Um, gifts and payment/tips are different things. Tipping is based on service/job performance. We don’t tip. We gift based on what we can guess of the sitter from their profile, where they e been before, and comments left in reviews (eg loved the great coffee - we note and try to gift accordingly). Or in this case ‘we live a healthy lifestyle’ so trying to find places that accommodate a wide variety of eating styles.
Do you not have Rover or paid sitters near you? I think this may be a better fit for you as you do seem very specific. And your odd comments on cameras and surveillance which as a HO seem really off base. Honestly I wouldn’t even treat a paid sitter to camera surveillance, dog trackers, and locked up rooms everywhere.
Wow, I read these posts and I am shocked. Most people I’ve sat for go out of their way not to leave anything and even hide basic things like toilet paper and soap. Glad to see there are people like you who value their sitters but in my experience that’s an exception.
I’m sorry that’s been your experience. I completely understand not leaving gifts, but I don’t get the hiding toilet paper stuff. That just seems like…well, mean. I mean everyone has to toilet?!?
In 8 years of sitting we received a welcome gift i think 3 times. THS used to directs owners to clear their fridge, not sure if that’s still the case? I think people that hide the basic necessities are living on a tight budget and don’t want to spend anything extra due to the rising cost of living.
Yeah, maybe that’s extreme. We definitely try and ‘eat through’ our fridge before we leave, but we usually are able to do so without someone showing up to clear it out
@Felinelover can I come and pet sit for you please! If only all HOs were as appreciative. Maybe it’s different in the US but house sits I’ve done recently UK and Spain the HO has left nothing. I did a sit over Christmas and the HO left nothing, not a box of chocolates or bottle of wine
@karenlet I have first dibs on @Felinelover sit next time sorry And hey, that was pretty poor form on the homeowners side particularly for a Christmas sit.
@Crosswords_and_puzzles, no, chocolates and wine were just an example. I don’t actually expect anything but it does make you feel just a little bit more appreciated if there is something. For example, on one sit the owners cooked for me the night before they left and gave me the entrance fee to a museum that I’d expressed an interest in going to. On another sit the HO told me to help myself to vegetables growing in their greenhouse and veg plot - if they hadn’t mentioned it I wouldn’t have been comfortable taking anything.
Yes that often happens to me. I did one particular sit over Christmas and was shown drinks on top of the fridge and told to help myself to lemonade! I said I didn’t drink lemonade. Not a single bottle of wine was left but, when they’d gone, I discovered cases of Laithwaites (posh!) wine! So very mean!
And on a sit last Christmas I was left a bottle wrapped up. When I opened it, it was M & S Clementine Gin Liqueur. I thought how lovely until I spotted it was dated 2021, so reckon they’d been given it then and didn’t like it so thought they’d pass it on to me! They were the people who expected me to use my own car to take the dog to his walks twice a day with no reimbursement…(discussed on another post a while ago).
I’m sorry to say but think that probably British home owners are the meanest.
These are minimum effort hosts, they want to offer nothing apart from the accommodation, they might offer some toilet rolls but that’s it, some of them looked up THS rules to see what they have to offer and the answer is condiments, and that’s all they offer, some of them might even pride themselves in being so professional, some expect the sitter to show up at their door step and leave before they are back or as soon as they come back, many offer to arrive the day before but it’s more for their own peace of mind to make sure things are handed over properly not for the benefit of the sitter(in some cases they offer because they try to secure a sitter otherwise they might not get one), some(not all)offer the “welcome dinner“ (which is praised by many sitters in the reviews as proof of good hospitality) not because they genuinely appreciate the sitter but because they asked the sitter to arrive the day before they leave, it would be odd to eat their own dinner without the sitter
I don’t have the ability to read people’s intentions but, in almost every occasion I’ve been offered dinner, I have felt genuinely appreciated and felt we all enjoyed the conversation and yes, I have mentioned it in my review.
On one occasion they did eat on their own and I went to my room, I felt awkward but I also thought they had no obligation to provide food for me and they did provide a lovely, spotless room and very thorough and useful information to explore the area.
And hey, that was pretty poor form on the homeowners side particularly for a Christmas sit.
