“Don't be fooled by these faux polite responses from Trusted Housesitters below your reviews; TH is rife with double -standards, and TH customer service are the nastiest and the rudest people who ever drew breath. I'm not the only one who's experienced this.
I ended my time on this website as Homeowner (HO) and sitter, with 47 perfect reviews over 4 years. Here's the truth:
-It is actually illegal to go to another country to petsit even though there's no pay. It's considered work and you can get denied entry if found out.
-You will meet some truly wonderful HOs and sitters if you are lucky. If your luck runs out, you'll realise that...
-TH only cares for the HOs, who are allowed to do and say anything they want to the sitters. Do not expect support from TH if you run into difficulty.
-TH consistently acts against their own terms of service, which carry no actual weight as TH lacks integrity.
-HOs can cancel a sit spontaneously. Sitters can cancel after contacting and being sternly rebuked by Customer Service.
-HOs illegally have visual and audible surveillance of sitters without their knowledge, and this is allowed and supported by TH (regardless of how Terms of service reads).
-HOs can and do impose exploitative and abusive demands during the sit and if a sitter refuses, and customer service will always support the sitter. HOs can be incredibly entitled.
-HOs are actually allowed to charge you money to stay at their homes even though you're taking care of their pets. Read enough postings and you'll find HOs asking for money. Report this to TH and you'll see that this is accurate.
-Sitters constantly and consistently overservice Homeowners and tolerate HO's abuses without reporting it to TH or in reviews.
But don't take my word for it. Try them out, and see for yourself . They're the equivalent of a free-for-all dating service with abhorrent business practices.
One last thing: please do not ever let yourself be dependent on TH for sitters, housing or support. When you come across a truly vile situation with sitters HOs or TH customer service, have money set aside for a sitter or a hotel, and be prepared to leave the company.
All the best to you!”
“Changed. Quality got worse. Almost no sits in certain countries and cities. Most hosts have so many animals, that you cannot take care of all if you are not at least 2-4 people. Apartments and houses are often dirty and you are supposed to clear. Some hosts expect you to take care of their pets 24h, although they themselves spend less than 1h per day. I am cancelling this service as it does not pay off anymore. To expensive and difficult to find a suitable sit.”
“My pet sitter Annaliese May from NZ was a total user and left my house dirty. I was also informed from neighbours she had a guy stay over after i specifically said no one is to stay. She broke a couple of things, used up pantry items, body wash and laundry wash after I her asked to replace “staples”. Had permission to use my car but left it sandy and no petrol top up. Not even a thank you. A total user.
My problem with Trusted House sitters is she had already removed her account before I could leave a review the next day. Seems like she knew she did the wrong thing? This means she can do this again. I’ve discussed this with the company and they can’t do anything. I suggested they don’t let anyone who uses their site to close their account until reviews are done. Maybe a couple of days? But they can’t do that either. Therefore they’re not a Trusted site.”
“I have been using Trustedhousesitters for over 3 years. But be aware if you run into a problem you are on own. I wanted to cancel a sit because getting a weird feeling about the woman. Did change the new dates we agreed upon. I'll do it later. Or I forget. Then friend was going to stay a week at the beginning and end to show me the house. Granted it was a separate unit.But originally she was going to have her mother me meet. Then it was all FaceTime you show the house..which I hate and don't have find for. This sit was way to complicated for me. Tired of the back and forth and no follow through on new dates.This sit is two months out. But trustedhousers doesnt care. They will answer an email. But phone call forget it. Only the owner can cancel and she's not because she told me..I'm not the one who canceled. If you are going out of the country for a long sit the sitter needs to feel comfortable. I have done several very successful housesits with excellent reviews. No they don't go perfectly. My last sit I had a boil water order for 8 days with 5 long haired cats. The owners were lovely and knew I could count on them for communication. This is key when doing a sit. I could go on and on about the many experiences I have had. This site doesn't value the sitter. Owner over the sitter. Company is not what it was when I joined. I travel all over US and used to tell people sign up for your pets. But not now. I don't know what is going to happen as I am done communicating with this woman. She has premium membership so possibly she will get money . I know she mentioned one sitter leaving early. Wish I had never thought it's probably ok. I have enough repeats on housesits I can go on my own or join another housesit company
For now I will continue on knowing I will get no support.”
“I have been using Trustedhousesitters for over 3 years. But be aware if you run into a problem you are on own. I wanted to cancel a sit because getting a weird feeling about the woman. Did change the new dates we agreed upon. I'll do it later. Or I forget. Then friend was going to stay a week at the beginning and end to show me the house. Granted it was a separate unit.But originally she was going to have her mother me meet. Then it was all FaceTime you show the house..which I hate and don't have find for. This sit was way to complicated for me. Tired of the back and forth and no follow through on new dates.This sit is two months out. But trustedhousers doesnt care. They will answer an email. But phone call forget it. Only the owner can cancel and she's not because she told me..I'm not the one who canceled. If you are going out of the country for a long sit the sitter needs to feel comfortable. I have done several very successful housesits with excellent reviews. No they don't go perfectly. My last sit I had a boil water order for 8 days with 5 long haired cats. The owners were lovely and knew I could count on them for communication. This is key when doing a sit. I could go on and on about the many experiences I have had. This site doesn't value the sitter. Owner over the sitter. Company is not what it was when I joined. I travel all over US and used to tell people sign up for your pets. But not now. I don't know what is going to happen as I am done communicating with this woman. She has premium membership so possibly she will get money . I know she mentioned one sitter leaving early. Wish I had never thought it's probably ok. I have enough repeats on housesits I can go on my own or join another housesit company
For now I will continue on knowing I will get no support.”
“I did not have the best experience with Trusted House Sitters. I had a simple request – take care of one adorable cat for 3 weeks. I had three responses to that request and within days all of them declined because they got ‘better offers.’ One didn’t want to travel across borders due to corona which I understood. So I lost all three and then started doing research on profiles and inviting people to apply. Everyone turned me down. One of the people who accepted told me she was positive that she would come so I bought my flights. The next day she declined. A stressful emotional roller coaster. THS has a guarantee which I was counting on if this didn’t work: ‘If you do not receive any sitter applications within 14 days of posting your first listing, you’ll receive your money back with no strings attached.’ While I did receive applications, all of them cancelled their applications so in effect there were no valid applications. I finally found a cat sitter through friends and contacted THS for a refund since I met the criteria of no valid application during the first two weeks. They refused my request for a refund. This coronavirus has given companies the opportunity to take advantage of their customers. I’ve been fighting two airlines for 6 months to get refunds on flights they cancelled. Ive had hotels with free cancellation policies refuse to refund me, and now this. I hope everyone remembers who treated them right and who didn’t during this crisis and that we make sure those companies who were greedy are not patronized when things get better.”
