It’s the second week of an 8 week sit, on Monday we find out that our house sitters are at another property an hour from our house, with our dog. They did not tell us they were taking our dog away, nor that our house was empty, (if it was!).
They said it was an electrical emergency at the distant house, but we find out that they were planning to be away from our house several days, with our dog. They had been vague about sometimes they might need to be a away a day or even one night for an electrical problem, or family friend support, it’s a long sit and we thought a day with them could be manageable for our dog, once she was settled with them. There are two of them and we foolishly thought one would stay at our house if they needed to sort out personal issues, but we are totally shocked at the length of time, and with no communication with us at all. On Wednesday we reminded them that they need to be at our house with our dog and any variation from that they need to tell us first; they messaged back to agree to that.
I could go on with the weird, affronted, gaslighting comments we have received from them these last few days, including we did not think you needed to know, and we thought you would understand our emergency etc. but talking through with THS HO we have tried to reinforce that they are there to be “trusted house sitters”.
Yesterday our daughter drove to our house as she needed to collect a food delivery by the front door. Our dog is not there and there is a camera placed with a view to the front of the house in the window!
The stress and worry for our dog is becoming overwhelming and given the variety of mis truths we have received these last few days it’s becoming increasingly difficult to believe anything they say.
I can see that you’d been in touch with Membership Services about this, so I’ve passed your Forum post over to them, with a note of the ticket number, and asked if someone can please look into what’s going on.
How awful for you, I am so sorry you are dealing with all this stress. It makes me so cross to hear things like this, sitters like this give us all a bad name and they really need to be put off the platform.
On an 8 week sit, I can imagine that things could happen which force the sitter to be away for a night or two, but communication and honesty are paramount!
The camera at your house makes me wonder. What the heck are these sitters doing? I would call them and talk to them.
Please let us know the punchline when you find out!
That’s what we thought when they mentioned a couple of things, 8 weeks is a while. Not for a moment did we think they would not let us know when or for how long, or be away days at a time, or then be surprised that we would be interested to know where she was. There are a number of other red flags that increase our concern too.
Going forward with that as their standard of care is very hard, our dog is the sweetest little cavalier, she is so easy going and loving, that they are taking advantage of her, is infuriating.
Luckily we have everything in writing and that is why we are reluctant to call them directly, luckily when we did they did not pick up.
What a stressful situation this is for you @Bourne. These sitters have broken the Terms of Service in that they cannot remove a pet to another location without the owner’s permission and that they must be in residence overnight unless this has been agreed between owner and sitter at time of confirmation.
What reviews did they have? How did your video chat go before confirming them?
Thank you all for your comments and support; it’s really been appreciated.
We asked our daughter to pop by our house this afternoon to see how our dog was doing; she was fine, and the sitters were in residence too. We asked about the camera, because we were certainly curious as well; the chap of the couple loves his car and wants to be able to check it is safe at all times. We have also asked to see a photo of our dog as we had not really heard anything or seen anything about her since we left over two weeks ago.
I think the punchline is that they seem to have lost sight that it’s our dog and our house. We hope this draws a line under that confusion.
We have been very much helped by THS Head Office, and we would have found the whole lack of communication even more stressful without their support, so many thanks to them too.
That’s very positive news @Bourne. Also glad to know THS were very supportive. Despite having at least a dozen 5* reviews, your sitters could well have been unaware of breaching the T & C as many members do not read them yet are agreeing to them when they join. I hope you’ll be able to relax more now and enjoy your time away.
@Bourne it is very concerning these sitters thought it was ok to install cameras in YOUR home. I think it’s best they leave as they have crossed the line too many times. They have made it very apparent they cannot be trusted with your sweet pup and your home.
They thought they’d have an electrical problem in advance….?
I’m confused about the camera…. Do they have 2 cars and left one that he wanted to keep an eye on…? Or did they have it set up while they were in the house and then it was just still there when they left….?
Emergencies happen, but they certainly should have let you know. And keeping an eye on someone’s house is kind of the point here, not taking off and leaving it vacant. If you are geting “weird comments” it doesn’t bode well for another 6 weeks. I hope Member Services can help you figure out what to do. They don’t sound too trustworthy to me….
@Bourne, gosh what an odd situation. Glad that situation was escalated to THS MS and support was provided. The quote above is perhaps a reminder of the value of due diligence questions during video call. If either party uses odd or ambiguous language then followup questions are appropriate. Some such questions may be uncomfortable - but that’s far better than surprises during active housesit.
Over time, our video calls have evolved from us initially trying to sell ourselves as housesitters to a balanced interaction between us and pet parent on details of situation, property, pet, etc to assess a potential fit. Now, after learning experiences, if we sense oddities on important topics then we simply withdraw application.
I appreciate the comments here. There are a lot of relevant points that would take going into lots of details. The primary concern we had was that we did not know where our dog was and how long she was away from home, as there was no communication with us and they did not think they needed to tell us.
Now that we have clarified matters with our house sitters, we hope that we can go forward with a successful house sit for both sides. Fingers crossed!
Never agree to have your pets removed from your property ahead of time. Opens up abuse. The only reason a pet should be removed is in case of emergency….neighborhood evacuation, the house is on fire, a serial killer is on the loose, the pet or pet sitter is in critical condition, etc you get the idea. Don’t take the “trusted” in TH literally. The app is giving no one guarantees and in most cases never removes abusive members as it is, afterall, run by a company that first and foremost needs to make a profit. Just saying.
This sounds very similar to another story I read last year- maybe the same sitters? They also seemed somewhat ‘cavalier’ in that they took the dog with them to visit family overnight…. without any discussion/permission. I think in that case they believed they were being ‘good’ by keeping the dogs with them…. different viewpoints/perceptions I suppose.
Mind you on our last sit we had permission to take the dog on our daily visits to my elderly uncle aged 89 who absolutely loved the dog therapy!
Agree with your punchline, AND it seems like with their dozens of 5* reviews, they may have gotten complacent and take advantage of HO trust. Unfortunate, but I’m SO thankful your pup is okay! Safe travels!
