I don’t think it’s really up to you to say that when a homeowner offers their car it’s only for necessities. If that’s your restriction, it’s up to you to make that clear. Many HOs offer the use of their car for sightseeing. If the car is only available for local driving and necessities, then a sitter would need to rent a car if they want to do any sightseeing. You mentioned that she was going to rent a car but you offered yours instead.
In the future, I agree that you should put in writing details about how your car can be used and how many miles you allow.
Also, add the feeding instructions to the listing. The feeding times are important for sitters to know before they apply.
I think it’s important that you understand that the lessons learned are yours. The sitter did nothing unusual or wrong and they will rightly presume that future hosts do not impose your limitations on vehicle use unless those future hosts are explicit about limits.
The sitter not returning a vehicle with a full tank of gas would (and has) annoyed me but it seems to be a generational difference in expectations and etiquette. It’s just a few dollars and a bit of disappointment.
We write and sign a permission letter kept with insurance and registration paperwork that limits sitter use of our vehicle to within 200 miles of the vehicle’s registered address. Aside from that explicit distance “limit”, we want to assure law enforcement that the sitters have our permission to drive the vehicle. Otherwise, there’s a potential that the vehicle is impounded and towed. I don’t know about Florida but you definitely do not want to face a towage and storage charge on any vehicle where I live. That would make your out-of-pocket toll and gasoline charges look like the pennies they are.
Interesting, just wondering if you ever had the situation where law enforcement was presented the letter, and if they accepted it? I like the idea as it protects both sitter and owner but I don’t know how much validity law enforcement would give to a signed letter (which could be forged…)?
Not criticism at all, just curious. I do leave a signed letter in the welcome guide binder home/car for any vet or emergencies for my pets, along with dollar limits and emergency decisions the sitter is authorized to make without us (but basically we say sitter should defer to vet up to x dollar amount per pet and no more than y for other matters without contacting us first), along with payment provisions. I put this in a sealed envelope, I sign the borders, and note it’s to be opened in case of emergency and only if we can’t be reached. It had to be opened one time for a minor issue with the car ($20 bulb replacement on a tail light) but we were traveling in Patagonia with no cell reception so I was glad the sitters had that.
I note in the welcome guide if no emergency then do not open.
I would believe a vet would accept that letter (especially in a pet emergency) but don’t know if law enforcement would if a sitter were pulled over in another state!
Thankfully, no sitter has needed to show the letter (that we know of). I’m presuming law enforcement will accept it as it is modeled off templates available online from numerous sources (Google “sample letter permission to drive vehicle”). I sign and date the letter and include my DL number in the signature field. A law enforcement officer should be able to verify my signature. So they’d REALLY be looking to jam up a sitter if they ignored the letter and impounded anyway.
if you don’t have an IBAN, can you ask her to provide payment another way? It’s not her fault and it’s not your fault neither, if Zelle is for US bank accounts and IBAN is for europeans: maybe you can agree on another form of payment: she could order something to your home address that you wanted to purchase online and that costs the same as the toll charge she incurred (6$ or is it more)? Maybe give her your Swift-Bic so she can do a bank transfer? send a western union? There are other ways to settle an international payment these days and she seems willing to refund you.
so she gave it back the way you left it (half full)? not empty? that’s good!
Expecting a full tank when you didn’t give it to her full and being chintzy over six bucks seem like red flags in a host. I would wonder what else they’d be petty or picky about.
The car use sounds like assumed expectations that weren’t communicated, and as @Silversitters mentioned, your listing highlights beaches and such to a degree that you seem to encourage sightseeing that would include such mileage.
The thing that bothers me is your cat missing any meals. That should be clearly communicated in your listing, because it determines when a sitter needs to be home for sure. And anyone who can’t or doesn’t want to do that shouldn’t even be applying.
I borrowed cars a few times - not often - as a sitter. The first car was small and old and the owners very laid back. They gave it to me with a full tank and asked for the same back. Great. They set no limits where I could go. The animals were cats, so didn’t come in the car with me.
The second car was brand new, SUV like, automatic and high tech. A hybrid. Getting petrol was not straightforward and the owner said I shouldn’t need more petrol, but if I did she would explain to me how. Kind of an effective way to control how much I drove! There was still plenty of petrol at the end of my stay. The car was needed for taking the dog to her day care, so not just for my enjoyment.
The third time, we had the same arrangement with a full tank at the start and end. They asked in their welcome guide to limit trips to local areas. There were 3 dogs and we took them around in the car. I felt kind of guilty when we visited a café, without the dogs, maybe 10 km away. That’s why I think that @KallyMayzy had a very cheeky sitter. Or am I just too much of a people pleaser? Selfish rebellion, here I come!! (maybe)
The more I learn, the more petty this sounds. 6??? And she used your car as she liked because she had said she was going to rent a car, but you offered yours instead. Why would she use it minimally? You saved a ton of money in not having to pay for a sitter, your complaints aren’t really valid except not feeding the one cat 3 times a day.
I totally agree with the idea of sending the Sitter a copy of the Toll charges, in hopes that the sitter will reimburse the host. That seems totally fair to me, to give the Sitter a chance to pay the tolls. Then the Host doesn’t need to state that part in the Sitter’s review. I love this forum in that it makes me aware of how important it is to communicate expectations, if you allow someone to use your car, etc etc. Thanks all!
France can be super tricky with tolls and fines too! I don’t understand how Cruise Control could negate 9 fines in Melbourne, but I loved the thought that they took off the toll fines!
You were really nice to her with your follow up. I would’ve hit her up for the TOLLS and for the cost of a full tank of gas, because she would’ve had to pay for those items with a rental car and it is Human Decency to do that when you borrow someone’s car!
… but do you also look them up on social media and google and anywhere else you can search before you accept the sit? 
