We were fortunate enough to have a lovely young girl from Hungary named Noemi K. I can’t recommend her highly enough as she is such a beautiful quiet and caring young girl who loved our little Bishon Frise (Millie), as much as we do. We came back to a beautiful clean house and one very happy dog. I’m think Millie is missing having Noemi around already but you never know if she’s available next time we go away and she’s still around she will certainly be coming back here.

Approximate cost: $1

Freya and Nathan are wonderful.
They took great care of our Pet Bailey a Bullarab dog our home was returned cleaned and organised.
Gardens were spotless.
Well mannered and good communicators.

Highly recommend and I will be grateful to have the opportunity to use again.

Love them and will guarantee great house sitters for your home and pets.

Milena Grujic

This was my first booking with Happy House Sitters and it was a very pleasing experience. It was Leanne's first time too. I think she had a good time with Wally and Wally was happy and settled upon my return. I was thinking he might fret while I was away but clearly not! Leanne played ball with him and kept him well cared for. It worked out well for her as well, as family lived nearby so she could visit. The house was wonderfully tidy and clean when I returned. Very very happy with the experience. Thank you Leanne. I am looking forward to my next booking.

We were really happy to leave our beautiful cats with Terry and Jean from Happy House Sitters. No fuss at all and came home to the house left in the same way as I had left it. Absolutely recommend them without hesitation. What a fantastic ways to have your animals and home taken care of while you’re away. A brilliant service that I will definitely utilise again.

The onus was on me to do all the checks but I found someone to dog sit for free and gave someone some free accommodation.

Extremely easy to contact potential sitters. Interviewed 3 people all of whom were highly suitable. However Carwyn stood out and he was brilliant. Our dog loved him, he too very good care of our home, plants and pets. Couldn't be happier.

I can recommend Erika and Dante as house and dog sitters. They did a fabulous job over 13 days looking after my two dogs. I came to a very clean house. They even have a site on Instagram where I could see my boys having fun and going for walks.

Katt and Kenny gave the BEST care for our Billy. Delightful, respectful couple. Now part of Billy's pack for life! Thank you.

Had a lady Rosalee stay in our home for 10 days to take care of my 2 cats. She was exceptional. Came home to gardens watered , house spotless and 2 happy cats. Would totally recommend.

From our first contact we have found Happy House Sitters extremely professional and helpful. What a wonderful experience we have had with our house sitter who cared for our pets and our home wonderfully. On our return we found an immaculate home and happy pets, and we would have no hesitation in highly recommending happy house sitters. Please contact 0409414413 for our sitters personal reference.

We were really happy with the site and the quick responses we received for our advertisement.
I asked our sitter to leave a deposit and I would double it as a bonus on our return.
I highly recommend this.
Our sitter was good but I would r commend using a more mature person if away for a whole month like us. They will have more experience in maintenance, privacy and cleaning on departure.
Dogs were really happy and healthy and that was our priority.
Thanks Happy House sitters

Approximate cost: $100

We have only used Happy House sitters once but will certainly use in the future and would recommend to anyone.

I have been a member of Happy House Sitters for twelve months or more and can highly recommend them to anyone looking for a quality well-run, easy to use site for either sitters or home owners. After two years of FT house sitting I am on my final and longest sit but will be back in future if I take up the lifestyle again.

I've been housesitting for the past two years and my favourite sits have been through Happy Housesitters. The website enables easy result sorting as well as smooth communication with home owners and site administrators. I also like getting relevant emails every morning, which alert me to housesits in areas I'd love to visit. Thanks for being such a friendly, well organised and positive organisation. You're providing a fabulous service for house sitters and home owners alike. :-)

Am writing to thank you for your well organised site. Also your availability to solve even the smallest problems is appreciated. It feels like the personal touch is there, in a genuine way.
So thanks for looking after us.
Much appreciated.
Britt and Monash (sitters)

Approximate cost: $65

We had never had a house sitter before and were pleasantly surprised by such a caring, responsible sitter while we spent time with my family overseas for Christmas. On our return we found happy dogs and a clean, tidy house. Very impressed!

Folks Just a quick note for feedback to say - congratulations on such a clean and easy to use website. Looking very good! I look forward to connecting with more happy hosts through your great service! Regards, Lisa

Many thanks for a delightful experience. We have bought a home in Bega,and no longer on the road. Your service was superb.

This is an extraordinary site.
Can't believe how easy it was and also how quickly I found a sitter...less than 24 hours. Five requests!

