It’s been a week since I’ve completed an incredibly bad housesit. I still haven’t recovered from it. It had a significant impact on my physical and mental health and the homeowners left me a very long and bad review.
My biggest problem is that most of the review that the homeowners is filled with lies. Their listing contained false information, their welcome guide contained false information and, as a result of them not telling me their dog was ill, she was in a lot of pain for most of the sit, which I tried to manage as best I could, but it was so stressful.
I was in constant communication with them throughout the sit, and I contacted THS about this problem at the end of the sit.
I waited a week after the sit ended to leave my review because I wanted to make sure I was calm and collected. I even had a friend read my review for them before I posted it to make sure I didn’t come off as emotional, so that it was a review for future sitters and not for myself. Their review for me is incredibly angry and it hurts a lot considering how much effort I put into trying to look after their dog. And because what they have put in their review is not the truth.
Because of this review, I’ve now been rejected for a potential housesit and it’s knocked my confidence. I have been housesitting since 2022 and this is my lifestyle, but I have gaps this year that I don’t know if I’ll be able to fill. I’m currently in Canada and don’t have friends/family etc I could stay with like I do in the U.K.
The homeowners offered to come home a week early, and I spent $500 on an airbnb so that I could leave. I don’t have that kind of money to drop on airbnbs again if I have gaps in my calendar.
I have 4 more housesits booked and I don’t know if future homeowners will see the bad review on my profile and cancel. Or if I apply for more, will any of those people go and look at the response I left for the bad sit and see the difference in emotion and facts? And I don’t know if there is a point applying to any more housesits when I have such a bad review on my profile.
Every other one of my reviews is 5 stars, shining feedback, etc.
I read another Topic from a few years ago that said what to do about a bad review, and there was the suggestion of highlighting it in an application as a precaution or something. But I can’t see that helping when they have outright lied in the review about me and my behaviour, as well as their own treatment of me (by the end of the sit they were shouting at me via Whatsapp).
Has anyone experienced anything like this before? Via the new review system or the old? Is there anything I can do about homeowners lying? I’m honestly so hurt and tired that I don’t want to talk to them again. And is there any way I can approach this with housesits I apply for so it doesn’t mess up future applications?
One thing I would say, is when I’ve seen HO’s leave negative reviews for sitters/guests, I typically look through and see what the previous reviews were for both HO’s and sitters/guests. There is definitely a pattern I’ve seen with HO’s who give over-the-top negative reviews having a pattern of doing so. And sitters not giving the HO’s any review.
I’m so sorry that this happened to you.
I’m sure you’ll still get sits. I’ve seen profiles of sitters who had one of more bad reviews but still continued to sit and got lots.of 5 star reviews again. Intelligent owners will understand that one bad review among fantastic ones says more about the owner than you.
If you have proof of what happened, you can make an official complaint with THS. You have a month to do so. This might involve that they take down that bad review. You have to submit photos or copies of WhatsApp threads and so on in order to make an official complaint.
Best of luck and most of all, be kind to yourself. I’ve had bad sits and it was horrible. The feelings passed eventually through!
@ElBWray very sorry to hear about your experience it sounds like a terrible situation to be put in . It must be very distressing to take care of a pet that is in pain. I note that you say that you already contacted TrustedHouse Sitters about this situation. What advice and support have member services given you thus far ?
It is against the T&Cs for a homeowner to deliberately conceal information about the poor health of a pet . The listing and Welcome Guide must be accurate.
Removing a review isn’t something that THS will do routinely. However if you raise a dispute because of the inaccuracy of the listing that didn’t disclose the poor health of the pet and any other serious breaches of the T&Cs - they will investigate and can remove the review.
Did member services explain the complaint / dispute process when you contacted them ?
If you have evidence that the homeowners did not provided an accurate listing and welcome guide you can raise a dispute. Include the original listing and any other information you have ( photos , screenshots of text messages between you and the homeowner about the dogs health , medication etc)
Trusted HouseSitters don’t routinely read reviews . However when a dispute is raised Trusted House Sitters will investigate and take appropriate action against members who break the T&Cs .
This is what another sitter did in a similar situation to you and as a result of an investigation the homeowner was removed from the platform also their inaccurate review of the sitter was removed.
You can read about the other sitters experience on this thread
Are you a Premium member? If the sit was curtailed because the homeowners came home early or in some cases because their listing was misleading then you may be able to claim back your alternative accommodation costs - did member services advise you about this ?
I doubt they would look. Maybe only at the last moment. If they would then have any concerns, they might ask you what had happened there. I doubt anyone would cancel.
I had a bad review, and I got several applications accepted after that. But yes, I have been declined too, and in one case the HO explicitly mentioned my reviews.
As a HO I will always thoroughly read reviews before confirming a sit but I will also always read between the lines and if there is one bad review among many good ones and a convincing response from the sitter, it wouldn’t necessarily put me off. I might ask you “what happened there?” but if your response was credible and the overall vibes were good, it certainly wouldn’t be a dealbreaker.
