So interesting and wise!
Wise wise wise … good eye
Makes total sense Kim! We must keep our eyes open 
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Dude, don’t even get me started. Yes.
Had a couple of experiences that went sour due to the house owner. Some of them are rude. There are some expectations that are very strange.
One time, we (my girlfriend and I) did a sit where there were no roommates on the listing. In the video call, the house owner said we would rarely ever see these roommates, but that she did have some. A little shocking, but we took it.
And then, when we got there, she just blatantly introduced one of them to us as if it was her son, and then him and the other roommate ended up being there for 80% of the time we were sitting. It was incredibly awkward and weird, especially since they were 2 military guys that we didn’t know.
Situations like this have happened where a house owner really takes a few steps outside of what’s agreed upon. I’m just remembering now where we literally got to the place, and the lady somehow broke her nose with her vacuum cleaner. We had to figure out next steps THAT day. TrustedHouseSitters didn’t help us out, and the thing is it doesn’t matter that we have the base plan. This is something THS could’ve helped us with, as we were 100s of miles away from home and trusted this platform as it has trusted us. We ended up staying a night with the house owner there because we had no other option. That night made me feel so depressed, dude. My anxiety was through the roof.
So yeah. We’ve had to recover from bad sits before. It happens.
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I appreciate that nowadays a sitter not leaving a review might be a red flag. Personally as a HO I’d prefer that a review is left. Recently, a sitter didn’t leave us a review although she left reviews for others. I felt that it was pretty unfair, given that she’d moved a lot of items in our house and I was quite shocked when I got back. I talked to her about it and she seemed to appreciate the feedback, but perhaps not on reflection. We’d seem to have good communication throughout the sit and we’d been very flexible with her on a number of things, including extending the sit for her. I feel honest feedback is the way to go, remembering that different things are important for different people. I’ve seen quite a few sitters not leaving feedback, which seems a bit lazy (I also do sits).
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@nikki Did you leave her an honest review?
Always be honest in your review. As a HO I’m counting on honest reviews as well.
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Yup. I learned that the hard way with Airbnb. You get the reminder during YOUR ‘day before’ and then it cuts right off b/c it’s Manila time (or even earlier, I don’t trust them).
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I see those as likely a friends/family favor.
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They last sitter did that exact thing, she told me to stop txting her. I immediately drove the 8 hours back to my house, found her high as a kite and obviously breaking my “no smoking and no drugs” rule in the house and the heat was turned up over 90 degrees F. Of course there was some irreversible damage done to my place and I gave her less than 5 stars. If you tell a homeowner to stop texting you I can guarantee a big red flag will start waving at them. Yes, it’s taken me a long time to recover upon returning to my house after a horrible sitter was there (I also am a pet sitter) there are too many problems that sitters have caused me as a homeowner they’ve recently cancelled that part of my dual membership.
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I would never disrespect a homeowner in that way on a sit under any circumstance.
In this situation they homeowner would not leave me alone AFTER i left the sit.
The wanted me back and I declined because they violated 3rd party policy.
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The posts need a “sympathy” emoji!
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I sympathise with you. I’m traumatised by my house sit during Christmas and New Year. However I’m expecting my next sitters shortly who seem a lot more able and switched on. Suppose I need to get back on the horse as it were! Hope you recover soon.
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We recently completed a sit that we did not enjoy at all. I left a 4 star review (perhaps generous), and said that it would be a good sit for the right sitter. I was very careful to describe the things that we did not like: the house was unkempt (dirty, messy, unorganized, cluttered), the “vecro” dog could not be left alone which left us virtually housebound, the HO asked us to come a day earlier than we had originally agreed to so we could “bond” with the pup and then the husband took the dog to his office for the day while the wife worked from home all day (I felt they disrespectful of our time). I was very careful to be factual, and NOT attack the HO’s character. She responded to the review and called me a liar.
I guess it doesn’t REALLY matter because most likely only other sitters will see her response, but I am upset about it. I have asked THS, and apparently there is nothing I can do about it. I guess this is just a rant, but do you have any ideas for what I should or could do about this?
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Have you responded to their review of you as a sitter @CanadianLynda ? If not then that’s where to lay out more facts. Be non emotional, honest and brief. The fact that they asked you to come a day earlier and then took the dog away is highly disrespectful of your time and says a lot about them, that’s a good point to include IMO. Smart people will read both sides and see who’s being truthful. Best of luck with the next one. #onwardsandupwards
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@Cuttlefish can I ask you for editing help?
I am about to do this, and I’ve hit all the points except “be brief.”
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Of course you can. DM me if you’d rather & will take a look @GentleSitter 
Ah, sorry I misunderstood and thought you meant you wanted to stop communicating during the sit. I agree, it’s not appropriate for the HO to keep txting sitter after sit ends. At most, messeges could be sent in the THS ap, but even there could be intrusive.
I am really concerned that you were bitten, I presume by the dog.
Let THS know and it should be written in the review.
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I am so sorry you had this experience and want to reassure you that is not normal. I hope you mentioned the infestation in your review. We have been sitting for 10 years. Don’t give up but do check out your next sit carefully. I hope THS have been active and told these people they can’t use the service until they sort this out.
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