probably from her reply to the OP’s review she left on her profile.
The sitter’s reply puts into question all of the host’s complaints.
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Yes she offered to pay back the toll charge (which was only $6 - my brain was envisaging $100s to be honest), & left the car half full of fuel (she was given it empty). She also collected her from the airport. The sitters reply is very balanced. #taleoftwohalves
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The sitter claims in her reply to your review that the tolls amounted to $6 which she offered to reimburse but you declined, and while she acknowledged she returned the car with a half tank she stated you gave it to her on empty.
Despite your clear dissatisfaction with the vehicle usage and poor pet care you still gave a 5 star review. [subsequent poster pointed out this is an error the host gave a 4 star review]
What say you?
These details matter.
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OP gave sitter 4 stars. Sitter gave OP 5 stars.
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My bad, thanks.
Here’s my reply to her review:
You were wonderful with the kitties and left my home spotless. Thank you. The Welcome Guide stated that one of my cats was on a special diet and I provided those details in writing when you arrived. Though I appreciate you wanted to reimburse me, our payment methods were incompatible, not refused. (I don’t have iban and you don’t have zelle.) When you dropped me off at the airport, the tank was half full.
I emailed her photos of the car’s dashboard showing before and after of the gas tank levels and odometer readings. The first was Saturday afternoon after I took her grocery shopping. Tank half full and odometer 2302 miles. The trip to the airport on Sunday was 16 miles. That’s less than a half-gallon of gas for my hybrid. The second photo was taken a week later on Monday morning when I first got in my car. Tank a bit more than half full and odometer 3071.
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You stated that the car had 1/2 tank when she dropped you at the airport, and when you got it back a week later it was a more than 1/2 full.
It’s unreasonable for you to expect her to return it to you full, she gave it back to you with more in the tank than there was when she dropped you off.
The tolls were $6 total, is that right?
I’m with the sitter on this one.
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I’m team @KallyMayzy all the way
The sitter sounds like she was thinking in her own bubble and not very aware of the other person in this exchange
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@KallyMayzy - I think your advice to discuss these things beforehand so there are no misunderstandings is good advice for both sitters and hosts .
You recommend that these agreements should be put in writing -
You have chosen to advertise your sit to sitters based on the attraction of the beach being nearby. The title of your listing is “driving distance to the beach “ You have clarified in OP that the beach is 30 miles away - So a daily round trip of 60 miles.
Your listing describes your cats as “low maintenance.” It doesn’t give any indication that your cats must be fed three times a day -Most cats are fed only once or twice a day or have automatic feeders if they need feeding more regularly .
Based on what you have written in your listing highlighting the beach as a nearby attraction , saying your cats are low maintenance and and not mentioning that the cats must be fed 3 times a day a sitter would reasonably expect that they are free to go out all day and enjoy the beach.
You have clarified in OP that the beach is 30 miles away - So a daily round trip of 60 miles.
If it was only on arrival that the sitter found out that they needed to return home in the middle of the day to feed the cats and if they returned to the beach in the afternoon that could amount to 120 miles per day just to spend the day at the beach plus the mileage to go to the airport to collect you .
I suggest that you need add ( “in writing” ) to the responsibility section of your listing that your cats need to be feed 3 times a day and state the times . So that sitters (whether using their own car or a hire car ) know what to expect before they apply . You can reiterate this information in your video call before you confirm a sitter, in your Welcome guide and again at handover .
Or you may consider an automatic feeder for dispensing food in the middle of the day .
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The sitter didn’t feed the cats 3 times a day as she says in her reply to the review she got. She didn’t understand that it was required
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Reading both reviews and responses I think it was just a big misunderstanding on both sides.
OP is correct to be more explicit on the restrictions with the car if she decides to offer it again. And really the sitter should have checked if the long trip was ok.
Maybe going forward once a week see if a neighbor or even a rover sitter can cover the mid day feeding so sitter can get out longer for that day. If you offer that, maybe you can also just reimburse a portion of a rental car for that day (or for the whole stay) so you don’t have to worry about the mileage on your new car.
It still bothers me that she left the kitties unfed for a meal, which for some medical conditions can be concerning. I am glad they are OK. I realized they are on different diets and that makes auto feeders difficult, but there are some that work on an RFID tag (either on the cats collar or the ID microchip vets implant in them) and only open for the correct cat.
Our two cats are healthy at the moment but we are thinking of investing in these types of feeders soon, thinking they will be needed as they age.
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Oh yes I see now that the sitter says it’s not in the Welcome Guide . It’s also not in the listing .
@KallyMayzy you do need to add this in writing to both your listing ( Responsibility section ) and Welcome guide to avoid any misunderstandings.
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Yes, there are certainly some inconsistencies here. It is bothersome that the sitter claims that she was never told about the feeding schedule but the HO states the info was in the WG (part way through this thread) and the sitter witnessed the feeding schedule times in person the day prior to the HO departure.
I am also puzzled by the sitter saying the offer to reimburse for the tolls was refused when the HO states there was payment incompatibility.
And finally, was something lost in translation? Ah, I think we have something there. The sitter’s review and response phrasing make me suspect this may be the case.
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Not so good the English
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I think the Sitter’s native language is not English, and though her English seems very good it may have been the case that she just understood something one way when OP stated something else. So yes, I do think something was lost in translation when discussing expectations.
Which is why I do my welcome guide in Google docs. I once had sitters from Spain whose spoken English was ok but not great, so I printed the English version and also a version translated into Spanish. Everything went fine and they were great sitters, just took a bit more care with making sure the language used was clear.
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California may have freeways but go across the Golden Gate Bridge a couple of times and you’ve spent a fortune…
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We just did this last week and yep, it was a pretty penny.
There are definitely toll roads spread across California, some for the road itself, some for bridge crossings, and some to use express lanes.
The tolls were $6? The initial post sounded like it was a lot. I’ve had several times on sits where I’ve bought cat food or treats or cat litter. I’ve never even asked to be reimbursed since it was such a small amount.
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First, we have used our vehicle to take pets with us so we could keep their routine. We were on a 4-month housesit. The owners did offer vehicle mainly for taking pets to the vet for their physicals. We were in a state that had a lot to offer in hiking and sight-seeing. The owners came across as it being too hard to take the pets but we enjoyed having them with us and the dogs cried if they thought we were leaving them behind. Overall, pets and house come first—how you make it work for you is noting who is a priority. It’s not about me—is our rule. We are told by neighbors that we do more w/the pets than the owners. I get it-the owners have lives that are busy and work and giving the pets a quick walk may be all that Work in the schedule.
Now for the negative side of cars. One we had the owners offer their vehicle because they didn’t want dog hair and slobber all over the car. They were great to sit for and we even returned and visit when we were heading back from a different location. Positive. Now the not positive experiences—the owner offered us her car since we were flying to her location. Then after all agreed and tickets bought for the location, room booked since we were going a day earlier—she said her plans changed and more people were going and that she would need her car and the other members on the trip did not want us to use their vehicle. So what she did was rent us a car—the cheapest she could find. We called it a casket on wheels. Of course we took care of gas and etc. The trip was caring for cats and the cats were very easy. A lesson I will pass on—the home/pet owner was changing plans not me—so I didn’t stress about it. I told her we agreed to having a vehicle. End of story. Hope this helps.
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