I can totally understand why you didn’t use that fancy music set-up as tempting as it must’ve been. Something like that would overwhelm and intimidate me so I’d stay well away too! Some people have a real knack for anything technical but I’m certainly not one of them. I agree about TVs. Oh for the days when it was more straightforward. Sometimes, I just want to watch something on terrestrial and I have so many hoops to jump through on the remote and buttons to press that I now tend to just watch any programmes on my laptop these days. One of my regulars had a lovely kitchen where I knew how to use everything but then they changed over to a brand new state of the art one which has left me completely befuddled and too nervous to even attempt to cook. It looks fabulous and everything but it’s totally wasted on me! To be fair, they have given me a tutorial and even left me an instruction manual, but a grey fog descends over my brain as it’s all a bit too sophisticated and high-tech for me. I’d rather live on salads and colder food while I’m there than risk wrecking anything!!!
That must’ve felt terrible but at least the owner was quick to take the pressure off. Thank goodness! I was once on a cat sit abroad where I was advised that if the cat wasn’t fed by 7 am at the latest, if I had anything of mine that had been left on any kitchen surfaces, the cat would likely knock it off in attempt to get me up to be fed! The cat was a rescue so probably had issues around lack of food before the owner adopted her. I’ll never forget getting a message from the owner at 4 am on my very last night warning me to not be seen to pack my suitcase by the cat otherwise there was a very real risk of it being defecated in as a sign of protest. The owner told me they’d be mortified if this were to happen to my case! That’s the only sit I’ve ever been on where the shoe has been on the other foot where there was a very real risk of my own property being damaged. The cat was adorable though but feisty. Needless to say, I always made sure she was fed by 7am to avoid any diva strops happening in the kitchen!!! 
This explains why house and pet sitting does not equate to being on vacation/holiday . Unlike a hotel or Bnb, things are not always convenient, operational or there for your comfort.
I handle everything with kid gloves. If I don’t know how to use something, I look it up. If I still can’t figure it out I do without it. I have done without a television, been unable to fry or saute, had no coffee maker because I could not get their fancy espresso machine to work, been unable to operate a recliner, have gotten on my hands and knees to clean in the absence of a mop or vacuum cleaner and been hesitant to use or handle anything that has even the remote possibility of breaking. I accept this. My husband thinks it’s all too much work.
Hi, i had 2 wing mirrors stolen off a vehicle i had on loan from my home owner. 180 euros later i had them replaced. I did not ask or expect home owner to reimburse though she did offer. Thats life!!
Yikes! That sounds like a nightmare. Sounds like you handled it well.
I want to share my latest experience in the hopes that it might help someone else. My HO has allowed me to drive their car and as always, I’ve been super careful. As I was taking the dogs out of the back seat yesterday, I noticed scratches and a dent below the passenger seat door. It didn’t happen while I was driving, it could have happened while it was parked. I was concerned so did not wait to send the HO a couple of pictures. As they’re nine hours ahead of me, I did not receive an immediate answer and resigned myself to deal with it, whatever the consequences. They got back to me this morning, apologized and told me the damage had been there!
Whew! I know this but as old as I get, I still make stupid mistakes (you’d think I would have learned after all this time!), but ALWAYS take a thorough look at the entire body of a car before you accept it – whether it’s a car hire or a car lent to you by someone else, take pictures of any damage and make sure the owner is aware.
Phew! So happy it all worked out. Enjoy the rest of your sit.
I’m so glad I found this thread as it makes me feel better knowing we’re not alone!
On our current sit and the toaster stopped working; was fine one day and the following day it didn’t work. We’ve checked / replaced the fuse and it’s still not working.
I will message the HO about it and feel obligated to replace it even though we didn’t do anything to cause it to break.
I would class this as general wear and tear and could have happened at anytime?
On the sit I just completed, I was cleaning the gas cook top, which is very similar to my own.
I always check the gas burners after cleaning.
Well…2 of the 5 burners “clicked” but would not light.
When I texted with the HO later that evening, I let her know.
I feel it’s better just to deal with stuff upfront.
She said the burners need to fully dry before they light again.
I forgot about it as I finished cleaning and left without checking them again.
