I’m so sorry this happened to you! I feel very strongly that 99% of the sitters on this site are here for the right reasons but, unfortunately there are always going to be a very few that fall through the cracks. It seems as if you and, perhaps, I picked those! 
As with your sitter, mine also suggested that he may be gone “overnight” which was not ok with us.
I’m trying to stay on top of this until I hear, directly, from an administrator, because I believe this sitter needs to be looked into. Out of 4 sits, 3 have said he wasn’t, completely, tidy and/or organized. Two have mentioned he didn’t bring in the mail. Two have mentioned he wasn’t really great with the pets. All of that raises a huge red flag to me. In my review I mentioned that Kitty’s food bowl wasn’t clean, but what I didn’t mention was that she was very jumpy and on edge for about two days after our return. She seemed very afraid…of something. We’ve never seen her act like that before. When I wrote the review, we hadn’t noticed it yet because I wrote the review within a couple of hours of us getting home. But it became very apparent the next day.
As I said at the beginning though, we truly believe 99%+ of the sitters here are wonderful! Our first house sitter couldn’t have been better. The house was clean, Kitty was happy and very content. We felt as if we’d left the house and Kitty in the hands of a long-time family friend, and that’s how it should feel!
Both sitters and homeowners need to write truthful reviews so this can be an even better place to find sitters/sits! Don’t be afraid to write truthful reviews; the other person may write something awful in retaliation, but I believe if you read all the reviews and responses, it will become very clear what the truth is.
Hi @kak, thank you for your post and for your supportive comments and as in my previous reply have you emailed Membership Services FAO @Katie_Mc?
We will follow up for you of course.
Thank you Angela, yes, I have emailed Katie; no reply, so far.
I had explained clearly that my dog was recovering from trauma very fearful and so it would be necessary to meet her before the sit. Also explained that because of this she should not bring anyone else into the house while I was gone. My dog responded to her O.K. so we agreed on the sit. The day before I was to leave she emailed asking if a friend (who would be arriving in my town after I left) needed a place to stay and could she stay at my house with her. I was shocked that after all my explaining of how my rescue dog was afraid of most strangers, she would ask this. When I said No, she said most people wouldn’t have asked, me just had the friend stay and I’d never know. I cancelled the sit.
Quite right. Totally untrustworthy from the start, trust your gut.
I hope you reported that incident to member services. Homeowners would know a guest had stayed if they had cameras, even if only on the outside of the house. Not true what that sitter said about sitters sneaking guests. With the homeowner’s permission I had a friend visit me for an hour or so at the HO’s house. I sent the owner a picture of my friend standing by the cat tree with the cat so he would feel perfectly comfortable. My next sit has given me permission to have friends and/or family visit or stay. If I do, I will also send pictures of them.
Hi @Raygwyn that is an experience no owner member should have to deal with, especially after being so clear in your pet’s needs and your expectations, as well as cancelling the sit you could have advised Membership Services of the situation.
Great question.
As a sitter, if I had something happen with my health, or a big sore I would certainly explain it to the owner so they weren’t concerned. I would bandage it up as well to protect myself and them.
I am glad you left an honest review. This was unacceptable behavior on many counts and future sitters will appreciate it.
As a sitter, if I read his bashing review, I would read your review of him as well so I had both sides to a story. I might ask you about it during our video chat if I had concerns, but It wouldn’t stop me from applying for a sit for you.
We did a sit where the owner posted an honest review about someone, and they came back and bashed her. After reading the reviews & better understanding the situation, I came to my own conclusion that the sitter was in error. The owner was very upfront about her concerns with the previous sitter (arriving late), so we made sure our travel plans had some extra days in case the weather was bed, etc.
Hi Angela: I was actually going to ask about staff shortage/customer service. I never had a problem or wait time using the live chat until about a year ago - I found it great, but now the “bot” appears and it’s just not the same for answering specific questions. I sent an email with a question over a week ago and never did receive a reply. Is it better to ask questions now on this forum rather than email THS?
