So I had a post today edited to remove the word “entitled” - maybe this will be too, but I think that the website could do a better job of setting and gauging expectations and facilitating that with homeowners and sitters alike to weed out or dampen people who have that attitude about a house sit that is essentially unpaid labor.
I’ll echo what other people here have said in that all of those gestures feel like a bit much for me personally. You did quite a bit of unpaid labor but then overcompensated in all these other areas, to then be disappointed when it was treated transactionally (not paying for the meal and being hyper critical).
It’s really hard to get a sense for culture and I do wish, again, that the website did a better job of vetting and establishing that - for instance I trust that people who travel frequently, live nomadically or communally or have experience with home exchange/couch surfing tend to be much less individualistic and demanding.
I’ve skipped over a lot in this topic and the issue happened a while ago so has probably been resolved, I also don’t know all the details, but a thought is, while canning their produce is such a giving gesture, if I were the HO, I would have liked you to ask me first. Maybe the HO don’t want all the jars, don’t have room, don’t want the fuel used that that requires.
I know you wanted it to be a surprise, but I’ve found telling the HO of something nice that I plan to do, pleases them. It also gives them the chance to give me feedback that might affect my plans.
Please make sure to leave an honest review about them. I can’t believe you picked them up from the airport late at night and went to lunch with them and they did not pay for the lunch? I guess I am just that person who would not want to house sit for people like that. So I would appreciate if someone mentioned it in the review about them.
I do think you went over the board with some things, but if that’s something that you like to do, nothing is wrong with that. What is wrong is for them to expect pet sitting, house sitting, house cleaning, picking up from the airport and then not even have decency to pay for lunch, then proceed to leave a 4 star review (I do wonder if they hit 4 stars on accident).
I am so very sorry to hear this, and I can completely sympathise. We had a similar experience last year. The house was filthy when we arrived (we had to clean the bathroom, fridges and dining table as well as make up our bed after driving for around 7 hours to get there. There were broken items we weren’t told about at first. . But we didn’t complain and let the house way cleaner and tidier than when we arrived. After we left the HO left a message on my phone (admitting stuff was broken before we got there), blocked me and wrote a horrible review and that we had broken the items. I was absolutely heart broken, cried for days about it and we left THS for nearly a year, it took a long time to get over it for me. But we’ve moved on. We KNOW we look after people’s homes and pets like they were our own, even better than, as there is so much trust placed. That’s the work I did and my advice would be to work on letting any of those negative feelings go and love yourself for all that you do and have done. Sending love
Thank you for your comment, ‘A’… just an unfortunate incident and err, unfortunate man as wife was delightful. Guess it was just a shock to be treated as ‘second rate servants’ especially as homeowner had hinted they wanted produce preserved, garden maintained (we cleared up fallen apples from under trees every day, about an hour’s lugging) no hose to water plants so bucket’ed water to pot plants down a driveway, etc etc.
We’ve moved on, laughing about it now,they won’t be getting our Christmas card! T.
PS. Homeowner even hid landline cell handset joking when we asked on their return (bad cell coverage)that he didn’t want the cleaner calling international. We also didn’t have an oven for the 5 week Sit. It was a faulty new oven, multi millionaire’s house… owner thought it “a good time to get it fixed”!!
See, a disaster but pets gorgeous and we had an experience extraordinare.
Kind regards… T’s.
Thank you for your time to reply, ‘Mars’.
Actually Homeowner hinted +++ to preserve everything we didn’t use as they liked a full freezer ( had dedicated basement larders!).
A multi millionaire for a reason… please see other responses.
Kind regards, Td
As a sitter who has all 5 star reviews, except for 1 - I would ask the homeowner what you could have improved on. This is exactly what I did when I received my first and only 4 star review. It was a learning curve for sure as it wasn’t something I expected the homeowner to criticize as no other homeowner had. It did set my mind at ease though and I moved on from it. It will provide you closure on this particular sit.
