I’ve learned my lesson: Always get it in writing

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

This sitter took advantage of me and I feel used, abused and angry, mostly at myself.

I have a brand new car, only 6 months old. Only 2300 miles on it. (Which averages about 88 miles a week.)

I felt comfortable with this sitter using my car to drive around for errands and site-seeing in the area. We talked about her visiting the beach, which is about 30 miles away. (I live in the suburbs where public transportation is scarce.)

She drove 760 miles in my car in 1 week!!

I can do the math, so I have to wonder if she was ever at my house taking care of my pets. I have one on a special diet who gets fed 3 times a day.

On Wednesday, I was charged for the toll roads she was on. She didn’t get home until almost 8pm. My pets need to be fed at lunch and dinner time. She never told me or offered to pay the tolls.

When she originally asked about using the car, she never mentioned that she was planning on driving all over the state. She had offered to rent a car and I should have taken her up on it.

And another item. The sit was to start on Saturday, since I was leaving first thing Sunday morning. I told her that on Saturday I could pick her up at the airport or if she came early, I would pick her up from wherever she was staying.

Then, less than a week before the start of the sit, she says she’s ready to come to my house on Friday, and will take an uber. I ended up coming home early from a dinner to meet her. I read her recent reviews and she has done this before.

So now I need to craft a review for this sitter. I don’t think she followed the feeding directions, but the cats are slowly getting back to their eating routine. The house was taken care of. I guess my biggest beef is all the miles she put on my new car.

7 Likes
2

I feel for you @KallyMayzy but you have accepted too that it was partly your fault. I think you were most generous in letting her use your new car, especially where she had offered to rent a car.
Did she send photos or videos of her interacting with your cats to give you any reassurance she was spending some time with them? I hope they are back to their normal selves soon.

Like her previous owners, be factual in your review of her, leaving out the emotions, and dock her stars as well in the appropriate categories. She also put you in a spot by saying she was arriving earlier than the agreed extra day which inconvenienced you, so mention this in your review too.

12 Likes
3

760 miles in a week isn’t really that much when you’re on vacation. There is a lot of sightseeing to do. 50 miles to a hike, then 50 miles back, for example. She probably didn’t feed them at the requested times, so I would definitely dock at least one star for that.

1 Like
4

I let sitters use my 13 year old well maintained car :slight_smile: A new car is special and I wouldn’t have offered it. I get it.

I would craft an honest review that definitely mentions the highs (hone cared for) but do be upfront about her overuse of the car and roll records saying she was out longer than feeding windows for your pets. I would definitely deduct a star from pet care and home care (since there is no category for borrowed cars).

Going forward, consider offering a small subsidy for a basic car rental for sitters if a car is needed where you are (in most areas an econobox can be had for $30-$40 a day) to keep your new car for you.

Either way, do state that the sitter didn’t accommodate your requests for car usage or pet care. The pet care would hurt me more but I understand they are hand in hand in this case.

3 Likes
5

It’s an exchange, not a vacation?!?!

4 Likes
6

Many of us use THS for vacation. Wouldn’t that be the reason to travel for most?

Ofc one should honor the agreed responsibilities, but being able to leave the home and pets for a few hours is to do sightseeing and explore the area for many of us. If I’m just staying in the home I might as well be home, really.

13 Likes
7

I would NEVER have the audacity to put that many miles on someone’s car without clear communication about where I planned to drive to or the owner insisted I visit a specific location or locations knowing the distance. 50 miles for a hike? Find something closer. To me the car should be for practical purposes of getting groceries or going out for a meal. But not sightseeing. It’s not a vacation, it’s a mutual exchange. We’ve had cars loaned to us but it has been for 2 months at a time and distances are far in Southern California, but we still would check with them before driving more than 30 miles away.

11 Likes
8

I understand feeling taken advantage of, but depending on where you live, tolls are not always clearly posted on roadways. Before including a mention of the toll charges in your review, you may want to send her the invoice and provide her with the opportunity to reimburse you.

Regarding the mileage, that is about what I drove every week doing school drop off/pick up and after school activities, it still left plenty of time for my household responsibilities, including taking the dogs out for a hike. When a host provides me with a car, I am very mindful of mileage, almost to the point I would rather just rent one.

Since she was originally planning to rent a car to get around, if mileage restrictions were not communicated before she was allowed to use your car, I’m not sure it is worth mentioning in the review.
Moving forward, I suggest being clear about your offer and letting them know about toll roads, and maybe suggesting they adjust their navigation settings to avoid them.

9 Likes
9

Travel is different from vacation. Vacation implies you’ve paid for a resort and car. In that case you are free of responsibilities and can do as you like, as long as you can pay the bill at the end of your vacation.

An exchange means you get to travel and stay in a home for no monetary exchange, but you accept the responsibilities (which sometimes means limitations) in EXCHANGE.

If the agreement was pets fed at x hours, and please don’t drive the car more than x miles, than this sitter wanted a free vacation, not an exchange.

HO should review accordingly.

7 Likes
10

Thank you, this is totally right.

1 Like
11

Who does school drop offs on this site? This is house and pet sitting, not a nanny service?!?!

1 Like
12

Well I can understand how you feel but am surprised you allowed the sitter to use your new car. The mileage does sound over the top and she should have paid for the tolls. Did you stipulate what she could use the car for? I’ve never been told only to use an owner’s car just for grocery shopping and often actively encouraged to use it to sightsee, often taking my canine charge(s) with me whenever possible. In the UK I have my own car.
It’s a real shame if your pets didn’t get the attention required and appropriate feeds as they are obviously priority. The house was probably left well as she may hardly have been there!
It seems you didn’t read this sitter’s reviews until after the sit, and this is certainly something you should have done before accepting her. A lesson learnt. Make sure you write an honest review.

5 Likes
13

Also many sitters have expressed they don’t like to be treated as staff. I get that, but HO are not your vacation either. That respect must go both ways, if it’s an exchange.

4 Likes
14

Perhaps a family sit near home?

15

Thank you for clarifying the purpose of this site.

Many parents like myself drove our children to and from school and other activities.

16

Do you ask that of sitters? To drive your children to and from school? If not, then that mileage would not be expected on a HO car for a sitter offered it.

1 Like
17

An assumption that is not apparent from the original post.

18

The drop off/pick up had nothing to do with housesitting. My point was in reference to the OPs comment that the extensive miles would not have allowed time for pet care. I drove my car 75-100 miles a day to pick up my kids and still had time to care for my home and my pets. Just offering perspective

11 Likes
19

Sure, in real life we all drive as needed. I once drove a 100 mile round trip commute to work, daily.

But that is not what the OP offered when providing a car, as child care or daily commutes are not required. She was generous in her offer (probably overly so) but it doesn’t excuse the sitters behavior.

It’s weird so many are trying to defend it, and blame the OP. Where is any accountability for the sitter who went for a joyride and ignored the pets?

6 Likes
20

So many assumptions in your post. Again, my comment was addressing the OPs concern that the sitter would not have had time to care for the pets.

3 Likes