Re finding the “right staff” that have great communication skills and are pet lovers. Has any consideration ever been given to asking member in this forum if they are interested in a position with THS? I think the majority of members on here have great communication and writing skills, are obviously pet lovers and also have the experience of being a homeowner and/or sitter. Just a thought.
HI @Globetrotter thank you for the feedback.
We do apologise for the delayed response times and lack of availability of service but we are still recovering from the affects of the pandemic and as @Paul-Head-MS Head Of Customer Services says while this is not a popular statement it is unfortunately very real but you and our wider community, will be pleased to know that in the past 3 weeks we have welcomed several new starters to the team who are currently being trained by our excellent coach and trainer Carla.
Training is being done remotely which takes more time but we will be back to pre pandemic levels of service in the next few weeks.
To answer your question about recruiting from within, we advertise all vacancies on our website in the careers section and welcome applications from members where applicable.
Hope you left a review saying the house was left filthy?
Hi @Globetrotter I’m living proof of someone from the community now working with the Team! 
Thanks Angela
That’s awesome Vanessa!
I have been using THS for several years and have had several wonderful pet sits. However, the last time we used a sitter back in April we had a very bad experience. When the sitter arrived, she was acting very strange, like she consumed way to much coffee. We always invite the pet sitter to arrive a day before we left so we can show them our dogs routines and go over house details and any questions.
She did arrive the evening before but then dropped her stuff off and said she needed to go shopping. That was ok with us, but she didn’t come back until we were ready to go to bed. The next morning she slept in, so again I couldn’t talk to her very much. We left but on shaky ground, not feeling very good.
We have security cameras which I showed her before we left. I did look in on the camera when we got to our destination.
The minute we left she put our dogs in their crate and left them there, taking them out only for them to eat.
She went out to the garage with the door open for 4 hours, probably because she was sick of listening to my dogs cry. My neighbors called me and said she was just sitting in the garage for a longtime. She then came inside, left the dogs in their crate and went into the bedroom and fell asleep for another 4 hours. I called her to find out what was going on and she went over and disabled the security cameras.
I became very ill, so we had to load everything up and come back the next day.
After letting her know I was sick and we were coming back, she immediately told us she was not leaving and we could not enter the house. We spent about an hour trying to get her to leave. She demanded that we pay for a hotel. We did agree to pre pay for 3 nights just to get her to leave, but she never showed up to use the hotel.
Hi @italy53lv
Thank you for joining our forum and I’m so sorry you had this experience.
I have sent you a DM to discuss.
Yes, I did leave a very honest review, and he totally bashed me in his reply. And that was expected, by me.
Your not likely to see a sore on a sitters leg in a video chat & I find some people come across very well in VC but in person it can be a very different scenario and vice versa.
@ Kak I’m afraid I would have had to act on my gut instinct when he turned up with a wound to his leg & told him there and then I was not comfortable having him in my home & explain to him why.
I once had a sitter ( not with THS ) who seemed fine on VC, he looked clean & his home from what i could see looked well kept & tidy. He also said he was a non smoker.
When i returned home after a week my pets were fine but my house stank of smoke. There was cigarette stumps & ash in my sink & one of my coffee mugs had been used as an ashtray! The kitchen floor was filthy too.
It took me weeks if not months to get rid of the smell of smoke from my home.
I threw away my bedding which had ash on it.
I asked him if he had used the bath or shower & towels & he said no, meaning he didn’t wash himself for a whole week!
I’ve never had a pet sitter in my home since
Now I just do pet sits & have been very lucky with the home owners & their pets so far
fingers crossed x
@Crazydoglady, that’s horrendous! I am also sensitive to smells and would have been beyond upset if that had happened to me. I cannot imagine you would ever have a sitter like that from THS.
@Mars
Definitely not with THS !