My wife and I just got back from a trip where we had a sitter stay in our home and take care of our animals. We were very thankful to find someone last minute after our initial sitter got sick and had to cancel. We were nervous but met the sitter a few weeks before, the animals took to her right away so we felt much better about it. We left specific instructions about feeding but it seemed as though that was ignored instead of getting the pups wet food twice a day we could tell they feasted on mostly dry food. We offered to get groceries to make sure she had food because she mentioned she had to adhere to a strict diet for health reasons so most of what we had in the house she couldn’t have, she was very vague about groceries so instead we left her a good bit of cash to get groceries with. Halfway through our trip I got a call from a friend asking about a vehicle parked in front of the house, my wife then contacted the sitter and got a story about a friend passing through that just need to rest for a bit before getting back on the road. The problem with this is the sitter never bothered to contact us to ask and when I went back to the camera footage the person had been there for days. When we got home we realized our coffee maker was broke, stains on the carpet in the living room, 2 bottles of limited release wine drank and replaced with a very very cheap alternative (There were multiple different bottles of wine in the fridge, the 2nd bottle of this particular wine had to be searched for in the basement) expensive cuts of meat along with most of the other meat in the freezer was consumed. Now we don’t care about the fact food was consumed…my wife is still upset over the wine since the sitter said they didn’t drink so we felt it wouldn’t be an issue, what bothers us is the fact we offered to purchase food when she said she couldn’t eat what we had in the house, left her money to get food and then come home to almost everything gone along with having a stranger in our house for days. We don’t want to leave a bad review since she did clean up around the house and take care of the animals but we are also not thrilled with the unapproved guest and the issues with the groceries and funds. If this were you how would you handle the review for the sitter?
You need to leave an honest review. You need to mention that she ate expensive food and drank expensive wine without permission and without replacing it, that she had overnight guests without even letting you know, that she broke your coffee machine without letting you know or replacing it, etc. You need to be honest so other home owners are warned about her behavior. I know it’s difficult because it will likely cause some hurt feelings on her end and guilt on yours, but you owe more to other HOs than you do to a sitter who took advantage of your hospitality.
ETA - you are not required to provide any food to sitters either via food you already have in the house or via money left for them to do a shop. If you want to, you can, but that’s not really part of how this works so I would not mention that as might set expectations for future sits.
No one wants to leave a bad review but no one wants a bad experience with a sitter to occur. Reading about what happened, I see our bottles of wine and our coffeemaker and imagine some other perfect stranger helping themselves to our stuff and think no way would I choose that sitter. She doesn’t deserve a good review — just state the facts, which are bad enough.
Agreeing 100% with @CreatureCuddler. Your review should be balanced by including the things she did well (cleaning, pet care) but she overstepped, was destructive and lied about stuff too. Would you have picked her if her previous reviews referenced similar behaviour?
Just an additional thought … I am one of many sitters here who have multiple sits with all 5 star reviews. You would be devaluing what I have worked hard for by giving this sitter a glowing review.
This is pretty shocking. You sound like an incredibly kind and generous host (too generous perhaps. You should not be leaving money for groceries, in my opinion. It is up to the sitter to feed herself) and the sitter has taken advantage of your generosity. You have every right to be annoyed.
I never have guests to visit for even an afternoon without expressly getting the home owner’s permission. It is someone else’s house, after all! If I break something, I tell the home owners and will usually replace it. And to replace good wine with cheap stuff in the hopes you won’t notice…I am annoyed on your behalf. People that take advantage like this give sitters a bad name.
I agree 100% with @MaggieUU. I think you would be doing good, conscientious sitters who work hard to earn good reviews a disservice if you reviewed your current sitter on a par with them.
It is best to leave an honest and factual review. Most fair to other hosts, most fair to other sitters that put a lot of effort in and best feedback so sitter can improve. Mention both pros and cons. Could be for instance;
“We were thankful to find [Sitter’s Name] last minute after our initial sitter had to cancel. She took good care of our animals and kept the house clean, which we appreciate. We did encounter some issues. Our specific feeding instructions for the dogs were not followed, and a guest stayed in our home without our approval. A coffee maker was damaged and limited release wine was used without consent/ notification. We had left money for groceries due to her dietary restrictions, but most of our food was consumed also. We hope this feedback helps to improve for future sits.”
I’m really sorry you had this experience. Its really hard to imagine how and why some sitters take advantage like this. Likewise some hosts take advantage of sitters in all sorts of ways. We all owe it to each other to give honest reviews (if we review) to give future hosts and sitters a heads up on negative experiences.
For those who feel ‘guilty’ giving anything less than 5* its better to give no review at all. That in itself is a red flag to future sitters/HOs but the problem is the reasons for no review are open to interpretation. So its better if we are all just honest and factual about the negatives, keeping emotions out if it but giving credit where credit is due so the review is balanced. As oppised yo leaving it down to guess work
We recently gave our first 3* review of a sit with full details why. It was painful to do so! We’ve only ever given 5* before or occasionally dropped a star in a category. But an overall 3* was a big step! As expected the HO responded in detail back. They gave us a 4* review (which was totally unjustified) and we in turn responded to that. We both left the reviews till the last moment. If we’d let the deadline pass they might not have reviewed either. But we didn’t want to risk that. We could not let the HO get away with their unreasonable behaviour scott free by saying nothing or giving a people-pleasing 5* fake review when we had had a poor experience… So our great 5* track record is now spoilt but honesty prevailed!
