Arrived at sit to find an oven that doesn’t work and is completely filthy and caked in burnt food, unusable. The bed is really uncomfortable with a damaged mattress so they just stuck an ill fitting protector on top but mattress is filthy and stained. The washing machine stinks and was. Full of sludge so had to clean the drum before using. Kitchen cupboard knobs cakes in grease etc. totally unfair with sit. Ive told the owners, with no response. What can I do? I have to eat out or by takeaways which i cannot afford. So angry!
Contact THS support at support@trustedhousesitters.com or probably quicker, talk to the chatbot and ask to speak to a human and see what they advise. They’ll open at 9am UK time so in 90 minutes. Pretty sure there’s a clause that says the HOs have to leave you a “clean and usable home” @Loveabell so you’ll be within your rights to contact the HO and say sorry, not staying, please make other arrangements for your pets (or get a company to come and deep clean the oven & house asap). #thatsgross
Hi Cuttlefish, I did contact support but not really much help, just advised to speak with the owners which I have already done but they never responded!
Trusted House sitters have an urgent support line phone number on your dashboard which you can call 24/7
In your position I would go back to THS stating that you need to leave as the home is unliveable and that the owners are not responding so your messages so you need them to contact the owners on your behalf - THS have alternative contact numbers for members .
THS have a definition of unliveable -
“Unliveable” means a pet parents premise that fails to meet the requirements outlined in Our Terms of Service. These requirements include but are not limited to, a clean and hygienic living space,
@Loveabell Have you tried contacting the HOs emergency contact ? Explain that the home is unliveable that you can’t stay with the state of the home as it is and that you have been trying to contact the owners with no response . So as they are the emergency contact they will need to come
and take over care of the pets when you leave ( or arrange for a deep clean ) .
I agree with @Silversitters, contact THS again and get them to contact the HO.
I don’t think THS has any alternative numbers (at least I was asked only my phone number and an email), but the owner might be more likely to answer to them.
I agree with everything all of the others have said. Please let us know how you get on. I despair with the lack of assistance that Membership Services supply.
Make a decision if you are wanting to leave or if you want to get some of the issues sorted out.
If you are going to leave tell the owners you find the condition of the house a problem and that they need to arrage a nother sitter or some other arrangements for their pets. You’ve not mentioned their pets in all this so it’s hard to say how easy or hard it would be for them to do this. You should stay until they have made arrangements or if they avoid doing so contact THS.
If you want to get some of this sorted then tell the owners to arrange a cleaner or get some serious oven cleaner and degreaser and gloves and get stuck in there (do not remove the oven door to clean it) and have them pay for the supplies (include a bottle of wine in the cleaning supplies). Mattress is a little harder but you could hire a carpet cleaner to try and sort the mattress a bit. Those look like sweat stains. Some people sweat heavily when they sleep - that or there’s been a murder
Put it all in your review.
Thanks for the advice but there is no way that I am cleaning that oven! or the mattress! I’m here for 4 nights. The pets are ok, dog is great, one of the cats is a pain because she is an older kitten and just wants to escape constantly but ok. We can’t leave as we have nowhere to go currently until our next sit. I have messaged the owners all about this and all they suggest is that we have a facetime once they return home! They are not willing to pay for anything or contribute to my wasted food that I bought to cook. I think it’s disgusting that HO can get away with this, yet we the housesitters have to pay the membership. I also have premium membership… fat lot of good that is.
@Loveabell - it is shocking that you find yourself in this situation. We have arrived to a couple of dirty ovens and a soiled mattress but certainly nothing on that scale
As you are allowing the sit to run it’s course (many wouldn’t) you will be able to leave a blind review to warn other sitters. Hopefully THS will contact the HO and explain that the standard of their home is unacceptable. Thank goodness it is only a short sit and I hope your next sit proves to be a positive experience.
I’m so sorry to hear about this - I can see you’ve got an open ticket with Membership Services so I’ve asked the team to look at your latest email and photographs. I also let them know that you have already tried to contact the owners and that you were struggling to get the support you need.
If the home is “unliveable “ you do not have to stay and you are covered by the sit cancellation plan as a Premium member .
You would have course first have to give the owners or their emergency contact sufficient notice that they need to come and take over care of the pets .
Thanks
The owners have responded now, but just to say that we can use the microwave or pizza oven in the garden and they also just said we can FaceTime once they have returned but this doesn’t resolve anything now.
I have spent money on food I cannot cook. I’m not about to clean an outside pizza oven and try to work out how to use it just because the oven in the kitchen doesn’t work.
The bed is also a huge issue, there is a massive dip in it and the mattress is very stained and dirty. Totally unacceptable. They said to sleep in their son’s bed upstairs if I had an issue, but don’t feel comfortable doing this as this is his private space and I would have to change all the sheets etc.
Surely there should be rules on the condition of a house to enable a house owner to join? We don’t have anywhere to go so we have to stay here another night. I really don’t another house sitter should come to this house as it is now.
Also, how do I leave an honest review knowing that the owners are informed that I am not happy? They are never going to review me favourably as I have complained. This just doesn’t seem at all fair.
Please advise.
Claire
Edited to remove personal details as per the posting terms
But how would these rules be checked and enforced?
This model is all about trust, by HO and HS, but some people just dont think like that unfortunately
I feel for you, you shouldn’t have to find yourself in such a predicament.
When facing a problem, I use a two way approach: What can I do to solve the problem right now and what can I do in the future to avoid that it repeats itself.
In my opinion today you should focus on the now, worry about what to do later when you are not so stressed and disappointed.
If you think that the son’s bed is better, go ahead, change the bedsheets and sleep there. And as for your food that you brought over: can it not be cooked on the stove top?
As you have already stated you’re not willing to pick up and leave, and you have only 3 days left. You should try and make your life as easy as possible for the next 72 hours. Then please leave a factual preview so that other sitters will be warned.
I know you’re unhappy, but I agree with what Peonie19 says. Take a deep breath and focus on what you CAN do.
The owners gave you permission to use their son’s bed, so do it.
As I rarely use an oven and instead cook everything in the microwave or on the stovetop, I honestly can’t imagine what you’ve bought for just a 4-day stay that can’t be adapted to another cooking method. It may not be a gourmet meal, but you won’t starve nor waste your food during such a short stay.
Perhaps THS should ask the homeowners to send pics of their fridges, ovens etc… and specify very clearly that these items should be cleaned prior to any sit? I’m not asking for spotless… but clean and suitable for purpose would be good!
