THS has a policy of no third parties during the sit. I am wondering if this applies to house cleaners coming in to the house to clean during a sit? I recently did a sit where I was told to let the house keeper in for a 3 hour house cleaning. So I had to be present to let them in and arrange my morning schedule weekly around this. I also had to listen to the vacuuming and smell the cleaning solutions. I would rather not have to go through this during a sit, especially when I am keeping the place clean already. Seeking input, thoughts etcā¦Beyond house cleaningā¦what about other service staff comingā¦ Curious as to what other sitters have experienced and learning more about how THS policy applies?
This is permitted on THS but must be disclosed in the listing so sitters have a choice if to apply or not .
Here is quote from the policy
āIf they have arrangements in place for people such as cleaners, gardeners and maybe even maintenance people to come in periodically to complete tasks or help maintain the home, then this is allowed. If there are any arrangements in place, this must be shared with a sitter (for example, āgardener comes in once a week for 2 hoursā) before confirming the sit. The pet parent should stipulate the potential for any third parties to be present during a sit by putting that information in their listing. ā
Most of our sits have had gardeners and or cleaners and some have had pool maintenance people coming . We have on several sits found ( with agreement of the host ) that if itās a sit with dogs they can be left at home on the days that the cleaner is there giving us more time to go out and explore .
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Youāve started four threads with problematic sits. Itās unusual for one sitter to encounter one problem after another. Maybe review THS terms so you get familiar and tighten up on how you match with hosts ā some sits arenāt worth doing, but it requires due diligence to figure that out.
Thereās no guarantee of great sits, but itās also odd to have so many problems.
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My current sit has a housekeeper twice a week for three hours. It was mentioned during arranging the sit if we were happy to have a housekeeper (itās six weeks). We felt it was a bonus as itās a huge house and will save us doing a deep clean at the end. Itās nice having the interaction and would never have wanted her to miss out on six weeks work/payment.
Often HOās give the choice of the housekeeping frequenting but it has never not been mentioned. If itās not something you are keen on maybe steer away from applying to those in future.
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Cleaners on a sit is commonplace (as are gardeners and window cleaners, in my experience). If this is something you would rather not have to deal with, it would need to be discussed with the home owner if, for example, it will disturb you if you work from home and have meetings etc.
Often, home owners will understandably want to keep cleaners on to avoid the cleaner missing out on pay for that week/ month. If it is not possible to make alternative arrangements, itās worth looking at the positives. They are helping to minimising the amount of cleaning you have to do at the end of a sit, for example.
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Hi @KellyK
Cleaners during a sit are quite common in my experience of doing 23 sits so far. Itās discussed in the pre-sit chat with many HOās asking if they should cancel the cleaner whilst Iām there. Iām usually very happy for the cleaner to come as per normal. Iāve also had gardeners and pool cleaners turn up but generally theyāve had a key or code to access the property without my assistance.
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Like others have said, this isnāt a violation of any terms and conditions so long as the sitter is made aware of this ahead of time and then they are free to decide if they would still like to do the sit.
I donāt think THS could make any policy that would outright prohibit hosts from having these sorts of people visit the home no matter what. This is a bit of a different scenario than someone living in the home at the same time, which is a clear āno.ā
If this is something about which you feel strongly, moving forward it is a good idea to ask about this specifically in your application message if it is not mentioned in the listing.
Figure out what your preferences are regarding this and communicate them clearly.
Would you not take a sit if a cleaning person was going to be in the home at all? Or are you okay doing the sit so long as you donāt have to be home to let the person in? Based on your schedule, would you need for them to come a particular time of day?
For people who normally have a cleaner, they may be willing to not have them there while you are in the home if that is your preference, but some may not.
I personally like having cleanersā¦less for me to do, but everyone has their preferences.
My only deal breaker regarding this is when people have someone in the home on a daily or near daily basisāI always check about this in my first message if there is mention of a cleaner in the listing but not how frequently they come. In my experience, this is pretty rare though.
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Since this is something that you would rather not encounter, you can discuss with the host during your video call.
I look for sits where in the photos, it seems the owner cares for their home. When they have a housekeeper, thatās another positive sign for me. Iāve had to let a housekeeper in before, but Iāve never had to stay afterwards. You can ask if thatās possible.
To me, besides the home being well cared for, a host who has had a cleaner for a long time tends to be more relaxed about a sitter being there to care for their pets. They are used to others coming to care for the things they care about.
Iām also sensitive to smells of some strong cleaning products, but most of the time, they go away quickly after drying. If they donāt, you can always ask if the cleaner can use something less strong during your stay.
