I love dogs and cats, hence the reason I’m here. I have a good couple of years experience house sitting dogs and cats and I have great references to show for it.
Even so, these very last homeowners south of Calgary formed an unfavourable opinion of me. I spent a very lovely 2 weeks with a golden Labrador. Enjoyed myself immensely and the dog was perfectly comfortable around me.
I gave these people a great review only for them to give me a mediocre one at best. I responded to their review of course because they have regarded me and treated me incredibly unfairly so now I have to be a little vocal about this so that I can hopefully help another house sitter avoid a similar situation.
Has anyone ever dealt with a homeowner who placed unreasonable and unfair expectations on you? How did you deal with them.
One other note I’m going to make here:
I’m not going to mention any names, but I will say this:
These most recent homeowners live in De Winton, a community immediately southwest of Calgary. They have outdoor cameras which I normally don’t have a problem with, but…
It snowed while I was housesitting and while I was outside with the dog, I heard a voice come through one of the security cameras/ system and it sounded like the homeowner’s voice. It honestly freaked me out for a minute. Also the fact that she was messaging me every day until I told her that all is well and I would be in touch if anything did go sideways, I’m almost convinced that she used their external security system to watch my every move.
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I’m not sure what unreasonable expectations you have in mind. The use of the camera certainly sounds unreasonable.
Regarding texting, that would depend on what you have agreed on. It varies. Some owners ask for a daily update, others want more( I even saw three on a listing, which I thought excessive), some say two or three a week….
But, in my experience, very few expect to be contacted only if something goes wrong.
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What do you mean by a “mediocre review at best” ? If you could be a bit more specific – like, in which particular areas were you marked down? - we might be able to help more.
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I had a somewhat similar experience with an HO in Feb in , FL. Outside camera. She texted me about bringing a garbage bin in saying neighbors were complaining. It was a holiday the day before so they hadn’t come. I took a picture of the street and sent it to her showing all the neighbor bins were out. It was all about the outdoor camera. She had left a garbage container and a cleaning product on an end table – when they left. I left it there. I think she thought I left it there. The house was totally cluttered with toys and household items. She said I didn’t clean it as well as she had left it. She is crazy to think so. But that is the way with the crazy HOs. It is a process to figure them out in the interview.
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She never explicitly asked me for an update every day. She just told me she would check in on an update from time to time.
I’ve done a lot of house sitting over the past couple of years, and once before via Trusted Housesitters last year. And the most any homeowner has contacted me for an update was 3 times over a span of 1-2 weeks. And I’m more than happy to keep them updated. Other than that, they don’t want to hear from me. That’s always been my experience anyways and it’s perfectly normal.
External cameras are also perfectly fine with me, but totally not fine when the home owner has to watch me and scrutinize me every day. I only suspect this based on the little voice I heard one morning over the web cam and it was her incessant need to contact me.
Totally is shitty when this happens, but it’s definitely a reflection in them, not us when we’re doing are very best to give the best service.
3 star-ratings for most everything
Saying I’m overwhelmed and into
Intimidated by the dog.
I’ve been house sitting (mostly paid gigs) for a couple of years now and I wouldn’t be doing this if every medium-sized dog terrified me
As for the cleaning, I made sure the house was as clean as possible given the fact the the dog was shedding her winter coat.
I still had a fantastic visit in the area and as far as I’m concerned, everything went super well.
@Deanna_P, in case helpful then we find that Pet Parent preferences for communication during housesit vary a great deal. Some Pet Parents seek daily photos/update; some a periodic message that everything’s ok; some want a break and say ‘no communication is good news’. More often than now, we communicate daily at start of housesit (built comfort) then only periodically during sit (as PP request) and then daily again at end of sit. All subjective. No right answer. Only way to navigate this with Pet Parents is through asking them upfront.
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Not clear on why a host has to contact you for updates. And hosts differ, including many who want more frequent updates, initiated by the sitter. Seems like you and the host didn’t communicate well about those expectations.
Plus, if you thought they were monitoring you via the outdoor camera, why would they merit a “great” review from you? Sounds like if you had reviewed them factually, you would’ve been better off versus having given them a strong review and getting a weak one from them. And you would’ve been able to help other sitters decide whether they’d want to sit where they’d potentially be monitored.
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We routinely send a pet photo and a few words daily to our HOs, all they do is tick or heart the message so it’s minimal daily comms. One HO we sent these daily comms to their brother as requested by the HO. It’s all agreed beforehand.
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Concerning things being left out by HO, I’ve taken to sending pictures of the items and saying “this was here when I arrived. If you’d like me to put it away, please let me know where it goes.” If a text with picture isn’t possible, I’ll leave a sticky note on it. I don’t like it when a HO leaves a dishwasher full of clean dishes – how am I to know where every little dish goes in the kitchen? But, if I don’t unload it, then I can’t use the dishwasher during the sit.
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Yes. One asked for daily picks and detailed update for 2 weeks. I felt overly connected.
Also, the house was so clean I felt I needed to walk with a sponge in my hand.
I felt stressed, but upheld the agreement and was respectful through and through.
I wish I had thought of that when it happened on a sit.
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If someone leaves me a dishwasher including things I don’t know the normal place for, I leave the items clustered on the counter and just let them know in my departure message that I put them there instead of guessing, so they don’t have to hunt for the items.
That’s never been anything but acknowledged or appreciated by my hosts.
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@Deanna_P It sounds like the problem might stem from not having clarified the frequency of contact during the sit. The fact the HO had to msg you daily -until you msgd back that all was well- may well have irrirated them. And maybe it even got them worried enough they felt the need to monitor the external cameras. Who knows- I’m only speculating.
However, we personally, always ask how frequently the HO requires updates. On short sits its usually daily. On longer sits over 2/3+ weeks it might be every 2/3 days but everyone is different. E.g on our last 3 week Christmas sit we were asked to send a picture every day but “please don’t write a novel with it”!! So we sent 1/2 pics daily with a one-liner.
Our current hosts, also 3 weeks away, requested an update every 3 days so that’s what we’re doing- several pics with an amusing/practical update- and they are reciprocating (most unusually!) with pictures and details of their amazing trip! Its rare, but actually nice, when the HO shares something of their trip too as its usually a one way street!
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I also let HO know that whatever frequency they’d like I will adhere to
They appreciate it, as it is a “fit”