I would contact the HO and let them know they need to find a replacement sitter immediately. Then contact member services and alert them of the situation.
However, this is because I am very clear during the interview that if the internet doesn’t work that we will have to leave within 48 hours if the internet can’t be fixed or upgraded because both my wife and I need it for work. We’ve had to decline a number of wonderful sits because we couldn’t find a solution.
Other than internet, I don’t care about amenities so it’s never been an issue. I don’t even know what others are available until I get there because we don’t use hot tubs, don’t really swim, and we bring a casting device with us so we don’t need their streaming services unless they’re part of a smart TV.
I never take anyone’s word about public transport. Google it and then you’ll get the truth but check the date of the information.
Anything else that is essential for my stay, I ask. Like many who have commented I never look at the amenities list.
Thank you for your response…
It’s supposedly “TRUSTED” house sitters so I hope, and assume, that goes both ways!
If the Pet Parent lists an amenity, I TRUST it will be there. If I put forward my profile and experience, it will be honest.
Even at chat time before confirming this particular Sit, we were assured there was a local, “very convenient” transport system. Wife’s presumption however, as on a gated estate. We managed because we manage and cope (and thanked a kind neighbour!) and it was a shorter duration than we normally do.
We rarely take appointments without the use of a car as we do want transport for us and more importantly, for pet/Vet emergencies.
It’s all relevant maybe, to the too easy tick box.
F
Our family has completed 15 sits so far and the only time we can into an a cool amenity that wasn’t so cool was the hot tub. The only way to turn it on was to get a hold of the HO and they had to turn it on via their phone. Who wants to bug HOs while they are on vacation in Mexico? But that was about it. All the other amenities for other sits were on point. I think you just got unlucky with a not so honest HO. After you get your review, then write yours and be honest
Ha! Thanks ‘Kootenaigal’…General response was 1. “We chose you because you have so much experience” …(??) 2. “Oven will be fixed now we’re home, you did have a gas ring” (5 week appointment) 3. “Oh, we forgot about the 9pm curfew on the Wifi… sorry”. 4. “I was sure we had a local Community bus service?”. 5. " Gas bottle for BBQ? Sorry, didn’t think you’d really use an outdoor BBQ".
These wee issues, we cope with as a couple (my husband is the fantastic calming spouse), then we just have a giggle and drink more wine. I still believe a gentle reminder from THS to Pet Parents ( yes, the majority are truly fabulous but that’s life, just one can spoil) may assist the ‘tick all boxes’ syndrome.
You mentioned a 10 minute bike ride in Thailand, so in my brain, I thought you were talking about making do with a bike, if no car came with the sit. Not critizing. Just saying in the US a lot of the sits outside of the large cities are really tough to do without a car. We just finished a sit where we were on the outskirts of a lovely small city - about 1.5 miles from town. We walked in a few times so we wouldn’t have to deal with parking, but we had to figure out a route that wouldn’t take us along the main highway. That added about a quarter mile. Even that route involved a stretch walking on a road and crossing a very busy boulevard intersection with no pedestrian walkway. Personally, I understand why a pet parent would NOT want to lend out their car, but it also limits applicants for those sits.
Bless you, thanks! We could have had the car but my IDP had expired The daily bike ride in 35 degrees and humidity made searching for WiFi quite an experience! Appreciate the tips. We do usually borrow Hos cars in Europe though and we have our own van in our homeland of Turkey. Otherwise we bike, hitch, bus or train it Hubby loves a random hitch in Morocco or Sri Lanka
This sounds a little like a sit I did where I checked on Google maps and it showed a bus journey to the nearest town but when I got there I couldn’t find it. Turns out it only runs once a week and that happened to be the day I checked. Bit naughty of the owner to have not checked properly though in your case since they live there.
This sounds more like they are ‘borrowing’ a local business wifi and they close at 9pm and turn everything off. I’ve honestly never encountered anywhere else where the WiFi would be switched off let alone if ‘shared’ with a neighbor.
They don’t sound like they care much for the sitters. I hope you can leave honest reviews. It sounds like the new review system might help with that.
The daily bike ride in 35 degrees and humidity made searching for WiFi quite an experience! Appreciate the tips. We do usually borrow Hos cars in Europe though and we have our own van in our homeland of Turkey. Otherwise we bike, hitch, bus or train it 
Hubby loves a random hitch in Morocco or Sri Lanka 
many times over the years 