I wonder if anyone can give me advice! I was chosen for a sit in a lovely countryside sit and very excited to come here. I work from home and this is clearly posted on my listing. When I arrived I noticed there was digging equipment in the garden and asked what was going on. I was informed that construction had just started and that 4 workmen would be here every day from 7.30am to 4.30pm and they would need access to the house several times a day. I would need to let them in and out. This was never mentioned by the house owners in advance. I am so disappointed. Any advice please? They will be here for the duration of my sit. The noise today was deafening.
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Unfortunately I have no car and itās a rural area. Iād love to hire a car but there is no space for a car in the drive with all the vans and equipment. Has anyone else experienced this? Thank you.
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Tell the HOs that you cannot allow access to the house and this was not disclosed and they must make other arrangements for the sit. And take pictures and send to THS immediately. But I think not allowing access to the house should change things.
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I spoke to the builders who said they may be able to bring their own generator but that it would be better to have access to the house. They asked for a spare key and the pet owners didnāt want to give them a key but said I could give them a key. Now I am sharing a key with the workers. THS know about the situation but couldnāt advise me so Iām kind of stuck. I just wished the owners could have mentioned this in advance. Itās not an emergency. The workers were booked to be here the same time as me. I do feel let down. It cost me quite a lot of money to come here.
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None of this is allowed by THS so Iām surprised that THS said they couldnāt advise you. (Not really surprised since THS member services are as much use as a chocolate teapot.)
You are completely within your rights to cancel this sit immediately. You can contact THS and tell them they need to cancel the sit and remove it so you can find another one or go home. Obviously if you are stuck long distance with flights you may not wish to do this. If you do wish to cancel you can have THS notify the owners and give them a day to make alternative arrangements or to cancel the building work and have all 3rd parties leave until the sit is over. Is there a pet? If there is none you can leave immediately.
If you thinking it is not fair to the owners to cancel like this then consider the following: They knew this work was taking place, they deliberately planned to be away so they werenāt disturbed, they suckered you into coming and looking after the house and managing the builders. They are horrible people and should be removed from the platform.
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I agree. They planned this. I wouldnāt let them into the house.
Do you have anywhere else to go? I wouldnāt let the workers in. Take back the key. Stick it out, if you have no where to go and then give them a terrible review.
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I am not worried about being fair to the owners as I know I was deliberately misled and tricked into coming here to assist with the workmen so that the owners could escape the noise and disruption. I am just surprised that I got no assistance when I approached THS and pleaded for help. I am a woman in my own in another country and I feel quite unsafe with what is going on. There is a pet here or I would have left immediately. As a solo sitter I will take this as a lesson to take extra care to make sure I donāt leave myself in a vulnerable position again. I was blindsided by this. I have done 40 sits and was not expecting such a thing to happen.
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I did check the prices of nearby hotels but they are way out of my budget. My flights and train fares were expensive. I guess Iāll have to stick it out but I am saddened that people would take advantage of someoneās goodwill.
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Have you checked to see if other sits are available in the area? If you include the location and remaining dates a HO on the forum may be interested in a last-minute sitter
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That response is unacceptable. Get back on to them and escalate your query until you do get some support. Insist on speaking to a Supervisor/Manager and donāt be fobbed off.
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But THS wonāt allow me cancel. They said I needed to sort things out with the owner. But the owner wonāt cancel so I canāt look for another sit.
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I am sure if you speak to a different agent you will get a different response. It happens all the time, there is no consistency.
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OK, I will try that. I was given a warning that if I left the sit I may face suspension. So now Iām sharing the space with 4 men and it is making me uncomfortable. I donāt want to be suspended as I have 8 more sits booked in, some of them repeats, which Iām really looking forward to. Iām glad I am getting other peopleās perspectives now. After all itās supposed to be a fair exchange and Iām not getting what I was promised.
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I was wondering if I was speaking to a real person on THS? She used the word āgreatā when I said Iād complained to the home owner. It was a strange choice of word to describe something so upsetting, I thought.
You may have been dealing with a bot in the chat. I believe that the magic words are āmember disputeā to get a real person.
Can you see whether there are other sits nearby that you could apply for, if this one was cancelled?
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I just want to go home now as all the good has gone out of the trip. The more I think about the more I think I was speaking to a bot. I asked what happened if an owner deliberately broke the no 3rd party rule and she could not answer the question. Her use of the word āgreatā when I was clearly distressed made me think that ai was not communicating with a human.
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Call the 24 hour Urgent Support Phone Line ( calls are recorded which is a benefit to you ) .
You will speak to a real person .
Refer to the third party policy .
Here is the policy .
āIn line with our sitter and pet parent guidelines, and to ensure the security and privacy of all members, pets and homes, we do not allow other people on the property whilst a sit is ongoing. Once a sitter has begun their sit, we require that the pet parent(s) have vacated the property for the entirety of the stay and no other individuals (apart from the confirmed sitters) are present during the sit. ā
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001881117-Third-party-policy
Say that since third parties are at the property you are giving the owner 24 hours notice that you will be leaving . . Or ask THS to do this on your behalf .
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Thank you. This is what I will do. I appreciate the advice.
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I would suggest to stop this immediately
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@hellocat here is the number for member services where you can speak with a human.
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