Should you trust a house sitter from the internet.
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“She expected the platform to ban them, even though Kasia had arranged the sit with them via Facebook.”
Strange.
(And messing up the settings of a Smart tv… that is something that I may have done too.)
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“[Trust] comes up in every [marketing] video, all the time. It’s very deliberate how they use these trust cues.” (Quoted from article).
THS offers some great experiences for both sitters and home owners, as long as both understand the limitations of their involvement in the process. The success (or failure) of each sit ultimately comes down to the individuals involved. Rather than putting your trust in a brand that has no real means of vetting or accurately assessing a member’s trustworthiness, and is unable to offer significant recourse when things go wrong, use THS purely as a platform for meeting potential sitters/home owners, and use your own life skills and gut instinct to assess whether or not to trust an individual.
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I just saw this story from ABC Australia. Feels like they were creating clickbait and performing a hatchet piece. I hope the story goes quickly, it was very slanted and unprofessional writing.
Speaking as a satisfied TH owner.
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98.7% of the time yes. The article, just like Reddit and Facebook are going to focus on the negative. Saying that though, THS should stop hiding its data and should be more transparent regarding metrics and conflict resolution. Let’s see how this post gets moderated.
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I took that to mean Facebook Messenger was used to sort out the details. In my experience, people use Messenger or WhatsApp once the connection has been made on the THS website.
Agree - and I think this was the point of the article, THS facilitates the initial contact everything else is up to the individuals involved.
Yes, using Messenger or Whatsapp for the videochat is standard.
I interpreted it as that this Kasia had found their sitter on a Facebook group. Because it is cheaper that way, it is not uncommon that people use the FB groups for that. Disadvantage is that one cannot see reviews of previous sits.
Only a while ago, THS was proudly announcing to the world about their trusted members being vetted, insinuating their trustworthiness and consequently attracting thousands of new members. Thousands and thousands of new members later, THS seems to be backing out and can no longer assess accurately members’ trustworthiness. How interesting
(edited to meet Community Guidelines as a quote was incorrectly attributed to Trusted Housesitters but appears to be the words and opinion of another member.)
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Hi @anon47943759 and @Silversitters
We’re keen to let our members have this space to discuss the article, but I just wanted to mention that the quote that @anon47943759 attributed to Trusted Housesitters from @Becca 's post appears to be a quote from @Becca rather than Trusted Housesitters. If I’m wrong, hopefully Becca will correct me.
The only time we’d close a post is if the Community Guidelines are broken, but it would be great if the discussion was based on accurate information e.g. where that quote came from, to avoid any misinformation.
Thanks!
Jenny
I’m confused.
You routinely block posts that you deem negative.
Can you please confirm what posts you are blocking and what you allow to the larger community.
(edited to meet Community Guidelines)
Hi @Tanya2024
We only remove posts which go against our Community Guidelines, as we are keen to make sure that our members have a place to discuss all things THS.
There is a caveat to that, which means that we might not be able to allow discussion about things like an ongoing legal issue. That’s covered in our terms of service under “Enforcement”. If we’re able to provide a place for discussion on that issue in future, then we’ll let our members know.
I recommend reading the Community Guidelines and Terms of Service to better understand what you can and can’t post about on the Forum.
It’d be good to keep this discussion on track about the recent news article, so if you have any further questions about posting on the Forum, please drop me or @Carla a DM and we’ll be happy to help.
Jenny 
Thanks so much for the clarification!
There seems to be carve outs and then further carve outs for what can be posted.
There must be a lot of work blocking the posts that break these rules!
Hi @Tanya2024
No problem!
As the official Forum for Trusted Housesitters it’s important that we have guidelines and standards in place for posting. The very vast majority of posts are approved with no issue, so rejecting or removing posts is a very small part of the job.
Now, let’s get back on track about the news article.
Jenny
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As a published author myself, I understand very well the importance of crediting the right source, so thank you for flagging it. I have now thoroughly reviewed the entire article, and you are correct—the quote does not originate from the ABC article.
(edited by Forum team to meet our Community Guidelines)
Hello everyone
Just a quick note to let you know that I’m temporarily closing this thread. Some members have made some nasty comments about Trusted Housesitters employees which is against our Community Guidelines, and which we have a zero tolerance policy for. I’ve had to moderate those comments to remove them.
I’m really grateful to those who took the time to share their thoughts in a balanced way, and hopefully we can get the conversation back on track again shortly.
Jenny
Hello again…
We’ve now completed our moderation and are opening this post up again for discussion.
While the vast majority of replies here have been balanced and in line with our guidelines, as I mentioned above, we did have to remove some really inappropriate content. It’s ok to be critical of the company, it’s not ok to target specific staff members, or put words in someone’s mouth based on your own assumptions.
It’s important to the team to allow you all a space to discuss things, in line with our Community Guidelines and our Terms of Service, but we can and will take action where the guidelines are broken. If it’s been a while since you read either of these links, I really recommend taking a look just to refresh yourself.
We don’t look to censor anyone, but this is the official Trusted Housesitters Forum and our Community Guidelines aren’t a set of arbitrary rules; they’re essential for building and maintaining a healthy, respectful, and productive Forum space.
If we’re all on board with following these guidelines, it means that we all contribute to creating a space where everyone can enjoy meaningful and positive interactions with fellow members.
You’ve all heard enough from me on this thread now, so I’ll bow out now, and let the discussion get back on track. If you have any questions as a result of any of my posts today, you’re welcome to drop @Carla or I a message and we’ll be happy to help.
Thanks everyone.
Jenny
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