TrustedHousesitters denying responsibility after sitter left my dogs alone for 12 hours on Thanksgiving… am I crazy for thinking this isn’t okay?

I’m honestly furious and shaken, and I need to know if anyone else has dealt with something like this with TrustedHousesitters.

I just moved to Austin and know no one here yet. My husband and I flew across the country for Thanksgiving — first time he was meeting my family — and we booked a sitter through TrustedHousesitters to stay with our 3 dogs. The sitter (Tomika) confirmed she’d arrive on Thanksgiving.

Here’s what actually happened:

• She never showed.
• At 6 PM, she texted saying she was “on her way.”
• Then completely disappeared for 4+ hours — no messages, no updates, nothing.
• My dogs were alone from 7:30 AM when we left for the airport
• We were literally across the country trying to figure out how to protect our dogs on a holiday.
• Around midnight, she finally messages claiming she was stuck on a runway for 3.5 hours.

And here’s the part that makes NO sense:
If she was sitting on a runway for hours, she still couldn’t send even ONE text letting me know? But she did text at 6 PM saying she was “on her way” — which wasn’t even true.

Because I know no one in ATX, I ended up having to turn to a women’s Facebook group to beg for help… and a stranger I had never met had to go into my home to make sure my dogs weren’t in danger.
I’m grateful beyond words, but that situation was terrifying, stressful, and completely avoidable.

TrustedHousesitters’ response?
They emailed me saying the sitter’s flight delay counts as an “extraordinary circumstance,” so basically it’s “unfortunate,” but they aren’t taking responsibility. They ignored the lies, the hours of zero communication, and the fact that I had no choice but to rely on strangers to access my home just to ensure my dogs were okay.

They also still won’t clearly tell me whether I’m even allowed to submit a reimbursement claim for the emergency care I had to scramble for.

How is any of this acceptable?
Even if her flight was delayed, this was a total communication failure that left my dogs at risk and forced me into an unsafe, desperate situation.

Has anyone else had claims like this? Am I wrong to be furious? What is my best course of action because this is my 1st ever sit and i also paid out of pocket for the emergency sitters and holiday as well as no notice to them.