Hello everyone.
I had a wonderful experience with my first housesitting: 5-star review and they asked me to come back.
But unfortunately I had a terrible experience with my second housesitting: a house with 6 animals: 5 cats and a small dog.
I met the owners in person a few days before, as I was in my first housesitting very close by. The owners seemed very nice and great people. It was going to be their first housessinting as owners, we talked quite a lot and I only asked for a clean house and some space in the fridge.
After they left the house, when I started to really look at the house, I realized that it was very, very dirty. I decided to start cleaning and spent 2,5 hours cleaning the kitchen, the bathroom downstairs and the floor.
The door of the house leads directly to the living room and cannot be opened because the cats might escape. There is a single window next to the door that cannot be opened either, as it does not have a cover to keep the cats from escaping. In other words, the house has to be closed at all times, the air does not circulate and the environment is not healthy at all. And there is a cat litter box in the living room.
The living room opens onto the kitchen, which has no windows. There is a door to a small patio with artificial grass, where the dog urinates and the smell wafts into the kitchen. I asked how I should clean it and they told me not to do anything and they would clean it when they got back. In other words, 8 days with the dog urinating there, in temperatures over 30°C, without cleaning it, right next to the kitchen.
Old dust everywhere, dirty bathrooms. Not even the fridge was cleaned.
I didn’t feel well and could barely sleep.
Since they have a friend who could help, I asked them to contact the friend because I couldn’t stay. I would probably get sick in that environment.
In short, a terrible experience.
What should I do now? Do I have to inform the website that I left? How?
I want to make clear that I only left because they have a friend that can help and the owners are in not very far away.
I think this must be a fair exchange. We do provide for their pets and their house, but they have to provide US, at least, a clean and healthy house. Both sitters and owners must do their part.
Thank you.
Welcome @mbss
I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience on your second sit. While I too would have wanted to leave it might of been better to contact THS support before leaving. However I suggest you contact live chat support on the main site and ask for a human as it starts off with AI bot. Explain the situation to THS support as you have done above. IF THS allows you to review the sit then post the facts within it.
Good luck.
You need to contact the PP first. Tell them you are unable to stay and tell them their friend can stay and is this acceptable to them. If not you need to call TH and tell them why you can’t stay. Either way you need to notify TH. Have in writing (email) that having their friend takeover is OK with PP. They will ask for a screenshot of the email that pet parents was informed and agree to it. It’s always better if they agree instead of leaving without discussing with them. TH will ask for photos of living conditions. Sorry you are going through this.
@mbss sorry to hear of your experience.
You did the right thing . You can inform THS by
calling the urgent support phone line it’s a 24/7 number . The number is on your dashboard.
You can also raise a member dispute with them . Hosts should provide a clean, hygienic home for their sitters .
Please leave an honest factual review to inform future sitters .
So sorry to hear about this @mbss - I can see there’s an open ticket with Member Services so I’m glad that you’re now directly in touch with them.
Leave a review being very specific to help future sitters and keep all proof. Definitely follow up with THS.
Sorry you had to go through such a horrible experience.
I would immediately inform member services.
It could be an issue that you left before doing so.
It is allowed to leave unlivable conditions, but you would want to document that that is in fact the case (photos and such). It is very important that the pets are not left without care.
It is a good idea to document your conversations as if they are in WhatsApp and similar it could be deleted by the other party.
Documentation and protocol is important as otherwise it might be raised a member dispute against you.
Thank you very much for your answers and help.
When I wrote to the owners that I wanted to leave, they told me that if I wasn’t feeling well, they would prefer me to leave. They asked me to leave the keys in a friend’s mailbox, which I did.
I have lots of photos of everything and a video of me leaving the keys.
Another thing I regret is that this friend has used THS before as a owner too, she knows the project well, she knows their house and the condition it is in because she often goes there to help, and she was the one who recommended this project.
Anyway… live and learn. I will never go to houses without reviews again.
Thank you.
They wrote in WhatsApp that they prefer me to leave. I have all saved already.
Hi @mbss
It’s definitely a good idea to pass any proof to Member Services, as owners should make sure that their home is in good condition for the sitter, I found the below in our code of conduct:
Have you mentioned this to your friend yet? I’d be after some explanations on her part!
She’s not my friend, she’s a friend of the owners of the house I house-sitted for. And yes, I wrote to her. She wasn’t happy at all, but it’s the truth. She should never have proposed this couple to be part of the THS community.
In future, if something similar comes up, remember that matching is mutual and if you’re going to meet a host before a sit, that’s also your opportunity to take a look around the home. Then if the place is gross, or the pets are off, etc., pass on the sit.
That is true. However, they proposed to meet me at a Coffe Shop. Not at their house. Now, I know why.
Wow, that’s a big red flag to meet elsewhere other than the home.
So they knew that their home was in an unacceptable star to receive a guest and deliberately withheld this information from you and made no attempt to clean up and prepare for you ….
Trusted House Sitters will not remove them as members unless you make aware by raising a member dispute ( you must call it this for them to start an investigation). You have plenty of proof ( your photos ) that you can include as evidence .
We are talking already. THS contacted me after my post.
Thank you.
Tsk, tsk. Talk about shady
ehh I wouldn’t assume the worst. I could imagine a particularly cautious owner doing the same thing, simply because they want to meet the sitter face-to-face before letting them into their home and entrusting them with so much.
of course, none of that justifies the dirty home, and maybe these HOs’ reason was to hide the reality. or maybe they simply thought a coffee shop was a nice place to meet.
my general sense here is that they may not feel that their home is particularly dirty/unlivable. they probably live in it like this all the time and thought nothing of it when listing or choosing mbss.
Meet and greets are not just about meeting the hosts (who the sitter will not be spending anytime with during the sit ) .
They are about meeting the pets and so that the sitter can see the home that they will be staying in and host can show them where things are and how things work .