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Trusted House Sitters Reviews Summary
The company has garnered significant criticism for its customer service, with many customers expressing frustration over the lack of responsive support and difficulties in obtaining refunds. Common complaints include billing issues, inadequate communication, and a perceived lack of accountability for damages caused by sitters. While some users reported positive experiences with sitters, the overall sentiment reflects a sense of disappointment and mistrust, particularly among sitters who feel exploited by the fee structure. The company appears to prioritize marketing efforts over customer satisfaction, leading to a growing perception of unprofessionalism and dissatisfaction among users.
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House and pet sitting is the perfect answer...a truly win/win scenario. Either be 'sitter' yourself for the fabulous times and experiences you have or getting house sitters to look after your pets and property so everyone is happy! We have never looked elsewhere than Trusted House Sitters.....no need!
We are fairly new to Trustedhousesitters.com. We, The Chiang Gang, are a family of 4 traveling around the world and vlogging our journey as we go on youtube and social media. We have used trustedhousesitters.com service several times already and the result has always been a great and rewarding experience every time. To date we have been able to secure 7 house sits throughout North America. We have completed 3 of these at this time and were able to save a lot financially on what would have otherwise been hotel costs. Each sit met our needs and we enjoyed the experience. I find the site easy to navigate. There are always new opportunities being posted. It allows great communication between sitter and homeowner and keeps a record of message history between both so you can refer back if you need to confirm any details. The annual fee pays for itself in just a one night sit when compared to hotel stays. I find the service from the company to be very professional and know many others who have used it with success. I would definitely recommend this site whether you are a potential sitter or homeowner looking for loving and professional care for your pets and home while you're gone.
We just became members of THS two months ago, and already used a fabulous sitter to care for our home and spoiled-rotten cat. We had no problems with joining THS. I will say the website is not super intuitive and took me awhile to figure out how to maneuver through it to build our profile and Welcome Guide. Other than that, I am happy that this service is available, and pleased with our usage so far.
TrustedHouseSitters was easy to use and yielded results quickly. I will definitely use them again. Their website provides all of the information you would want, for both looking for a sitter or hosting.
I have only been a member for just over a month, but I have applied to 5 pet sitting listings with no responses whatsoever. Their listed dates came and went without even a courtesy decline. I tried to contact Trusted Housesitters, suggesting they institute a stringent policy that requires people to respond within a reasonable time. Their response: Crickets. How is someone supposed to plan for a trip when they have no idea if they're going to be accepted or not. People can't wait until the last moment to get up and go. Another possibility is that this is a scam. Maybe the reason no-one is responding is because there's no-one at the other end. I strongly recommend that you don't sign up with this shoddy outfit. Even if it is legit, there's no accountability and it's very poorly orchestrated.
With an old dog and old cat I didn't know if I could renew my pets when they died as my life takes me abroad a lot. With TrustedHouseSitters I now know I can and that has given me freedom and a huge releif to know that they and the house will be in good hands. It is an excellent system.
OK, its not perfect: The THS website is "Clunky," and customer service is a little defensive about it, but for $120.00 fee PLUS $35.00 Background check, I've spent some wonderful time with terrific animals in some great places... FREE of CHARGE. I've never felt there was anything deceptive about the deal.
After paying the fee the verification process on their site kept stalling. Despite several emails and messages over a number of days they have not responded. They dont answer their phone and the chat service is equally unresponsive.
My profile is not live for those reasons. I have totally lost trust in this operation and want nothing further to do with them other than a refund.
Hi Karen
I am sorry to hear you are so unhappy, I can certainly help you. Whilst I cannot go into much detail on the specifics of your account on this open forum, I can definitely give you some more information, and we will ensure any outstanding enquiries you have with us are responded to today.
We aim to respond to all enquiries within 48 business hours, I am sorry to hear however that this has not met your needs on this occasion.
The reason your profile is not live, is not due to the phone verification being pending, it is due to some mandatory missing information on your profile, that we will address in our message directly to you. We do not hold back sitter profiles for the verification levels to be complete, so this is not hat is affecting this.
