Same thing happened to me. I would mention the negative review on my application but than I decided to stop mentioning it. I did receive many rejections because of it. There were a couple people that gave me a chance and knew the bad review was a lie. You will definitely receive rejections but there are people who will give you a chance just be patient. If they ask about it on video call I tell them my side
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Yes, there are 3 sides to every story so itâs important for everyone to go with their gut and read the full information available.
I think you and are in the same boat, @Hiya ! The unfavorable reviews from HOs are even more upsetting when theyâve been âall smiles and thank youâsâ in real life - as you said - only to turn around and post a bunch of baseless gripes about your performance a couple weeks later.
For instance, we accept these jobs not knowing 1) who else really has access to the home where weâll be staying, i.e., who else has a key, and 2) in cities/towns where we might not know anyone because weâre traveling. And yet we accept the jobs, assume the risks, and go above and beyond (most of us anyway) to exceed the HOâs expectations, knowing that the HO could be a mentally unhealthy or at least extremely uncharitable individual who could ruin our chances of securing future sits.
In other words, HOâs entrust us with their pets and their homes. But we as Sitters entrust HOs with our safety (quite frankly our lives, especially as solo women travellers) and our future ability to secure work on THS.
Does this seem fair and balanced? Yet who gets the benefit of the doubt, time and again? Not us. The HOâs.
Thanks so much no matter what for your thoughts and advice!
âElizabeth
(edited by Forum team to ensure post meets our Terms of Service)
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I can see why youâre bothered, but Iâm a little concerned at your use of âworkâ and âjobsâ as this suggests something other than what I thought THS is about.
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I agree. I just petsat 2 cats that were determined to refute the adage âcats are easier to care for than dogsâ. They were constantly getting into things and had charming habits like unplugging my IPAD (no big deal) or unplugging their electronic litter box (NOT GOOD). I ignored our issue with a live mouse, separate feeding arrangements, etc. but in my review I described the cats as drop dead gorgeous, incredibly sweet plus mischievous and opportunistic. My goal was for people to get a hint that they were a bit of work to take care of.
My family has received 5stars on all of our petsits but we still get rejected a lot. Itâs just a numbers game. I know the day will come one day when we receive a bad review for whatever reason. I might lose my cool if they lie but Iâve read enough posts on here where it happens. Cast a bigger net. I donât think your pet sitting future is ruined due to this bad review. Keep applying, donât mention it in the application and calmly explain if a pet parent wants to know more. The goal would be to bury that bad review with new 5*s
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Youâre an attorney, so if there were some way of getting the review removed, youâd probably know what that is. I would suggest moving on. Continue to apply for sits, with a simple paragraph explaining the circumstances of the bad sit. Possibly see if you could add more external references. You might as well, as you paid for the membership. Meantime, there are some other organizations with a similar model. Their websites might not be as functional, but it might keep you sitting.
Iâm so sorry, but I cannot get past the part about leaving a âsmall stain on her sheetâ due to it being your time of the month, and not being able to remove the stain after working âfuriouslyâ, and leaving a candle and card apologizingâŚI"m just going to say it: WTF? None of that makes any sense whatsoever. First of all, soap and/or bleach is almost guaranteed to get any blood stains out of sheets, butâworst case scenario, if it doesnâtâwhy not just order another sheet and save yourself the embarassment of having to explain? Either Iâm missing something, orâŚ(I donât want to say what the âorâ isâŚ)
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Hmm. I wouldnât overthink that, @DianeS. Actually it looks like the THS editors edited what I wrote anyway, so not sure that I used that terminology. Even so, like I said I wouldnât overthink it. And no need to apologize! Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
Hmm, no apology needed @Avamyst11 . The reason I didnât buy a new sheet is because I was worried Iâd buy the wrong one. Not all sheets are alike of course, and I wanted to make sure I replaced it with the exact one she wanted. Based on the review she left, she definitely would have noticed the difference, and then she would have accused me of being dishonest for not telling her. And indeed she may have had a point!
