I had no inclination that this would be such a rewarding experience. The guidance from the staff, the wonderful person who came into my home and the quality of care my pet received... It was all beyond my hopes and dreams.
As other reviews have mentioned, there are much fewer house sitting opportunities than the site makes it appear that there are.
Sitters work for free and must pay for their own transport. But if the owner cannot fulfill their end of the agreement or makes a mistake with their own dates, there is no penalty whatsoever.
Customer support is absolutely useless and will deny all responsibility. Instead, they'll just say the owner and sitter need to work it out. So what are we paying the company $150 a year for again? Total ripoff!
Our first pet-sit opportunity was almost 2 years ago now. We have had the best experiences with both owners and pets. I can't name our favorite sit because they have all been wonderful. We've not ventured out of the US yet, but I think that is coming in 2020. Trusted Housesitters has given us a unique ability to combine our love of travel and adventure with our love for pets.
This was the first time I used Trusted House Sitters and I think this is a wonderful service. I found it easy to use, and I will use again. It is good to know my pets can stay in the comfort of their home and be looked after as well as my home. This service means I can plan trips away again and have my animal family members looked after but also enjoyed by other people who love and respect animals but may not be able to have them for different reasons - so it meets everyone's needs. Thanks Trusted House Sitters Maggie Shields
Various things mentioned in these reviews happened to me too, and I don't get the feeling that the customer care agents cared at all. The power is obviously given to the homeowners, since that is their bait. It is way too expensive to join, and as a housesitter, you have to do everything else for free, including paying for transport to the housesit, daily chores and then pay the annual website subscription. Didn't get good vibes from this company at all and I was with them for 2 years, all sterling reviews, except one bad experience. I learnt the hard way to check out the homeowners too! You never know whose house you will be staying at. I now get repeat requests to return from regular clients, off this website.
Hi Grace,
Thank you for your review.
Firstly I would like to refute your point about the Membership Services team not caring about our members. The team here work incredibly hard and want all of our members to be successful. As members of the site, as well as Membership Services agents, they care deeply about all members becoming successful, and the overall success of the site.
I'm pleased to see that you have had a number of great sits, and I hope that these highlight the rarity of the negative experience that you have had. Based on the details in this review, I'm unable to find any correspondence that you have had with us about this experience. If you could get in touch with us, FAO myself, referencing this review that you've left, I'll be more than happy to pick this up with you and look into it further.
I'm pleased to hear that you are still sitting for people on a repeat basis, and I hope that all of these sits go well for you.
Kind Regards,
Doug
Membership Services Operations Manager
We prefer to leave our pets in our home when we're on vacation to reduce their anxiety and to be sure they will have access to being outside for exercise. Trusted Housesitters not only matched us with a reliable caring woman to look after our older cat, but it was very inexpensive compared to paying daily pet sitting rates or kennel rates. We had regular updates via email and photos while we were away and returned home to find our home spotlessly clean and our senior cat relaxed. This is a wonderful resource and we're so happy we discovered it.
This site works well when Housesitters show up. But there is no guarantee and we have had several last-minute cancellations. This is really stressful when you have animals and a planned trip. Trustedhousesitters.com does not allow you to leave a review for a House Sitter that cancels. I think they should allow reviews in these cases so homeowners are aware.
I've been using this site for almost a year now and have to say it's a great option for a Digital Nomad like me. I've been to some epic parts of the world and have met some very cool people. Many of the house sits I do turn into friendships. I also love pets and this a total no-brainer for someone who enjoys quality time with fur balls but can't get their own due to one reason or another. I don't plan on using another house sit app any time soon. I get everything I need with this one. One thing that perhaps would help is to send reminders to the host that they should leave a Review for the Sitter. We all know how important those reviews are.
The first couple cancelled after coming to see me insisting I Skype so I can meet his girlfriend and that I block off the dates and his reasons for cancelling did not make sense as he said it was due to family problems but then accidentally told me he was going to be in Scotland and his family were in North London!. The second person contacted me and after a few emails to arrange her for her to come and meet me she cancelled as well. I was away at the time and it was hard to have access to email her on a number of occasions. I will now probably have to cancel my trips and lose money in flights and hotels. I have absolutely no faith in using another one of their sitters or on the organisations ability to deal with my concerns as have written on two occasions and have had no response other than an email over two weeks after my first one to say they are looking into it.
Hi Sallie
We strive to work to a 48 business hour turnaround for responses, so for your experience to have been two weeks with no response, is very shocking. I cannot access your information from the detail provided on this review, and we would want to look into why this is case. I am confident we have responded, and maybe it has been diverted to your spam or junk folders by your email provider, as currently we have no enquiries older than a few working days.
We would like the opportunity to look at your listing with you, and see if there are any ways we can help you secure success on the site, and remember you can always ask us to reach out to other members on your behalf, if they have cancelled any confirmed arrangements, and their reason for doing so breaches our member Code of Conduct, as this is never acceptable to us, as we understand how cancellations can affect arrangements.
I hope to hear from you on support@trustedhousesitters.com
Many Thanks
The TrustedHousesitters Team
Trusted Housesitters used to be a great site with helpful customer service. Last few years, though, they've grown too big... and their customer service is getting worse and worse. Lots of platitudes, no real help -- especially for housesitters who experience last-minute cancellations by their pet-owning hosts. They don't have enough homeowner members, so they really skew their efforts to the homeowners, screwing housesitters!
Hello Kelly,
I am really sorry to hear that after your many years of success on the site that you are experiencing the issues mentioned in your review.
Please be assured as discussed in recent emails we are more than happy to take all of your member feedback on board and I will personally make sure that any feedback submitted is raised with the appropriate teams.
Whilst we never want a sit to not go ahead as planned for any sitter or owner, in the event that a pet sadly passed away this may lead to planned arrangements being changed. In the unlikely event that this does happen we can help you look for other sits in that area and are always on hand to support you and the owner.
We are constantly working hard to grow both sides of the community. With hundreds of new home listings being added to the site every week, along with existing owners adding new available dates to their listings - there are lots of exciting sitting opportunities for sitters in the community.
Please do send any feedback to me via our email thread and I will get that passed on for you.
Thank you
Carla
Membership Service Operations Manager.
Overview
Trusted House Sitters has a rating of 3.2 stars from 983 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally satisfied with their purchases. Reviewers satisfied with Trusted House Sitters most frequently mention pet owners, great way and wonderful people. Trusted House Sitters ranks 1st among Classifieds sites.
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- Sitejabber’s sole mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
- Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
- Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Hello John,
I am sorry to hear that it appears that you have had an experience on the platform that has not met your expectations? That is something that we never want to hear has happened. Please be assured that we treat both sides of the network equally and all members adhere to the same Code of Conduct. If any member breached the Code of Conduct then the appropriate action will be taken.
I am surprised to read in your review that you feel that the platform does not have as many sitting opportunities as you feel that we portray. All of the sitting opportunities that you can view on the platform are available, we have one of the largest networks of house sitting opportunities globally with hundreds of new home listings being added each week. If you see a home listing that you are interested in please apply, because as soon as the owner has officially selected their sitter then the listing will no longer appear on the platform until the owner posts new dates.
I am more than happy to discuss your experience on the platform with you personally. Please feel free to get in touch with me at support@trustedhousesitters.com FAO Carla
Thank you
Carla
Membership Services Manager
TrustedHousesitters