You cannot be certain of that. There might have been earlier owners that did not give them a reference, maybe because they had been reluctant to be critical.
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Actually amending this , it’s not a first sit, done couple of weekends before. But believe it’s the longest sit.
Omg, I am so sorry for your loss, how devastating. Please communicate all safety issues to your next sitter and leave a factual review of the sitters, it sounds as though there are many issues that future homeowners should know about. Again I am so sorry about your cat.
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This sounds much like sitters I had last year. The pen was not cleared of excrement there must have been more than 20 left for me to clean up. I had shown them the pooper scooper and the bucket. When I am home there is perhaps 3-4 poops per week as both dogs usually do their business out on the walks. I was also informed by my neighbours that they hardly saw the sitters out walking my dogs. I feel very certain they just let them out into the fenced dog yard and stayed inside. I wish that I had found all the messes both inside and outside prior to posting my review of the sitters, it would not have been such a good review. These sitters are young and had said this was the longest one they had done. (2 weeks) and the largest house they had been stayed in. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but picking up poops and walking the dogs should be a daily activity.
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Not Nice experience at all. Did you take photos ( these will back-up your negative review as I would most definitely not give a shiny one. Sounds like you got sitters that joined in the wave of wanting free holiday accommodation at a minimum of return so not doing the becessary care and walking to be expected with doggies. Sounds from your recap that they just let them out to pooh in the garden but leaving a kitten outside & not bothering. Just beyond belief and would definitely mention both points in review as they sound like terrible sitters
Sounds exactly like my situation, only 20 scoops! Stupidly didn’t take photos, lesson learned! It’s seems it’s my word against theirs without proof. Even my neighbour ( again not proof) says he is convinced they were not walked much. Getting a clearer idea of how to manage situation and improve chances that I can safeguard against this next time. Will ask for photos of dogs out on walks next time. Thank you for your time.
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Unhappy? I’d be flaming! I don’t think the sitter gets off the hook just because you didn’t mention about not letting the kitten out; surely this is common sense? Isn’t that why you engage a sitter; to make decisions on animal welfare?
Definitely review and if you can complain through TH do so. Sitters like this give us all a bad name.
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It is horrifying that you experienced such an upsetting scenario with your kitten, amongst other concerns. Please write an extremely blatant and honest review, and discuss this with member support for the sake of all the homeowners across THS! I would want to know about this experience before picking anyone like this to housesit for me.
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Did they have reviews? What did those say? (maybe between the lines)
Maybe they had been given the benefit of the doubt in previous reviews. Maybe there had been owners that did not write anything at all.
Why did you write a review before you saw the place?
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THS are proactively supporting us. We’ve had lots of sitters and never had a bad experience. This has rocked us.
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Hi @Wheppy
I’m so very sorry for your loss.
Thank you for letting us know that the team are proactively supporting you through this.
Please keep posting if it helps, as the Forum can provide a shoulder to lean on. Thanks to those who have popped on in the last few days and provided support.
Jenny 
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I honestly hadn’t seen the dog pen before posting my review, it’s hardly used when I’m home as the dogs do their business when we go for the morning walk. I noticed the pile of clothing they left behind, the unmade and used beds, yes plural, they used. My sister told me to lighten up, animals were all still alive and the house was standing, no harm done. My sister was here the night before we left for our trip and when we arrived home and had heard me going over instructions. The sitters had actually been here prior to the sit as their timing and mine allowed for a prior meet up.
Since this stay, I now have more items to add to my list for house sitters. Seems redundant but obviously it’s not.
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Great réponse. Succinct and without guile.
This is so heartbreaking. I’m navigating a bad experience also with my most recent sitters, however, fortunately, the pets are still alive. Traumatized, but alive.
I’ve reached out to THS and not been pleased with their responses thus far. They clearly have a disconnect with people understanding the responsibility of pet care. And, THS is failing to understand that additional measures need to be in place. I have outlined numerous items, however, the response has basically been we know what we are doing.
Finally, from an insurance standpoint, I’ve been instructed that I need to go through my own insurance first and then AFTER my insurance is exhausted, then supposedly their policy kicks in. Deceptive marketing. My membership is expiring and I have plans currently to not renew. I might rethink this, but this most recent experience has left me with my pets needing medical care, damaged stove, damaged vehicle, and dirty, filthy guests not cleaning up after themselves.
I’m so incredibly sorry for your little feline. She deserved so much better. THS bears responsibility in this and needs to change its marketing asap.
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I am so sorry for you, in September /October we had a similar experience with a couple from Rotterdam they sat for us in france. We went on a cruise to canada and New England for 32 days so we couldn’t get back and they left 2 weeks early as the washer broke down. Fortunately I had 3 couples here who came to the rescue it cost me a fortune, over 600 euro for accommodation for our dogs, I wrote to THS and complained I considered they should have been taken off the books but the only thing THS did was to say they had warned them and would monitor any future sits. We are elderly and the hassle they gave us was unreal, the contacted us continually while we was away not that we could do much but we suggested she use the small washing facility in our village which was new in august 24 she refused to do that. They didn’t arrive for the 2 day but stayed in a Gite close by and he came for maybe an hour in total. They ruined my best towels pans and obviously didn’t read the pack. The allowed our cat to claw the newly recovered furniture, obviously didn’t follow instructions or care and the couldn’t light the wood burner which they then said was not good for her health problem that they didn’t tell us about and the pressed every button on the central heating so they then couldn’t get that to work we had to pay an engineer to fix it they has reset it back to manufacturers setting. Another cost. You cost has been much higher loosing your beloved kitten but I think THS are getting a bad reputation and need to refer back to how they operated in the past not advertising it as a free holiday.
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Hi @Rockstar
I’m sorry to hear that. Feel free to send me a DM with the email address linked to your THS account, if you’d like me to bring up your case with the team. I can share the feedback you’ve posted here and see if there’s more that can be done.
Jenny
What a story you have. I did trawl through TH site to get an idea of how people have handled less than glowing reviews and found it difficult to find reviews less than 5 star. We have never had to give negative feedback and wanted to do it fairly. The little things that some suggest are petty, all add up and give the impression of lack of care and respect. We decided that rather than the review be a surprise for the HS we would discuss our concerns and hear the sitters side of the story. Would anyone else consider doing that before posting the review?
The financial cost to you is concerning and apart from a few plants ruined we have been lucky.
A terrible story. A Housesit is not a free holiday.
Our one and only THS dogsit the dog had a tracker collar which we hardly noticed and never took off, but when we met up with the homeowners the last day, it was clear they new about the pup’s adventure with us. I didn’t feel spied on. We weren’t being tracked! The dog was.
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