working, perhaps you could stop doing it and just say that you will be happy to explain. This would save you the effort of writing and you would only explain if they bother to get back and ask. You could mention the stain and money involved without going into details of how that happened. Some people feel uncomfortable with those details.

Perhaps you could apply to last minute and/or low applications sits, even if you are not particularly interested in the area, to improve your chances of getting the sit and getting good reviews.

You could also offer to meet prior to confirmation in local sits so that they can feel they can trust you.

I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with having little money but, again, some people feel uncomfortable if you write about that in your application, some people may feel that could impact them and go with other sitters.

Good luck!

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I came here to write about this exact issue. Despite doing everything right and even above and beyond, HOs have occasionally docked me one star in “clean and tidy” without warning or explanation. Some of these have even been in homes I would not rate 5 stars in cleanliness on my side, or sits with less than 5 star communication about their expectations. But I always rate 5 stars just because I am forgiving, I guess, and don’t want to ruin their chances over minor things. That same goodwill does not seem to extend in return at times and it is baffling. Especially when it’s HOs who are all smiles and “thank you” and “don’t worry about it” irl then suddenly dock you a star. It’s so disheartening, especially if you had to deal with some crazy things during the sit and handled it all like a champ. There seems to be no reward for it.

Technically 4 stars is still a good rating and HOs who are new to the platform may not realize how those affect a sitter. They also may not realize that it’s more productive to explain any qualms they had with you, or maybe some are too shy.

Now, suddenly, I am getting questions about the 3 sits with a single star docked instead of the 10+ with all 5 stars. I am being treated like a sitter who “doesn’t clean” (what!?). I have to tell people I do of course clean. It is maddening and I have made posts before about how the rating system is flawed and things seem a bit skewed against the sitters. HOs aren’t hiring you, they are matching with you based on mutual availability.

Think about it—this skewed rating system keeps sitters going way above and beyond, doing short sits to “keep their ratings up”…it’s a bit exploitative. I think most sitters are not rating HOs with the appropriate stars docked, either.

In response to your insane review situation, can you contact the platform? I can’t imagine what may be going through that woman’s mind…if someone doesn’t like having guests in their home with reasonable room for wear and tear then one wonders why they have Housesitters to begin with? We are entire people with lives! Not invisible servants.

On my end I’ve learned to start clarifying about cleaning staff and cleaning checklists, thanks to this forum. But you also can’t really predict a crazy reviewer or a wayward star docking when they make no mention of issues to you…

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If it were me, I’d try a couple of things. I’d indicate in your biography about of type of attorney you are, that you advocate for others as you described in your post. That speaks volumes about who you are as a person.

I’d be upfront in your profile about the negative review. Offer to provide the information to a potential host you provided to THS, stating that what the host said is inaccurate. Let them know THS policy is not to remove any reviews if that is the case, and their decision was final.

I’d consider reaching back out to your previous sits that gave you good reviews and ask if they have any upcoming sits you could be considered for. Be honest that you valued your sit, but since then, you unfortunately had a negative experience that you would like to put behind you. They may have empathy for you and be willing to help you move forward.

If you use Airbnb and have good reviews, take some screen shots and post them in your photos in your bio. See if you can get others who know you to post positive references to your profile.

I would apply for any sits that are last minute to increase your odds. It may take a little time, but you will eventually push the negative review back. I’ve seen other profiles of sitters who have had negative reviews and they have gone on to get successful sits, so I’d give it time.

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Please be honest rather than forgiving. You said yourself that most sitters just rate 5* but if people would stop doing that, including you, and be more honest, everyone could get onto a level playing field.

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Reviews are the place to be factual. Remember the purpose of the review. If you don’t like a sit, remember that you could have avoided it if a previous sitter had shared what they too experienced. Reviews that hide the truth will enable the host to continue, but can also spread as other hosts might think it «normal» and «acceptable».

