Thank you! That helps. That was part of my struggle. I wasn’t sure how much to share. I didn’t to overshare but I want to be honest.
I initially did have that written in but I took it out. Perhaps there was a balance there. I did message her but I felt her reasoning for being away overnight was slightly irresponsible, and I didn’t know if I should share that or not?
@kassi
All your responses to various members here have been considered and polite at all times. I feel you will type up a balanced review on your sitter without destroying her review reputation, as you are very good with words 
It sounds like I do a similar thing to others.
There’s different types of alerts that you can adjust and turn on/off. I get an alert if there’s “someone detected at the front door”. A separate alert it someone “rings the doorbell”.
I obviously check when someone rings the doorbell to see who it is. One time it was our bug guy who comes to spray the house. I didn’t realize he was on the calendar. I quickly told the sitter that it was okay and just let him do his thing and that it wasn’t a scam or anything.
I don’t always check when “someone is detected at the front door”. 95% of the time it’s the sitter and I don’t need to check every single time. I do go and check to make sure they got there/got inside the house the very first time. The times that I do check and it’s the sitter, I close it after like .5 seconds. I don’t care to watch them lol.
If you wanted to go through your history and check videos from the past, it marks the times that someone rang the doorbell or motion was detected, so you can skim over those if you wanted. I think you have to pay subscription for they service though? Otherwise it doesn’t save a back lot of videos of that. It’s just in real time. At least some of the door cameras work that way.
Hi @kassi
Perhaps this will help. My AirBnB experience is related regarding how I decided to leave feedback…and to demote from a 5 star to a 4 star review…a first for me.
I recently left my first 4 star on AirBnB. The situation had to do with the internet speed. I was going to cram three days of work into two so I needed reliable speed. I specifically asked the host if the internet speed (many don’t know how to measure internet speed) can handle three people on a ZOOM call with good quality. She says, “I use ZOOM all the time when I am there.” So, I booked it.
The internet speed ended up being 2.21 MBPS Upload and 3.77 MBPS download. That isn’t even good enough to watch a 3 minute YouTube video, not to mention what I needed to do. I carry (2) 100 feet Ethernet cables, one for my phone (work phone) and another for my computer, in the event the WIFI is bad. Well, it wasn’t the WIFI, it was the internet. AND…it was a wireless router so I couldn’t plug into if I wanted to anyway. AND…my cell phone service had 1 bar so I was unable to use my phone as a hot spot.
I pondered leaving 5 stars, she was an All Star host with 5 stars…I would have been the first 4 star. But…I would NOT have booked it in the first place had she been honest with me. I would NOT have booked it if I knew the internet speed since I was going there alone to work productively. It totally backfired and I was the one left inconvenienced the most.
Also, when I book AirBnB’s, I go back and read 6 months of reviews if they have a lot. 7 months before me…several people were mentioning the internet speed which led me to believe, she must have known. I did not go back to 7 months, she had over 490 reviews, 6 months was enough reading! I did not catch that…but even if I did, I think the same outcome would have occurred as I did ask her about it! Also…SHE DID know as she could not have possibly used ZOOM. I am not calling her a liar, but perhaps a nicer term. She couldn’t even have been able to watch NetFlix or HULU if she wanted to, I tried. Bottom line, if internet speed is important for me, I ask for a screen shot of the internet speed (I send an example…my own), guide them to measure it if they don’t know and I won’t book another place without knowing that if I am going to be working.
Bottom line, I left a 4 star review to make people aware that want to work remote, they would be unable to and she let me to believe I could. I ended up working between three coffee shops, and I did NOT get the work done I needed to. I was the first 4 star review, she did not respond with a comment either. She left me a 5 star…and it ended. All the follow up reviews seem to be good.
From that experience, I also now ask a prospective HO on this site for the same thing…screen shot of the speed. And if they find that unreasonable, I don’t proceed more as reliable internet is essential for me while working.
But back to my point. I say all that to simply say, if you would have known (impossible, I know) from a previous sit that she left an animal alone all night, and that did bother you, and you would have given her a shot, rate her a 5 star. If you would NOT have proceed with her knowing she did that previously, then leave a 4 star.