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I noticed that too and was wondering howās it possible that so many unusual scenarios happen to the same person? 
Also, why not put them all in one thread? Somethingās afootā¦
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Sits that come with a cleaner are the best!
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I ask during the application process if anyone is going to stop by for any reason. Then when they tell me the cleaner will come, I ask them if they can cancel it as we are homeschooling and working from their home and itās too disruptive. It gets cancelled and we have a wonderful petsit. I donāt mind outside lawncare folks as it does not disrupt our work or studies inside the home.
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I note that Iām a telecommuter, so letās please discuss if they have a cleaner or such. Thatās so I donāt get unexpectedly interrupted mid-meeting and have to suddenly decamp.
With gardeners and pool cleaners, I like to know ahead of time, so Iāll know to check the gates before letting out dogs into the yard after they leave. Iāve done a couple of sits where the gardener or window cleaner forgot to close the gate after they were done and the dogs couldāve run out. Thatās happened once before at my own home, when we first got our dog. It mustāve happened before at one of my sits, because they had taped a note on the gate to remind people to please close it.
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If a HO asks us if we want the cleaner then we have a think and see if it works for us.
If the HO states that they have a cleaner then I would never ask for it to be cancelled. The cleaner is relying on their income for that time
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I love sits with cleaners! But, I do need to know ahead of time when they are coming since I work. Some hosts have the scheduled day/time in the welcome guide, and some have just told me in the chat. I did have one just show up at 8am one day with no warning. I was annoyed, but since I was leaving the next day, it significantly cut down my cleaning time. I always ask now if a cleaner will be coming and when. I would never refuse having someone else clean! 
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@Itchyfeet If it were just my husband and myself, I think we would appreciate a cleaner. But since it also involves my 3 childrenās homeschool, the petsit has to work for us with our lifestyle. I address the 3rd party in my initial application and if the pet parent has it as a condition that the cleaner must come, I can withdraw or accept the disruption. If they say itās my choice, I will ask that it be cancelled. But yes, I do understand about their income and you make a valid point.
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Personally I love it when there is a cleaner.one in particular I sat for changed my towels and washed them and bedding while I was there.but I donāt work so maybe different if your disturbed by noise.
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Whenever weāve encountered cleaners on a sit theyāve always been friendly and we welcome them- especially in big homes.
We are also OK with gardeners, pool people etc- and usually this is all discussed in advance. I would not want any regular staff to lose out on pay.
Occasionally in small homes the HO has cancelled the cleaner for the duration of the sit and we are fine with that too.
What is not OK is what we experienced on a recent sit in a large home that had recently been renovated. We had not been told there would be any workers at all during our sit, not even cleaners. But on the arrival evening we were informed of a whole string of people whoād be coming- the cleaner twice a week for 4 hours each time, 2 different gardeners twce per week, 3 landscape gardeners to finish some garden work, 2 inside builders and a decorator to finish off one wing of the houseā¦
We were very taken aback and mentioned we had not been told in advance. She said āoh I thought Iād mentioned itā¦ā Erā¦NO!
Every day action, noise, disturbance etc all unexpected and unwelcome. Little privacy. Most of it could have been postponed for the week to give us some peace but the HO obviously just wanted to get the job doneā¦
We put up with it all (for the sake of our 5* review!) and loved the dog to bits!
However they gave us (our first!) 4* review - reason being that weād objected to having the builders in!!
But they were more than shocked by our very honest 3* review! It was difficult to write but we couldnāt let them get away with it!
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@Maggie8K 
Why would someone complain about house cleaners coming in? Doesnāt that help out the sitter so they donāt have to clean as much? We love when home owners have house cleaners come!
Because if you telecommute (or homeschool as described above), the disruption might not be worthwhile. Like I sometimes lead or attend video meetings involving a bunch of people and canāt switch times last minute or without notice. Or during various times of year, I might be attending all-day financial planning sessions for work. Or biweekly, we discuss company goals and progress. We donāt want strangers overhearing confidential info. Some people might do other confidential remote work, like therapy, security, health, etc.
In such cases, sitters should be capable of cleanliness and tidiness even without cleaners. Just discuss at the outset.
Also, some people might worry about being blamed for what cleaners broke.
Wowā¦just wow. So, you were docked a star because you showed a little reluctance to the HO bringing up all these additional parties that would be entering the house just as the sit began, yet were still accommodating enough to work around them, despite the inconvenience and lack of privacy it resulted in for you? Words fail meā¦
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