MindMyHouse Reviews 

Absolutely disgusting!
I got one sit from this organisation and I will ever go for another!.
I was taking care of two rescues outside London. I am a professional sitter and I am fully aware of what questions to ask during the interview so I asked about every detail considering that rescues can be more difficult. The client was a lady, who actually asked me to come on a last minute as someone else cancelled with her.
She informed me that the dogs are very good, calm and easy going also well house trained. I ve asked several times about the last one as I know sone rescues take additional time to calm down/ get trained properly ect.
When I came to the house ( she was not there already, she had to be at the airport early which was agreed before) both dogs started growling at me very aggressively. I gave them lots of time but they would not stop and kept them selves in one room not allowing me to get in( I am raised with dogs..and I am hardly afraid of them even the big ones, these two were only as tall as my knee but they were so aggressive I was afraid to go to the room.) I have them plenty of time but to no avail.
I called the owner and she just said she doesn't know why they re so aggressive(???). This wasn't her first sit so I could not understand how she didn't know...obviously they were anxious and it had to happen before if they are so aggressive on the very begining.
..I insisted she calls someone as I am not staying in otherwise. I was that frightened. Eventually her neighbour came in and calmed them down. It was however very frightening. Then I quickly noticed that her dogs are not house trained at all. They had a very bad routine introduced ( she asked me to follow it) and every time I would wake up in the morning there was lots of poos on the carpet. I was shocked.
I ve sent her several messages asking why she didn't tell me that the dogs arent house trained. I told her I have to clean the carpet every day after several poos..( I did ask for it during the interview as rescues can be more troublesome when house training)
The lady was lying to me non stop trying to avoid the conversation and claiming I am giving them the wrong food and that they would never poo like that. May I say they pooed almost every day for two weeks.
I eventually had to have a very honest conversation with her and she was very rude, disrespectful and tried to gaslight me.
She was treating me like I was just a poor girl who should be happy to stay in her home!. I really had enough.
On the end I told her I will not stay anymore as she wasn't cooperative at all and would constantly lie.
There were many more details reg. This upsetting experience. When I messaged the mindmyhouse team about it and asked them to at least give her worning! all they said is that they are a small company only and they can not do anything about it!. They advised me to write a letter to this lady ( I spoke to her several times on the phone, I had screen shots of her rude communication with me so why on earth would I write her a letter!). They literally said they can not do anything about it and that's it! I was shocked!
The date of experience is general as I don't have it at hand.

Wow I thought I was the only person being treated badly by this organization. I took on a dog sit for two dogs - they were Mastiff's and the younger one was 140 lbs. I had no issues with taking the dogs on as I have experience. I am also a professional that travels all over the world but need some animal time to decompress so I thought this would be a wonderful option. On my first day I crated the dogs and headed off to the supermarket to pick up supplies when I received a text message from the owner asking where I was - the neighbor was complaining about the dogs barking. I rushed back and it quickly became apparent that I could not leave the house for six weeks for more than an hour because the dogs would go ballistic. The one dog was not leash trained and would try to attack other dogs when we were out for walks. It was so stressful. He threw himself on to the fencing every time a person or dog walked past in the back yard and I had to be outside with them at all times when they were in a fenced in yard. The house was disgusting - dirty with animal hair and dust and to keep myself busy I scrubbed the entire place top to bottom. There were two small area rugs seeped in dog urine that I put outside. Long story short when the homeowner came home she complained about the rugs and accused me of theft of a phone adaptor. Like others I went to log in and got a message that my email was incorrect. And then I got a message from the site that the owner had filed a police report against me for $1000.00 worth of damage! I was stunned. Turns out she did not. In a text message the owner told me she did not file a report but just told the site that she did. On top of that I found out her real issue was that I slept in a separate bedroom and not with the dogs in her room! In the end I had a sit in Paris from Normado that overlapped this sit by two days and the owner would not help me find a replacement. I went to her vet and hired a vet assistant to the tune of 250 euro to stay with the dogs three days and two nights so I would not lose the pet sit or my sanity. I was in Paris for a month sitting a wonderful old kitty. I made friends with the owner, we gave each other glowing reports and everything was as it should be. This site put me in a dangerous situation, refused to listen when I tried to tell my side of the story and to add insult to injury banned me from the site!