I very much hope we can resolve these issues to your satisfaction, so please look out for our response to you. The Membership Experience team are available on the phone, email and live chat 24 hours a day, and if we are busy and you have to leave a message for us, rest assured we will always get back to you.
Many Thanks
The TrustedHousesitters Team
After considering housesitting for a while, I decided to sign up when I saw how many properties were available on the map. But, I wasn't able to see exactly how many people had already applied until after the payment. If I had known the competition, I wouldn't have signed up. After two months of constant applying without success, the map still shows 88 available properties in my 'area' but zoom in, there's only 10. And all of those already have 40+ applicants. Every part of this company is to trick its customers. False marketing and a highly deceptive interface tricks people into signing up. And today when I signed in, I had no option but to agree that I accepted the way they use my data in order to continue to use the site. No option to decline. Read all the other reviews on Trustpilot and a housesitters will always write a long response to negative reviews, of which there are more 1 star than 5 stars. Ask yourself why a company has to invest so much time and money into hiring staff to respond to so many bad reviews to defend their image. My experience is this: Long term users with solid reviews built up over years who have used and had success on the website for years will continue to have success and say it's wonderful. New users without the reviews will face the competition, probably won't have any success finding a housesit and won't get anything from the website after they have taken your money.
Dear Sam
I was very shocked and saddened to read this review, and you have felt this has been your experience to date. I would appreciate the opportunity to address the points raised with you directly, but will respond on this forum, in the hopes of being able to shed sufficient light on the points you raise.
We have many many thousands of house and pet sitting opportunities available in 130+ countries at any one time, with new properties and opportunities being listed every day, sometimes hundreds of new ones a day, so the chance of every sitter finding their perfect sit is fantastic, if all of our guidelines and advice is followed, and all of the features and tools we offer are taken advantage of We have a 24 hour Membership Experience team available on the phone, live chat and email all ready and happy to talk all members through every aspect of achieving success within the community.
Please note our community of house and pet sitters is not based on a first come first served basis, as despite the more popular sits with quite a few applicants, you may have been the perfect match and sitter for those owners, there is no correlation between the amount of applicants and success necessarily, as your profile, references, experiences, background etc may be exactly what that owner is looking for. So never let you put this off.
It is the case that we cannot and do not show the latest sits and the full information relating to that sit, to non members, much like anything else of this nature, it is only possible to access our full information and product and community of listings once you are a full member, this is also for the security of the owners home information.
I would be very keen to hear from you with the specifics of you area and the discrepancies you mention with the results, as this is not something I am aware the site does. However what it does do for the security of members home information, is show the larger area the sit is available in, however I am not aware of any issue with changes to the opportunities when you scroll in, but I am keen to investigate further.
I would like to categorically assure you we do not have any part in trying to scam or deceive our valued members, and have over 8000 5* services reviews on the independant review site Trustpilot, we are all extremely passionate about our online community of pet and travel lovers, and the altruistic ethos of the nature of the platform we provide, to facilitate the worldwide house and pet sits. We care about our members experiences, and want them all to be fantastic and as we receive so few negative reviews, that when we do see one these are always responded to quickly to ensure the full facts are being shown and to see if there is anything we can do to resolve anyones dissatisfaction, we are always wanting to investigate further and ensure we are adapting and learning from our member feedback.
In line with the recent Europe wide legislation changes for handling customer data, the new Privacy Policy surfaced on our site requires mandatory acceptance to be able to proceed and use our site and service. This is not something we can allow potential members to opt out of, nor can any company that processes and stores customer data.
I am confident we can turn your experiences around, given the chance and really work with you to ensure your profile is as attractive as possible, and that you are using your membership to its fullest.