This doesn’t seem to be your problem, but I had a toaster break on a sit too. I went to several stores from one end of the city to the other searching for the identical toaster --that they no longer made. I finally settled on one, brought it home and it didn’t work either! Eventually I realized that when I was cleaning, I had unplugged the toaster from the top of the outlet and plugged it back into the bottom. It turned out to be an outlet problem the HO were not even aware of. So back I went to return the toaster I had bought.
Another client of mine had a broken electric pencil sharpener, so I took it apart to see if I could repair it.
I could not get that thing back together, so, even though said client, and my best friend, at that time, had just sold her company for $91 million dollars, I went and bought her a new $38. electric pencil sharpener I did not break, and she let me.
I am impressed AND inspired! Thank you for this story.
I am reading all these moments, gripping my face with both hands, horrified, imagining if it was me. I am SO careful, and these things are so uncomfy for me, when they do happen. It reminds me of the time I drove to my best friend’s wedding in California. I live din NYC at the time, so borrowed my mom’s convertible Jaguar. Top down, dressed up, off I went, only to discover after an hour of driving that the entire back glass window was shattered. I was horrified, having no idea what I have done, or how I had done it. I spent that entire day knowing I had to repair the expensive window, and just so upset knowing my mom trusted me, and…ugh.
She just laughed, “Oh it was already broken.”
Oh - the details of caring for a new house, often. Amazing. I am with you on integrity, and I am celebrating your miracle! Now, I need my own tiny screwdriver, I see! Thank you for this.
My story: 1997, Bel Air, California,
I was putting away dishes for a client who I was an Exec. Asst. for; a very wealthy someone.
And, somehow, a tall, elegant, crystal glass got a chip. I forget exactly how, but it was not chipped prior to my putting it away, so, I took it with me and off I went to Tiffany’s and replaced it.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<$158.00>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My face is squinched up, even now, just thinking about that.
I love the feeling of being accountable. It is priceless.
On a sit last summer I was driving a car loaned by the hosts to take the dogs to a good dog walking place. On one trip i clipped the kurb and sctatched the wheel hub. I was mortified that I had damaged our hosts fancy BMW convertible (1 or 3 cars he owned) Anyway I suffered for 2 days- till the hosts got back- dreading the moment I’d have to confess- but when I showed him he just laughed and said ‘look at the back wheel that I, myself, damaged’ and I saw (for the first time!) a scrape 10 times bigger than mine! He just said ‘this is now my daughters practise car- don’t worry at all!’ I was sooo relieved!! 
A glass that had the name of the town we were staying in on it. It was the only one in the home, so my husband googled it and found it on an Etsy store and emailed them.
The man on the Etsy shop happened to be the store owner and directed us to his shop in the same town.
We went to collect it and met his wife in the store and they even recognised the dog that we were caring for as she had been in the store a few times previously.
We ended up having a lovely chat with them about the area (they had lived there all of their lives) It was a lovely hour or so. Got many recommendations.
When the owner got back she said we should not have worried about it, but was still pleased.
My next one is that we bring a kettle with us as I am a hot water bottle fan and my husband loves tea. My husband prefers to ones that heat on the stove to the electric ones. The owner also had one of these, so we did not unpack ours this time.
Imagine my horror when we lit the gas ring and it melted the plastic cover at the end of the nozzle.
Quickly googled and ordered a new one (it was a pretty fancy one) so that it arrived before they returned. The owners were really happy but said they had done the same and it was already a bit melted previously, so we didn’t feel so bad.
But my blood does run cold if ever something like that happens.
A Rubber spatular incident … all of mine (purchased in the States or Canada) are heat proof, great in a non stick pan, especially cooking scrambled eggs. So imagine my horror when making some eggs the second day of the sit, the spatular started melting in the eggs … Oh no it’s NOT heat proof!!
Googled the size and make (USA only, I’m in Edinburgh, Scotland) went to order but delivery was post owner’s return, ordered anyway, the most expensive spatula I have ever bought.
The owners “scolded” me for replacing their slightly re-designed one and said you should not have done that I have more in my spatular store. 
@Angela_L
We had a similar spatula incident while sitting in Edinburgh and used it for making curry which then stained it badly. Everything in the kitchen looked brand new so felt we needed to replace. Luckily after extensive research found it was stocked in an expensive kitchen store close by. I never realized spatulas could be so expensive but we still have the ‘stained’ one that is no longer stained and use it all the time 
There are non-heat proof spatulas?! That’s news to me! What is the point of them?
I haven’t broken anything thus far! I plan to keep it that way!