I´ve been using the competitors for a while with great results as a house sitter.

Today I wanted to subscribe to Mind My House and this outrageous message appeared on my screen: "We are very sorry to say that your country is not supported. This is due to the huge number of spammers and scammers that we get from this region. We are sorry. Please try one of our competitors ...." and they name the competitors.

Regarding the region part of the message, it is anachronistic and a total lack of respect, definitely discriminatory, since I come from a South American country. I mean, YEAR 2022, people! It seems that these people came from the far far past to our time, maybe in a Delorian, right? It would have been better to enhance your security within the platform for avoiding scammers and spammers instead of discriminating against people from the country where they come from. So, that fact gives me evidence that the information of the people that creates profiles on the platform is not secure. So for those ones considering subscribing, be aware and cautious.

About advising me on trying with their competitors, is really hilarious. Maybe a marketing strategy? Who knows who´s behind this platform?

All these behaviours explain why they haven´t grown in the last time. If they are going to discriminate like this, only people from developed countries could use it. Good luck with that!

I must say that my experience with the site has been wonderful. I completed two house sits and have a third and hopefully a fourth in the next two months. The criticism I am reading is quite unfair. A simple minded person can figure out that the site is merely a broker putting a home owner and sitter together to create an arms length transaction. It is not a site to vet for either side. YOU must do this. I find it easy to make a decision on engaging in a gig. I research the home on Redfin or Zillow, ask personal questions of the owner and get to work confirming if the risk is worth the gig. Certain aspects are just based on your gut. Are they educated, employed and are they open to your inquiries? If any side holds one back form confirming inquiries, buyer beware. Both sides should be just as concerned. The internet is an endless opportunity for all. Do your homework! I do not blame the site for dropping those that have bad experiences on both sides. It is not their problem and I can only imagine the legality on their part if they were to get in the middle of both parties. They need not do anything for any dispute. They are merely brokers and they get $20 a year from you to be such. Go elsewhere if you want more and let go of the bad reviews.

Fondly,
Mr. Delight

June 2022. Customer service does indeed seem to be problematic. Cannot respond to interest because 4 days later, am still waiting to be "approved". ( Makes me wonder what they can "approve" since I have given them little or no personal info ).

Superb house-sit site, very user friendly and well-run by people who are genuinely committed to providing a wholly satisfactory service for both home owners and sitters. It is also great value for money and in my opinion superior to more costly alternative sites.

A friend recommended I check out MindMyHouse. I did. I was looking to find someone to care for my 18 year old cat who requires daily fluids, meds and lots of love so I could travel to see my mother after almost 2 years. And I did. I found someone who enabled me to travel and have peace of mind knowing my baby would be well cared for. THANK YOU, MindMyHouse! I love that you exist!!! Monica and Nena

I have had several highly successful house-sits through this fantastic service as a house-sitter. I have in addition used their rival company which I assume to be the market leader (I did not renew my membership with them) and by contrast I found MindMyHouse WAY ahead in many areas. MMH is so user friendly and straight forward to make connections and get started without unnecessary complications; they don't charge a completely unreasonable fee like their competitors do; I get the sense they don't interfer too much in any issues either side may face so you feel supported but not suffocated through the process like I experienced with their competitor; again unlike their competitor it feels like everyone has a fair chance at being selected for a role as everyone is presented as fairly equal (both sides can choose whether to publish reviews) whereas their competitor configures the site to mean that those who have never had a house-sitting role really struggle to get their 'foot in the door' as the site is flooded with those who have done it numerous times before and will continue to be take priority. I'm very surprised at some of these reviews. Of course there is no way to completely safeguard against crime but homeowners do need to be aware of those risks and take responsibility for following MMH's clear guidelines around drawing up a contract etc. To sum up, I had a wonderful experience and could only have travelled to the fabulous places I went because of Mind my House. Thank you!

