Yes for sure. I don’t know how to get the money back. I am not sure if a sitters insurance with TH includes appliances the sitter pays for. Learning experience!
Did you discuss the garbage disposal repair upfront, with the host approving the expense? If you have that in writing, you should send that back to them and ask for repayment.
$500 for repair seems steep — most new disposals cost a fraction of that. And most can be repaired by checking on YouTube for how-to videos.
If you used or ate the $100 worth of food and supplies, and they were not originally offered to you, it doesn’t seem notable that you replaced them — that would be necessary to do.
BTW, if the disposal repair wasn’t done till after you left, how would you pay for it? Plumbers don’t charge till after a job is done, because they don’t know the amount of the bill till the work is done — whether repair or replacement. That doesn’t make sense.
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I do agree that kind of repairs must be paid by the HO but, in this case, there’s some context that I would like to consider:
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Which was repaired after I left.
@Mexicobound, you mentioned this is your second sit so, for future sits, you may want to take some precautions before agreeing to a sit and during the sit:
- If they don’t give you that information, It’s worth asking the owners what to do in case of an emergency (house or pets) in terms of emergency contacts, decision making, payments and so on. For the first steps, it really helps to know where the main water tap, electric board and a carrier are (in case you needed to carry the pet to the vet), how to get to the vet, if they have 24/7 attention…
If you agree to advance payment, don’t pay until the service has been completed, keep a solid proof of payment and make sure there’s an easy way to get reimbursed. It may not be that simple if it’s a foreign currency. I usually suggest a close person dealing with that if the HO is unreachable. Even if it is just on the phone, a local will be more familiar with options, prices and so on. (* related personal experience at the end) - As others have already mentioned, try to anticipate as much as you can, so that everything is as good as you would like before you are stressed out because the HOs are returning or you have to catch a plane. You can’t trust deliveries to be made at a specific time and it may impact the HO’s schedule to receive a parcel.
- You may use this experience, to kindly ask future HOs to keep you updated regarding their arrival time so that you can have everything ready.
We have all had experiences that made us be more mindful about certain things before agreeing to or even applying for a sit. Good luck with future sits!
- I lived in Paris for 5 years in a rented apartment on a 6th floor. When I rented it, the estate agent showed me where the main water tap was but I never checked it was correct. A couple of months later, a hot water pipe burst and, when I tried to close the tap I found out that the one for my apartment was not there. I rang several neighbours’ bells on different floors asking for help, explaining what happened and nobody opened the door. Meanwhile, the water was getting everywhere, it was even raining because of the steam accumulation on the ceiling. When the water started to get into the neighbours’ apartments, they came out but the first ones didn’t know where to cut the water supply. When the water reached the third floor, the lady living there came up and closed the tap. She was really nice and helpful. I had already asked the next door neighbors if they had a contact for a plumber, they said they didn’t and told me to search on the Internet, I then remembered I had some leaflets with emergency contacts (supposedly from Levallois Council) so I phoned and asked them to come urgently. When the plumber came, the water tap was already closed but the water kept leaking. It was a Sunday, so all sort of extra charges applied, and the man said I had to pay (or give credit card approval) for them to bring the machine they needed to extract the water. He charged me a fortune, he went to get the machine and never came back.
You may not believe it but the story is much longer and more complicated. Police were involved, estate agents, two different insurance companies with their appraisers…
It was the perfect storm: lack of reliable information, I was in panic and a foreigner who was not yet familiar with prices and procedures, neighbours not helpful, etc.
Some of the things that happened were not preventable, but I certainly learned a few lessons.
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@Mexicobound
If something is stops working on a sit and it is something that needs to be fixed immediately- first inform the HO - ask them how they want to solve the situation.
They are responsible, they may have a known handyman - ( friend / neighbour ) who they wish to use to fix it . Or it may be under warranty or a service contract .
It is a sitter’s responsibility to inform home owners of any issues whilst they are away and the HOs responsibility to get it fixed . This might require you to be available to give the repair person access to the property .
If it is something that has been damaged or broken by you - then you would be responsible for getting that fixed , but you should also inform hosts for the reasons above it may be under warranty, they may have a preferred repair person / service .
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It sounds like you were really scrambling to clean up before they returned. I always get excellent reviews, including homeowners saying I left the house in pristine condition. Best not to wait until the day they’re returning to clean. In fact, why not just keep it clean throughout your stay as it is someone else’s home, not your own, that you’re staying in. You’ll save yourself a lot of heartache and fatigue with regular maintenance. Also, never pay up front for home repairs, even if it is something that breaks down for the first time while you’re there. I can’t imagine why you’d have paid $500 up front to replace the disposal. Lastly, why did you bathe the dog? Did they ask you to do that? I’ve been pet sitting for years and I would only bathe a dog or other pet (where this applies) if I had discussed it with the owners first. There are all sorts of reasons for this, from behavioral to potential allergies. It sounds like you need to reply honestly to the review and then adjust your practices going forward if you get other sits. I take this vocation very seriously and it only works if there’s mutual respect, including respecting other people’s homes.
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Did they leave a bad review or you’re just feeling bad about it?
I find it’s always a good idea to clean as you go along as unexpected things happen, especially with the vaccum cleaners that only last 20mins. If you washed the dog in the bath the day before then that was probably the best time to clean it. If the dish washer isn’t working there’s always a regular sink. If you do it as you go along it’s not a great big deal at the end of the sit. Good luck.
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That just happened to me — was vacuuming before I leave tomorrow and the battery died. Good thing I have time to let it recharge.
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