I just finished a housesit n Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. During the sit there was a horrific storm with excessive rain and tornados all around. The rain was so immense that water came in through a basement window and flooded the floor. it was midnight and I was very frightened. At the same time the alarm system for the house malfunctioned and the alarm company called. All that said. I spoke with the alarm company and sorted things out. In the morning after the storm, I moped up the basement floor. I cleaned the home as per usual - washing everything down. I left the key in the mailbox as the homeowners said I should and departed about an hour before the homeowners returned. They homeowners gave me a poor review and said I was unorganized and lacked initiative. They requested me to come back the following day and do an exit interview with them. By now I am in another city, and furious at their ungratefulness - wish I had left their basement wet.
If youâve only just left then how did they leave you a review already? Or did you post yours too and theyâve both been published? You can write a response to the review with no time limit so maybe try and relax into the new sit and then reply calmly and factually about what you dealt with and that it was lucky they had someone at home to help deal with the storm. THS members donât do âexit interviewsâ, itâs not a job. Are they new to the site? They sound wholly unreasonable humans. Enjoy the next sit and donât look back! #onwardsandupwards
Donât rush your response to the review, you have one chance to have your final say so donât do it while you are still cranky.
The storm issues were during your sit, but what about beforehand and the rest of the sit, doing one good thing might not mitigate against other issues the HO had with you if any? Iâm just speculating because we donât have the whole story maybe?
We also had a recent sit that involved alarms, water coming in etc plus two broken cars and a dog with a cut paw. This is what house and pet sitting can involve at times, and we dealt with all these things without drama as we would in our own home.
Unfortunately there are many ungrateful hosts on THS, so itâs very important to not leave them 5 star reviews when you donât really feel like it. Some hosts are ungrateful + two faced, they say nice things to you to trick you into thinking theyâre really happy with you, then you know what happensâŚ
Whatever else may or may not have happened - the âhostsâ lost me at âexit interviewâ. Jeez. 
First of all, we are all equals here! By taking care of the pet, you have already paid for your stay in the house; it is yours by right, and any other demands from the host should be strictly optional! Just imagine if they tried making such demands of a pet hotel, a paid sitter, a waiter in a restaurant, or even a cleaner in Los Angeles or New Yorkâthey would be left to deal with their problems all on their own, for good. I once witnessed an incident in Beverly Hills where a homeowner complained that her regular cleaner had arrived 40 minutes late. And do you know what the cleaner said? ''Fine, then Iâll just leave, since the time doesnât work for you." The homeowner actually had to run after her and apologize. I am truly sorry about this injustice youâve faced, but please respond to her review exactly as you described the situation to us. She definitely wonât find a sitterâ100%âand your future hosts will read your reply.
(Edited to meet Forum Guidelines)
There will always be power imbalances in any relationship be it paid or voluntary. As there are multiple variables (youâve described some outlier contexts) each situation is different. Iâve noticed that sitters relying on accommodation will seemingly tolerate transgressions of THS T&Cs whilst âfumingâ the whole time theyâre stuck in the home. Thatâs particularly challenging as not many sitters Iâm now realising have the psychological or financial resources to give 24 hours notice and leave. This isnât me. I set very high standards as a hobby sitter but Iâm retired and live a nice lifestyle. I do however feel empathy for those not in my position. Itâs an awful feeling to feel trapped, tricked, and manipulated but itâs an opportunity to learn new things that will protect all sitters in the future when true reviews are written.
Same!!! OMG.
That is completely bonkers.
Odd, but such an interview works both ways. You can school them on the heck you went through and admonish them on not informing you about storms and potential flooding. Plus, why in person? such a thing can be done remotely.
I read their review and while they do knock you down to four stars in the Organized and Self-sufficient categories, they donât actually say that you were unorganized and lacked initiative.
I donât think their review is even that poor. It is mostly neutral with a few positive comments and appreciation as well for your actions after the storm. Their reply to your review of them is also positive and grateful.
So my very much unsolicited advice is that you take some time before you respond to their review, if you respond at all, as a potentially over-the-top response to a really-not-that-bad review could harm, more than help, you.
I hope your next sit goes much better for you.
They wrote that the sitter didnât seem to have read the notes they had left about their home and catâŚ..this implies some things were maybe missed by the sitter? They also admitted they had poor connectivity their end.
