My first sit just ended as a PP. Everything went smoothly, i.e my indoor cat is still alive but some plants may not pull through not being watered as requested.
I came home last night and said hello but went to bed early. She and her husband left this AM. We said good bye but I didn’t realize they were both leaving. (He came a week into the sit with my advance permission.) They’re in 2 cars.
My welcome guide asks that the house be left as it was found. Also describes where cleaning supplies, broom and vaccum can be found.
I thought she was going to clean, but they both left. Any point in texting her to thank her and also express my disappointment? Or just spell it out in public review?
Thank you!
What exactly isn’t clean though?
Beds stripped?
Fridge emptied?
Their rubbish removed?
Sink empty and clean?
Bathroom wiped down toilet bleached?
This would be the minimum I’d say …
Hello
If you feel the need to leave any sort of ‘negative’ feedback in their review, it is probably best you don’t contact them beforehand to tell them the things you were unhappy about. If they suspect they are going to get less than perfect feedback, they may be inclined to include some negatives in your review as well even if they had no intention of doing so originally. Not saying this would definitely happen, but if I were you, I wouldn’t risk it.
Were you not happy with the state the house was left in, ie it was not as you left it?
Housesitters aren’t a cleaning service. Usually the state you find it as you arrive back is the state it will be left in. If there were issues, that would have been a good time to raise them to allow the sitter(s) to put them right.
It’s quite unusual, in my experience, for there to be so little social interaction with a HO who arrives back when I’m still there. I’m sure you may have be tired but usually we’d have at least had a drink/coffee/breakfast together at some point during the handover.
I wasn’t there so not judging, but I feel like I don’t have a full sense of what happened. Was your arriving in I guess the evening, with their departure the next day part of the plan? Were things generally tidy when you arrived? What exactly greeted you that was disappointing?
I could easily imagine its being a somewhat awkward evening and maybe they would’ve felt self conscious cleaning up after you arrived home. They probably sensed something and left early to avoid bothering you.
Personally, I’d find it awkward to clean someone’s house with the person home if I’m not a hired cleaning service.
My guess is that they will be surprised/blindsided by a bad review over this, and may respond – as is their right. Remember, whatever you have to say will be seen not only by other homeowners who might not use them as a result but also by other sitters who might view it as unfair and not particularly want to sit for you.
How do you know they didn’t vacuum etc. before you arrived home? Your post doesn’t indicate that anything was actually unclean. If I had an overlapping night I wouldn’t leave it until the owner were back. The only thing that might happen is stripping the sheets, but if there’s a guest bed and nothing in particular was communicated then that’s not a given.
You say that this was your first time having sitters and
That’s great …
Followed by
What do you mean by that ?
Is your cat ill or malnourished? Any indication that sitters didn’t take care of your cat ?
It’s not clear from your post which parts of your home were not left by the sitters as they were found on arrival ? Or is it that because you didn’t see them clean you have assumed that they didn’t?
We have always cleaned before an owner returned and would not wait until after an owner had arrived back to clean. We only clean the rooms we use - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and any other rooms that we use .
It seems from your description that your sitter accommodated a very late return home by yourself . Was that always part of the plan and agreed before confirming the sit ?
In your review there are sections to rate the sitters on cleanliness and pet care.
Were these new sitters or experienced ones ? If they are new and could have done better in a few areas then some friendly feedback might be helpful . Remember that this is not a paid service and sitters aren’t cleaners . We are guests in your home and should treat it respectfully.
Reviews are not read by THS .
Reviews will be read by future owners looking at that sitters profile .
They can also be read by future sitters who are considering applying to sit for you . If you come over as overly demanding or critical this could put some sitters off from applying .
From what you described, it’s not quite clear what the problem was @Jmamelia . We maybe had a little bit similar situation, and here’s how I handeled it.
We once had sitters, who stayed until the next day after our arrival, as agreed before the sit. The home was clean when we arrived, but then I noticed, that all the garbage bins were full, even the ones that were in bathrooms (no flushing toilet paper here, so the bins were full of used TP).
I assumed they’d take the garbage out when actually leaving the house the next day (we were driving them to the train station), but it started to seem they wouldn’t. So, I emptied all the bins but the one in their bathroom. I told them friendly, that I already took care of all the bins down stairs, so the only place they needed to worry about before leaving was their own bathroom.
They didn’t, so I mention that in the review along the lines: “The house was clean and tidy, the only minor thing was they forgot to empty the garbage bins and clean the bathroom they used” . Other than that the review I wrote was really positive, stating thruthfully they were great with animals and we’d love to welcome them here again.
I’m with everyone else, I’m a little confused. Have they left dirty dishes? Have they left the bathroom unclean? Has it been vacuumed? We wouldn’t clean after an owner returns, we would have done as much as we could before their arrival.
So if it’s actually unclean then save it for their review. But if it’s the cleaning of bedding, then that’s not something we would do if we’d planned on staying the night of the owners return. We discuss it with the owner, and typically say we’ll strip the bed, but we wouldn’t clean the sheets in your scenario, because we won’t hang around waiting for washers and driers for hours on end, when typically an owner needs the washer for their holiday clothes anyway.
I wouldn’t mention the plants in a review, as you will never fully know whether they watered them or not, as you weren’t there, so you don’t know the weather, and you don’t know if them having extra heating on had an effect either. I think plants is just one of those things you need to accept.
But we need more detail, what is actually ‘unclean’. Or were you expecting them to clean after you returned?
Hello @Jmamelia many people have asked further questions to help clarify your situation. It would be helpful of you can add some more detail so we can advise properly!
I think we can chalk this one up to another HO who came to the forum in search of validation for their unreasonable expectations, didn’t find it, and has bailed.
*This post is simply an observation on a pattern I’ve observed; of which this post fits.
I think @Jmamelia may have been discouraged by so much judgement and I really don’t see any signs of her being unreasonable. If she asked the plants to be watered and the house to be left in the same condition it was found, I don’t think that’s asking too much. I’m a sitter myself, not a cleaner and I always leave the house as clean as I’ve found it. If the owners are back before I leave and I leave in the morning, I put the sheets in the washing machine or at least offer to do so.
