Hi advice please
We have just returned from a holiday having used TH as per usual. I always leave the house very clean and on most occasions we have come home to a clean house. This time although the house was superficially clean the bathroom and shower room had not been touched. The shower was full of hair and really not a nice job to come back to!
Am I being unreasonable to expect sitters to clean the bathroom and shower ? I guess I feel that when we use Airbnb and cottages we always leave them as we found them.
I donât know what to do about the review as they were lovely girls and clearly looked after our pets but I was a little put out by this issue.
1 Like
No not unreasonable, itâs in the code of conduct that members agree to .
â I will make every effort to leave the home as I found it â
The sitters guidelines say
â As your house sit comes to an end
- Prepare for the ownerâs arrival home by ensuring the property is clean and tidyâ
and there is a sitters cleaning checklist that says
â Clean the bathroom, including the shower/bath and toilet, â
( However your sitters may not be aware of this checklist as THS donât always send it out ⌠some sitters get it , many have never received it )
For the review there is now a specific category where you rate cleanliness - you donât have to deduct stars from the overall rating but just for this category- if thatâs what you feel is appropriate.
There is a separate category for pet care so you can give them 5 stars for that .
1 Like
Youâre not being unreasonable @Janeyw36 but at the same time itâs great the pets were happy. Deduct a star or two in the cleanliness category as @Silversitters has illustrated and then give them an overall rating for the sit. They can see they need to do more cleaning (as agreed on their Ts & Cs) & youâll feel you were fair and reasonable in your approach and review. #truthisagoodthing
PS THS are hopeless at sending out that checklist (never for us)
1 Like
Regardless of whether THS sends out checklists or not, it falls into the realms of common sense, sadly not very common.
If someone could invent common sense, it should be bottled and prescribed to those without any.
6 Likes
No, not unreasonable at all to expect a clean house upon return. If they are inexperienced at THS maybe they just didnât know? Weâve had some sitters that go above & beyond on cleaning and others that weâve had to clean the house when we got home, which is never fun after a long trip. However, our cat was well cared for so that is the highest priority for me.
Leave a written review that shows how well they did, except for the cleaning. I personally wouldnât mention the cleaning in the written review. However, you should reduce the Tidy & Clean star category to whatever you feel is appropriate. Hopefully, they will know from the reduced star that cleaning was an issue.
1 Like
I donât think you are being unreasonable. Cleaning the bathroom is basic and Iâve been disapointed to arrive home to find an unclean shower. If you deduct stars for Cleanliness, please mention the reason in your review. I always find it frustrating when someone dings a star but doesnât explain why, forcing me to guess what went wrong. You can be gentle, e,g, saying that âOne suggestion for improvement is for Mary and Jane to clean the bathroom before they leave.â Without an explanation, I donât know if your complaint was reasonable or not.
14 Likes
Hi Janey, no, youâre not being unreasonable and, as sitters, we always try to leave the house clean and pleasant for the HO to return to. We admit that cleaning is not our forte but we do our very best. We had a horrible experience recently where we thought everything was fine with the HO including messages after she returned home, but then the review was dominated by her fury at the state of the house! She gave us 1* for cleanliness which was so vindictive and unreasonable. We were (and remain) hurt that she didnât address the issue with us and given us more constructive feedback. THS wonât intervene re:reviews. Anyway, I hope this helps you to think about how to respond to your sitters &how not to!). Just to say, also, that itâs helpful to give sitters the heads up if cleanliness is particularly important to you, so they know to focus on it as a priority. Different people have different priorities in this respect. Good luck!
5 Likes
Iâm so sorry you had that experience it sounds a bit over the top to me. Iâm certainly not furious but the shower was particularly bad with great clumps of hair in the drain 
After all the advice I did a nice review and only left one star off the cleaning one. If they ask me why I will explain.
Hope you have a better experience next time.
1 Like
Like others have said, definitely reasonable to expect a clean shower and bathroom especially. These are two parts of the home that can get gross quickly so it is so strange to me when homeowners mention that people appeared to clean most of the house but not those areas specifically.
1 Like
Yes please, writing the reason for deducting stars is important 
4 Likes
I read your review. You could have said something like, âThe house/bathroom was not as clean as I would have liked.â That is tactful without details. Good for you to give them only 4 stars for cleaning.
If you have not already given them some feedback personally, you might mention the bathroom to them. As others have said, that is âcommon senseâ to clean the bathroom and especially to make sure there is no hair in the bathroom! Gross. They could do better in their housesitting adventures.
You should definitely return to your home in at least the condition you left it. For me, you should not leave more than 3 stars for cleaning and explain why. You had to come home and clean up the bathroom from their use. Thatâs not okay from my perspective. I would indicate how you left it and how you found it when you returned. To me, everyone should clean up after themselves at a minimum. They know someone has to do it if they did not.
1 Like
I have sometimes couchsurfers (or via BeWelcome etc). They are guests. I do not expect them to do any vacuuming or scrubbing.
And do people really do that in Airbnb?
âSuperficially cleanâ should be good enough. Certainly when those guests also took care of pets, and of their poo etc etc.
4 Likes
Hi @Janeyw36
The sitters should have left you with a clean house. So yes you should rightly mark and mention the lack of cleaning in your review.
1 Like
Yes I decided to do it via the stars ! They have sent a message asking why I only gave them 4 stars. I have replied in more detail explaining that the shower outlet was full of hair !!! I think itâs important to be honest but kind so hope they are not too offended.
2 Likes
As I hoped they have now asked me why I only gave them 4 stars for cleaning so I have explained in full. I kept it very polite and hope they donât take offence.
2 Likes
We will have to agree to disagree.
I had a sitter recently who didnât vacuum the floor of the living areas when she left and I was quite peeved that I had to vaccum after a long trip. She was obviously pretty livid when I gave her a 4/5 for clean and tidy - she also challenged me in a very passive aggressive way in the THS inbox and told me I should âinclude instructions for this in the guideâ⌠I would think that vacuuming on vacating the property would be a given (also, itâs a tiny flat!). It left me feeling very uneasy as she wouldnât let it lie. I really wish there was a way to block these kinds of people.
2 Likes
My mother taught me to leave anywhere I stay better than I found it. That is my rule if thumb. I like a clean refrigerator inside. If itâs not clean when I arrive it is when I leave.
Rule of thumb is probably to stay on top of the cleaning whilst you are there, and spend the last day cleaning or sprucing up to place.
4 Likes
Just realised my comments were outdatedâŚ
Good that you kept your comments kind and respectful. It can be very upsetting for sitters to get critical comments after completing a pet sit and doing their best. But if itâs done nicely, it might help them for the future
3 Likes