A sitter with few reviews, also only 5*, will be more likely to be declined, and one can also be declined for numerous random reasons - host prefer a solo sitter, a couple, a male/ female, someone local, someone who has said they have an active lifestyle or whatever. With 5 applicants 4 will be declined. So it is more likely to be declined, really. So you would have had a lot of declines also with only 5*-sits.

Draw attention to what you would like the host to think about. Don’t draw attention to what you don’t. You have good advice from many.

I think it is smart to state what kind of lawyer you are, that you have had great experience petsitting. If you need to adress a bad experience you can mention it in the line of «I’ve learnt a lot and good communication is important to me» or whatever «Feel free to ask if you have questions».

I is important also to know that many petsitters (and hosts) will run into a bad experience. Many hosts and sitters will know that, and will know that that can be a result of a bad match rather than being a bad person/ sitter/host. A bad review can happen, even if you do everything right. I’m sure you as an advocate know this from other parts of your life. Bad things happen also to innocent people.

The important thing is how you move forward. Shrug and move on. Bury the review in good reviews. As others say - local, short time sits are great for that purpose. Short sits often have fewer applicants, and being local you can offer to meet in person pre-confirmation and/ or pre-sit. Many hosts find that an asset. Many hosts also want local sitters as then it would probably be easier to get a pet-sitter in the future, and a sitter the pet knows.

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I hear you but honestly none of the bad things that happen during sits ever make me really want to leave a negative review, because I know the star system is so slanted. Ie one or two stars docked seems to make a huge difference in future options. Perhaps because we are not rating, say, a business with 1000s of customers and reviews to get an “average”. Same goes for reviews of sitters. And many HOs and sitters are new to the platform, figuring things out, idk I’m lenient.

As many others have mentioned on these forums, reviews should simply be “pass or fail” with the option to leave commentary on each section, or the elimination of sections altogether. As of now 5 stars seems to be pass and anything else seems to be fail, even if you have 5 stars in every other category. If the purpose of reviews is to help that person get better at certain aspects, they are having a very different effect.

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Truthfully, though, a lot of HOs won’t accept you for a sit if you have ANY “negative” or even less than 5-star reviews.

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Weird, and exorbitant. Did you write about this attitude in your review?

I have had a nasty review once and I got other sits after that. A way to make this review quickly go away from the top of the list is to apply to short sits where there is little competition: short sits with little notice. And Christmas sits, when the demand for sitters is higher than supply.

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I think you can mention issues without it being a negative review.

Ex: I would have preferred to use whatsapp or similar to make communication easier but in the end we were able to make it work just using the THS app.

or

Doggo was a bit more energetic than I expected, with walks of x length really needed to wear them out, but that let us explore some of the great walking paths in the area.

Nothing negative being said, but sitters are still being warned about potential things they’ll want to consider.

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My very first sit was not a 5*, for a reason not stated and not answered when I asked.

I have gotten several sits despite the first review (with only 5*) . Of course it will have an impact, but it hasn’t stopped at least me from having sits, and now I consider it «buried» in good reviews. Of course I also get declined a lot and I also decline sits I’m offered if I don’t regard it a good match. I think declining sits that are not good matches after video call helps me in getting 5*, as avoiding red flag and bad gut feeling also avoids bad reviews. Both ways I’m sure.

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I am sorry to hear about your experience. There are a few things I would say:

  1. It can’t be argued that a bad review could make it more difficult to get sits, but I sometimes look at sitter profiles because I am curious about what other people write, what they are doing with themselves, etc… and I have seen plenty with bad reviews that have continued to book sits afterwards–sometimes really bad ones. So that one bad review will sink someone doesn’t appear to be true from what I have observed. Yeah you will probably have to put in more applications, especially if you are searching in areas that are more popular. And another thing to keep in mind is that while the review is probably affecting your chances to some extent, that may not always be the case. Hosts can only pick one person, and plenty of very experienced sitters with nothing but positive feedback also get rejected.