Thank you
Vicky
Head of Membership Services
TrustedHousesitters
NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS STAY AWAY, THE SITE WON'T LET YOU CANCEL SIT REQUESTS OR SIT CONFIRMATIONS. Boy oh boy what a nightmare trying to use this site has been. I requested a sitter who said they were available, but the sitter didn't confirm the sitter request for a whole week, and then cancelled it a week later. So then I found another person from UK to sit, had sent them a sitter request, and they didn't respond after 2 days so I sent them a message saying to cancel my sit request because we did not connect via whats app like we were supposed to. They confirmed the sit request when I told them I was not comfortable having them sit after all. I then tried to cancel the sitter request because I was worried this person is a fraud, and the site wouldn't let me cancel it anywhere. I ended my membership because that was all I could do, so $100 wasted down the drain and no sit. WILL NEVER RECOMMEND OR EVER USE THIS SITE AGAIN. Also, various emails and calls to customer service, and no response or help! Completely useless and a nightmare has been my experience.
Hi Shannon
We recently launched the new site feature for sit applications, pending invitations, amendment and cancellation requests, within the online inbox for the convenience of our members. We not aware of any issues with this new feature, as you describe in your review, so I was sorry to hear you were having a problem with it. We could have certainly helped you with anything with regards to managing your sits requests, confirmed sitters and accounts given the chance, so I was very sorry to hear you felt you had not choice but to cancel your membership.
We have a large 24 hour Membership Services Team available on the phone, live chat and email to assist with member enquiries, however during our busier periods, we work to a 3 day turnaround for responses, as we respond to enquiries in the order they are received. However live chat is always the quickest way to get in touch with us and is pretty instantaneous. With the information provided on this review, I am unable to check the specifics of your contact to us, my apologies, but if you get in touch directly I can certainly give you a follow up to anything that remains outstanding. I would be very surprised to see if you had not been responded to at all, so I am keen to look into this further to you.
We have a strict Code of Conduct all members agree to, especially in regards to amending, cancelling or changing confirmed arrangements as we appreciate how problematic this is. I would appreciate being able to discuss the issues you have found in this regard further as well, so we may investigate any member who might not be adhering to our Code of Conduct, as this is never acceptable to us.
You can contact us on support@trustedhousesitters.com FAO Vicky
I very much hope to hear from you soon, I am confident we can resolve this matter for you.
Thank you
Vicky
Head of Membership Services
TrustedHousesitters
Trusted Housesitters responded to my first review writing that they want to work with customers and be flexible, but they can't make exceptions to policy. This is double talk.
They requested that i write to them. I did. They stated that they would respond within 48 hours. They haven't. Once they get your money they are gone.
Dear Robert,
I am really sorry to hear that you remain dissatisfied and have posted a second review.
We are grateful for all feedback, however, this is not the ideal forum to discuss this issue on as we are best placed communicating via the Membership Service department as you have been. I want to make sure that you are helped and assisted in the best way possible.
I understand that you are feeling frustrated if you do not feel that you are getting a response, however, I can see that you chatted on live chat with my colleague on Monday the 2nd April and received a follow-up email as promised on Wednesday 4th April 2018.
I am sure that you can appreciate as with any company we have to have policies in place to make it fair on all of our members and unfortunately once a membership has been used as per the Terms and Conditions a refund is not available. However, this does not mean that we are not extremely keen to assist you with the continued use of your membership. I can see that you have had several sitters apply for your sit and can personally talk you through the next steps.
Please do get back in contact either by replying to your email thread or by emailing me directly at support@trustedhousesitters.com FAO Carla - Membership Service Operations Manager.
Thank you.
Had signed up then didn't need service - personal reasons. Was a member only two weeks and had not used the site or contacted a sitter. Customer service was inflexible and showed no understanding. Kept citing "policy" and would not discuss even a pro rated refund. Very poor.
My boyfriend & I are pet-sitters through Trustedhousesitters and only then. There are many companies out there but in our opinion, theres no comparison, they are the best. We have been with them since October of 2017 and have had great pet-sitting experience through them. Their customer service is top-notch and is easily available through live chat. Their name says it all, Trust. There is a great trust between the homeowners and pet-sitters where the focus is always on the pet. We just love working with them. We have already house-sat in 7 countries in the past 4 months and cant wait to see where our adventures take us through them. We highly recommend them for anyone who doesnt want to board their animals and keep them comfortable at home along with any animal lovers out there who want to see the world. Its a win-win for both parties!
