Well, you had a list of times. I see that those are gone now. Now it looks much better!
And you were close to a CalTrain station, so no need for an Uber to get there.
2 Likes
Her behavior is so disgusting! Please go to found another sitter and report her to THS !
… unfortunately this goes also the other way round: homeowners asking that housesitters pay for utilities etc.
I think as soon as there is some form of payment included, it becomes legally sketchy. As a housesitter I technically become an employee and there are countries with rather strict labor laws. Also, if I get paid for housesitting, in principle I cannot travel to a country as a tourist.
@Wiebke This already happens even without any payment, when you’re housesitting. It’s still considered work (and illeagal) in many (most?) countries.
But anyway, we don’t ask sitters to pay utilities.
That is only for immigration, I think, especially at the US border.
When it is inside the country, there may tax rules and labor laws and tenancy laws.
All these things may get more and more complicated the longer the arrangement lasts.
In defense of the homeowner here, the last few years of our last dog’s life, we used pads. It started because the dog developed cushings and we just couldn’t keep up. The pee was dilute and once she got the hang of using the pads everyone’s life was easier. She would avoid defecating on the pads – but if we were out for a while, she’d use them if needed. We actually found we could in fact occassionally leave for longer than 4 hours. It actually did make life more simple and dignified. But this was also something that became normal to us over time. We would describe our routine with her as “low maintenance” but a sitter might not have found it so. The solution doesn’t have to be paying the sitter, but maybe it should be some other offer such as occassional paid walkers or doggie day care to allow the sitter a break.
2 Likes
I’d have no problem putting down pee pads. You and your dogs sound lovely. A real dog lover will understand that older dogs need a bit more care.
4 Likes
That is bizarre and my understanding, is against community guidelines. That defeats the whole purpose of this site. I had someone today cancel the sit less than 24 hours before my flight because I wouldn’t pay for the transportation up North. I am super disappointed in this site, I’ve had 2/3 bad experiences. Both involved money, both Artists from NYC.
I’ve sat senior dogs who used pee pads. Not an issue for me, but I want to know such upfront and to not have sits misrepresented as easy when they’re not. I think that’s true of all sitters.
The Bay Area is no joke when it comes to traffic and public transit issues. I used to live and work there, before I moved away to somewhere more livable. It easily took me 1.5 hours to drive to work less than 10 miles during rush hour, for instance. I ended up moving to Portland, Oregon, and telecommuting. I’d fly to San Francisco monthly, because my company was based there. My flight from Oregon (in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S.) took less time than my drive commute time when I lived in the Bay Area.
Along similar lines, the companies I worked at would have to consider where our employee pool would come from, because if we had only an office in San Francisco, candidates from the South Bay for instance wouldn’t join. We had to open multiple offices just to attract talent. And that wasn’t just us — many companies faced the same issue, because commuting sucked.
My most recent employer tried throwing events in various parts of the country. The team ended up with poor turnout in San Francisco, because people in the South Bay declined, saying that the commute and parking sucked.
If anyone is going to be sitting in the Bay Area, they should be realistic about how you’d go anywhere if you’re supposed to do feedings, walks and such with only a few hours in between. Personally, because I know how bad getting around can be, I sit only in San Francisco if I want to be in the Bay Area and am selective about which neighborhoods I’d be in in the city.
So strange. If they live in NYC, and it’s north, the should know what it take to get to you before agreeing to the sit.
1 Like
I’ve been to San Francisco many years ago, but have thought about visiting again at some point. Do you mind sharing which neighbourhoods you would consider?
It depends on what you want to see, where you’d want to say meet folks. Because I know where I want to go and whom I’d meet for lunch and dinner and where they work or live, I’d pick neighborhoods with those in mind.
Thank you. I was thinking in terms of pet sitting, but I know it’s a big city and there’s far too many areas to consider. I probably won’t be visiting too soon, so no need to give it any more time.
Right. I telecommute from sits, so I’m with the pets more than normal. But if I go to lunch or dinner, I need to know I won’t be away for too long. Like I was sitting in the Potrero Hill neighborhood and a friend asked me for brunch in the East Bay, and I was stressed, because there was a lot of traffic coming back. And that was the longest I left my sit pet — fourish hours. Or say I went to meet a team member in the South Bay, we set time before the lunch hour and didn’t linger, so I could get back within three-ish hours. And those were things where I knew exactly how to get there and back and didn’t struggle to find parking, because they were ‘burbs vs. in the city.
1 Like
I was born in San Francisco and grew up in a suburb. We do a lot of dog-sitting in San Francisco. I agree with Maggie8K that which neighborhood is somewhat dependent on what you want to do and see, and many of the SF listings don’t state which neighborhood they are in, which is really frustrating.
I really like Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, Marina, Nob Hill, North Beach, Richmond (inner and central), Haight-Ashbury, Cole Valley, inner Sunset, Presidio, NOPA, Laurel Heights. These are all fairly central and easy to get around to see the main sites.
A bit more “colorful” and out of the way include Mission, Castro, and Noe Valley. There are some lovely homes there, but it is a a bit far from where I want to be.
I would not want to be in the Tenderloin, the Financial District, SOMA.
Bernal Heights and Potrero are a bit far away from the main action.
So many neighborhoods! If you look at a map and the list I gave first above, you will see the general wide area that I prefer.
Yup. I sat in Potrero, because I have a number of friends there.
Thank you for taking the time to reply. I appreciate your help.
2 Likes
Offering a daily dog walker would go a huge way to making that sit more attractive to me.
2 Likes
I just read your listing and it seems great to me. I do pass on a lot of housesits if I feel they are too much work for a mutual exchange and I wonder how they will ever find a sitter, yet they often have many possitive reviews, so there are good matches for everyone. I would never ask for money. We were once offered money for airline tickets and declined. That is just part of the cost of the sit. I did have a dog eat my wallet, with the cash in it. The homeowners offered to reienburse me, but again I declined. It is all just part of petsitting. The only reason I even mentioned it was in case the dog had any issues passing the fabric wallet. We have friends that suggest we start using a site where you get paid to sit, but that would then make it a job. We LOVE the mutual exchange. Personally, I wouldnt even want to be tipped. I would encourage you to show appreciation in another way. Somethings other PP have done for us are leaving a few locally made treats, flowers, or a bottle of wine, treating us to dinner if we arrive a day ahead, or bringing home a small gift, usually eddable, but once a t-shirt for our granddaughter who joined us on the sit. That being said, we never expect gifts.
3 Likes
On a semi-related note…I came across a review in which the owner mentioned the sitter had asked them to pay for the sitter’s hotel room the night before and two nights after the sit, for a total of over $1000. Is this kosher? Is it something that the owner should have reported somewhere? The HO isn’t inexperienced – they’ve got reviews from six sitters, going back nearly five years – but in their review, they mentioned being surprised by the request and that they hadn’t realized this was something HOs were ever asked to do. As a HO I too would be taken aback…but is it against the actual rules?