Yes, I am letting TS know what happened. The coverage will not apply.
I have been invited to stay the first night at two previous sits and the pet parents were wonderful.
They had an empty guest room and second full bathroom. I said that I would go out to eat so they didnāt have to worry about feeding me and that I could stay in the guest room if they didnāt want to hang out with me. When I arrived, there was one pet parent there. He didnāt even bother to offer me a glass of water. Instead, he said I would need to remove my shoes as they do not wear shoes in the house (not mentioned in the listing but luckily I travel with slippers). And then he started to show me how to care for the pets including the instruction of applying toothpaste daily for the cat and dog.
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Hey everyone, thanks so much for the support, tips and commentary. I really appreciate it!
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Sorry that happened to you. In the future I would take screen shots because from experience once itās canceled THS canāt see discussions. Very frustrating.
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Iām an HO and personally like guests to arrive the day before. Gives them a chance to look around town and unwind PLUS meet the pet. I ask if they want a meal, want to be left alone or want to join us. It gives me a chance to ask if they need extra bedding or items and answer questions that you donāt know to ask via a zoom call.
Girl dog knows the drill and pouts a bit but isnāt caught off guard when we leave.
We are also 3 hrs from the airport and the moment our guests arrive, a huge load of anxiety is lifted from my shoulders!
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Wow. That is horrible that the home owners treated you like that. I am a homeowner and petsitter and would never expect anything else.
I wouldnāt expect to have to document it, so this is a good learning for me.
They arenāt comfortable with you staying there with them, but trust you with their pet and house when they are gone? How does that make any sense.
Consider leaving a one star review if you can and explaining why. I would never sit for someone who treated another human being so rudely.
Pet sits are supposed to be a win win. As a sitter, I am somewhat shocked when homeowners limit the rolls of toilet paper, normal electricity usage, etc. Think how much it would cost you to hire somebody.
Appreciate your sitters. It can be very nice for a sitter to stay in your home for free, but they do have responsibilities. Itās not a vacation.
My rant for the day!
.
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Yes, I once had the same in London on a long weekend sit. I arrived early evening the day before the sit - invited to do so, was given lots of ideas as to where to eat locally so off I went and had a lovely vegetarian meal. Got back to the house to find the husband cooking their meal, no invitation to spend the evening with them so took myself off to my room. I had been asked if it would be OK for the sister + friend to come and stay in the house from my last full day and I had agreed. When I got back from my sightseeing, they had spread themselves out in the living room, so off I went to my room again! Never again! It was back in the day before I was fully aware of the no 3rd party rule which I can now use rather than just saying I wouldnāt be comfortable with it.
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I am so sorry for this experience. There are absolutely some bad actors as hosts on THS. Did you let THS support know? Assume you donāt have the premium membership where you COULD attempt to get reimbursement for any hotel costs. But they use any excuse not to pay. But alerting THS to this behavior is important for other sitters. So sorry. Hope your next sit is better. I had a couple bad ones this summer - and back on track with some repeats and feeling better. THS was not helpful or supportive.
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I had sitters arrive as scheduled in the late afternoon, the day before I departed on an overseas trip. Upon arrival they announced that they had been away from home for months and were going to leave a day early, while I was still overseas. It put me in the desperate position of spending packing time scrambling to find dog care for the last day of my trip. And that was not the last of it, but THS will not publish the other thing they did.
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Thatās not good. I trust you mentioned this in your review?
Wow, that wasnāt a very good reason to leave a sit. Should have cancelled the sit, but Iām sure you didnāt feel able to.
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Hi @KellyK, welcome to THS and so sorry this first sit was a bummer!
I would ALWAYS report this directly to THS member services - they are so helpful, and they can suspend people from the site who go against the Ts & Cs. This is essential to keep THS full of good people & experiences.
The culture has changed quite a lot since I joined in 2016 - it used to be positioned as holiday accommodation, kind of like an airbnb for animal lovers, which created an AMAZING culture.
These days it feels more like people are looking for free/ unpaid pet sitting because they canāt afford a sitter; and people looking for free holiday accommodation because they canāt afford to go on holiday.
Thatās not at all what THS is about! Itās about meeting incredible people, a mutual exchange, and peace of mind while you go on holiday, for both parties.
As a sitter itās important to be able to afford alternative accommodation/ holiday plans if you donāt have the THS sitter insurance ā because you never know what situation youāre going to arrive to.
Otherwise THS insurance is essential - and could have paid for 10 days accomm (I think, in any case that was the last time I looked at the insurance).
This is a live and learn platform. Each experience will yield better questions to ask when screening the next HOs (they now call them āpet parentsā which I find silly!).
Donāt be disheartened. Iāve had 18 incredible experiences, so they DO exist!
Good luck 
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Iām a homeowner. Iāve had 4 sitters in the last year (in Canada and US). I have 2 nice houses that show well on TH. The pictures show a clean home (no clutter). I go on TH to see what other houses look like and Iām shocked that sitters will consider them. I update my the dates (after confirming that the sitter will come the day before). Typically, the evening before (Iām flexible on time, but typically theyāve come around dinner time). I offer pizza and ask what they want on it. I review every reference that I see on the potential sitter. The sitter is taking care of my dog whom I cherish +++ and living in my house. It is extremely important to make a sitter feel at home and feel good about their choice to come stay at my house.
@KellyK I think something strange happened. Its possible that one of the home owners wasnāt okay about using TH and it became real when you arrived. Regardless, these people should have offered to pay for a hotel for you. They put you in an unsafe situation in a foreign country. Did you review what other sitters said about this homeowner?
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I think you dodged a bullet. Perhaps they were planning something strange or illegal in the home. I have someone coming a couple of days early and just assume will be staying with us. After video chats, several messages I feel that we are friends. Iāll stock the pantry and make sure sheās comfortable. Happy sitter = happy pet.
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Yikes, really bad of them!
That wasnāt all of it, but there are things THS censors, perhaps for legal reasons.
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