Has anyone had a homeowner change the dates of a house sit when the house sit is already in progress?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
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Hi there! I was on a house sit in Denver and everything was going as normal until a day before the house sit was scheduled to end, the HO informed me that they were coming back that day! Since it was unexpected, they offered to pay a hotel for the night. The HO claimed that she had ‘forgotten’ to update the dates of the house sit because her husband had been the one to book the flights. I didn’t think that was acceptable, especially if you have someone come and take care of your pets, you should know which day you’re coming back, especially if you’re flying. She basically texted me and said ‘ ‘oh I forgot to let you know we’re coming back today instead of tomorrow’! I had to rush and get up to clean uP and find a place to stay.

I wasn’t happy, and I let the homeowner know that I was unhappy. Because of that she gave me a bad review complaining about how I supposedly ‘ate and drank things in the fridge’ that I wasn’t supposed to, yet she had said at the start of the house sit that I could help myself to anything in the fridge. It’s my first bad review, and makes it seem like I just consumed their food without permission.

My issue was that they shouldn’t be able to change the dates of the house sit when it has already started. Am I crazy here for being upset? Has this happened to anyone before and how did you handle it?

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It is understandable to be upset about that. It seems like it was a big oversight on their part but I always like to give people the benefit of the doubt and not assume people have bad intentions, were purposefully being rude, dismissive of the other person’s needs,etc… This is helpful for me because it typically isn’t what people do that makes us upset but our beliefs about why they did it, their motivations, intentions, frame of mind, etc…

It was kind of them to offer to pay for a hotel…definitely the right thing to do in my opinion but something they would have been under no obligation to offer. If I were them, I would have stayed in the hotel myself and come back on the date noted in the listing.

There are countless reasons a host may need to come back earlier than expected, some good reasons, some not so good–at the end of the day, they can do whatever they want as it is their house. It is not like THS can tell them they must remain away from their house until the stated end date of the sit.

In your case, they were certainly at fault and having to rush to clean up and get the house ready for them is certainly not ideal. That you weren’t put out financially by having to pay for your own accommodation is something of which to be appreciative though…often times, sits ending early cost the sitters money.

Everyone has the right to feel how they feel about the situation and respond how they wish. If it was me, I almost certainly would not have said anything, but there is no right or wrong. It is all a matter of one’s perspective.

I have had a few instances of sits ending early but they were for legitimate reasons such as getting sick while on their trip–two instances of hosts coming down with Covid– or having family emergencies. These things can happen and is a good example of just going with the flow and understanding things may not always go as planned.

I am sorry to hear that you got a bad review and you believe it was linked to stating your displeasure with their early return, though you can’t know for certain that was the case.

When things transpire in a way that leads one party to think they may get a bad review, there is always the possibility they will leave a negative one as well–for a variety of reasons, people believe it will make anything bad said about them seem less credible.

The best you can do is respond disputing anything they say but doing your best to do it in a factual, non-emotional way. I know it can really sting but it will start to fade.

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Hi @Ams619

Fourteen years in, 155 sits, and yes — life happens. People get mixed up, flights change, plans shift. In your case the HO apologised and offered to cover the night of accommodation, which is really all they can do once the miscommunication has already happened.

In my experience, a bit of grace in moments like that tends to lead to better outcomes all round. Pushing back hard rarely improves the situation, and it often shows up later in the review.

A day early is inconvenient, absolutely — but it shouldn’t need to turn into a major drama.

:paw_prints::heart:

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I guess what I should also clarify is that before the house sit, she told me she was still finalizing dates, so I reached out a week before to specifically ask if her dates were finalized and she said they were. So for then to suddenly change the dates AGAIN? And the excuse wasn’t about an illness or anything. The intent did not seem to be honest.

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Also, I’ve been doing THS for 2 years and I get that you want to give the home owner the benefit of the doubt, but I am old enough to know when a review is retaliation. I absolutely know the review was retaliation because it was ALL lies. You sound like you’re gaslighting here, because you don’t have the context but your knee jerk response is to claim that I have no way knowing that the review was a response to my negative review of them….

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Thank you for acknowledging that I had the right to be upset. I am surprised how many people on this thread think it was all in my head, yet no one other than me has the full context. I would expect to get some more support from other pet sitters.

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Maybe look up the meaning of gaslighting before bandying it about. Hint: nobody here is doing that.

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Also, by the time I get upset, it’s because I have given them plenty of grace before. I trust my instincts and listen to, as well acknowledge my emotions. I’ll be honest your response doesn’t seem very helpful.

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I know exactly what gaslighting means, that’s why I used the word.

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Maybe. But your over-the-top accusation thrown at WeRPAWsome shouts otherwise. Gaslighting definitely isn’t when you “don’t like what someone thoughtfully writes in reply to my query.”