What started out 3 years ago as wanting to house and pet sit for maybe a couple of months a year, has turned into 10+ months/year of traveling the world, and caring for wonderful pets and homes. The experiences we have had have gone beyond our wildest dreams. We've lived like locals, all the while absorbing the culture in every place we've visited AND we've had the privilege of loving some amazing fur and feathered friends! The low cost of a yearly membership is less than one night's accommodation in a hotel or Airbnb, and they provide you with the support of a network that truly has your best interests at heart. Responses to queries have always been prompt, and often even a Live Chat, and everyone has treated us with professionalism and respect. This is one TOP-NOTCH company that I can't say enough about. Except... Thanks for providing the vehicle for us to be able to see the world and to live such an enriching lifestyle!
I signed up for house sitting. But all the offers included pet sitting. The sight says that you can cancel and get full refund within 14 days of signing up. I immediately emailed them a dozen times to cancel and refund my money. But all the response I get is an automated email that they will contact me within 24 hours. Do not use this sight. I am going to also contact the BBB. Jackie Ralph *******@yahoo.com
Dear Jackie,
Pets are at the very heart of TrustedHousesitters, images of pets populate the listings pages, they are the very reason members come to TrustedHousesitters and our messaging is for "pet lovers who love to travel” Living like a local, having real life experiences in the company of beloved pets, in locations of choice is a lifestyle choice and presents a unique opportunity for authentic travel. Our member’s stories are testament to the amazing travel opportunities TrustedHousesitters enjoy and members tell us it’s pets and the connections they make with the owners, which brings joy to their housesitting travels.
Listings requiring no pet care do come to the site, not as frequently, however as most sitters look for pet company you would have had opportunity to apply for and secure a sit of your choice. The fact that you requested a refund just four days after joining would not have given you the long enough to explore all possibilities. The time between, finding the right sit, creating a professional, informative profile, adding references and completing the Trust and Verification steps, applying to the owner, communicating with the owners, being short listed, Skyping and finally being confirmed as their sitter can often take days. Whilst there is no definitive period, allowing just a few days to discover your perfect sit may have greatly contributed to your disappointment.
Regarding your refund Jackie, I am surprised to hear that you didn't managed to reach us especially as live chat is the quickest method and is available 24 hours. After checking your account I can see that you were given a full refund on Tuesday March 20th well within the 14 day refund period and just 24 hours after you had posted this review.
We're really sorry TrustedHousesitters has not worked for you on this occasion and do assure you that if you decide to revisit pet and housesitting as a travel lifestyle choice again, in the future, we will do everything possible to help you and your husband have the very best possible experience.
Thank you
The TrustedHousesitters Team
Horrible service. They sure get you. I signed up as a sitter since I have extensive experience as a reputable pet sitter in my community and thought this would be perfect as Id love to travel but its far from it and a big waste of money. Why? Example: Id love to go to Spain in May. Searched the site and there are probably only 2 homes listed that need a sitter with 15-20 applicants. This is the same results when I search for Florida, Paris, etc. So basically, its a crap shoot. Ive asked for a refund after 3 days because I noticed this would not work for me but warning, they wont refund if you've already messaged someone which is total BS. How else would I know how the site works if I dont give it try? SCAM!
So basically, as long as you just window shop, then they refund you? They say its written in the terms of agreement but IT IS NOT! I've messaged customer service again, and still nothing. Based on another review, its seems like it will take months even years to get a sit you want. If that was the case, then there is NO WAY I would have signed up for this service. They say they'll help you yet no one wants to respond. Ugly and deceitful service! Very scammy. Beware!
Dear Cynthia
I was sorry to read that you felt this way, however there are some elements of your review, that are not the case. Rest assured we want all members to be happy and find success, and always like to hear feedback from members.