Does that make sense? So if you would rebook her, I would leave her 5. If you would NOT book her again, leave 4.
In your review, and you SHOULD ABSOLUTELY LEAVE ONE just sandwich the feedback to mention this. Mention all the good things she did right (as you indicated she did), mention you had an issue with her whereas she agreed to fix and then end it on a positive note. Be prepared for her to comment, but make sure your facts are in your review so she can’t really dispute the facts.
Also, most good HO/Sitters double read the reviews. For example, I read feedback on the owners from sitters…but I also read the owners feedback on other sitters! After she leaves you a review, if she tries to defend herself with facts that may not be accurate, that is another chance for you to explain what happened.
I am not telling you what to do…but you put a lot of thought into your comments, have taken a lot of your time so far to explain why as well as defend yourself so I figured I was OK to add my WHYS in addition to my opinion.
NOW…if she were arrested…and spent a night in jail…give her pass I guess, leave her 5 stars and don’t mention that…clearly if she was released the next morning, it wasn’t anything bad enough to warrant holding longer. You did not say that was the case or you didn’t…but someone drinking too much one night at a restaurant and getting pulled over…it happens, and is irresponsible. No one plans on going to jail…at least no reasonable person.
But leaving your dog alone overnight, suddenly and without permission or even a heads up (she could have at least tried to reach you so you can have a Plan B swing over) IS important. If it matters to you, that is all that matters in your review. The fact is, she did leave your dog alone overnight for 13 hours.
That is sort of like getting your tires rotated…and the tire shop forgets to tighten all the lug nuts. You shouldn’t have to tell adults to do their own job.
Should you have to ask your sitters though on the initial call if they intend to leave your dog alone at night? I suppose if you have to remind the mechanic to tighten your lug nuts when they put your wheel back on.
I hope that helps with your decision. I am not the smartest man on this forum…so please take what other people have to say as well into consideration!
As mentioned…keep us updated!!! And thank you for contributing!!!
Hi @kassi, your post has attracted lots of comments with varying advice. Are you a relatively new owner on THS and was your sitter relatively new too?
When asked by you about not staying overnight that one occasion, your sitter was honest. Her reason may not have been satisfactory but she did apologise. Perhaps this has been a learning experience for you both. Time to write that review I think!
I hope you work out how to write your review.
Maybe something along the lines of
On one occasion my dog was left for 13 hours overnight. I was upset/disappointed that this happened and later received an apology.
The sitter will have the option to respond to your review and explain if they choose to.
No need to mention “overnight”.
I once had couchsurfers that were originally from a country in the Middle East. They were a wonderful couple, we had a great weekend, and I wrote an enthusiastic review. But then the guy asked me to change that because family was not supposed to know that they were travelling together. Fortunately, the CS administration was understanding so that I could edit the girl out of it.
@kassi just be factual and unemotional in your review. You were happy with blah blah blah but not happy that the sitter left the pets overnight by themselves without checking in with you first so you could have arranged for a neigbour to check on the pets. Maybe rate them 4 stars for communication rather than 5.
Just read HO’s response.
Don’t know how long the sit was or the details of sitter’s night out, but the THS guidelines are that sitter spends the night. Usually, there is a guideline to “how long the dog can be left alone.” These are there for a reason and it’s not only about potty accidents but other things that can happen.
It’s irrelevant whether or not the dog can or cannot be home alone.
If the sitter had “an irresponsible reason” that is irreasponsible. Honesty, doesn’t get the fifth star. And the review can simply say: “On one occassion the dog was left alone for 13 hours” without addressing it any further.
Hi Kassi, just want to reinforce that from the reading of your OP and follow up comments, you seem to have very fair judgement on the situation and express your thoughts appropriately. Don’t doubt yourself when it comes to writing that review!
As a sitter, it seems as common sense to me not to leave the property unattended overnight/13 hours as not leaving the door unlocked when out. You don’t have to specify the latter in a welcome guide/responsibilities, so why the former? But then common sense is a variable subject…
As for the review, I agree with others, factual is best. All the positive plus including “I was disappointed X left the property unattended for 13 hours, I was not notified in advance, nor during or after the fact. X did apologise when I made enquiries.”