I was a member of Happy House Sitters (HHS) for 12 months and was not able to secure a single house sit. Whilst I appreciate this is not guaranteed, I do find this surprising as I am a professional house sitter and have been able to secure many regular placements through other house sitting sites.

After joining HHS as a member on 27th October 2016 I soon became unimpressed with the functionality of the website and the level of customer service received. My requests for a response using their online contact form went unanswered as did my efforts to call to their landline number. I could not even leave a message, at the time, as the mailbox was full.

On 1st November 2016, I emailed HHS directly to cancel my account and request a refund. I was advised that this was the first they had heard of any issue and that under their T&Cs I would not be entitled to a refund. When I challenged the T&C’s I received no further response to my email.

At this point I raised a dispute with PayPal to get my money back. Within hours I received a response from HHS stating: “This email is to advise you that your Happy House Sitters account has been suspended due to a Paypal dispute being lodged. It will be re-activated if Paypal finds in our favour or if you close the dispute.”

I was surprised by this response as there was no mention of my account being suspended for this reason in their T&C’s. Again, I challenged this and received no response.

Although PayPal initially decided the case in favour of HHS I was then able to provide further information and escalate the matter to a PayPal manager. On 9th November 2016 I was awarded compensation for the full refund amount of $65.

On 12th October 2017 I wrote the following review for HHS and posted this on a few online review and community websites.

“I am member of a number of house sitting sites and sadly Happy House Sitters is the worst of the bunch. Over the course of a year I haven't managed to secure a single house sit through this site and (name removed) is not a nice man to deal with at all. Thankfully Paypal have now refunded my fees for the poor customer service received and I have had a far more enjoyable experience through (name removed) and (name removed).”

Within hours I received notifications stating my reviews had been reported by Happy House Sitters for removal as HHS believed they contained inaccurate details and/or personal information. I also received the following response from HHS on 12th October 2017.

Hi (name removed)

Thank you for your review. I'm sorry you feel your time with Happy House Sitters was not a success. However, I do feel it's important to be accurate. Firstly, you asked for a refund after using our service for 7 months. Naturally, as you had used over half your membership a refund was not possible. Secondly, PayPal did not refund you as you stated. They found in our favour. Please see the extract from the PayPal email below.

The reason your account was suspended when you lodged the Paypal dispute, is because when you lodge a dispute the funds are taken from the merchant's account. Therefore you were no longer financial.

"Dear Happy House Sitters,

We're happy to let you know that the following case was decided in your favour. Any hold on this transaction has been removed.

Transaction details
Case ID: (financial details removed)
Buyer's name: (name removed)
I do hope this provides some clarity.
We wish you all the best.
Kind regards
(name removed)"

With regards to the personal information I have only stated the owners name, which he himself uses on another review site. As evidenced above, HHS were found to be in breach themselves for publishing my personal and financial information.

HHS also claimed that I requested a refund after using their service for 7 months which was untrue. I received the following response after contacting them on 14th October 2017 to dispute this.

“It appears I've confused you with another member with regard to the timing. I apologise and will amend the review response accordingly. Also, could you please forward the copy of the paypal refund. We don't have any evidence of this.”

I have since provided evidence of the PayPal refund to HHS.

On another note my account was also suspended/cancelled again by HHS on 12th October 2017 which I believe was in response to my negative review of their company. To date I have received no response to the following email, sent on 14th October 2017, which states.

“Could you please also confirm why you closed my account before it was due to expire on 27 October 2017.”

In my opinion, I believe the way HHS have handled my complaint and online reviews speaks volumes about the company’s integrity, professionalism and commitment to customer service. I have since proved all my claims to be true and have provided supporting evidence to the various review teams to have my reviews reinstated. To date I have received no further response from HHS to my emails dated 14th & 16th October 2017 asking why they closed my account early.

Approximate cost: $69

Your yearly fee is too much in comparison to other sites which are better than this one. I won't be renewing for this reason.

Hi folks my wife and i have been using the house sitters for a number of years ans have found iti an excellent service , with little or no trouble, until the last house sitters. we had no complaints about the way they looked after our house and animals., but we were a little disappointed when we found out that they had invited other people to stay at our home without our permission. we believe that should never happen without permission, our home is not a hotel, motel or a do drop inn,

We have used Happy House Sitters and would highly recommend their Sitters! Trustworthy, Going above and beyond expectations are how I would describe their Sitters. "Well done!"