I hope you can see from our numerous great reviews, that the overwhelming majority of all members achieve great success and are having life changing and fantastic experiences. Whilst there is some proactivity and flexibility required, as long as our guidelines are followed securing a sit is very much the norm for our members. If you have not done so already, I would recommend you achieve all levels of our verification trust badges, as this always helps sitters secure sits.
The amount of applicants on a listing, should not put anyone off applying, as you may be the perfect person and match for that owner, as it does not work on a first come first serve basis, its about finding that perfect match in the like minded community of pet and travel lovers.
We are listing hundreds of new opportunities a week, so the perfect sit is likely to be just around the corner, and have listings in 130+ countries.
The refund policy is clearly stated in the terms and conditions of the membership, and are agreed to by all members at the time of joining, with the tick box. Refunds can be made within the first 14 days as long as the site and services have not been used. Being a member for three days is not normally a sufficient amount of time to establish if this solution will work for you, and I am confident if we work together on your profile, and give you some assistance and guidelines on how to create the perfect profile, you will be happily housesitting in no time.
Do not hesitate to contact us via live chat, one of our local telephone numbers or the contact us form on your help centre online, and we would be happy to speak to you further about this.
Thank you
The TrustedHousesitters Team
We are experienced house sitters, have been using similar websites for a couple of years but this one is just the best. Usually, there is one website for each country, but trustedhousesitters.com covers the entire world. You can save your money buying one membership instead of dozens.
The website is user-friendly, admin is very attentive and the most important: there is hundreds of house sit ads you can choose from.
Highly recommended!
I decided TrustedHouseSitters was not for me when I entered my info and only received house sitter recommendations from other countries. I tried to ask their customer service how to cancel via instant messaging. All the person would do is try to persuade me to use them, I am unable to cancel and now get an email daily from them. I have tried putting them in junk as well as putting them in as scam, they change their email address so you so you cannot stop them. Not a company I would ever trust!
Dear Sandy
I am sorry to read this review, and keen to get to the bottom of this, as this does not sound accurate, as we can easily remove you from our mailing list and prevent any future emails being sent to you, we do this very often and very quickly when asked to do so. Please contact me directly so I can look into the specifics of your account and what is happening on it.
I am confident I can rectify this for you very quickly.
There are three ways to contact us, and we have Membership Service Advisers available 24 hours a day
Click here to see the contact us forms, where you can send us a message, live chat with us or find your local phone number. https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new
I look forward to hearing from you
Thank you
Vicky
Head of Membership Services
TrustedHousesitters
I wanted to write this 'balanced' review, as I can see a few negatives ones, and I know people always read those first - so may not get a fair view. We have been house sitting with THS for two years and have had nothing but good experiences, as is the case with most of the people you can see on here who have given 5* reviews. The concept is brilliant and it works, but if you are expecting to sign up one week and be in Barbados the next, that is unlikely to happen. Building a good sitter account, with solid reviews, takes time. It's also important to write a good profile and include pictures. We started off by applying for many local sits and got our first one about four months after joining. This led to an excellent review, and it went from there. Two years later we have done over 25 sits and completed our first one overseas, in Singapore, in January. And we could probably have gone abroad sooner if we'd been available. We were up against 20 other applicants for that one, and we got the sit because we have a great profile - which has taken time to build up. If you are serious about becoming a house sitter and travelling thew world you need to take the time to do it properly and build a excellent profile. That means being organised and efficient, and of course being a great sitter - love the animals you look after and hand back an immaculate house! It won't happen overnight, but it's so worth it. We've had an amazing time so far, and looking forward to lots more. Thank you Trusted Housesitters!
I have used people from this site at least a dozen times. I have 3 dogs and 6 chickens. I have gone away for just a weekend and up to 3 weeks. I have Never had a bad experience. The house sitters are have usually left my home cleaner than it was when they arrived. My pets have been happy and serene upon my return and most of them send me texts with photos and updates while I'm away. I highly recommend this website has a great way to match sitters and people who need them.
