I currently have a person housesitting my home, mainly for the care of my garden whilst I’m away for 3 weeks (housesitting myself) in Summer. I mainly chose him because he declared that he was a ‘handyman with very green fingers’. So I was very surprised when he was unable to use my manual Hozelock for winding and storing the hose, a garden appliance that I’ve never had any issues with.
To help him as much as possible from afar, I googled precise instructions for its use but he kept rejecting each suggestion. I was quite taken aback when he suggested the following:
"I am convinced that good high quality utensils are essential to enjoy these hobbies.
This version of Hozelock is complicated and not very user friendly.
Be kind to yourself and your future housesitters by investing in another quality hozelock, not being manual but automatic wind and rewind.
It will be an investment with lovely returns."
He gave a rather snarky response when I said that I wouldn’t be doing so as it would be quite a substantial expense, one I deem unnecessary when I can’t understand why he’s having difficulty using it.
To keep the peace, I compromised and ordered an expanding hose from Amazon for delivery, still an added expense but hopefully a satisfactory solution.
How do others feel about this issue and his request? As a sitter myself, I wouldn’t consider such demands.
I can think of several suitable responses, but I doubt that any of them would be deemed suitable for publication on a public forum. Let’s just hope that he manages to get to grips with the new hosepipe so that you can enjoy your holiday!
In all seriousness, if I have a problem operating something in someone else’s home, I would ask as a last resort rather than risk causing damage, but I would have no doubt googled it to try to find a solution myself first. Having to deal with unfamiliar situations is part of the deal.
He sounds rude and unreasonable. Impatient also. Not resourceful. His request is really a suggestion, but he has no filter. Perhaps a mismatch in communication style and/or personality. It is strange he proclaims to be handy. Hopefully all other things go well for your house and your garden survives his lack of problem solving with the hose. With YouTube or AI, surely he could have handled this even if your instructions werent helping him. Good luck with your remaining time with him. As for his review, do your best at being fair as words are simply words - his communication style may be poor but at least he was asking for help. There is much emotion here so keep that in mind. Here are the categories, I think Self-Sufficient is the line that deserves adjustment.
One last thought: cant the hose simply be left out during his sit and you can put it back in storage upon his return? I know it is ugly but what can that hurt?
Frustrating — but the phrase “there’s nowt queer as folk” comes to mind. That thought, as well as a docked star under “Self-sufficient” probably will help put it in perspective so you can chuckle about it down the line.
Believe me, I had several responses in mind for him too but chose to hold back as they would’ve got his back up even more. I’m glad I wasn’t over reacting though, thank you
Thanks for your honest response, I also thought he was rude and unreasonable which I do intend to tactfully include in my review. Self-sufficient he is not. His later response was ‘I’m a pretty helpful, caretaking personality’ which I just cannot see any evidence of as yet.
Thanks, I was hesitant to order the new hose too but decided that it might come in handy for my campervan journeys and resolve the issue of the old hose kinking. Fingers crossed he can use it okay and doesn’t try making any other demands
Just stay patient. You’re not over reacting, but from a sitter’s point of view, the first couple of days of a sit can be genuinely overwhelming – everything takes twice as long as it should because you don’t know where anything is, and there’s the added pressure of not wanting to muck up as you’re looking after someone else’s home/pets. If you’ve still got the best part of three weeks left to go, hopefully self-sufficiency will improve and things will run more smoothly once he finds his footing.
I had a sit where the hose is very stiff and where it joins the spray gun leaks, I used towels to wrap around it to no avail, the water dropped on the ground and turned to muddy water and splashed onto my trousers. I had to carry a jug to collect the dripping water.
The hose also bends and the waterflow would stop, which is very annoying.
The hose gets wet and gets dirty on the ground, when I moved back and forth it touched my trousers and made my trousers dirty.
These problems made tasks 10 times harder and less enjoyable, really put me off doing the tasks.
I have used expandable hose before which made life much easier.
I’ve had sits with equipment I find unfamiliar or too technical for me. I am a visual person and YouTube is my friend. I have never not been helped by being shown how it works. I would not bother the host on vacation for something like this, only for emergencies which would only be pet related. In the US I could always go to the dollar store and buy a watering can. Maybe if you left a neighbor’s number I would ask the neighbor for help after I couldn’t find help online but I always have found help online for equipment. I am 100% of the opinion of not telling other people how to live their life and especially when a guest at your home. I don’t think sitting fits him if he is going to judge and his comments were rude IMHP.
Good point although hosing my garden is his main task and it was he who wasn’t interested in attempting to master the easy task of winding it in with the equipment available
That does sound messy My hose would not have caused those problems as it’s only on pavers and gravel, no mud in sight. And he’s supposed to be an experienced gardener and handyman.
Great points. He didn’t show any resourcefulness at all. He did, in fact, mention it to my neighbour who suggested that he leave it unwound. Goodness knows why he didn’t just do that and why I didn’t suggest it.
When I told him I’d look at it when I got back home he was very snarky, replying with ‘Good for you, Unfortunate 4 me.’
Seems great pragmatic suggestion, although OP appears to suggest that hose challenge was not forseeable.
Quite a few pet parents have chosen to record videos for us of atypical or complicated aspects of pet care or property maintenance (from high-end cinema rooms to kitchen appliances, and medical aspects of pet care) - very thoughtful of them.
@GotYourBack exactly! There didn’t seem any need for a video as it operates perfectly easily for me. I’m wondering if he broke it by trying to force it the wrong way, I found several examples of him not reading the instructions in my welcome guide
We arranged for him to come the afternoon before I left so that I could show him any tricky things but the hose wasn’t one of them
My hose would not have caused those problems as it’s only on pavers and gravel, no mud in sight. And he’s supposed to be an experienced gardener and handyman.