It's my pleasure to highly recommend Mind My House.
I have been a very happy member since 2008.
I really appreciate their attitude and am grateful for the comp during the Lockdown.
I admire how they have upgraded the website through the years, without unnecessary "bells and whistles", and kept the annual fee low.
I'm sure you know of another sitting site in particular that charges a huge fee and does not allow professionals to charge for their services. I saw a few write ups about that site and the fact that the owner became a millionaire from the site turned me off from it.Not that I am against making money off a good idea and if people want to contribute to his bottom line so be it, I just don't like their attitude towards sitters trying to cover their costs for traveling to sits.That's between the homeowner and the sitter.
After reading some of the negative reviews today, I really feel it's up to each individual to do their homework before agreeing to a sit/sitter. It's not the responsibility of Mind my House to vet people.
If you want them to do background checks then they would have to hire a team and charge a huge fee.
I'm grateful for this site.

I have been with MindMyHouse since their inception in 2008 and have carried out a large number of house sits through their website and have no complaints.
There are both good and bad home owners and house sitters, no website can weed them all out because people can put on a good face, but their reality can be pretty awful.
MindMyHouse do their best, the rest is up to you.
I would advise home owners to take date and time stamped pics of everything in the house on the day the house sitter arrives and immediately the home owner returns and compare them, this to avoid spurious claims of theft or home or pets abuse.
House sitters must do the same, immediately upon arrival and at the last moment when leaving, again date and time stamped.
I have never had to revert to my pics, however on several occasions I have been well aware the homeowner could be tricky, but nothing untoward ever happened.
As a house sitter do your best in looking after absolutely everything and leave the home clean and tidy, this is worth a lot to a home owner returning after a long journey. Do this for every house sit, regardless of the home owner’s attitude.
I do not pay utilities, although I’ve done garden work in exchange for them, some home owners have demanded payment for utilities upon return when that was not our agreement. All of them backed down.
Many other home owners have been extremely nice and understanding, have given me an unexpected payment (tip), bought me in food and even sent me a Harrods hamper.
MindMyHouse do a good job, the problems come with some homeowners and house sitters.

I'm so sorry to see the negative reviews here. Though some, I'm sure, are valid complaints, many seem to be a lack of understanding of the responsibilities of both owner and sitter. All the website can do is list the info given them; owners must ask questions, require references, etc. Likewise, sitters should get clear info on what is expected of them. Though I've not used the site as an owner, I believe they recommend getting a contract and insurance. We've been members since 2005, had sits in 11 countries, and found response from site owners to be prompt and helpful.

I'm appalled by them. I've used the site for years and got good testimonials and for years there was no real problem except when they started spamming me about 'Black Friday' which doesn't exist in the UK, where I come from, which I emailed them about and eventually the spamming stopped.

I had no idea until recent problems with them led me to Trust Pilot reviews where they have quite a poor rating.

In recent weeks a new kind of spam started arriving from MindMyHouse, which didn't stop despite a complaint from me in response to each email. I was getting rejection emails from house sits I never applied for. And at one point, repeat rejections from the same sit I never applied for, despite my complaints. The complaints weren't resolved and this continued.

I recently took on a house sit where things were not going okay, and I contacted MindMyHouse for advice, and instead of offering solutions, they kicked me off the site. They had absolutely no concern for my wellbeing or situation at all. The callousness astounds me, they don't appear to understand responsibility or duty of care at all, especially not given the circumstances in which I spoke to them.
I have house sat through the site for years, I have not done a thing wrong. Basically they are unregulated and have no conscience or duty of care. I am utterly appalled.

