I just finished a sitting and was upset because pet owner left a 4* tidying review for me, despite I did lots of stuff like:
• Vacuum and clean the carpet after Foxy.
• Collect from the kitchen floor old tree leaves
• Separate and take out the trash, including organic waste and cat litter.
• Clean up after Foxy when she got sick.
• Wash the stove, dishes, kitchen and bathroom floor.
• Collect dirty towels and bedding.
• Water the plants.
• Washed cats bowls every day.
Additionally, my son helped teach cat to use the cat door, which she hadn’t learned to do before. And did vacuuming in their master bedroom because can was super hairy. (Nobody slept in that)
I want to note that pet sitting is primarily focused on ensuring the safety, well-being, and happiness of the animals. Comprehensive cleaning is not typically part of this service, but I always strive to go above and beyond, and even tasks like cleaning up after illnesses or addressing other needs are additional efforts I happily make to help!
My question is - why pet owners don’t understand that we aren’t a slaves and not a workers?
It’s so disrespectful!
Who else been on the same situation?
I’m really sad….
I am sorry you didn’t get 5 stars on cleaning but I am afraid we can’t know if that is a fair review just going through your list of tasks.
The most common standard is to leave the house as it was found. Sometimes that implies very little work, sometimes it can be quite a few tasks, that would depend on the size of the property and the space the sitter is using, the duration of the sit, if you clean as you go or leave all cleaning and tidying till the end, if you tend to move things around or put everything back as you use it, etc.
Regarding cleaning when a pet is sick (or has toilet accident) I wouldn’t say that’s going above and beyond, I would bet most sitters here consider it part of the deal even if it is not stated anywhere as a task. It would be different it the pet is prone to being sick or having diarrhea, not that we wouldn’t have to clean but that this should be disclosed in advance so that sitters can make an informed choice.
Something that might help for future sits: Check the reviews that the host left for previous sitters. If they’re nitpicking or otherwise overly demanding, then I suggest skipping them.
If they’ve had a bunch of sitters before whom they’ve rated and reviewed well and you end up as the exception, you might want to reconsider how you leave a sit home.
For my part, I’ve always left them as good as I’ve found them. So far, that’s worked well for my hosts and me.
It might be something you forgot - crumbs in the oven, hair in the drain etc. The expectation is to leave the home as you found it.
If you don’t know and you want to find out to be able to get 5* for future sits, you could send a friendly message to host saying you are sorry they didn’t find everything as they expected, and you would appreciate if they could help you with information on what you missed. If they do, just say thank you and move on.
You might agree or not in what they say, find it useful or not, but then you would know more which could help you in the future.
I would say most are reasonable and if so then you might have missed something so the home was not as clean as when they left. Or it was and they were very detail-oriented and possibly not a good match for you.
Edit: just saw you message and that the host answered.
I would reply to her review on your page and list all you cleaned. Also note she emailed you and docked you for a wet bowl and spot on mirror because it makes her sound ridiculous! As a sitter I always look at not only the review the sitter left but what the host left for the sitter. Reading your reply I would stay away from this host as would others.
It seems like more and more owners get nitpicky about cleaning. I got 4 stars for cleaning 3 times last year. Guess what? These reviews did not destroy my life. I still get sits. If someone doesn’t want me to pet sit because of these “missing” stars, I am grateful, because I have no ambitions to become a star cleaner and I am not “staff” either. I clean up after myself to the best of my ability, but don’t go around cleaning every day of the sit, or try to label myself a neat freak or house proud. I look lovingly after the pets, and if that’s not enough for someone, we are better off not connecting.
Perhaps the sofa cushions were in disarray? Some people do seem to get upset about that. Or knives and forks not pointing the right way in the drawer… no pleasing some people!
Hair in the drain is disgusting for many - always check. That and a clean toilet bowl.
I think cushions in disarray would be nitpicking to dock stars for. But I do note how they are arranged (sometimes take photo) and try to put them in same place.
As a HO who got docked a cleanliness star twice even though I’d knocked myself out cleaning, I don’t take a sitter’s 4-star tidyness rating that seriously.
I think @Seniorsitter is right. You could answer their review saying you are sorry you missed some spots on the mirror and a wet bowl as their early return made you harry a bit your cleaning, that you’ll try to double check that next time or something like that. This will show “how bad” the shortcomings were.
She’s replied so at least you know what you missed. Also, you don’t mention how long as you were there for, which plays an important factor, the longer you are there, the more thorough you should be, but also on the list you have written you have missed quite a few things that we do most of the time before we leave a sit. For example, cleaning the shower/bathroom/toilet, wash the bedding and towels (depending on what time of day you left), dust all surfaces, etc, etc. Hope that helps.
You will encounter all sorts of people in your life. You can feel disappointed but do not feel bad. You know the truth and she treated you like unpaid staff. You know who you are and what you did. I don’t think this unreasonable person will discourage anyone from asking you to sit. If they do then you dodged a bullet as they are the same type of people as this one. Put a period on it and move forward and get excited about your next adventure.
That really is unfair if the place was genuinely left clean. Glad you responded below your review to counter their opinion. I always say to owners that I will return their home in the same condition they provided it to me. I often use Airbnb as a comparison in terms of how clean I like to receive the home in exchange for my free services and promise to do the same for them on return (but I don’t nitpick). However, if they don’t give me a clean place, I’m not an unpaid cleaner! I have my own guide that I ask them to fill in for a longer sit and it includes a section on cleaning.
