The HO contacted me after the sit to ask if I took or mis-shelved two of her favourite mugs. Because she couldn’t make it back home by the time I needed to go to another sit, her personal assistant took over the sit. Since she trusts her assistant totally, she assumed the missing mugs are my fault.
I will not make this mistake again. It scared me to think of what would have happened if it was something more valuable.
My reply would be a hard NO.
‘Sorry but no idea about x2 mugs, perhaps your assistant can help.”
Then a day later- “Is the mystery of the x2 mugs solved yet? 
”
Then a week later- “Are the mugs still hiding from you? Is there a search party planned?”
Then a month later-“I had a dream the other night about the x2 missing mugs 
. Maybe it’s a message….what do you think?”
Then a year later-“I’m thinking of writing a Novel that begins with x2 missing mugs…” I’ll send you a copy once it’s published ok.
Goodness. This HO sounds like someone to avoid given all of the drama she has instigated. I’m sorry to hear that it continues for you and hope that it ends soon !
“personal assistant”…….ok. Perhaps THIS is the person she should have tasked with letting the gardener in since the “help…..can’t be trusted”.
Why someone have to take over? Can the pet can’t be left alone? I would have told them the third party entry rule
The sitter handed the sit off to another person and they left. That has nothing to do with the 3rd party rule.
Hi Kit,
This sort of thing can happen anytime. I was really upset to receive a text message five months after I had completed a sit, from a home owner simply saying, I have looked everywhere and cannot find them where did you put them? She was referring to a couple of large utensils. Nothing polite about it. Did not adress me by name or sign off.
As this was December. She obvioulsy wanted them for Christmas. I sent a polite reply saying that I could not recall seing them but if I had I would have put them in the cutlery drawer. This was a person who spent over an hour looking for a mislaid mobile phone before leaving. Had a cleaning lady twice a week. Her Uni son came home with at least half a dozen Uni friends traipsing through the place for a couple of days and helping themselves to my food in the fridge, Eventgually went off on a camping trip, so could have taken for the camp stew etc. There was also a lodger opposite who would frequently just come in checking for her post. But I never received any reply when I politely replied I could not recall ever seeing them. It could have been any number of other people comig and going. She could also have forgotten where put from previous Christmas. But I certainly would not be using any large serving utensils.
Oh my gosh. Well, we have to accept that we will encounter people with all kinds of psychological makeup and personalities. Again, it makes me think that there could be a non-published database where HOs and sitters give their totally honest feedback and it gets used for TH to have better info in cases of real problems. Like, my one docked reliability star and missing mugs is nothing compared to the weight of mostly good reviews. But if an HO regularly gets a similar refrain from sitters, perhaps TH could reach out with a guide to help them address where they could do better.
Is this a common thing here in the UK on sits, people’s kids coming and staying at the house for a couple/few days while a sitter is there? I’ve had two close calls with sits here in the last couple of months, both with that same situation. Never anywhere else but the UK have I had that or seen someone proposing it or a sitter enduring it!
No it’s not common and contrary to the T&Cs of THS.
All but one of our 50+ sits have been in the UK. We did one 6 week local sit where the hosts university age sons separately both got invited on camping trips. Their camping gear was at home and they both very politely asked if it was OK for them to come home to pick it up and asked when would be convenient. They totally understood the rules of THS and were so apologetic. We were only too happy to let them come into their home to get something they hadn’t known they needed until the sit was already in progress.
Yes, pop-ins are totally fine and understandable, I’ve never an issue with those, but those multi-night overnights requests/incidents are pretty curious! I did do a sit for an American couple in Ireland who had houseguests a couple of nights of my 2 week stint, as well as during another sitter’s stint at their place, which ended up being an absolute nightmare but I just looked at it as lesson learnt.
Some people don’t read the T&Cs or just try it on to see what they can get away with. I’d have taken the opportunity to remind them of the T&Cs. “As you have houseguests on xx dates and this is contrary to the THS T&Cs, you will need to change the dates of the sit so that it ends when your guests arrive”. Or if you want to return after the houseguests have gone, ask them to split it into 2 sits and take the opportunity to do some pet free sightseeing elsewhere.
If nobody calls them out on it, they will continue doing it. Hopefully you and the other sitter mentioned this in your reviews.
@mikomeko, suggest that you become familiar with THS Guests & Third Party Policy. Related terms seem very clearly stated. Applies broadly to any type of non-housesitter person at the pet parent property.
In two of our housesits, at time of housesit confirmation then we were asked by pet parent if their university age child could spend one night at property during housesit (they were each leaving parent holiday and returning to university). In each case we discussed and consented, and outcome was perfectly pleasant. But in each case, pet parent acknowledged that we were within our THS rights to simply say ‘no’.
There was a recent Forum thread about saying ‘no’ to any requests from pet parent that are unreasonable.
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001881117-Guest-third-party-policy
@gotyourback I’m very familiar with the guidelines, I’ve been using the site for a couple of years now, and knew they shouldn’t have guests but decided to just be gracious about it because it’s a huge home and it was only to be a couple of nights. There’s more to their situation and it’s a long story but, yes, I’m well aware and did bring it to the attention of THS after the sit was complete. Thanks, though!
There are plenty of hosts out there with large homes who are accustomed to hosting friends and being hosted by friends - we’ve sat for some of them. None have expected us to share their home with their friends.
It is possible to be gracious and still uphold boundaries. Hosts who know the rules, but have a repeated pattern of ignoring them, will continue to do so. Future sitters applying will have no idea of this issue as it has not been mentioned in reviews. Making THS aware will achieve nothing. At best, they will send the host an email advising them of the rules, which you say they are already aware of.
You obviously had an uncomfortable experience, and I’m sorry for that. Hopefully you have learnt from this and there won’t be a next time, but if there is, please mention the situation in your review. This will allow other sitters to avoid this sit and not have unpleasant surprises sprung on them. You have been taken advantage of by these hosts, as was the previous sitter. They will be telling their next sitter that all their previous sitters were OK with their guests if they query it. And it’s clear that you really weren’t OK.
@debbie I can’t say how the other sitter felt, none of us can, and I was initially fine with the guests being there for two nights so forgive me, I thought being gracious in wanting them to have a comfortable and affordable place to stay in Dublin during St. Patrick’s Day in their own longtime friends’ home was in order. Was it a lot? YES. Have I ALREADY learnt from that experience? Of course I have, so no need for hammering that nail into my head! 
(Edited personal information in line with our Forum posting Guidelines)
She was taking you for a mug!! 
Honestly that’s so petty but understandably didn’t sit right for you…… head shake 