Protect sitters’ privacy: Add a homeowner blocking feature

THS News & Feedback
1

My experience highlights why sitters should be given the ability to block homeowners on TrustedHousesitters. The interaction I had with a homeowner, outlined below, made me very nervous that he might try to research me online, figure out where I live, or use the personal information visible on my profile to identify me outside the platform. With a sitter’s location, age, first name, and profession visible, it can be far too easy for someone to do that. (I am also the poster who previously requested that age be removed from profiles, but this post is specifically about the need for a blocking function for sitters for safety reasons.)

In my case, I had an interview for a sit that made me uncomfortable. The male homeowner asked questions about why I was in his city, who I was visiting, what hotel I was staying at before the sit began, what plans my friend and I had while we were there, and whether I was planning to move to his city. Something in my gut was telling me these questions were too personal and unnecessary for arranging a house sit, but I initially let it slide because I have had such great experiences on this site and didn’t want to overreact.

What changed everything was that after the interview, and before even sending the invitation, he texted me directly a photo from the cockpit of the commercial jet he was flying over Hawaii. That made me deeply uncomfortable because it felt personal, inappropriate, and unrelated to arranging the sit. It came across as an attempt to impress me or create a more personal connection outside the professional context of the platform, rather than focusing on the responsibilities of the house sit itself.

I declined the sit immediately. Instead of respecting that decision and keeping communication on the platform, he then texted my personal phone asking why I declined. Because I felt uneasy about the entire interaction, I contacted TrustedHousesitters to ask if I could block him, and I was told that was not an option.

Experiences like this show why sitters need stronger safety and privacy tools, including the ability to block homeowners who cross boundaries, misuse personal information, or make them feel unsafe.

2

I am sorry to hear you had such an uncomfortable experience.

While I have seen posts on the forum where people on both sides have had experiences where a ‘blocking’ feature may be useful, I’m not sure such a thing would be a priority for a housesitting site. I imagine that ‘problematic’ interactions are not commonplace enough.

It’s not like a dating site where you more frequently encounter people saying inappropriate things, sending inappropriate photos,etc…

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I’m sorry that you’ve had this kind of creepy experience. Sounds like the guy may also be using THS as a potential dating site. I hope you’ve already blocked him from your phone and whatever platform you used for your interview. It should be easy enough to ignore any communicatuons he sends you on THS.

I hope this one experience doesn’t scare you off THS. Maybe not explore sits from single males? Then again, married men can also be creepy.

Anyway, I’m sure that next interview you have, personal questions will be a red flag for you. However, sometimes people just want to connect with the people who will be watching their furry lived ones.

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I would love a blocking feature for both directions (HO and Sitter). I was reviewing the questions he asked and without having been on the “interview” (your words) I genuinely would be curious to know those things as a HO and have certainly asked SOME of these questions while exploring sitters in the past. I assume there must have been more context that we do not have here that led to your disconfort, and I am sorry you ended up feeling that way. As already suggested, blocking all outside THS communications methods is the way to go.

As an aside, when I declined a sitter (I am a woman, he ws a man) last year, he imediately sent a WhatsApp of “Guess you didnt choose me, blah blah” and I simply ignored it. Was odd IMO since people can used the THS app. I am also sure to ALWAYS gove a WHY when I do not choose a sitter (even if its not exactly the specific why, sometimes I jusst dont connect with someone) in hopes of avoiding additional outside the app messages. If I like someone as a potential future sitter but not this time around, I will say that also when I decline.

Maybe you can edit your sitter profile job to something more vague. I have learned things from your post as both a HO and sitter. Thanks for sharing.

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He was married and made a point of telling me his wife would be out of town, so I would only be dealing with him. That added to a quiet unease I was already noticing and reinforced my gut feeling about meeting him alone as a female sitter. I’m generally very easy-going and friendly, and I’ve done many sits on this site, often being quite inquisitive myself. But it was the photo sent from the cockpit while he was working that made all those smaller gut feelings feel more real and worth paying attention to.

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I agree there may be infrequent situations where certain members need to be blocked, but it also reinforces my view that stronger upfront safety protections are important—like having the option to hide my age on my profile. In this situation, I would have felt safer knowing there were safeguards in place in case someone could potentially piece together my identity or even my home address. It’s very easy to do that with the clues from our profiles.

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Yep that was a weird one… definitely tell THS about all of these interactions @Jenny

I applied to one listing where the wife would be away but the husband at home (this detail was not in the listing description) he said he loved ‘meeting new people’. I reported that Listing, it already had several 5* reviews! He messaged me and I subsequently blocked him on WhatsApp.
All communities will have a very few ‘chancers’ seeking opportunities to be weird… we OUT them loudly whenever we can. We all need to take responsibility for the safety of us all.
You did the right thing.

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Yes, and it is particularly easy to find out a lot about someone who lives in (or has lived in) the US. Unlike in Europe, we do not have data privacy protections. Instead, there are tons of scuzzy data brokers gathering massive amounts of information on us and selling it to anyone willing to pay.

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I had an awful, weird experience as an Airbnb host–a short-lived endeavor. I was traveling a lot for work and rented my home out a few times. A man booked it for 10 days. HIs communication while I was away became overly familiar. The day I was to return, he messaged to ask when I’d be returning. I reiterated that check out is at noon, repeated instructions. I arrived by Uber after dark, and could see him inside. I had a front door and back door. He fled out the front as I was getting out of the car. Left all lights on, plus his computer monitor and a few items.

Went to work the next day, hadn’t heard from him looking for his stuff. Around dinnertime, I messaged through the app that he’d left his monitor etc. and to let me know when he’d be back to get it. He texted me in response–was all familiar again…
still hadn’t answered the question. So I set a time for the next day and let neighbors know. He arrived all smiles and seemed quite surprised I wasn’t welcoming him in. He leaves with his stuff and I close/lock the door. He looks back. Ugh.

The next day, I get a text “Hey whatcha doing, sweet cheeks?”

I reported him to Airbnb. I blocked him everywhere so don’t know if he was removed or not.

10

So creepy. I agree there should be a blocking feature, seems like a very basic feature to implement.

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A blocking feature would definitely give people more peace of mind. It’s important to feel in control of who can contact you on any platform. Hopefully, the developers consider this, as privacy should always be a top priority here.

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Interestingly, improved security was one of the reasons touted for the increase in booking fees. But who’s security, who knows.