  2. I am sure it must have been frustrating that THS would not amend the review even if you appeared to have proof some of the things said were not true. But I kind of see where they are coming from with their policy of not removing reviews unless it contains clearly egregious content like hate speech or something truly defamatory. Saying someone left the house dirty or didn’t communicate well clearly doesn’t fall under those guidelines, and people do get a chance to respond. I know they get criticized for this policy, but if they had more lenient guidelines of amending/removing reviews , they would get criticized for that as well, and that policy would probably do more harm to the platform. Just one of those things where there is no perfect solution or approach.

  3. Sometimes giving advice on here can be difficult because there is a lot people don’t know about the situation. In this case, I don’t know what you are saying exactly about this bad review in your application messages, and if how you are approaching it could be more of a problem than the review itself. When you apply, are you just making a brief statement about it, and welcome the host to ask any questions or share any concerns, or are you giving a lot of details about what happened and talking about specific points raised in it? The reason I ask is because you said in your post that you mention something about the host no longer being on the site, which wouldn’t seem relevant to anything.

  4. You definitely want to change your attitude about it, and this isn’t meant in a critical way. But the idea that this one host has now ruined your whole pet-sitting experience simply isn’t true. I know it can seem that way, and I know how upsetting it must have been to get a review that was not an accurate reflection of the job you did. The ‘victim’ vibe never works well because it means you are going into every application expecting they will reject you, and our expectations have a very strong influence on our experience.

  5. The advice others have given to apply to local sits–especially more last-minute ones-- where you can make the offer of meeting them in person–which they may not necessarily take you up on-- is really good. While meeting in-person isn’t really typical, making this bit of extra effort could be worth it if it increases your chances of getting the sit.

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I didn’t know it was possible to get a 4.5?

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A post was split to a new topic: New Member with Question

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I disagree about the 4.5 star. My second sit was in an RV and they had a cut in their main connection power cord. There was a storm and the cord was pulled slightly and the power went out. I called the maintenance person, who charged $150 – they did leave a credit card for this – but found nothing wrong. The park maintenance replaced stuff on their end. It was the neighbor who noticed the cut in their cord and why the electricity kept going out. They gave me 4 stars for self sufficient. I think it still ended up being 5 stars for me but it annoyed me when it was their equipment that was faulty.

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Thanks so much, pietkuip! I did mention the $200 request from the reviewer in my review. And great advice about the short sits with little notice. I’ve been trying for those as much as possible. I just need one to come through me. I’ll keep trying! Also, I need to look at more Christmas sits, as you suggested. I truly appreciate your advice.

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I am grateful to all of you for taking the time to help me with some great advice! Some of you suggested things I’ve already tried, but I’m going to revisit my whole profile based on what you’ve all suggested. I especially like the ideas about expanding more on the type of law I practice (I mention it briefly in my profile, but could perhaps expand more), adding screenshots from my Airbnb reviews and external references, and aggressively appliying to more Christmas/holiday sits.

I like the idea of having a “pass/fail” option instead of the star system; it is entirely more reasonable and fair, because right now anything less than 5 stars is often viewed as a “fail.”

I think that THS could be more supportive of Sitters by calling attention to the risks we as Sitters take on (especially as solo female travellers but even if not) when we stay in strangers’ homes not knowing for certain who has access to the home, and when we go above and beyond to do a great job despite knowing next to nothing about the HO’s who have the power to damage our future prospects (the mentally unstable ones appear more than willing to do so).

In other words, both HOs and Sitters take on considerable risks when we form this business relationship. So a platform that is less deferential to HOs - and takes a more balanced approach - would be ideal.

Thank you ALL again for helping out with your comments and thoughts!

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Just another point of view, I’m a HO and there have been a few reviews between sitter and HO’s that are argumentative on both sides, so we just ignore both. Right, wrong or indifferent that’s how we perceive. I’m sure it comes down to communication.

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