Hello ‘Globetrotter’… thanks for taking the time to reply, actually we’re ‘over it’!
In short, the hosts raved to us on their return, wanted to rebook us for all future Sits, thought we’d been sensational and now to be “lifelong friends”!
So three weeks pass, review of 4*.
I mulled for weeks (they’d had an awful holiday revisiting homeland England after 26 years away as “everyone (friends and relatives) were so old”, English very rude, place dirty, host hurt knee, they lost cash currency, ++, etc etc.
So, us, obviously the ‘sacrificial lambs’, as in Host’s words, “No one’s perfect, I had to take it out on someone…ha ha ha.”!
Thank you Hosts, and farewell!
Kind regards to you ‘Globetrotter’,
Ts.
@BruceT Do you ever come to Raleigh? Love your profile! I haven’t ventured into using THS for my dog as I’ve just moved and things are not settled yet. So currently I’m just listed as a sitter.
How rude. I might have replied, “You didn’t have to take it out on anyone, much less the person who cared for your pets and home, and for free. This may cost me further sits.”
Yes, true! It was more being offended ( silly pride!) as we’ve had two 5* Sits since, from two applications, to add to our previous 50+
5* engagements. I’m confident anyone reading our other reviews would realise this one was out of the ordinary.
Thank you for your comments!
Best wishes, T’s.
Yes, we have friends and family there though, so we typically stay with them, but could be a fit . You might favorite our Asheville home … Look for Golden Griffy in the home listing title … we use THS for sitters fairly often.
Just read this and nearly fell off my seat! I’m sure their friends and relatives thought the same…old, rude etc. As for the place being dirty; the town/city? Well tough! It’s better than other places I’ve visited. Horrid people! Best to swerve them from now on. Come and sit for us! Nothing advertised but I could invent a holiday in order for you to sit. You sound perfect. X
So kind of you, thank you! We’re over it now though…moved on to more fantastic appointments!!
Never had Hosts like that before nor since…no oven either for 5 week ‘Sit’ period (in a new home?), external cameras found we hadn’t been told about ( do hope the Host saw me lugging buckets of water for driveway pots as no hose pipe supplied (yet we did see hoses through window of locked garden shed!), land line number given by wife Host but ‘The’ Host hid handset (he admitted “…didn’t want you ringing your mates in Australia …ha ha!..”, we had to drive nearly 2 hours to firstly deliver and then collect them late at night from airport but they told us we could get the bus for our arrival, “taken” for Welcome lunch at expensive restaurant but they only paid half the extreme bill as they ordered for us!
We just wanted a sandwich and coffee after our long journey and to do handover. Silly weren’t we! The saga went on and on but we somehow didn’t pick up ‘red flags’ pre application but now fully understand why neighbours didn’t talk to us until they found out we were Sitters not friends!
Ho hum…the world is full of different people, not all as lovely as you!
Best wishes! Tasmazias.
@Tasmazias what a terrible experience for you- I’m so sorry to hear it. They treated you like s**t- it makes my blood boil to read such things
I’m glad you have ‘recovered’ from it. And I wish you many wonderful adventures ahead! These type of experiences are certainly a sharp learning curve!
part 2 as i accidently hit "subnit’ before I finished this question…
An example of what is included on this agreement is if the housesitter is responsible for the presence of an infectious disease or an infestation of rats, cockroaches, fleas or other pests then the housesitter should inform the homeowner or contact and bear the cost of fumigation or eradication. Another example is where the infectious disease or pests is not due to the actions of the housesitter then the housesitter should consult as soon as possible with the homeowner or contact as to their elimination.
There are 8 pages on this document and at the end of this and regarding the premises it mentions that it is advisable for the housesitter/s to insure their own possessions and insure against their liability for public risk and is advisable for the homeowner/s to take out a comprehensive policy of insurance covering their interest in their liability for public risk.
Are these types of contracts required often , ? And are these normal things to be required to agree to?