Thank you so much for your responses, I really appreciate it! It’s a relief to know that not everyone will focus on that one bad review
I’m going to spend today making up a document with screenshots of our conversations, etc to send to the member disputes that SilverSitter suggested. There is a whole month of back and forth that I’m very sure will back me up.
One thing is, I can’t access their welcome guide via their listing? I’m guessing it’s because it’s a past sit? I didn’t take any photos of their guide or the maps they left. Is there another way I can access it? Will THS be able to see that guide so my statements can be verified?
I can tell you how I look at it as a pet parent. I look at the application letter. I go to the profile. I see one bad angry review from a pet parent. If the other reviews are all good, it doesn’t have much weight, but I might want to discuss it with the sitter. If the reply from the sitter is also emotional and over the top, that’s a big red flag, and I will probably move on.
If there is no reply or the reply is objective calm and sounds true, it is not a rule out. I am then likely to go to the petparent page and look at their other sitters and look at other reviews they’ve left. If it turns out they’ve often left horrific reviews, then that further negates the negative review.
If everything else looks good and I do a video, I am likely to ask about the horrific experience if the sitter doesn’t bring it up. If the sitter again relates things in an objective manner that isn’t full of vitriol and drama, it won’t have a big impact on my decision. It would not be a rule out for me if the sitter took some responsibility for the part of it that might have been their fault.
I’m sorry you aren’t getting sits now as a result of this.
Hi @ElBWray, I feel for you getting a terrible review after having received great 5* reviews previously. How soon are the 4 sits you already have booked? If they are soon, it will not take long for that poor review to go out of immediate sight and be replaced with more 5* reviews. You have received some positive advice from members.
You can always respond to the owner’s review by just writing, “Prospective owners, please read my review of this sit. Thank you.”
I spent 4 hours yesterday gathering screenshots of texts and emails proving that they were lying on their listing and on their review of me. I sent it on to the Dispute Team but received a response today saying they will not take it down because:
“As long as reviews remain respectful and the house sit has not breached our terms of service, a member has the right to leave their opinions and comments.”
I understand that maybe they won’t remove their review due to this policy, even though the review is not respectful and spiteful, but I’m so surprised they haven’t said whether they are going to leave the listing up when the owners are outright lying about the health of their dog.
I’m going to take Temba’s advice and hope that future homeowners will see it.
Thank you again to homeowners that have responded with your process. I’m really glad to know that you take a look at the overall situation and not that single instance.
@ElBWray
Go back to member services saying that you want to raise a member dispute ( don’t mention removing the review at this stage )
THS have to investigate if you raise a member dispute.
Provide all your screenshots that you have compiled - Don’t focus on the review they left - leave that out of it at this stage .
Focus only on the facts that the listing and welcome guide were inaccurate about the pet’s health and sitters responsibilities
If the outcome of the investigation shows that the homeowner seriously misrepresented the sit and health of the pet . Then at that stage ask for the review to be removed .
I recommend that you check the T&Cs yourself to see which apply to your situation
According to your description of what happened on the sit - These are the specific terms and conditions that the homeowner has breached you could quote them when you raise your dispute.
“Pet Parents . You will:
5.2.5. notify a Sitter of any special requirements or behaviours relating to your pet(s) in your Home Listing and when you communicate with any Sitter and during the Handover;
5.2.7. ensure that the details of your Home Listing are accurate and up to date;
5.2.8. ensure that the details in your Welcome Guide are accurate and up to date in advance of the start of the Sit;
5.2.9. only provide Member Content that accurately reflects the quality and condition of your home and or pet(s);”
You could link this article in your correspondence to member services
You don’t have an automatic right to get a review removed so I suggest that you don’t approach this from that angle .
You do have a right to raise a member dispute and TrustedHousesitters must investigate all disputes raised.
If the investigation shows that the homeowner is seriously misrepresenting the health issues of their pet - they can be removed from THS ( and at that stage their review of you can be removed if it was inaccurate )
Your dispute should not be about the review itself but about the owner who in your words is
[quote=“ElBWray, post:11, topic:48032”]
lying about the health of their dog.
[/quote].
We were in a similar situation to you and it was so stressful so I really feel for you. The dispute took a couple of months to resolve but we did eventually have the review removed because the sitter was removed from the platform. In the meantime I had some helpful advice on this forum to compose a calm and factual response to the review on my profile. We definitely lost sits because of it but were lucky to have already had a sit booked which we got a glowing review for and then two more subsequent sits the home owners said they’d seen it and in the light of the other reviews and on looking at the other home owner’s profile they could tell that person was the problem. But it’s really not something we should ever have to face as sitters and it’s made me much more wary and a lot more choosy about future sits. Good luck and I hope it doesn’t impact your travels too badly.