I’ve had two sits where the sitters have forgotten to set the garbage out for pickup, so that I have come home to full bins and no pickup until the following week, which is kind of a pain when there is a lot of cat litter to deal with. I already communicate the pickup schedule in several ways: 1) the Welcome Guide; 2) A note in the house; 3) the THS calendar; 4) verbally in the pre-sit discussion. But still some people aren’t getting the message. I don’t want to pester my sitters, but what else can I do do encourage the garbage bins to be taken out to the curb? Or maybe I should just put up with the occasional inconvenience.
As a sitter I wouldn’t mind a friendly reminder on WA or similar the day before. Sometimes people who are travelling kind of forget what day it is
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Once the sit starts, I do all communication where possible and agreed by WhatsApp. Most people send a reminder by that even if you have been told the day.
The system is different in every sit, in every municipality. In Bath, I had not understood how it worked (there had been a blind handover), so I missed it that week.
I really can’t figure out how it can be missed if you have said it four places? Is it something in the wording that is unclear? Have they put out the wrong bin or in the wrong place?
Have you tried to ask them what happened? Seems odd that it should happen with two different sitters?
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If it was something I really wanted to make sure got done (in your case put the bins out) I’d send a WA the night before.
That way I can see if it’s read and if they don’t do it then I guess they made a choice not to put them out.
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If the home owner is in the UK, I completely get it. Each town has its own rules for what is allowed in what bin and what colour they are. For example, I have a blue recycling bin for glass, plastic food trays and tin cans, a blue recycling bag for card and paper and a brown garden waste bin. They are put out on alternate Wednesdays. I have a black non-recycling bin that is put out on the other Wednesdays.
Other towns have different rules about what is allowed in each bin. Other areas might have white or pink bins for slightly different things and be put out at different intervals e.g. weekly.
To avoid this nightmare for the sitter who does not need a degree in xyz UK town recycling, if it is important to the homeowner they need to give a nudge on Whatsapp the night before e.g. “I’m sure you’ve remembered but in case you haven’t please could you put the blue and brown bins and the blue bag out tonight. No need to worry about the black bin this week.”
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Thanks, I’ll do that next time.
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Thanks! I don’t like to overburden with texts, but I can see that this would be helpful.
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Yes, in one case the person was from a country where the system was different, so I understood the confusion.
As Alicatorze said, it is different in every area, so I do understand how there can be confusion. In one case, the person was from an area with a different system, and in the other, she just did not see the note. I will use WA or texts next time. And maybe also add photos of the correct bin for that day–recycling, yard waste, garbage…
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As a sitter, I never mind friendly reminders about garbage pick-up. Most of our HOs have done this. However, we also set a reminder for ourselves, which other sitters could do too. You shouldn’t have to send a reminder if you posted it four places and did a verbal reminder. However, if it’s important, better to send the WA or text reminder.
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I don’t understand it. We are sitters and set a repeating reminder on our phones when we arrive at a new sit. The HO shouldn’t be thinking about managing their home garbage when they’re on holiday, that’s why they have sitters!
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If you have a really nice neighbor you could possibly ask them, i know its an inconvenience. Im really not sure why 2 sitters didnt put out garbage. Everywhere you go today has a garbage and recycling management system. If i wasn’t sure when they went out I’d look at neighbors. I dont feel like this should be a problem especially since you have a clear message of when where,and what goes out. I would look into is it a place where someone would have a hard time putting the bins where they go, is it down a long road a mile. Is it to hard for 1 person to handle. Last resort possibly lazy sitters.
One sit the host’s husband sent me a text message the night the bins needed to be put out and I’m glad he did because I had completely forgotten.
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Could it be that they did put it out but for some reason it wasn’t collected anyway?
Some places they don’t empty if there is item(-s) in it that are not allowed in that bin?
For instance paper there are so many different rules in different countries, some it is all kind of paper, others it is carton separately etc.
Agree that one could be better off just taking a few photos of the bins before travelling and just send a message the day before. Sometimes it is less hazzle just to give a reminder.
If you’ve mentioned the info in multiple places and they didn’t take care of it, seems simply like negligence / lack of attention to details.
I’ve sat across the U.S. and abroad and set myself calendar reminders to do X. That includes watering, taking out garbage, etc. I figure that way I don’t have to rely on remembering and I sure don’t need a host reminding me while they’re supposed to be on vacation or such.
Of course, every town or city has different processes and days. It’s easy to forget. That’s why sitters should be creating their own reminders.
BTW, on updates, I actually let hosts know during the first week that I remembered to do X. Like my current hosts have a special plant that has sentimental memories attached. So on the morning of its watering, the calendar reminder I set nudged me and, when I sent my morning update, I told my hosts that I’d watered X. Easy for me to do and they don’t have to worry.
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As a sitter, I have sat in many different towns in the UK (almost all different) and in other countries, too. As I am aware that there’s a lot of variation, I make sure the owners put that information in the WG, then I can set my own reminders. I also check the colours neighbours take out, just in case. Sometimes there’s a chart on the fridge door, which I find helpful. I also find the WG calendar helpful.
I think you are doing everything right and it’s a pity it’s happened to you twice. I wouldn’t be offended if I received a reminder message but I really don’t think it should be necessary. You are on holiday or taking care of something else and you have already left all the information.
Perhaps it would be worth making a clear chart with colours, contents of each colour and the day/week that they go out. Sometimes the Council has this kind of chart.
I hope you are more lucky in the future.
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On my last sit I set out the bins (composting, recycling and regular garbage) on Tuesday evening for Wednesday pickup as per the Welcome Guide and the city collection calendar. I went out for a few hours Wednesday morning and the bins had been returned to their storage area when I got back which I found … odd. I got out the garden hose to give them a rinse and the recycling bin was full of multiple empty long narrow boxes (like they had each held a golf club or something similar). That was NOT what was in the bin prior to collection. So I assume a neighbour was late and missed the truck so decided to put it in my HOs bin. I included this info on my next update to the owner specifically so they wouldn’t think I forgot. I doubt this is what happened to @catgal but wanted to share the shenanigans.
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Could you ask a neighbour to put it out for you when you’re away on holiday? We do that for ours and visa versa….