Your advice about getting blood stains out of sheets is much appreciated! I tried just about everything, and nothing worked. Maybe itâs all in the wrist or something?
I hope this helps you get over this part of my experience though! Thanks seriously for your thoughts.
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Oh, but I really want to know what the âorâ is! But hopefully my reply helped answer your question about what you were missing.
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Yes do the local sits and build it back up from there. Mention the bizarre review in your profile, but not too much. Say you are talking with THS to get that review removed.
What I am finding slightly concerning is that you paid 200 dollars for a fitted sheet, with no questions asked. Why did you not contact THS?
Iâm finding it almost hard to believe how âabove and beyondâ you went to appease these home owners.
Surely as a home owner, you take the risk of having someone stay in your house?
Make sure to vet sits in the future⌠surely there must have been signs that the home owner was going to be demanding/insane?
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@El_Skyway Did you respond to this review?
You can of course leave commentary on each section in your review. I disagree that they should be - or are - âpass or failâ, rather that the good points should be mentioned together with the not so good. Balance and transparency, giving a fair overview of your experience of a sitter, surely helps other sitters make an informed choice and educates the host on changes that potentially need to be made.
I appealed to the Member Disputes at THS and was immediately told that a review from a HO who stated âdonât use this sitterâ and was full of lies couldnât be changed. When she asked me which dog bit me, I knew this THS hadnât read my appeal because I stated the dogâs name. She then referred my issues to a Senior Relationship Manager. I sent a captured text that the HO sent to my cell phone showing that she stated that she wouldnât leave a review because she didnât want to hinder my chances of future sits. When I asked for a copy of her dogâs rabies vaccination, she turned around a gave me a one-star rating. She made all kinds of outrageous claims against me and even said I continued to harass her. THS refused to do anything about it and closed my case.
At times, I felt under appreciated and over-worked. I donât mind cleaning up before leaving, but some HO seem to think Iâm their cleaning service. Iâve laundered their towels and sheets, groomed and shampooed their dogs, vacuumed up dog hairs, wiped up vomit, washed down diarrhea, cleaned filthy dog toys, disinfected bathrooms, and didnât get a simple âthank youâ. from a HO. Instead of appreciation, a few HO arrive home and expect me to disappear even whilst Iâm still cleaning up. One HO didnât write a review saying she was sparing me a less than five rating because her dog bit someone a week after I left. Seriously! I had no problems with her dog and she blamed me for its behavior while he was with HER. Fortunately, I have quite a few 5* ratings, but THS has really let me down about their dispute resolution. They edited parts of my response to the HOâs comments that expressed my opinion of the HOâs character but left her comment to other HOs not to use me.
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THS is pretty much always going to side with the HOs over the sitters. HOs are harder to get and retain vs sitters so they are fine leaving sitters out to dry if they can keep a HO on the platform.
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Are you suggesting moderators changed your wording to introduce the terms âjobâ and âworkâ? I find it most unlikely.
If you really feel your life is at risk when sitting, I donât understand why youâre so frustrated by finding it difficult to get more sits. I mean, you make it sound like a tragedy when it should be something enjoyable we voluntarily choose to do.
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@El_Skyway if youâve been following other posts youâll realise I wonât be the only person, as you say, âoverthinking itâ and rather that you are under thinking it and showing a different mindset. If you ever intend sitting in other countries you might find a change to that mindset might help you when chatting with border control.
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Yeah thatâs not what is happening, as many of our posts are highlighting. Whatâs actually happening is HOs are mysteriously docking one star without explaining it, usually in the clean and tidy category, and possibly with four stars still being a great review in their mind. Then other HOs are seeing it and discounting the sitter altogether. Iâm telling you Iâm getting asked âif I cleanâ despite 10+ all 5 ratings.
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There is nothing wrong with an experienced sitter wishing for edits to the platform to make things fairer and safer. Letâs remember this is a support forum.
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