Regardless, the THS forum is not the best place to get unquestioning endorsement of one, over-the-top side of a marginal issue.

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@Ams619 Yes, it’s annoying if people get their dates mixed up and you have to quickly do the cleaning. But as others say, people make mistakes, it happens.
Plus, they offered to pay you the hotel!
I don’t know what else you could have expected in that case?
Are you sure you’re not more upset about the fact they mentioned the fridge-thing, rather than the actual fact they got the dates mixed up?

Anyway, I hope you’ll manage to put this thing behind you and will enjoy many lovely future sits!

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@Ams619, your clearly upset at both the early return and the negative review.

Mistakes do happen. We had a Pet Parent return home exactly 12 hours early - they had told us that their flight arrived at 12:00 midnight but it was actually 12:00 noon. We believe that they got confused with timezones on a long international flight - oops. “Hi, we’re home …”. House was ready for them so not big deal. While surprised then we pragmatically adjusted actions - in this case, PP offered that we continue to sleep at their property that night (they did too). All good, indeed we enjoyed a lovely meal together.

This seems a thoughtful response, if required you to find accommodation. Some HS may find this a boon as it may help explore a different location without pet responsibilities.

We don’t recall reading this in THS Terms of Service. URL below.

As a housesitter gains experience they will face odd stuff (cancellations, changes, pet issues, property issues, etc). Presumably same for PP too. Reality is that sometimes plans change - for health, travel, mistakes or other reasons. We try to be reasonable and to find win-win outcomes, even if there’s a quirk.

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The host had an unexpected change of plans, and graciously offered to pay for your hotel for a night. I’ve read numerous stories where the host ends the sit early and simply expects the sitter to vacate with no consideration of the inconvenience nor any offer of alternate lodging.

You’re being completely unreasonable and by getting into conflict with the hosts you earned yourself a deserved negative review.

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I’ve had several times HOs have needed to change the end date for various reasons (a few just because they got the date wrong). None have offered to pay for a hotel, that was nice of the host to do that. I’ve never gotten upset about it. I understand that sometimes things happen and one day isn’t really a big deal.

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I can understand why that would have been stressful, and inconvenient. It sounds as if this HO is simply disorganised and was unaware of her flight times and dates until her return was imminent, rather than having a last-minute plan change.

Since the HO wasn’t compelled to do that, it does show some grace (though I can appreciate a hasty last-minute clean through and pack, then having to book hotel accommodation at such short notice is far from ideal for any sitter).

And there lies the problem: you voiced your dissatisfaction to the HO in no uncertain terms, prior to her leaving you a review. Since there was nothing you could do but accept the situation, it might have been better simply to put things in place for an early departure -be accommodating to the HO - and then mention the nuts and bolts of the situation (after having slept on it) in an honest, factual and unemotional review. You would then have received the review you deserved for the pet and home care you provided, and you’d have been able to spill the beans about your experience in a calm and controlled manner, thereby getting things off your chest and allowing future sitters to make their own decisions about how they’d feel about such a disorganised HO.

I’m sorry you experienced this situation. It sounds as if things have escalated and left you feeling very upset. Going forwards, it might be wise to take a deep breath and step back from any negative or challenging situation, instead of having a knee-jerk, emotional reaction

Chin up!

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I think the OP mentioned the HO was returning that same day?

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You think this sitter ‘deserved’ a negative review because she voiced her dissatisfaction at the HO returning home a day earlier than scheduled, with virtually no notice?

Poor sitters - who don’t provide appropriate or adequate care to the pets or home cares - ‘deserve’ a negative review, not sitters who voice their opinions regarding the actions of HOs, which impact on them (though I do believe this situation could have been better handled by the sitter).

Maybe you should take a leaf out of your own advice book, and leave reviews which are honest, factual and ‘deserved’ (ref: your posts in other threads relating to reviews which are contrived to self-serve)?

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@Happypets yeah, they could have at least given more notice of the early return. I would probably have just mentioned the early return and lack of notice in the review (and possibly deducted a star for communication).

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Yes, the host had an unexpected change of plans, and they took the sitter’s inconvenience into account by offering alternative lodging at their own cost.

Rather than being flexible and understanding the sitter made a big issue out of it, and as a result received a negative review.

Hence the negative review.

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I think you’ll find the OP mentioned the HO had specified incorrect flight dates, not that there had been an ‘unexpected change of plan’:

Despite offering to fund alternative accommodation for the sitter, this signifies a disorganised HO, who expected the sitter to accommodate her oversight (and at very short notice). As sitters, we should appreciate knowing about such things in factual, honest reviews, as would rather avoid scatty HOs.