P.S. Out of interest, was it a coffee table, a dining table or a side table? Was the damage profound?
If a house sitter canât accept an accident then maybe he shouldnât be on this platform,
That being said the non existing support from THS when needed is disgraceful, after more then 30 5 star sits , we will do our last one this week, not renewing next month, I donât like the THS attitude and the new fee structure has pushed us to a conclusion .
We have enough regulars which will continue to use us.
I am not sure I understand. Do you mean all people coming to the forum looking for support should leave THS? Is that your advice?
Marble kitchen countertop
To be fair, a marble kitchen countertop is not:
Not sure how big or permanent/prominent the stain actually was, but replacing marble kitchen countertops would be quite expensive. A host who takes pride in their home might be upset enough to mark a sitter down in the heat of the moment.
Otherwise, though, I think youâve been given good advice wrt how to move forward. Own up to mistakes, take a deep breath and get back in the saddle when youâve had some time to shake it off.
During my sits I have come across various situations. YouTube is my best friend when problem solving. I would have offered to pay for the cup. There are some remedies for removing stains from marble. Possibly bring a small (or cut down) waterproof tablecloth next time to prevent any incidents.
We have a marble topped coffee table. After cleaning it one day I could still see cup rings on it. Cleaned harder, used other cleaners, nope still there so it seems the heat from the coffee cup did this. Our lesson learnt to use a coaster, but the damage is done. While I would not have put a hot pot on it, I never thought just a coffee would damage it, but as I say, lesson learnt 
.
Marble is porous, so if a stain isnât wiped right away it will deep in and dry.
There are remedies to try but really wiping immediately after (and using coasters/placemats) works best.
I would just put a coaster or placemat permanently over the stain LOL.
Yeah, there was no âstainâ as such, just heat. A coaster is our best friend now 
I pack these for sits, so I can use them as trivets, coasters and microwave splatter guards. Saves me unnecessary cleaning and avoids damaging hostsâ furniture or countertops.
Plus, if needed for certain circumstances, I might use a clean garbage bag as a tablecloth. I strive to leave hostsâ homes as I found them.
Geez @Maggie8K you always seem to find the best stuff.
Great idea!
@Maggie8K I travel with those too, I use them constantly.
I havenât had any damage to my quartz countertops from sitters. I also mention in my guide that they canât take the heat and to use a trivet and not set down anything hot on them. I think this thread just reminded me to make that more prominent.
Just read the further commentsâŚ.A kitchen top made of a material that canât cope with heat! Seriously?!
If I sat in a home like this Iâd be leaving Kitchen Planning Pamphlets behind me when I leftâŚ..
I feel even greater sympathy with the OP.
To be fair marble countertops can cope - if they are wiped immediately. If stains are accidentally forgotten about and not wiped, well marble is porous and stains will set.
It wasnât a heat mark. Marble can take a reasonable amount of heat, and itâs not an obscure kitchen material.
Real marble isnât porous but reconstituted materials that look like marble can be. Choosing any material for a kitchen that isnât resistant to heat and or staining is carelessâŚ.
But back to the original point I continue to have sympathy for this sitter, if the HO knew their kitchen materials were delicate/vulnerable/cheap (!) they needed to provide kitchen top protection.
Yes, any surface can struggle. We have granite and most know to use something for heat. Stains - you still have to see them and wipe them up. We do seal the granite once or twice a year (but have forgotten on occasionâŚ)
I sat one home with what appeared to be unsealed or badly sealed butcher block counters, which dried out around the sink, with repeated dampness and wiping during my sit. I went to the neighborhood hardware store and got some food-safe oil to re-oil/reseal it.
At another sit, they had stainless steel countertops and backsplashes. They were a pain if you cared about leaving streaks and water marks.
And at yet another sit, they had marble countertops that looked badly sealed and were dinged and stained all over. If you can stand it meanwhile, letting countertops get worn and stained, developing an overall character, is one way to go.
When we updated our kitchen after buying our latest home, and added a mother-in-law unit with a kitchenette, I went for what seemed to be the easiest maintenance. With Quartz, no sealing needed and it tends to resist stains, because itâs not porous.