Sitter left untrue remarks basically assassinated my personality

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

WOW, a one star review because I questioned her on killing my plants , breaking my patio umbrella and ruining a new set of sheets. One star on hospitability and one star on communication.
I was a teacher and am very good at leaving written instructions. Several pages added to the initial sit as my first one was in the winter and several thigs would bot apply. My instructions were clear and concise. We went over the garden via a zoom meeting and she just loved gardening - did not touch a weed, as a matter of fact did not touch the whole garden. One pot of new plants died very quickly from lack of water. The umbrella was sheer neglect as she did not put it down and secure it. I gave her 3/5 because she did an OK job with the dog.
She gave me a one/five in hospitality. I had dinner for her upon her arrival, I picked her up at the bus stop, drove her grocery shopping and introduced her to neighbors. I also drove her the two days she stayed past the sit. One day to the spa and the next to a hotel. I barley say her while she was here as she was gone from 830 am - 7 pm at the spa and then next morning she left at 8:30. She said I yelled orders at her. I asked her to strip the sheets off the bed - something that should go without saying from house guest. I am thinking as to whether or not I need to get a lawyer to have this character assassination removed. I certainly wouldn’t step one foot near this place. I do have one excellent review and the same person is returning in October.
I have asked Trusted Pet sitters about the situation - asking that all reviews be taken down.
What other recourse do I have other than hiring a lawyer. She paints me as the wicked witch of the west!!
I didn’t even get into the fact that she wore my clothes - camera to prove it, didn’t walk my dog as much as required, didn’t even have as much as a cold bottle of water in the fridge when I arrived after flying all day…She lamented about how hard she worked and that most of her other sites paid her!!! This is her new career path - at 48 years old. Who chooses a career path with no income?

What can I do?

2

Did you leave her a review? How many stars did you leave her and what did you say in your review?

3

I’m sorry you’ve had this awful experience.
You should contact THS and raise a ‘Member Dispute’ (use that terminology so they will take action. )Tell them what has happened and submit all written/photographic evidence you can.
She sounds very unreasonable and even rather unhinged. Don’t let her get away with this behaviour.
If you have not yet responded to her review do so in a calm, non emotional, way stating facts so future readers will see who is at fault here.
Good luck with the next sit.

4

Hi @Zoemago, I’m sorry you had to go through this situation.
It’s clear that this was an irresponsible sitter with poor communication on her part.

I believe reaching out to THS support and open a Member Dispute is the best course of action. You will likely need to provide evidence to them to evaluate the facts.
You mentioned you have cameras to prove it?

If you choose to respond to her review, I suggest doing so in a calm and factual manner, without involving emotions. That way, it won’t come across as defensive.

Be careful with this:

It can sounds a bit judgmental and result in a backfire

5

She’s got under your skin, you’re mentioning words like “lawyers” and how she “assassinated” your personality. You can always remove your profile entirely if that’s what you choose to do. I feel for you :heart:

Contact THS and attach proof.

Also, you get to respond to her review of you. Stay factual, DO NOT attack her personality, because as sitters if an owner has a bad review, we always read the owners review of the sitter to get a full and rounded image of what happened… and usually we take the owners side, because we can see the sitter is doing tit-for-tat whinging because they themselves are expecting a poor review, we can always tell.

In your response to her review stay focused on future sitters that will read it, not her. Don’t even write it for her, she brings out the worse in you, which is totally natural. Just stick to facts, don’t get personal at all.

IE For the good sitters out there, I hope this will help you understand the true scenario.
1/5 for hospitality - I collected ? from bus-stop, drove her grocery shopping, made her dinner. She stayed an extra 2 days after the sit had ended (her choice) during which time I drove her to the destination of her choice on both days. etc etc etc.

In your reply don’t mention introducing her to the neighbours, water in the fridge etc, they are benefits to you, not her, and dont mention lawyers or assassination of character.

But just so you know…
Dog walking - if it’s hot weather (which it must have been given you mention no water in the fridge), then any guidelines you give would go out of the window with us. We use our initiative over and above any rules when it comes to hot weather and dog walks.

Also, some sitters won’t realise that parasols need to be secured or taken down etc (you’d think by 48 year old she would know though), so maybe pop that in your instructions for the future.

6

@anon89364872 queried if OP reviewed the sitter so may have missed this statement. Perhaps the OP could provide some further details of her review of the sitter.
@HappyDeb has given good advice re responding to the siitter’s review. Be aware that you can respond ONCE only and there is no deadline for that response.

7

If the camera is indoors, it breaches THS Terms.
Sitters provide HOs with pet care, not free gardening services.
Lawyers for libel or slander cases are for huge coprorations or at least people who have a lot of money. So this just sounds laughable.

8

Unfortunately here you only get one side of a story. If she wore your clothes why didn’t you confront her. If you saw she wore your clothes why didn’t you see she wasn’t watering your plants and now many died. After all the things you alleged she did you still let her stay at your house two extra days after the sit and never mentioned anything to her. You drove her places for two days. I would have asked the sitter to leave immediately so it’s hard to take your story at face value.

9

Just saw you did question her. Still surprised you did not ask her to leave. I could not be hospitable if all that happened.