I have no idea what a âwindow wellâ is and how this relates to flooding of the basement thoughâŚ.was it left open?
window well is a retaining structure installed outside below-grade basement windows. Its primary purposes are to hold back surrounding soil, prevent water from pooling against the glass, and allow essential natural light and ventilation into the basement. [1, 2]
I had to jump down into one this morning to rescue a toad.
Looks like it is called a lightwell or area in the UK.
^^^ so much this
@villagegal, really sad to hear of your negative experience.
Can you guess on the likely cause of the pet parent review statement that you were âunorganized and lacked initiativeâ. Your actions, as noted in OP, do not suggest this at all.
Re âexit interviewâ, oh boy. There are a few âemployer mindsetâ terms that we clock in listings and video calls. In our experience, such pet parents are best avoided as there may be lack of respect, gratefulness or unreasonable pet/property expectations ⌠after all, hired housesitter is lucky to be getting free accommodation, right 
Suggest that you reflect on your level of appetite to return for a future housesit at same property. If yes, then reconnect by phone/video call for chat and to understand seeming disconnect in expectations. If not, then take a breath; take your time; and in, say a few weeks, draft a polite, brief, factual reply to their review then move forwards to new adventures.
You are saying that the hosts are not being unreasonable by only docking one star, and implied that docking a star is not a big deal, but it is. What you donât see is that the hosts were trying to be nice in the reply(in public), but in reality they behave totally different and had an unreasonable demand for the sitter-âexit interviewâ, which proved my point-they are two faced.
From stories Iâve read on this forum, I found that when problems arised(where itâs not the sittersâ fault) and the sitters dealt with the problems, some hosts tend to take it out on the sitters and dock them stars while the sitters didnât dock them any stars and still praised them, the reason is probably-these hosts are ungrateful and two faced, they said nice things to the sitters before they received the review, they might also worry that the sitters would mention the faults of their houses in the reviews and dock them stars so they dock the sitters stars to defend themselves. They donât care about the sittersâ profiles, so they are indeed ungrateful people.
Neither of us knows what happened or what was said.
I read each partyâs review and gave feedback based on that: the HOâs review was not negative, they expressed thanks and gratitude for OP taking care of the water, and they marked down one star in two categories and provided some comments that seem unrelated to the leak (sitter not appearing to read the printed notes).
It is not surprising that the sitter would feel slighted being marked down for anything after the effort they put in to addressing the leak. Most of us would be. I can empathize with them, while also understanding that a HO can praise a sitterâs actions in one area, while still having concerns about their actions in another. I donât believe that makes the HO two-faced.
The home owners wanted me to come back so that they could see how their acts interact with me. Kind of a strange request because cats interact if and when they want. One of the cats in residence here, hissed at me at every opportunity, so unsure what the home owners intended to gleam from this exit interview. They say they do this with all of their sitters - this is not the norm from my experiences on TH and I find it creepy. Also, we agreed that I would leave the key for the house in the mailbox and depart about an hour before they returned home, then later in a What App message, they accused me of running off after the sit. I also explained that in the vast majority of my housesits, I never see/meet the home owners either coming or going. They replied to say how weird that was. I donâ know about other peoples experiences, but I aim to meet the needs of the homeowner and that is just how it has been in my experience. Strange as it may sound, homeowners in some areas have left their doors unlocked with keys on the kitchen counter. In a couple of situations, there were never any keys. HOâs generally like how I look after their home and pets. I just had another request moments ago from a previous HO who wanted me to their come again.
@meow I agree with what you are saying. There are many facets to housesitting responsibilities and people may do better with some than others, and hosts should review accordingly. Same goes for sitters and their experience with the host,pets and home.
For example, If I took excellent care of someoneâs animals, but left their home in disarray, or pestered them with questions their entire trip that clearly showed I had not read their guide, the former is really neither here nor there when it comes to rating and commenting on the latter issues.
Of course I can understand why the person is upset as they dealt with a stressful situation that required a lot of extra effort on their part. But if the host believed they âfell shortâ in any aspect of their care of the home and pets, they are still within their rights to mention it. I am sure some probably would not, but it wasnât wrong of them to do so.
Now just like any other sit, the hostâs assessments may not be correct and that always stings. But if their review appears fair and balanced by mentioning the good with the ânot so goodâ,âwhich lends it credibilityâthe sitter needs to approach their response carefully as the responses can be much more damaging than that actual review.