I have had positive experiences with sitters for the past 7 years. But I rely on only good reviews, and more than four. I always get 5 stars as a host, thankfully. Recently a few of the potential sitters got one very bad review (to which they responded at great length and defensively), among 7-8 good reviews. How much credence should I give the “bad” review? I realize hosts can be at fault, but my biggest concern is over defensive replies. Please give me some relativity.
A bad match that sounds like it’s been horrible for both HO and sitter…. they’ll have both learnt a lot from the experience.
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Quick suggestion…
Would you consider having a video call with them? That way you could ask their side of the story and follow your intuition. Communication helps to understand each other better and gives less chance for people to twist things or judge unfairly 
Once this is done, please trust your gut
Defensive responses are never the best option from my point of view.
They carry the smell of excuses and tend to tip the balance (without reflecting what really happened) toward the side of the person leaving the bad review.
Defensive responses reflect a lack of effective communication I guess and can show a vulnerability in owner/sitters. Who likes defensive responses?
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We’re sitters, when we see that an HO has 1 bad review among good ones we do the below. It’s very simple, and very crystal clear in our experience at telling us what we need to know, here’s what you do.
There’s 2 sides to every story, so read what the sitters review said about the home owner (not the response to their bad review, their actual review of the owners).
To do this, go to the sitters negative review and click into the HO that put the bad review, and look at the owners’ reviews, and take into account how others have reviewed them. Look at that particular sitters review that they left and more importantly the tone in which they said it.
The sitters tone is everything, it’s usually crystal clear who’s fault it is. You’ll be able to see if they were polite, respectable, & factual when they wrote their review. Or does it sound like they already knew that particular owner would be giving them a negative review, and so worded it to make the owner look like they were in the wrong.
We’re sitters, whenever an HO has had a negative review, I always read both reviews, and fortunately it’s always gave a crystal clear viewpoint of right and wrong as to what the true story is.
There’s a clear difference in those that are being defensive, and those that are simply stating the facts as they see them in a polite manner.
In the way you used the word defensive in their response, I think that probably tells you everything, but just double check what the other review was first to get the whole story. You need a sitter that takes responsibility for your pets, your home, and their actions, not the deflective type.
I’m so glad I chose to ignore the odd bad review that some of our owners have got in the past, because they’ve been lovely people. Fortunately, I could always tell from both reviews, who I was more aligned with.
We’ve had owners mention their negative review to us when we’ve arrived to sit, and I’ve totally forgot about their reviews by that point, because I made up my mind as soon as I read both sides, no niggles at the back of my mind, nothing - crystal clear, with no doubt.
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As a sitter I look at how PP rate sitters. When I see less than a five I read what they wrote. I find some mark downs ridiculous for the reason they give. I will not apply to those PP. I see so many low applications for PP and the more critical they are and ungrateful for this free service from humans who are not perfect but doing the best they can, the more low applications you will see. Some people deserve mark downs but those people really didn’t put the pets first but others just need maybe a private email by the PP not marked down stars.
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I do the exact same.
As for the original question: People can get emotional when things go badly. It doesn’t automatically mean that they will be bad sitters or hosts. Speaking with each other will often resolve doubts. That does not go for mean or spiteful language, of course, I would avoid these like the plague.
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This was a particularly helpful response. Thank you for taking the time. I did as you suggested, but the Romanian “bad” review is no longer listed, and it was the oldest review. However, the sitter had charming detailed reviews of her other hosts, so I’ll determine further on the Whats App call and go with my gut. Again, thank you for the support!
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It sounds like you’ve resolved to move forward and learn more - but I was going to say it also depends on the details of the bad review. Is it someone going on and on about the sitter not ironing the sheets? Or is does it mention a significant lapse that put the pet(s) or home in danger?
Also, if it was the oldest review, and the rest are all 5 stars, it would appear the sitter learned from it and improved. Definitely worth speaking with the sitter and finding out what has changed in their sitting since then.
Very strange that an old review would get removed though.
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It is very kind of you to comment. Thank you. Your point is well taken that a sitter may have learned from the experience. Besides the defensiveness in one area, the sitter outlined the responsible things she did in what appears to be a difficult situation–the home and situation were not as presented. So I’ll have my WhatsApp and make sure I understand what the sitter looks for in a host, so we’re a good match, and trust my gut and the subsequent positive reviews.
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You don’t have to accept a sitter just because they apply.
If no one applies that you feel 100% comfortable with you don’t have to choose anyone and can figure out something else.
Personally, when I see an applicant, I read their reviews. I read their responses. I read the reviews they’ve written. There are bad reviews and bad reviews. If I read a “bad” review that made me feel the person isn’t a good pet carer, or is careless in a way that could endanger my pets, I probably wouldn’t choose that person. If I read a review that wasn’t that bad, but the sitter’s reaction was over the top, I probably would avoid that sitter as well. Communication is key. If something does wrong, we have to be able to talk and problem solve.
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An answer can be emotional and not defensive - I’ve seen stories where sitters went to great lenghts to endure horrible sits and put in effort nobody should expect a sitter to do, and still got critizism. I’ve also seen hosts go off the hinge in answers after having a horrible sitter. It isn’t a great place to start a sit for sure. But I would look at both reviews of the sit (was the issue in that sit something I care about or something I think is minor or unfair to expect ?), is it something one has learnt from - re. the timeline of reviews? How was the sit itself compared to mine when it comes to responsibilities and lenght of sit?
If a host had undisclosed stuff sprung on sitter at arrival or during the sit, I would have greater empathy for the sitter (maybe trying to juggle new, previously unknown circumstances) than if they hadn’t read or cared about the listing. If a host had offered assistance and the sitter declined I would have less, and so on.
In the end the gut feeling would decide. If no good gut feeling - the member might be all right to have an exchange with, but for somebody else.
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A defensive, retaliatory response to a review may suggest they didn’t learn from this particular feedback. If the review was reasonable, I would consider this a red flag—depending on the issues raised
I had my Whats App with the sitter today and all was explained to my satisfaction. She’s a mature and responsible person and that works. Thanks for your input.
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A review says as much about the reviewer as the person being reviewed. If there are lots of 5 star reviews I would disregard one bad review.
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