I let a house sitter into my house through trustedhousesitters not knowing that he was filthy and scary. Luckily I stayed in my house next door. I needed a house sitter as I was renovating and needed to travel to find things for the main house... After a while my house began to smell. It was the gite. When I confronted the house sitter he didn; t clean it but offered to leave. It took 2 weeks to get rid of the filth and smell. I complained to trustedhousesitters and also noticed this house sitter had made up more references while he stayed with me and I told them of this... instead of appologising they struck me off as it is against their code of conduct to stay in a property while a house sitter was present. I didn't realise this. But the house sitter was also in breach. I understand he is still available to sit at your home anywhere in the world.The moral is you cannot complain. And house sitters can do what they want...!
Dear Sharon,
I am really sorry to hear that you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of our complaints investigation as discussed today.
Please be assured that we have thoroughly investigated this complaint in a fair and unbiased way, taking into consideration information and evidence submitted by both members.
We never take the decision to suspend a member lightly, however, I am sure that you can appreciate all members need to abide by the Code of Conduct in order to keep the community a place of trust.
The site ethos works on the basis that it is a win-win for both members. Sitters care for your pets and home whilst you are away in exchange for the companionship of pet's and the chance to live like a local.
The owner and third parties being in residence during a sit, and/or the sitter assisting with work can sometimes lead to issues arising, as in this case. This is why to protect the privacy and security of the sitters during the sit, we ask that owners and third parties are not in residence in the property at the same time as the sitter.
During the course of our thorough investigation, some serious issues did come to light in regards to direct breaches to our Code of Conduct, which resulted in the suspension of your membership with a pro-rated refund of your membership fee.
The sitter conduct has also been investigated in line with the Code of Conduct and all appropriate action has been taken.
I can categorically assure you that we take all complaints very seriously and the Code of Conduct applies to all members of the community and is strictly enforced. However, it is a rarity for any members to have reason to raise an issue with one another.
The TrustedHousesitters Team.
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Hello Bruce,
I am very sorry to read your comment, we really do want all of our members to have the very best pet and housesitting experience and have a dedicated team who work very hard, often on a one to one basis, to help make that happen.
Unfortunately based on the amount of information on your review I cannot locate your membership, without which it’s very hard to offer personalised advice, please contact me directly as there are many ways in which we can help you and all our valued members achieve success.
Whilst there are new members who secure the sit of their choice very soon after joining there are others for whom success may take longer. Success depends on a number of factors but as I said previously without seeing your profile, knowing where and for which opportunities you were applying it is very hard to offer any personal, constructive or effective advice.
Regarding owners who are unresponsive to their messages, it is part of our Members Code of Conduct that being responsive to applicants messages is vital and if formally brought to our attention, by a specific member, as you indicated doing when contacting Membership Support, we will step in and ensure all guidelines are followed. Therefore I am most surprised to read the response you say you received from our caring and responsive Membership Support Team and would like to discuss this matter with you also.
I have been actively pet and housesitting with TrustedHousesitters for many years and in spite of my considerable experience there are opportunities which I’m unsuccessful in securing. When I started it took over two months and many applications to secure my first sit, others I know have success with their first application. There really is no definitive period for success and it’s very important that we assist members in managing their expectations.
Success could be as simple as helping to develop your profile content and presentation, your initial application, advice on the type of sits you are applying for, even the location etc., but without having the relevant information I simply cannot offer any constructive advice.
We are all extremely passionate about our online community of pet and travel lovers, and the altruistic ethos of the nature of the platform we provide, to facilitate the worldwide house and pet sits. We care about our members experiences, and want them all to be fantastic and as we receive so few negative reviews, that when we do see one these are always responded to quickly to ensure the full facts are being shown and to see if there is anything we can do to resolve anyone’s dissatisfaction, we are always wanting to investigate further and ensure we are adapting and learning from our member feedback.
Please do contact me directly angela@trustedhousesitters.com so that we may have a one to one conversation, we really want you to get the very best from your membership and enjoy all it has to offer.
Yours sincerely,
The TrustedHousesitters Team