I have had a blessed pet sitting life, lots of lovely sits, in clean houses
When you encounter for the first time a house with a bathroom so dirty that you have to scrub shower head, clean shower floor, and even clean the control knobs before using shower, do you do your review, knocking off a few stars on cleanliness, with just a line of info about it in the text, then follow up with before and after photos to the HO after they have submitted their review?
I don’t want to destroy them and stop them from getting future sitters, but I do want them to improve their cleanliness before another sitter arrives, and to warn fellow sitters.
They own an Airbnb, so must surely be used to reviews on all aspects?
Yes mark down 1 star for the shower, were other areas clean though? Also bear in mind if the HO has an eyesight issue, not that this is any excuse but I myself don’t put my contacts in until after I shower so close up I’d not notice inside the shower. Thankfully we’re aware of this issue at home so hubby cleans our bathrooms as it’s on his chores list!
Agreed, mark down for cleanliness accordingly. If it’s just the shower, that’s one thing but if it’s lots of issues everywhere, just score accordingly. And if it’s just a cleanliness issue, make sure to be fair and factual everywhere else as well when scoring.
actually no, pet behaviour is also gonna have to get dinged, as the 9 y old lab, good as gold until the 6th day, chewed the parcel shelf support in my car, on a 12 mile journey back from a walk. Also chewed a car mat, which owners know about, and have offered to pay to replace. Something else happened out on the walk that day with the 2nd dog, which I won’t go into on here. upshot= no more car journeys for them both . Sin Bin, local walks now.
The owners don’t know about my issues with their cleanliness, yet…..
Out of curiosity, if you are staying in the Airbnb accommodation, have you checked out their reviews on that? Maybe cleanliness is mentioned? I agree with others that I would dock a star in cleanliness and pet behaviour with a brief referral to why.
I am in their home, and have tried searching for the AIRBNB listing for that very reason, but I cannot find it. I will maybe ask them for a link to it when they return, just in conversation, and do my detective work afterwards. They have already offered me a repeat sit, and it is on dates which I have set aside for the moment for something else that may or may not happen, but if they ask me again on their return, I will definitely say NO thanks now..
I should add, I am their first sitter, and that is also weighing heavily on my mind, I want to cut them some slack, but I have to be honest in my review too.
Yes, if they are first time sitters, you may feel awkward. But if it’s not a 5 star sit, then it’s fair to say that.
Maybe for cleaniness: Although the home was generally clean, I did need to do some cleaning of the bathroom at the start of the sit. The HOs can easily address this before their future sitters’ arrival.
And for pet behavior: Sitters should be aware that _______ may chew on objects if given a chance so pay close attention to _______.
Do they use this bathroom themselves? If not, they genuinely may not have checked the one for you. No excuse, but you’ve said they’re new to THS, and nice people so I would hope they would appreciate you tactfully raising it. Will you see them on their return? I have raised issues with hosts both in person and in a note if not seeing them at the end and they have appreciated it. It did not affect the reviews they gave me, and I included the issues in my review of them but politely.
YES, they do use this bathroom themselves. (I know this because the water was running cold on day one, the lady said but I use this every day and never have any problems with it, and it turned out the AUTO water heater part of boiler system was accidentally switched off). I will only see one half of the couple at the end of the sit the other one spending a day with a relative en route home. We have to discuss payment for damage to my car, (as already offered by them) so I will only discuss that, and I will keep my concerns re cleanliness for after the review, I can share my before and after photos with them. I am leaving to go to my next back to back sit, so will do a quick handover.