10

Welcome to forum @Zoemago !

Sorry you had this experience.

Actually it could be good to get a 1* review compared to for instance a 2 or 3*, as it could be perceived more as a reflection on the one who gave the review. The context would then be important, for instance how the other party has worded their review and how they respond. We only have one side of the story, so ofc there could be some context missing here.

I can certainly understand one can be upset in such a situation, and that it feels unfair. It is good to get some distance before one react, to be able to keep it factual. I wonder how you would know the clothing issue because of cameras, and hope that was outdoor cameras disclosed in listing. I can’t see how a lawyer would do anything good, apart from dragging it out and causing expenses.

One bad review can happen to anyone, regardless of how nice we are. You have already a sit coming up, a good start to bury the bad one in good ones.

11

I left her 3/5 stars and told the truth - she did a good job taking care of the dog. I added that I had a dog walker 2 times a week. I also added that she killed a new pot of flowers due to neglect, broke a patio umbrella because she didn’t put it down and secure it plus ruined a new pair of guest bed sheets. She had every excuses in the book, said the umbrella was broken by the time she went to close it - 45 minutes after I left the house. Took no responsibility for the sheets. I told her the least she could do is pay for the sheets. She is homeless and needs this gig in order to have a roof over her heard. So, she tells you everything you want to hear. I also had a cleaning team come in the before I came home.

12

I have that in writing from her. That is why I think she is so upset .

13

Three lawyers in the family! Camera is not inside but outside and she was aware of it. SHe offered to do the gardening and cut the grass. HOUSE SITTERS?? and they aren’t expected to water the gardens ,pots and cut grass???

14

I am a lawyer and a petsitter. If the sitter is to do garden tasks it must be agreed before the sit is confirmed and preferably stated in the listing, so that we can save ourselves the work of an application if we don’t want to. I don’t and have just watered a few houseplants. I don’t apply for sits with gardening.

Any tasks presented after the sit is confirmed can be denied by the sitter and maybe also grounds for cancelling.

I get the impression that things were unclear on both parties of this sit. But maybe garden tasks were clearly agreed before confirmation, as you say she offered.

I suggest a talk with member service to sort these things and get some advice.

15

I agree, housesitters who accept a sit with gardening responsibilities should take those seriously. This isn’t just a Petsitting site. We need sitters to keep an eye on the garden and water our carnivorous plants with filtered water, especially in extreme weather. A sitter who doesn’t enjoy / understand those kind of tasks wouldn’t be a good match for us.

Lawyers… it’s not worth it. The only people seeing her review are potential sitters and if you respond calmly and rationally to her review she will be the one who comes out looking bad. A Member Dispute through THS is your best bet if you want the review removed and the sitter investigated. Sounds like she is not a good fit for this site and clearly doesn’t understand the “exchange” aspect so you’d be doing us all a favor.

16

Yes, that makes sense and I had assumed it was an outdoor camera. So it would have been easy to see the garden, the patio umbrella, when she was exiting/entering for dog walks and what she was wearing at those times.

17

Easy to tell this has been an unsatisfying experience for both parties.

If you were clear and concise, as you mentioned, that’s necessay but perhaps not enough. It’s important to take time and trust your gut when choosing a sitter. If what you’ve shared is accurate, then you were misled by false promises, which isn’t your fault, but it is something to be mindful of moving forward.

That said, being “homeless,” 48 years old, or choosing a certain lifestyle has nothing to do with the sitter’s behavior or whether they fulfilled the agreement. These are not valid reasons to justify poor performance, nor to lie to the HOs.

What truly matters is that your dog was well cared for.

Regarding gardening: not all sitters will take on that responsibility, so it’s essential to clarify expectations beforehand. If it was explicitly agreed upon and not fulfilled, then yes, that’s a breach on the sitter’s part.

Personally, I’ve looked after homes where I managed the entire garden, others where I only watered indoor plants while a gardener came once a week (prepaid), and even large properties (7 acres) where it was clearly understood I wouldn’t be expected to spend hours mowing lawns.

It’s a good thing you left an honest review. That helps future users on both sides evaluate profiles and make informed decisions. If you choose to respond, I encourage you to do so calmly, without mixing in emotions. There’s no time limit for doing so fyi.

I don’t think lawyers are necessary in this case. THS should be able to assist you if you have supporting evidence, as they are the ones who make decisions based on the platform’s T&C,

18

The camera only covers the front porch and door into the house. The patio umbrella was on the back deck.

19

I know this isn’t the hub of your complaint, but it could be the sitter disappeared to the spa for such a long time because she wanted to keep out of your way. Perhaps she even felt uncomfortable around you..

And until I got one two weeks ago to shade my fish-pond, I’d have had no idea that patio umbrellas even go down. And they’re big, unwieldy things which turn into balloons in any wind and are pretty easy to break. Sadly.

20

You say she’s homeless. That was a big fat red flag. When we interviewed local sitters, we picked up on a couple whose living situation was “unstable” and we’ve been attentive to that possibility ever since.

Don’t know what country you’re in but legal action against a homeless person doesn’t sound very viable anywhere.