They appear to defend their poor record by claiming to be 'cheap', sadly price isn't relevant to responsibility or human cost in this case. Price doesn't change bad management and a badly run site. I have been on this site for years, I have good testimonials, which have now been wiped out by this site deleting my account without warning.

This site isn't safe for sitters really. In the past year it has got strange, I have had a lot of queries from people wanting me to sit for them, and some are basically exploiting, one family lived near me and got me to garden for them in the meantime and weren't very grateful, and kept on changing their holiday dates and weren't bothered about my time. The element of exploitation for sitters, and in my experience, is very real, I have had some enjoyable sits on the site, some of whom kindly remembered to give me a testimonial, but I have had sits or potential sits where my privacy has been invaded and I have ended up in uncomfortable situations and being exploited and abused, for example, supposedly sitting for a house while one of the family was actually at the house but he was not caring for the animals and was being obnoxious because he didn't want me there and it was his partner's insistence so the animals weren't neglected, things like that. So it's not just owners having horrible experiences of this site, it's sitters too, and there's no support for sitters and from what I'm reading, none for owners.

Sitters should be very careful as although there are many disgruntled house owners writing reviews, and I am sympathetic to them as I have sat for people who have had bad sitters previously, sitters can also be easily exploited as there is no support, you can be disposed of with a silly message like 'try our competitors'. There's something wrong with a site that you pay fees to and do a good job for, who try to throw you away to their 'competitors'. They are telling the world they don't give a damn about anyone or their own business and would rather dispose of clients and sitters than responsibly address issues.

If you are thinking of house sitting, don't do it through this site and if you are a home owner, MindMyHouse feel no responsibility towards sitters, so they won't towards home owners.

I do wonder if this site has changed hands, as the good side of it that was, has gone. It's a very limited site as it is, with maybe a hundred to two hundred global house sitting assignments, and when recently they changed the site and made it less user friendly, they added statistics for who applies for assignments and each sit is getting many applicants. It didn't look like a healthy balance. I am guessing as well as people such as myself being spammed by rejections from sits I never applied for, house owners are being spammed with applications that aren't suitable.

New to needing a house sitter, I tried this site. Found a sitter that matched my requirements and tried to email my chosen person. Could not email my pick and emailed customer support and they said wait 24 hours. I did and still did not work. Emailed customer service again and there response was; I did not pass their security check and said try 3 of our competitors

Scam site. Raking fees with no visibility of outcomes. Avoid. Do not pay.

Amended from original 1-star review once the issue was finally explained by the company nearly a month later and after I had already found a house sitter through other means. I understand this is a large site and may not be able to provide one on one customer service, but then it needs to have a system whereby it alerts you that it has disapproved your listing and for what reason rather than forcing you to fight every step of the way and take so long that the listing becomes useless. **Original review: MindMyHouse would never approve my listing looking for a housesitter. First they said it was because I was not looking for a straight across trade (not true). Then they said it was because I was looking for a housing swap (not true). Both times I contacted them to try to have the listing approved they gave no details of what they were seeing in my listing that they didn't like. I actually found a housesitter through emailing people directly on the site (although afterwards she had to back out due to Covid), but it was very frustrating when any time someone messaged me they had to ask details because I was unable to post the photos and information about the sit. I couldn't tell what game they were playing - they stated it was not because they were trying to get me to pay, but I wondered if I paid to be a house-sitter as well if they would suddenly have approved my homeowner posting!

