I wanted to gauge opinion on an issue which arose on my recent sit. It was a two-month sit, and during my stay I ordered some protein powder to be delivered. When I mentioned this in passing to the hosts, they objected to my having done so, saying that they “did not give consideration to our address being used for deliveries.”
A few points: they did not express this objection at any point previous, nor did they include it in their welcome guide (which notably included quite a few such similar things they did not want/expect) although the thought to check before the fact never even entered my mind as no host on any of my previous fifty plus sits had voiced any objection. Previously, before a long sit I have had something sent ahead of my arrival, but always checked with the host first as it would involve the inconvenience of their receiving the delivery. Because it would be me receiving the parcel in this instance, and so there would be no inconvenience involved for the hosts, I didn’t foresee any issue.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Am I wrong to consider this an unreasonable expectation, particularly on a longer sit? Is it “normal” to have to ask permission to have something delivered?
It all depends where the sit is. In some countries deliveries in your name to an address can be used as proof of residence. I usually ask first but I’ve never been told no.
Personally I always check HO’s are happy for me to have things delivered whilst on a sit. I don’t really see why they would object (and you’ve had experience of many sits where it has been fine). However people have different things which make them uncomfortable so I always do ask beforehand and the answer has always been “yes of course”. I guess you may have just come up against HO’s who have concerns about data sharing etc.
As an HO, I always have my mail held when I’m away, so the sitter is not dealing with my mail and has no access to my mailbox, but a parcel delivery that does not go through USPS would be no problem.
I’ve often had packages delivered from Amazon. I honestly never thought to ask about it. Using their address in this manner isn’t establishing any sort of residency, so it’s not like they would start receiving junk mail addressed to me or things like that. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume this wouldn’t be a problem as I don’t think it would be for the vast majority of people. But now that you have had this experience you may want to check with the homeowners beforehand just to be sure it’s okay for peace of mind.
I’ve occasionally had stuff shipped from Amazon and frequently have deliveries made by food app companies like DoorDash, Instacart, Deliveroo and such. I don’t see why there’s any problem with that. And some of my hosts have been at home before their trip when I’ve had such delivered. No one flinched. It wouldn’t occur to me to ask unless it was late at night and might startle them and get the dogs barking or such.
A sitter should always ask the HO if they can use the address for a delivery. In my US State that’s a big no no as it can can be used as proof of residency. Tenant’s rights kick in after 30 days where I live. So the combination of a long stay and mail being received at that address could mean that the HO is in a position to have to evict you if you don’t leave as scheduled.
@Lulubelle, I’ve lived in seven U.S. states and at the department of motor vehicles, if you wanted to prove residency, you’d have to provide a utility bill with the address on it — you couldn’t say use an Amazon delivery invoice or meal or grocery delivery as proof. For utilities, you usually have to provide a social security number (gov’t issued) to establish accounts.
On one of my sits, my hosts even ordered Amazon deliveries in their dog’s name, so I’d know which ones to open for her — they were toys, LOL.
I’d always ask a host if it was OK with them - However I would be surprised if someone said no, particularly for a sit that long! You’re meant to feel like you’re welcome and at home. As long as you’re not ordering illegal contraband I can’t understand what issues it would cause?
Well this gives me something to think about. I guess I will now ask ahead of time because I would not accept a sit with no deliveries UNLESS I had a car. If I am doing a short sit I frequently use Doordash and don’t use the kitchen so minimal cleaning for a 2 or 3 day sit. For a longer sit I have groceries delivered. Would they also consider Uber a problem. Just seems strange to me and a HO that would not match my personality.
Yup, I use Lyft, Uber and meal and grocery delivery all the time. If hosts object to using their address for such, I’d definitely avoid their sits. And because I use meal and grocery deliveries, I’m home with their pets, rather than leaving them alone.
On one of my first THS sits I asked an owner and got a “I’d have to think about that”, they never got back to me so maybe they are still thinking about it. Occasionally I do have things delivered and run it by the owner in case it requires some extra steps, for example they may need to let the front desk know. Most of time I just don’t bother though because I’m always afraid I’m going to miss the delivery because I’m already somewhere else. For example, this may have been my imagination but I’m sure THS years ago was going to send me a tshirt or tote bag for reaching some kind of milestone (50?). Never did get that and the HO never let me know that something had arrived so who knows maybe that was my imagination after all…
I was talking about this specifically in the sense that I would not receive any other mail there in my name–which HOs probably wouldn’t be happy about and would be a reason for me not to do this–simply because I used their address for an Amazon delivery. That alone does not officially establish me as a resident of that home.
To answer your specific questions, I have never experienced this but also I have never done a Sit longer than one month and have never had any packages delivered.
I think the Owners are being ridiculous! I would have done the same as you.
The Owners are way overthinking your protein powder delivery.
There is so many cautionary tails, especially in California, of home owners having long legal battles with “guests” who get something delivered to their address then claim residency and won’t move out. I know none of us would ever consider doing anything like that but if the home owner is a nervous first timer I can understand their reluctance
That’s a really interesting point, thank you! It’s in Europe, and I’ve checked that such rules don’t apply here, but I appreciate hearing something I had not considered
Me too. I’ve had two deliveries and before giving the address I checked with the hosts that was ok. They had no objection & in fact took in the deliveries before my arrival
I’ve had Amazon items delivered to a sit location in the U.S. without problems. In some countries it is much harder to get things delivered to an address that isn’t your own. I’ve had things sent to a friend’s house in Germany and because I wasn’t registered at the address, I had to add a “c/o my friend’s name” after my name. I could see how it might be a problem for a homeowner if it looks like it could establish residency in their home.
