Untrustworthy owner

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

Hi there,

I recently had a bad experience.

I cared for an anxious dog. The owner said I could be gone for up to six hours a day. If I needed more time away, he would hire another sitter. I told him six hours was enough.

The first two days, I found pee and poo in the living room. It was okay because I expected it.

On the third day, the owner called because the dog was breaking a window. I came home right away. I had been gone only one hour!

The owner said he would pay someone to sit with the dog while I was out. I suggested he pay me to stay with the dog all day instead. He agreed.

I stayed with the dog 24/7 until the owner returned.

But he didn’t pay me and never explained why.

I think he believes I caused the dog’s stress to get more money. However, my 32 excellent reviews should prove otherwise.

I’ve thought a lot about this. My primary responsibility is to the pets. I treated the dog with love, respect, and care. So, I am at peace. But future sitters should know this owner is not trustworthy.

I know the TrustedHousesitters platform bans charging for extra services, but I saw this as an exception. I did it to ease the owner’s worry and make some money that someone else would have made.

If it were up to me, I would leave it as it is. But I am sure he will write a bad review about me. So I have to be ready.

What should I do? Should I write a bad review that tells the whole story?

Edited to remove dates as per the Community Rules.

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If you’ve got 32 excellent reviews, I wouldn’t worry too much. If the review of you is bad, take a deep breath, walk away for a bit, and respond factually and unemotionally. Under no circumstances say the owner is untrustworthy. In your own review, be honest but factual: the dog is quite anxious and can’t be left alone for even short periods. The owner offered to pay me to stay with the dog 24/7, but didn’t follow through.

How did the owner know the dog was breaking a window?

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You should definitely put the whole story in the review.

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4

The owner did know about the window because a neighbor called him.

5

Ah, got it. That’s a relief.

6

Thank you Val. Good advice!

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Hi @jalonso24

Welcome to the Forum!

Why did you expect to find pee and poo in the living room?

Did you get permission from THS to ask payment from the HO? They may frown upon a sitter who unilaterally appoints himself / herself to ask payment from a HO—no matter the circumstances.

If the HO files a dispute against you, he could very well state that he had offered to hire another sitter. He could say that you asked for payment or state that you even demanded payment—which is against THS policy per below:

5.3.1. not require or demand any form of payment for carrying out a Sit

You may want to file a dispute of your own accord stating that the HO said that you “could be gone for up to six hours a day.” However, the dog displayed destructive behavior by breaking a window after your being gone for only an hour.

Better to be proactive than reactive.

Glad you are at peace and gave the dog love, respect, and care.

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In hindsight it would have been better to accept the owners offer to hire a sitter so that you could go out for up to six hours . In this respect the owner seems to have acted reasonably.

It got messy when you offered to change the THS mutual exchange into a private PAID employment opportunity. Any agreement you made to charge for your services was a private arrangement outside of THS ( and may have nullified any liability cover that you had with THS ) .

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9

The sitter asked to be paid which is against THS T&Cs and they risk having a member dispute raised against him by the owner .

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10

No. The owner did not keep the deal.

And of course one does not want a third party there to be babysitting the anxious dog.

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11

Why did you expect to find pee and poo in the living room?

Because the owner told me he used to do that when he was alone.

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Yeah, I kind of feel like if the owner – while the sitter is onsite dealing with behavior that wasn’t made clear in the listing – offers to bring in a paid sitter for six hours, and the sitter offers instead a compromise to avoid having a third party onsite, and the owner accepts that compromise, that ought to be seen as reasonable by THS. It’s dealing with an on-the-fly issue, and that issue was really caused by the owner.

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13

I recall (from a message exchange) that on the second day I was away, the dog broke another window’s mosquito net. When I asked the owner what he thought happened, he said the dog had done that before, even jumping to the first floor, and he couldn’t explain how it survived.

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@jalonso24
Dont considering it leaving a bad review , it’s leaving an accurate review of what happened.
In the future don’t offer to do something outside of the THS terms for sitting even if you think it’s helpful , so there is no misunderstanding. If you get a bad review, reply briefly, unemotional, accurately. You’ll be OK going forward.

As others here said.

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We agree with @Val

If you have that many good reviews, don’t sweat it. We have 27 excellent reviews and just received our first “bad” review (Although she gave us 5 stars all together, but 4 on pet care and reliability). She was at complete fault and actually suspended by THS because they lied about medical issues. Long story short, we responded to her review with a short breakdown of her deception and explained all that we did to clear our name. This has not impacted us negatively as we have secured about 6 sits after her review posted.

With that said, we would put exactly what happened in the review (don’t worry if it is too long!) you need to let others know what the story was.

Something to note, if you are watching an anxious animal…just know that leaving for an extended period of time…will cause that animal more stress. We have found the ‘anxious’ animals that we have watched do much better when you are there the majority of the day. The HO probably knows this and should have put this is the listing and been upfront.

We wouldn’t have expected, asked or agreed to taking money. We probably would have just adjusted our schedules to spend more time with the dog.

In your review, as @Val stated, be factual. Don’t exaggerate or be emotional. Only what truly happened.

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I feel you shouldnt have had to do 24/7 unless it was an emergency. You can ask for more options than that.
And I know you werent supposed to ask to be paid. But if that were your agreement, why not ask them for it?
In your review you can describe the dog having high needs, being reactive, anxioys, or what ever the correct description is.
give measurable observations, like " I was only able to leave dog for 1 hour on 1 day, and 2 hrs on another day" so that the real situation is described.
that is the dogs behaviour/ mental health.
good luck. on another platform i am on they let you fight a 1 star. but not a 3 or 4 star. maybe someone will tell you what THS rules are. and I agree, let it be water under the bridge, and move on!

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17

The homeowner might see this an entirely different way. Personally, I wouldn’t write a review. They probably won’t write one either. I don’t know how much reach out you’ve done to the homeowner regarding the payment, but I’d leave it alone. If they give you a bad review, respond to it honestly.

In your shoes, I’d wait till after the two weeks and contact the owner. I’d bring up the agreement and ask for the payment. No matter whether they paid you or not, I’d also give them feedback about the dog’s needs and their need to be more transparent with THS.

However, I think you made a mistake taking money from the owner. Without going into detail about my own bad experience with a sitter who asked for money (the sit didn’t happen), in my opionion when you mix in money on a site that is known for being about an exchange, there are problems. I understand your logic about why it would make sense, but it could have endangered your membership. It also puts you in a bad position in terms of pursuing this and “warning” others. The owner might spin a tale where you asked or hinted for money and you would come off looking like the bad guy.

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18

I don’t think you should be leaving a dog alone in the house for 6 hours.

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Good point! But in my case, it was a limit set by the owner: “Tell me if you are going to be gone more than six hours, because I would have to hire a sitter”. I wasn’t gone that long.