I am a housesitter, and a damned good one. I'm sorry to hear all these bad reviews from homeowners, but from the "other side" I have just had someone accuse me of a $25k theft while housesitting for them!! I am too shocked to understand it all. I have not sat for anyone on MindMyHouse since last September, and all of a sudden, I can't log into the site, with a message that my email address is wrong. I try help @mindmyhouse.com and get nothing but a few ticket numbers. A week goes by and I insist on them fixing my account, wondering why it's inaccessible. Then I get "there's been a complaint against you". What, by whom? From the people I sat for almost a year ago? I had no problems with them last year and we spoke after my sit (though she said she'd wished I had more "farm" experience since I packaged her vegetables incorrectly, though this had not been previously discussed and as they were running out the door they handed me a box of ziplocs, and said just put them in here. I worked my butt off Googling how to do it properly and slaving in the garden). I thought, this could be the only complaint, but why now and why bring it up again when we seemed to resolve it between us 9 months ago? Then I insist again, please can we resolve this issue so I can get back onto the site? Then they hit me with there has been a $25,000 theft and the police have been notified! WHAT?!?!?! I am bewildered and asked them for details AND for the police agency that's involved so I can contact them to resolve it. There is NO phone number for MindMyHouse, no way at all to contact anyone except through help. How is there not some sort of procedure if this happens (as it clearly does, based on the reviews here). There MUST be some sort of protocol to follow when something like this happens so BOTH parties are protected. Obviously, it's not just the homeowners that need protecting. I have no idea what I'm going to do...this is just ludicrous.

I started to use this website as it seemed convenient and helpful. I love the idea behind it. However, there is very little in place to protect you should something go wrong. On my third use of the website something did go wrong. The people who stayed with me were fine with my pets but treated my house with total and utter lack of respect. They caused over £500 gbp of damage, stole many items of my clothing including some of my underwear!!! And refused to acknowledge anything after they left. As well as that their children have found me on Instagram. As a teacher I do not need this attention online from children, it is very dodgy and I have blocked them. When I reported all of this to the website, they refused to do anything about it until I threatened to go public. Then they SENT THEM AN EMAIL... as if that is enough!!! There is nothing in place for your protection as a homeowner opening your doors to strangers. I am sorely disappointed at the sheer lack of care from the website with all this damage to my property and I urge everyone out there to avoid using this at all costs! I never expected this level of damage and intrusion into my life and I regret ever having though the website would do ANYTHING to protect me. WARNING: DO NOT USE!!!!!

So far my experience with Mindmyhouse sitters has been very disappointing. We have had two separate sitters and each has been unsatisfactory in different ways. The first was kind to the dogs but despite our no -smoking policy filled the cottage with cigarette smoke, left it filthy, did no gardening whatsoever and had no money to support herself so we had to pay for food and the electricity use.
The next one was arrogant beyond belief. She clearly could not cope with the sit, despite describing herself as 'coping, caring and competent' , left breakages and dirty carpets and yep, did no gardening either. She left the house before our return which caused us considerable anxiety and of course paid nothing towards utilities.
We have learned a hard lesson from all of this. It is important to know that the sitter has the means to support themselves during a long sit and has a home to go to at the end of it. We had difficulty is getting the first sitter to leave. Some sitters clearly see sitting as an opportunity for a free holiday. The second sitter was rude enough to research kenneling costs for our three dogs and challenged us with this information when we raised the issue of electricity payment prior to the sit. We should have called her bluff and asked her how much the free use of a beautiful house, fully equipped kitchen, use of pianos etc etc would cost her for a month. We were too nice.
So, set the boundaries before the sitter arrives and make sure they can provide references. We had none from either.

I was robbed and my home and animals abandoned!
Mind my House did nothing to help! This sight is a place for thieves and scam artist to hide!
I had no recourse the couple who robbed me disappeared.
Do not trust this site!

I have used mindmyhouse to find a person to look after my house and dogs in Sri Lanka. The person I hosted forced me to write her a good review on mind my house and soon after that left without saying a word. She left my house opened and unguarded and my dogs abandoned. I rescued these dogs from the street and look after them with all I have. The person left them vulnerable and alone, with no care and help. After helping her with her visa and looking after her, this is what I got!
When I reported this to the agency, they totally ignored me. Not only that, they removed my review from their website! How is this possible? Reviews are left so that others can make their judgement on the possible guest, so why was my review deleted? What kind of agency is it? I would steer clear from them in the future and do not recommend them at all. I also know I am not the only one who has had a very bad experience with them. Please be warned!