We had a sit last year that still haunts me because of how much I misjudged someone’s character and how THS treated us.
Owner seemed lovely and chill, we had good communication and she seemed very nice on call. Quick handover because their house was in chaos with three kids getting ready for a month holiday. It was clean but not spotless. Their pale grey hallway carpet was very stained and heavily threaded with swatches indicating they were replacing it. The cat room/kids playroom was filthy.
We sat for four weeks and fell in love with their dog. We cleaned as we went but did a big clean the final weekend (with a foot injury that I made worse). Left the house very clean with all rubbish gone and fresh cat litter tray.
I wrote a nice review despite there being three big issues which we dismissed because they seemed really nice. Firstly, there was a camera in the living room with a green light on (we naively assumed they weren’t using it because they seemed so relaxed). Secondly, their listing photos were of a beautiful arched ceiling main bedroom with king bed but we weren’t allowed to use this. Our queen mattress in small spare room spilling with their kids clothes was falling apart. Finally , we chose the sit because it has air conditioning but they only had it in the main bedroom which was off limits.
The following Friday evening, we were on holiday having a lovely dinner and their review arrived. Two stars for cleaning. “Our home wasn’t left as we expected and some of our plants were neglected” There were spelling and grammar mistakes indicating they might have been drunk when writing.
To me, a two star review for cleaning indicates that we left a pig sty. Overflowing bins, dirty sinks and toilets etc. This was not the case.at all. I even wiped inside their dirty dishwasher.
I immediately complained to THS saying that this was lies and because there was an undisclosed camera, perhaps they’d heard something they didn’t like within earshot of the camera because we said a couple of times didn’t like their taste and decor choices and may have used the term “more money than taste” - our bad as we should have unplugged the camera but we really felt they were nice and didn’t want to create bad blood between us.
We included a photo we’d taken of the dog that showed a camera with a green light. We also told them that their amenities were falsely advertised. I said this outcome had badly affected us and we were considering cancelling our membership if people can blatantly lie.
THS wrote back saying they’d contracted the HO who gave a more detailed list mentioning the dirty carpet in the hallway (as it was when we arrived), a less than pristine oven (same thing), we’d left a bowl in the garden with some fruit in it (accidental as we were eating outside and it rained heavily), we’d angered their neighbours by sending post there (one mistake, then we spent the rest of the month being the neighbours who took in others post). There were two other small issues such as exercise room equipment not put back in place and BBQ equipment not clean which is how we received it on arrival. Nothing at all that warrants a two star review.
Additionally, THS said that we were welcome to cancel anytime we like and that we should never say negative things about the home owner in their house. I was so taken back and upset I didn’t take it any further.
I just can’t get over THS telling us that we cannot expect to have private conversations on a sit and so blatantly telling us to go ahead and cancel. We’d done 15 five stars sits other than this. We felt so disregarded and scolded.
We had to renew our membership because we had two sits booked but next year we will seriously consider our options. They should not treat customers like this.
(Title edited by the Forum Team for clarity).
