Hi ive just arrived at a two week sit with a lovely cat but the house is quite large and is filthy , smells and flys everywhere!!! I can only cope if i begin cleaning but it will take many hours to get it copeable with is this fair?? What can i do?
You have options @Phippscares - you can message the hosts & say the house is not clean enough or as expected (as per listing/photos) so, please can they fix this asap to make you comfortable. You can sort it yourself and clean the house and comment in the review that it was dirty and give less stars etc. You can also give the hosts notice & say “sit not hospitable” so we are advising 24 hours notice for you to find alternative sitters & also tell THS of what’s going on. Ultimately you need to talk to the hosts and tell them how you feel and the choose your course of action. Is it as advertised? Were they dishonest? Are they easy to talk to? Can you remedy the situation? And so on. #itsgoodtotalk
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Ok i feel bad as they were such nice HO but doors wont lock either at back of house so its a bit unsettling at night !!! I may try calling the brother tomorrow and ask him if he can help ? Its not ok to leave such a dirty house though so am quite cross!!
Good to have feedback
Thank you
@Phippscares
I suggest that you take photos of all of the main issues . Send these to the hosts .
( Photos will also be useful In the event that you need to provide this as evidence to THS )
THS is about mutual exchange and hosts agree to providing a welcoming and hygienic home for the sitters in exchange for pet and home sitting .
Ask the hosts to arrange for a professional cleaner to come and clean .
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Am I not correct that sitters clean a home sometime during the sit? I know for sure that some of our past sitters did a deep clean before leaving but certain evidence suggests they didn’t do much cleaning over the course of the sit. It seems they let the house slide from how we left it then did the deep clean to return it to the condition they found it on arrival. This has happened on a few occasions.
If I’m correct here then you might consider the normal course of events flipped in your case with the deep clean first and then sliding for the rest of the sit. I’d suggest definitely returning the home cleaner than you found it but, in this case, not by much.
And, as usual, I strongly suggest sitters take photos of the home as they found it on arrival and another set just before departure. Those photos serve as evidence should a conflict come up down the road. Also, the first set of pictures documents where things were on arrival and should be on departure.
Hi @Phippscares
No, it’s not fair. I don’t expect the same standard of cleanliness when I sit as I would from an Air BnB, but I also don’t expect to have to mop floors or clean a hob upon arrival just to make a place pleasant enough to spend time in. (I have done both on past sits). I’m someone who is used to pretty basic, hostel-style accommodation, so I would say my expectations are relatively low, but cleanliness goes a long way.
If a home owner has made an obvious effort to make sure that their home is a clean and pleasant environment, not only does it show that they respect me as a sitter and appreciate the valuable role that I will play in caring for their pets whilst they’re away, but it shows me that they care about and respect their home and belongings. And if they don’t care about those things, why should I?
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What!? No, sitters are not supposed to do a deep clean…
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Whether doors lock or not, when staying someplace different we always set up a boobytrap in front of entry doors. Maybe a couple of stacked bottles or cans or broom or ??? The idea is that any intruder will inadvertently knock over the boobytrap and make enough racket to get our attention. We’ve only had a boobytrap triggered once during our travels and it scared the intruder more than it scared us.
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You are not supposed to clean after the host. You are supposed to clean after yourself only. This is not a cleaningservice. These people are not «nice», they violated the THS terms and regardless of terms, leaving guests a filthy home is not «nice» in any culture as far as I know.
The host has according to the THS Code of Conduct agreed to
«I will create a clean, comfortable and secure environment for my sitter.»
@Cuttlefish has good advice. You could also first ask them to fix it, and if they don’t in a timely manner let them know that in that case you will leave and they need to get their emergency contact to fill in.
What is important here is what you want, so make up your mind first on this.
If you decide to stay, I would clean to my own comfort and then you don’t have to do much when you leave as it is anyway cleaner than when you came. You could also choose to close off rooms you won’t use and leave them as is.
Whatever you do, please leave an honest and factual review with the info. you would like to have before accepting the sit.
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@Garfield is correct that this is not a cleaning service, and the only expectation is and should be that sitters will clean up after themselves. The home should already be clean and comfortable on the sitter’s arrival.
Many sitters will go above and beyond in the cleaning category, as a thank you for a lovely stay. Personally, my goal is always to leave the home cleaner than I found it. But there is no requirement and should be no expectation from the HO that the sitter will do any form of deep cleaning of their home for them.
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I think what matters is how the house is when a sitter or an HO receives it not the state the house is when they are on their own.
I am curious about what evidence you may have that cleaning was done just at the end of the sit.
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If you decide to stay, please take pictures pre-cleaning, so if you choose to leave the place as you found it…or as you used it, which will most likely be cleaner than when you arrived, you can protect yourself from a negative review.
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No, there’s no expectation of doing a deep clean at any point (I suppose other than if it’s a several months sit and they’ve let it slide they might need to, to get it back to where it was when they arrived.) I do a normal clean/tidy before I leave, 30-40 mins, and get 5 stars for cleanliness every time. No way am I deep cleaning.
It’s absolutely unreasonable and against the T&C’s to leave your sitter a filthy home to clean up.
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I’d be looking to give notice and end the sit. Insecure unlockable filthy home - speak to THS then give the HOs 24 hours to either arrange pro cleaners and a locksmith or you’ll leave.
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Out of interest where is this house? Have you a horse, cat and chickens to look after?
Second that - Leave.
(Speaking from bitter experience in both areas: once had a host who refused to acknowledge their back door and lock were broken, although it blew open during a hurricane 
)
If your hosts truly valued providing a welcoming and secure environment for you, their guest, they would have rectified these fundamental issues long before your arrival.
As for the 24hour notice - I’d argue it doesn’t apply here. No one should be expected to remain, let alone sleep, in an unsafe, unsecured property.
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There is and should always be cleaning involved during a sit. I’m merely suggesting the sitter do their normal amount of cleaning upfront and coast from there back to where the HO left them. Or not. I’m just offering an alternate prospective that may or may not be useful. You do you and @Phippscares can do theirs.
@ontheroadagain If a house is that filthy, the amount of cleaning would be much more than a normal end of sit clean. When I’m on a sit, if a house started out clean, there is no point during a sit that the house would be filthy. If I go into a clean house, it is very easy to keep it clean.
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I don’t think deep clean. I am not going to do a spring cleaning, cleaning windows, cupboards etc. I had a sit and they were not the cleanest though you could say the house was “clean”. I actually took a mop and cleaned the kitchen cupboards that I had to touch. But usually I get to a house that is very clean and just clean up after myself, wiping down counters, cleaning the bathroom, vacuuming.
I am on a long sit now and have been vacuuming and sweeping, but the floors are marble throughout. They have a polisher and special cleaning fluid. I am not going to do that. Vacuuming and sweeping is good.
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Sitters are NOT housecleaners. Period.
Phippscares was not “hired” to do a deep clean for the homeowners . They were “hired” to care for the home and animals with the expectation that the former would be liveable and to vacate the home in that same liveable condition.
Yes, we should absoilutely leave the house in the same (if not better) condition as we found it but this assumes that the home we arrived to was clean, safe and sanitary from the outset.
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