While women would be more upset, as a man , I would also be upset if I was at a home where someone had peed this n THS seat and not cleaned it up.
3 Likes
You did the right thing to leave an honest review. I think this is for future Sitters/Guests to make informed decisions, as well as for the HOâs to understand that there are standards to adhere to. But also for you; it sounds like it was not the equitable situation you agreed to.
However, the fact the HOâs thought it was ok to contact you outside of THS regarding the review is a concerning red flag.
8 Likes
I love it when Owners have excellent cleaning people, and the Owners have the sense and flexibility to schedule the cleaners to come on the day of departure (or the day before) and the day of arrival.
This makes my job much easier.
Sometimes Owners who have regular cleaners are not used to cleaning themselves, and that can be an issue. It is not enough to have a cleaner âseveral daysâ before you leave on vacation. Bathrooms and kitchens can get dirty again in 1-2 days. Someone might need to touch up these areas for the Sitter.
We donât expect âhotel clean,â but I expect the house to be pretty clean!
6 Likes
Can you clarify? What have âyou heard?â
You are way out of context. She was talking about a âhome â not a public place. Huge difference.
10 Likes
As a woman who has had traumatic experiences in the past when I was young, I personally would not feel comfortable, left in the house with two strange men. Unfortunately, this would have meant that I wouldâve had to have stayed somewhere else until I could stay in the house as agreed on my own. The cleanliness aside, that is more alarming to me than anything else
@Debandbee it seems that @Petlover64 was aware when agreeing to do the sit that they would be staying with the homeowners still present on the first night.
However, if a similar situation was sprung upon someone on arrival that would not be acceptable and breaches the T&Cs .
1 Like
I was aware and although slightly uncomfortable I wanted to help out. They are a married couple so it seemed safer then some situations so i agreed but my expectation was the house would be prepared for me. My whole point of this is not to complain about the sit. I still rated overall 5 stars. I though my comments would just be a growth opportunity I didnât see the drama coming. It went from calling me family to we wonât have you back. I think many others would not enjoy this sit so I tried to write a review that highlighted the great points but I wasnât willing to give 5 star for cleanliness as that would be really dishonest. And to be clear why Iâm unhappy isnât cause Iâm sad about not sitting again but I just donât like drama and bad feelings. I worked very hard on this sit looking after 3 dogs and a large number of plants. They were delighted until I mentioned the things that were not a 5 for me.
16 Likes
This would stress me out too- having the homeowner react badly to an honest review. However, I think it is SO important that sitters write honest reviews. Thank you for doing so! Sometimes doing the right thing is hard, but just think of all the sitters you have helped, compared to the 2 untidy rude homeowners. The positive fat outweighs the negative in the long run. Thank you again.
5 Likes
Yes, Iheartanimals, I agree. Five star ratings seem to be dished out without caring what the next sitter finds themselves involved in sometimes. I was on my first sit in the UK (second one ever) whereI found the dogs to be obnoxiously barking and pulling on leash, the home cold, cramped, and inhospitable, and worse of all, the owner entitled and unhelpful. The dogs werenât potty trained, and when I cleaned a poop off a new rug, the homeownerâs response was one of alarmâŚif Iâd put the rug away so it wouldnât happen again! Thereâs more, but Iâll spare you. The point is this⌠what were the THS thinking? No one pointed out anything errant about the dogsâ naughty behavior⌠not one out of maybe 15 reviewers, both before and since! At the local dog park in the neighborhood they all were leery
of these two Yorkies, and we had a few laughs over my descriptions of my experience! Mostly I was disappointed in my fellow THS not giving a heads upâŚ. So I agree reviews need to be factual, not a love fest of glossed over facts.
4 Likes
Yes, I think many of us have provided reviews that rated the pet owners and home higher than warranted. I was doing that as I felt uncomfortable listing things that went wrong and/or gave them the benefit of the doubt like the time I gave a great review and left off that they had an internal camera filming me. Why did I do this? Because the pet owner was new to THS and claimed she forgot about the camera. So I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Just one example, however, I am now trying to give an accurate picture of my experience.
Most sits have really fallen in the good rather excellent. However, pet owners do not want to be rated good and I have been texted afterwards by pet owners about my rating even if I gave them kudos for what was good about this sit. There is an underlying hostility in their text messages - so much that I am consider blocking numbers after I make a review that is less than excellent so they cannot text my phone. I suggest more people be more willing to come forward.
I am in the USA, and I can say that the majority of sits did not have a good working condition vacuum making cleaning up after pets hard. I have found this surprising. Finding even a decent mop has been a challenge.
I have been made to feel that I cannot use the heat (and have had it controlled remotely by the pet owners), made to feel I cannot use much water (because it is expensive), etc.
Also many pet owners do not seem to be aware of THS policies.
2 Likes