Its all a learning curve!
Hi @Theholmeshouse
This is truly shocking behaviour especially as you generously left money for groceries. I have sat in a couple of very nice properties with wine cellars. Both said I was welcome to help myself but I didn’t. I don’t roll that way. I don’t want a HO to feel that I overstepped the mark and drank £50 pounds worth of wine. It’s a trust and respect thing that I believe many good sitters on here live by.
So yes I’d post a blunt and honest review so that said sitter can’t upset more HO’s on THS.
I agree no review is better than a false 5 star review but in the case of sitters this is not a red flag for owners because it is almost impossible for an owner to know there are sits with no reviews.
Hello
I am sorry to hear that. From what you have shared, it seems like many of the inappropriate things she did were very obvious as opposed to something that could be a misunderstanding needing clarification from her–replacing expensive wine with a cheaper one, having video evidence of the guest,etc.
And because of that, I wouldn’t recommend getting in touch with her to discuss any of these things before leaving the review. If she knows you will mention these things, she may be more inclined to leave a negative review too even if she had no intention to do so originally. Like others said, just be factual. Mention the good things she did but also the not-so-good.
Not sure how far you would want to take this, but if you have solid proof she had a guest staying without permission, you could open a dispute against her. Not sure what action the site would take specifically but at the very least it would put her on their radar in case other hosts file any complaints against her.
Again, sorry about this and I really believe this sort of behavior is a minority of sitters.
You’ve received some good advice. Absolutely agree about leaving an honest review and I think that’s MUCH better than none at all. Not everyone might take time to comb back through a sitter’s previous reviews, what she said about them, what they said about her, etc., and tally the reviews to see if someone didn’t leave one.
Did she have all good reviews when you picked her? What if she did something similar at someone else’s house, and they didn’t mention it? Wouldn’t you wish they had?
Also “resting a bit before getting back on the road“ is maybe a few hours – not days! Unapproved guests is against the TH terms, isn’t it?
Hope you get a much better sitter next time.
Majority of sitters on THS show respect for hosts wishes and abide by the THS T@C .
They take care of the pets and home as a priority and would not invite third parties into the home or consume hosts wine and provisions ( unless host had specifically stated that they were for the sitter to consume ) .
The only way to “weed out” sitters who are not trustworthy is to write an accurate review . It
doesn’t have to be unkind , just factual. To rate an untrustworthy sitter in the same way as a great sitter is a disservice to all the great sitters who deserve 5 stars and also to other hosts who expect previous reviews to be accurate and honest so that they can make an informed decision when choosing a sitter .
@Theholmeshouse, welcome to the THS Community. There’s a bunch of enthusiastic and experienced folks here, both pet parents and housesitters.
I’d agree with other commentators. Ideal review should be honest and specific.
I’d also add two topics - Keep smiling. Well done.
Keep smiling, as I believe that your experience is rare. Some housesitter actions are wholly inexcusable. We’d like to think that most housesitters (and Pet Parents) are respectful, generous and thoughtful. Hoping that your next experience is better.
Well done, as you have clearly been very kind and thoughtful to the housesitters. We’ve completed ~30 housesits. Pet Parent mindset varies a whole lot. When we encounter kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness then we really appreciate it. And reciprocate.
Definitely tell what your telling us. This is so inappropriate. I joined in February 2024 as a sitter i have 2 successful sits. But i have been reading the forum 3 months prior to joining to just see what i need to learn and if this is something for me. I can honestly say, since I have joined i have seen way to many sitters taking advantage of HOs by far. We need to be honest about whats going on here. Im not sure if its an age thing as some that are very young come with this logic that they are entitled. No one in this group is entitled to anything. This is a pet sitter exchange that does not require HOs to give us money for anything. If a sitter cant afford to buy their own food to do a sit then they shouldn’t be on here. If a sitter cant eat whats in your home then to bad, dont accomodate them. And if HOs need to start labeling things “Do not Touch"or Do not Eat” then you need to do that. If HOs have to start treating sitters like grade schoolers so be it. A mature sitter will understand your reasoning is due to past immature sitters. Im just appauled at each day i come here to read whats going on and i dont see anything done to the person whos at fault. I mentioned when i first joined that there should be an award system to sitters who provide outstanding pet care and treat HOs with respect. Im not saying its all sitters fault, but as someone who reads hours of pet sits on both sides to learn what to do and what not to do. I read tons of reviews, i feel its knowledgeable so i never end up in a situation like this. I dont think any sitter or HOs should ever do a sit when they dont feel right in there gut.
@pietkuip Yes that’s true ofcourse. I should have made it clear I was speaking from my sitter perspective of not leaving a review for a host. Its only a helpful red flag for sitters.