Approximate cost: $0

We have used the Happy House Sitters website service for several years now. It is a cut above similar services in my opinion. The admin team are keen to listen to user feedback and the website is well managed. The quality of house sitters has been generally high. If I need to email for an enquiry about the site or other matters Malcolm and his team are always quick and efficient in responding.

I would gladly recommend Happy House Sitters to anyone seeking to connect with potential house and pet sitters.

After planning a six-week holiday overseas and then being let down by a family friend who had planned to house-sit my menagerie of animals, I contacted Ruth at Happy House Sitters and poured out my woes. Ruth was very helpful and explained how to set up my advert. Within 2 days I received a message from a lovely retired couple from Melbourne who were coming to Qld for the winter. They looked after my 2 dogs, 2 cats, 5 chooks and 2 guinea fowl with great care. I was thrilled with the way they looked after all the animals and they even cleaned my house thoroughly before my return. I have offered them a sit whenever they are passing by.

We have used your services 4 times now with sits in Queensland and Victoria.
The first sit was for 6 weeks and was on a 5 acre allotment in QLD, the house had 3 bedrooms with all mod cons. Even though we were traveling in our caravan, the owner made the house open to us.
The second sit was for 2 weeks and was a lovely 4 bedroom house in the suburbs of Melbourne. They had a swimming pool that we could use.
The third was a smaller house in country VIC and again it had all mod cons.
The last sit was for 3 weeks in country QLD the house was a small cottage style on several acres
In these sits we have had the pleasure of looking after a verity of animals including dogs, cats, guinea fowls, ducks and chooks.
Your website made each of these bookings very easy to apply for, and each of the home owners got back to us in a very timely manner.
We have recommended your site to others who were equally happy with the sits they have arranged.

I decided to try this service so my dogs did not have the stress of going to a kennel and could be looked after in their own home and I have to admit I was very nervous and left specific instructions. A house sitter was booked from 19/12/15 till 30/1/16. Unfortunately by the 5/1/16 he had cancelled due to a family illness which couldn't be helped and it is understandable that he would want to be there to support his brother. It did end up leaving us overseas needing to find someone to mind our 3 dogs for the remainder of our vacation. This aside however, he was left with specific instructions that our dogs were not to be left outside when he went out because they bark. On Christmas day, he left them outside and some of the neighbours from the back street were wandering around our home looking for the source of barking dogs who had apparently been barking most of the day. They threatened to call the rangers. Fortunately, the neighbour across the road from us spoke to them and then contacted us to inform us of the situation. We had to phone and talk to the sitter from the USA. He was also asked not to let the dogs off lead at the park and I found out that he was doing this too.
One of the dogs urinated in the bedroom (looks like 3 times) and it doesn't look like he made much attempt to clean up the mess as there are yellow stains up the curtain and on the new carpet. I did speak to him about this and he admitted it was one of the dogs who was spending time in the bedroom with him. Dogs were supposed to sleep in the laundry. Seems like he totally ignored any of our specific instructions. The only other things we asked were to collect the mail and water a couple of pot plants. It seems the mail was left in the box for a while as some of it was saturated by the reticulation. Overall not impressed and would be very hesitant using this service again. I think I will go back to using a kennel and relying on neighbours to keep an eye on the house.

I Joined Happy House Sitters this year but had so much difficulty finding house sitters . In June I wrote to so many and with greatest difficulty managed to find someone for two nights. In September I was travellng overseas and out of the the two house sitters who responded, one failed to failed to show up at my place and the other called in sick .

In July Again I advertised for someone to look after my puppy while I am away in December and this lady came and saw my puppy and agreed to look after her . But when I contacted her again in November she kept sending messages saying that I didn't confirm . Why would I see her at my place and discuss and agree to her recommendations if I didn't want her to mind my puppy ?

It is so frustrating and disappointing because these house sitters constantly let me down because of their lack of commitment. We should be able to rate these House sitters so others will know how unrealiable they are.

Used this company to look after the cat as I had to take a trip away all of a sudden... the cat seemd happy, no fretting at all. very happy as they cleaned up after themselves

Approximate cost: $60

We have just posted our third advert with you and can only hope that we are as fortunate this time as we have been in the past. It is always so good to have peace of mind knowing that while we are away our pets are well looked after & our home is lived-in rather than locked up & reliant on our neighbours/friends. We still keep in touch with our previous sitters who were both excellent and always in demand .. which is why they are not available this time round! We are very grateful for your service ... so here's hoping for another success and a relaxing break away. Many thanks. Pauline R.