I’m not a pet parent, but if I were I would want to know when reading sitter’s reviews if something like this had happened. Yes unexpected things happen, but it speaks to someone’s character how they handle it, and in this instance from what we know (usual caveat, we only get one side of the story), the sitter did not handle it well given their lack of communication with you.
Ask her. It is possible she was there but her car was having some repairs done. If she didn’t have a valid reason, mention it in your review.
Not all dogs are the same. Some may become uneasy with no people in the house. I know from prior responses you don’t agree but the reality is most dog owners do not leave their dogs alone overnight. If that bothers you personally feel free to skip those sits then (which I think you do anyway).
The reason people get overnight pet sitters is actually to stay there overnight. Otherwise we would just have a dog walker or neighbor stop by two or three times during the day.
I don’t blame the OP for being upset.
I agree with this.
It is important and you should mention it in the review. No need to leave the reason but just the facts (which she admitted to) I would also give her less than 5 stars, personally.
Future HO need to know this before working with this sitter in the future.
I doubt that. People attend weddings, concerts, sports events etc and stay a night at a hotel. Dog owners who are single may be dating.
And if owners are away at weddings they arrange for sitters overnight or leave the dog with a friend. THS is not the only way to find sitters and you can easily locate one on River for an overnight. If people are dating they bring the dog with them to their partners house or arrange for a friend or sitter. Or return home in the evening.
Sorry if you doubt that but many on this thread have expressed the same thoughts that leaving a dog overnight is not appropriate.
It’s true that some single people probably leave their dogs overnight. My spouse did from time to time when he was single, but this often involved interupting his evening to go home and walk the dog and then leave again. Most people living in apartments do not have the luxury of leaving the dogs overnight. This is why some people use wee-wee pads but depending on the age of the dog and their physical condition, the smell can be pretty strong. When we had a dog anything like “a wedding” would involve taking the dog to the kennel or getting a sitter.
I don’t have a dog at present, but if I did have a dog and I was using a sitter, my assumption would be that the sitter would be in the apartment overnight.
Yes overnight because that’s a concern for the HO that the dog doesn’t settle well because its used to sleeping in the bedroom with someone. A honest factual review that the sitter has the opportunity to respond to. Its not the HO responsibility to manage the personal lives of sitters, thats the sitters responsibility.
Based on the information provided (here), my thoughts are that the “issue” in which the sitter didn’t comply and should be addressed in her review is that she wasn’t in your home for 13hrs (as discussed). As bothered as you might feel that she wasn’t there over night, it wouldn’t be equitable to try and hold someone accountable for expectations that weren’t clearly communicated to sitter.
If having sitter in your home overnight is important to you and a “deal breaker”, I’d highly recommend that you add this to your profile and confirm during your interview.
I’m a dog owner
I would be very upset if my dog was left alone for 13 hrs… Especially as that would mean she missed one of her walks.
Dogs aren’t like cats. They can’t be left alone for all that time as they need to be walked. That’s common sense especially if you call yourself a caretaker of dogs.
@Felinelover You are right that as a dog owner with an active social life, I have made arrangements for my dog if I wasn’t going to be home… Or I simply took her with me.
OP, I would want to know this so I can bypass that sitter in the future. I think this was very irresponsible on the sitter’s part. It’s also dishonest and neglectful.
You should be honest in your review.
You have done nothing wrong. Don’t doubt yourself
I would be honest and list exactly how you feel about this sitter’s behavior. The good and the bad, without specific details, if that makes you more comfortable. It’s not acceptable to leave a sit overnight without advising the HO, no matter the circumstances. What is the true purpose of a review, if a HO is not forthcoming with what was satisfactory and what was unsatisfactory about the sitter’s performance in its totality? This is a learning lesson for the sitter, and should absolutely be included in the review. The care of the animals is the number one priority on a housesit, and clearly this sitter did not consider it important enough and left the home overnight.