Hello, I recently had a rather long pet sit and it went pretty well, for the most part. I was a little taken aback by how messy the kitchen was upon arrival, and there was a lot of food left on the counters and in the fridge, but I cleaned it all making it more liveable for the time I was there. The house was also clearly in the middle of construction in some areas and very damp and cold. I never complained, and just threw on another sweater, took quick showers and just carried on. Our communication was great and cordial during their entire trip UNTIL!!! a nearby friend stopped by unexpectedly one day to return a scarf that I had left behind at a Christmas Eve party nearby. It was raining out, so I let him in and we chatted, I got the scarf back, and he left. The next day I got a very terse text asking who he was and if I knew him. The tone had changed. This was also the in the middle of the afternoon, and he was there for about 20 minutes. It felt to me as thought the HO was accusing me of having a guest. I cleaned the entire house thoroughly, stripped the bed, all in great order - the kitchen in much better condition before I left then… crickets. Never once have I gotten even the merest mention of a thank you or ANYTHING. I am certain they will leave a bad reiew, and frankly, it felt like a police state in their home so I don’t have anything great to say about them, either. BUT I truly feel it is important to leave an honest review for future sitters. Any advice and thoughts are welcome. Thanks!
Yes leave an honest review
The fact was that they reacted to the ping on their ring camera by making assumptions and this made you uncomfortable. That’s the piece you want to make sure to include. They had a right to be concerned as they may have had past issues with sitters and “guests.” A no guest policy doesn’t make a sit into a police state. However, if they were concerned, they should have called to ask, and you should probaby have started with: “Oh sorry about that. Here’s what happened…” They shouldn’t have been rude.
I don’t know the extent of “food on the counter” but most homeowners will not leave an empty fridge, and unless they left you no space for your stuff, it’s hardly worth mentioning. Many houses are cold and damp. That may be worth mentioning but probably not points off. I wouldn’t look for things I wouldn’t otherwise mention to stave off the effects of a negative review.
Just remember that whatever you write will be read both by sitters as a warning about the sit and by homeowners looking for a drama free sit. So if you do mention this incident, it’s important you mention what the guest rules were and make clear that you do take responsibility for that.
I believe everything can be said nicely in a review. It is up to you how blunt you’ll be. But some «wrapping up» can be done and still get the message across. An example could be for instance:
« The house was undergoing some construction, which made some areas a bit damp and cold, but I managed. At arrival just cleaned the kitchen and spent time with the pets. The pets were delightful and a joy to care for.
Communication with the homeowner was generally good. A friend stopped by to return an item I had left behind at an event and the host probably got concerned by a camera-notification, but it was resolved quickly.
I made sure to leave the house in excellent condition, even better than when I arrived, and hope it was nice to see after travelling home!
Overall, the pets made the experience worthwhile, and I had a nice time.»
Yes leave an honest review about the state of the place, but also you need to accept responsibility because you should never have invited a guest into their home without first asking their permission, no matter how long they are there for, because it breaches the t&c’s of THS, so that’s why they now don’t appear to have thanked you, because you broke the rules.
@bauhausfrau if you find yourself in this situation again a quick text to the host - my friend is dropping my scarf back to me this morning , is it ok to invite them in ?
The host can say yes or no .
Sometimes it is a maintenance person. Or I had someone at the door who needed to place a ladder in the garden.
It is why those cameras are such a nuisance. Yes, a police state, “Big brother watching you”.
It was raining and the friend dropped by unexpectedly. Both of those facts count for a lot.
I think your HO is being over zealous @bauhausfrau . Life happens and picking up a scarf and standing in the kitchen for 20 minutes doesn’t seem exactly underhand just off the cuff. Just lay out the info factually and maybe chat to her about it before the review if you think it will help, maybe she had a bad experience with another sitter having people over. #youjustneverknow
thank you - you are right. The state of the kitchen wasn’t a major issue, but I didn’t exactly enjoy emptying out old tupperware containers of food that wasn’t mine. It seemed kinda petty and gross to leave it there for three weeks, and then sharing that fridge space with rotting food grossed me out. Things were just really untidy. I completely agree with your point about letting people know in the review. Frankly, they don’t have any reviews, and I am starting to understand why…
Yeah, and they didn’t mention the few random drop ins and rings from Greenpeace reps or people soliciting for a signature.
Excellent! Great review, so much to read between the lines.
I love this, and thank you for the great advice and example of a review. HOWEVER, now I have the big question - I do not feel this was a 5 star review - 4, sure. But I rarely see anything less than 5 stars here!!! I think I am going to go with honesty…
I didn’t invite anyone over- that’s the point - it was a drop by with a scarf and that was it. Because it was raining I let them in.
Sure, that should be the most normal thing in the world. My goodness, I never want to sit for such horror people. Ha, it’s your house, yes, you have a right to know what’s going on, but stop acting like the sitter is your servant. Sitters give their time to look after your house and pets for free; they’re not giving up their entire lives. And while the homeowners are somewhere roasting their asses in the sun, they’ve got nothing better to do than freak out because someone visited their house. For 20 minutes. Oh my goodness! Maybe they even petted the animal and sat down for a moment. My goodness. Get a grip. There are far worse things. It’s called Trusted Housesitters, not “give up your damn life and we’ll tell you what to do and how to do it.” No one was hurt, nothing was destroyed, nothing was dirtied. It was a harmless drop-in.
If that’s too much for your nerves, then just stay home.
Sorry for the rant, but sometimes I’m really tired by these people.
I do see less than 5* occasionally, both 4 og 3 and more rarely 1 and 2*.
Most sits seem to be 5* which is great and how it should be - but it is unfair to those hosts and sitters if they don’t get credit for their effort and get same number of stars as horrible sits.
So do what you feel is an accurate description.
I 100% agree with you and thank you for spelling out what bugs me so much about it. A lot of these HomeOwners act as though they are letting an orphan or an exchange student stay at their house - but forget that we are doing work that is often paid for — it’s entitlement. So, now do I give a 4 stars? Nobody seems to get below 5 stars!!!
I’ve treated exchange students better than some “hosts” on THS, gauging by what some sitters have described. And even though THS sitters aren’t paid professionals, we’ve treated actual employees better at companies I’ve worked at and on teams I’ve led. Why: Not because people are paid or not, but because there’s such a thing as human decency and such a thing as hospitality when you invite people into your home, much less when they’re taking care of your place and your pets.
Sitting wise, I’ve been rating / reviewing accurately, because the reviews help other sitters (or hosts) make informed choices. If someone doesn’t review accurately, they’re doing others a disservice.
As a sitter I would definitely want to know about the state of the house, that it was damp and cold and that parts were under construction.
This would be in no way a 5 star review for me if I arrived and the kitchen was a mess and pertinent info was missing (house under construction).
As a sitter I rely on honest, factual reviews.
I usually ask at the start of sits “would it be ok if I invite a friend in for a cuppa or lunch?”. Usually the owners say “of course” and some of them then said if I want a friend to stay that’s ok.