Have you ever messed up?

If I had super expensive sheets that I couldn’t bear to get messed up, I’d consider putting them in a drawer and giving the sitter nice-but-reasonably-priced sheets to use.

You sound like a great sitter, honestly.

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@luckycat Exactly.
I’ll consider asking home owners in future if they have items they are particularly concerned about… not sure about asking this though because it might give off the wrong vibes.
If someone mentioned lots of expensive and precious items in the house though, I don’ t think I would sit for them because I wouldn’t be able to relax for the fear of breaking something!

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@snarrkie like everyone else has said you didn’t do anything ‘awful’ you merely made a rectifiable mistake, albeit very expensive - I can’t get over the HO charging you that amount to replace sheets - and you’ve learned from it.
You sound like a lovely, caring and thoughtful person and should get back out there and share those qualities with all the wonderful pets and HO’s looking for exactly those qualities.
Good luck in finding your perfect next sit :blush:

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Agreed, also nothing wrong with pink!

I think at the point you join the site you have to accept accidents happen - I think if a friend had done it, you would have gritted your teeth and said never mind!
I’m a HO and reading this forum my overwhelming view is that sitters REALLY care. We are listing purely for our dog’s sake, not for free doggy daycare. If someone said to me your dog has had a whale of a time, your sitter cared enough to clean up, you’ve had a stress free holiday/trip, I would consider the sheets a fair exchange :smile:

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Hi Snarrkie,

Echoing what others say here: you wouldn’t be so worried if you weren’t so caring, and that probably makes you a good sitter.

We all make mistakes: both sitters and hosts!

The success of something based on trust, like TH, largely comes down to owning our mistakes - and being forgiving. You’ll get a sense from hosts’ listings, and from introductory calls, whether they’re likely to do either.

We’ve apologised for several mistakes over the years we’ve been doing this - and hosts have apologised for things too. And we’ve gone back for repeat sits, on both cases. Rupture and repair is all part of being good humans. It’s all about the relationship!

Keep caring, and keep sitting - not with the ‘stick’ of never making a mistake again, but knowing that you will! and you’ll simply need to navigate a little bit of discomfort when it happens.

I would add that some hosts might have seen pink sheets as a welcome and interesting change!

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Go for that next sit as soon as you can. It will be great and you can put the second one in the rearview mirror! You’ll always have “that one” to laugh about (someday!) but soon you’ll only have good memories.

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I was honest and snapped a part of a vacuum cleaner. I offered to pay for repairs or a replacement part and the homeowner hesitated and said it didn’t matter. I was asked to return for another housesit.

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Bahahahaha! Those things happen! OMG, I guess I can understand someone getting a bit upset but as long as everything was the same color…

And your mom wasn’t wrong. A lot of people do mix their laundry for lots of different reasons with no problem. Synthetics rarely bleed but those cottons can get you from time to time. I did it once with a new pair of blue jeans that bled on everything.

I laud your willingness to make it right and it’s probably a good thing the homeowner didn’t leave you a review as no review is better than a bad one.

Take a breath, double check things, and ask a lot of questions. Keep sitting; pink sheets are preferable over the cost of boarding!

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If I were wealthy enough to spend $350 on sheets I wouldn’t dream of having a young person who wasn’t wealthy and was doing me a big favor pay me for what was clearly an accident. Forgive yourself - most homeowners are super kind and appreciative. Mistakes happen.

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Oh my goodness, what did she have gold edged sheets? Accidents happen and we would have said don’t worry about it.
We had a couple sit for us who we had left some space in the freezer (added some frozen food for them) left bottles of beer and wine for them. Sent then fudge as a surprise whilst we were away.
In return they emptied our drinks cupboard, emptied our food cupboard, helped themselves to other food we had in the freezer.
Kept going on about not being paid. They also said our dog was sick and they had spent £30 on chicken for him (a little Jack Russell)
The house was not as clean as we had left it.
Because of the constant comments about not being paid we reported them to THS.
The sitter we have at the moment is absolutely awesome. Dispite loosing our adored little man 2 weeks before the sit, we still invited her to sit because she had made so many arrangements to get to our home. She is looking after the house and doing an amazing job with the garden.
You have nothing to worry about you sound like your doing an amazing job. Some people are just extra fussy. :heart:

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@DylanFrazer You sound like an amazing person to sit for. I’m sorry that someone took advantage. And I’m very sorry for your loss :heart:

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Thank you for your kind words :heart::heart:

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I am awaiting my first sit as a homeowner/pet owner. I AM the one worried! Ha! I only have a parrot- but parrots are demanding and loud screamers if they feel they need food or attention. As a HO I would not expect my sitters to have such fear or stringent expectations of handling household chores, etc. We all make those mistakes, and like other said, you wont do that again! Leaving food in the refrigerator ?I am leaving food in the refrigerator for my sitters to either eat or leave or throw out if there are expiration dates on some items.
Am I supposed to leave an empty fridge? Yes, I will clean it well but why throw out new eggs, butter and condiments? Relax, do not overthink this and know YOU are doing a favor for US as we do not have to pay for expensive boarding!

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Hi @DylanFrazer. Well done for reporting the terrible sitters to THS. Unfortunately these odd bad eggs need routing out. Some HO’s won’t though. I’ve spoken to 2 HO’s where they should have reported a sitter. One particularly in that the sitter had rung up a bill in the 100’s on the HO’s landline phone calling their own country without permission.

The HO was way out of line. Accidents happen and a HO should be prepared for this. I would never have accepted your money if sheets were discolored by a sitter. The sheets still work-it was only cosmetic.

You did more than enough to rectify the situation and I think the HO took advantage of you. Shame on them.

We are both HO and HS. As a HS, I backed their car into something and broke a taillight. I was horrified and so upset. I let them know immediately and offered to fix it.

They were so nice. They called me immediately so I wouldn’t worry. Told me they only cared about the dog and she was well cared for.

I did get it fixed as I didn’t want them to submit a claim. It was expensive, but my error so I wanted to fix it.

I have been there now 4 times and consider them friends.

The situation was horrific to me, but thanks to the gracious HO, it turned out positive.

I have had sitter’s damage minor things at my home, and so what. The dog was well cared for and things can be replaced. Sitters are doing HO a favor and should be treated like family.

Hang in there and try again! It speaks highly of you that you cared enough to wash the sheets.

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I messed up but got 5 stars for excelling the other areas!
Another homeowner read the feedback and had a chat with me about it and appreciated my honesty and is willing to utilise my services.

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Thank you all so much again for your support here! :heart: Believe it or not I got accepted to FIVE sits since I posted this! They are all short term but I can’t believe it. Hoping for the best in the future.

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Hi @snarrkie Congratulations! That’s fantastic news :clap:t2::slightly_smiling_face:

Where will your first sit be? :earth_americas:

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I feel terrible for you as I read this! As a sitter, I try very hard to ensure i don’t ruin anything, like nice cooking pans, wine glasses etc. And I’m 52! But accidents can & will happen. As a homeowner,I think most owners would realize this & cut you a break. Especially as a young & typically broke person! I would never have accepted money from you. Especially not that much & after you told them what happened & you felt badly. I believe both sides of TH take on a level of risk and as long as you kept the house clean & secure and the pets healthy & happy, thats all that should have mattered. You can’t be uptight & do this. Don’t let one person ruin the opportunities for you !

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