Not quite the same thing, but I just turned down a sit after the host told me that a neighbour came and went and seemed to feel half at home in the house. I was in a similar situation in the past and had a tough time for 2 weeks, so no way was I going to put myself through that again. So I said I wasn’t going to do the sit. She was very angry, has now posted the listing again - and my guess is that she will not tell the next applicant about that neighbour. The reviews don’t mention her either…
Yes, I agree with you. The OP negated that by agreeing to sit knowing that the third party was going to be there, IMO, though. I think you and I also agree that if the sitter agrees to that, then it makes no sense to be complaining about it later, because they were complicit.
Thanks posting that. The first part of the statement seems to contradict the second. “We do not allow other people… unless there has been a prior written agreement from both parties,” which would seem to allow both sitter guests and third parties with prior agreement, but then it’s followed by “we require… no other individuals (apart from the confirmed sitters) are present during the sit,” which would seem to forbid both sitter guests and third parties.
Personally I think THS should just stick with the first sentence. It would have improved this situation between me and the HO immensely.
I accepted the sit weeks before the start of sit
When I confirmed the sit, three days before to arrange train station pick up, HO asked if ok that daughter stayed in house and I take Guesthouse. The Guesthouse is amazing
Only problem is, I have to now share the kitchen with the daughter that I was to never see bc she was staying in guest house.
( on the last day, daughter admitted she usually leaves the house entirely as it’s a small village and the sons house is walking distance.
The point is, the Guesthouse change happened THREE DAYS before arrival
Am I suppose to cancel bc of that?
It was my last sit in UK and it had three big dogs and four horses…my favorite type of sit.
It’s all said and done at this point
New on THS and the learning curve.
Thanks for answering my questions. I wasn’t suggesting you cancel this sit, only asking for more information about the situation. We all live and learn after every sit be it from the homeowner side or the Sitter side. Best of luck as you continue your sitting adventures.
Go with your gut. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. You will be disappointed otherwise. I had a gut feeling about my last sitter and it turned out to be a very unpleasant situation, as a result I have cancelled my membership.
If you more than glanced at any of my posts I would hope it’s clear that I have not been complaining about the third party. My issue is solely with how the HO has been dealing with sitters. From a lot of the posts on here I’m starting to understand why she felt the need to act that way though and I think THS should update/clarify its policy so HOs aren’t trying to find questionable workarounds.
This is you complaining.
I had similar, the neighbours house was an Airbnb which was only mentioned in the Welcome Guide after accepting the sit. I’ve had experience of loud parties etc from a rural Airbnb cottage so asked to cancel. The HO said “I’ve never had any bother” (until you do) and said she’d remove it from the WG. I found this extremely disingenuous as I’d rather know all details on applying for the sit but it now isn’t disclosed at all.
Not from a sitter they don’t.
Ok, so you’re right to be honest and also the other perspective is that you accepted the situation and knew the terms but then rated her down for the exact terms you agreed to.
Meaning, if you said, “This is against THS rules. So, just letting you know, I wouldn’t be able to give five stars for a sit like this,” then she could remedy the issue by not selecting you as her sitter and hiring someone instead (not THS).
But, by not being honest about your feelings upfront, she booked you or continued to agree to host you after being transparent, without knowing you were unhappy and thinking you were in total agreement with her terms.
So… both of you weren’t really upfront.
Considering your lack of transparency at the point of decision before the sit started, I can empathise with the owner in this case. My understanding is she didn’t spring this on you after you arrived?
If that is the case (apologies if not), technically, you were both not transparent in a way that allowed the other party to know what they needed to know to make a decision to move forward or not.
As uncomfortable as it is I always tell the HO exactly how I feel in the moment to give them freedom to choose/resolve the problem/select a diff. sitter. This saves drama.
I recently had a mid-sit situation where the owners changed plans and one of them wanted to return for five days. I told them I would need to cancel as that was not in the THS terms and I didn’t book international travel to share the space. My “payment” for pet-sitting is private accommodation. They immediately adjusted and it ended up being a great sit. I’m invited back too. The right people understand boundaries and won’t be offended.
Don’t let this deceptive pet owner make you complicite in her dishonesty.
I think there is a big learning here for you as a sitter about setting personal boundaries for yourself and asking the hard questions before going into a sit
The homeowner should have been entirely forthcoming about the presence of a room mate and the people living in a flat directly below her home and given you a proper opportunity for you to decide whether the same was acceptable to you before you agreed to do the sit .Its up to you to decide what conditions are viable for you and what you feel you would like to say in a review .especially if it can help other sitters ahead of time accepting a sit to know what they could be letting themselves in for
it seems to me the homeowner has been covert about withholding information she needed to be clear and transparent with you about becuase she thought she might not be able to get a sitter and because you easily fell in with her plans she took you to be something of a push over and brought in emotional manipulation to try to get you to change your review .Be strong set your boundaries and write the review you would like to leave
Totally agree - it’s our job to report kindly and accurately.
I guess a lot of people oughta be given the pink slip!
Those sitters didn’t break any rules. The HO clearly did.
I’m so frustrated by the number of reviews, both here and on other review sites like airbnb, that just hand out 5 stars even when not earned. HOW are we to make decisions based on dishonest reviews? And in this case, based on dishonest HO posts as well? I have been requested (airbnb hosts, etc) to leave only 5 stars so their business isn’t negatively affected, when they didn’t earn it and should just use the reviews they do get as an opportunity to better their business or quit if they can’t. It reminds me of the complaints about this generation of kids who ‘expect’ rewards without earning them; and yet now the adults are doing the same. I admit, it IS difficult to give someone 3 or 4 stars even when deserved, if one really liked the HO, but that’s not the question being asked when reviewing. If a HO is nice, yet has an unclean home, marking them for an unclean home is the honest thing to do and helps those searching to find a good fit. That doesn’t, however, prevent us from saying the things we DID like in the review. THS, and other sites, need to come up with a better reviewing system, that works. I’ve share one that I’ve seen before, but it doesn’t look like there’s much interest by the businesses to change things.
I’m not so sure about that. We’re asked to give honest reviews; when that’s not happening, it causes problems for others.
I think, instead of complaining, she’s sharing that something has to change. HOs and sitters need to start being honest so that we can make choices that work for us. If she withheld this post, thereby ‘hiding’ a problem, so that she wouldn’t look like a complainer, how would that help anyone?
You didn’t, she did. Honesty is always the best policy.