Hi @Lokstar I hope you are well and enjoying Singapore this is just a reminder to keep comments on sit/owners general.
Describing events in great detail can lead to the sit being identified by the owner or others who may well be on the forum or readers only, of whom there are many.
Comments like “too casual and uninvolved” may be the case however publicly making that judgement call could result in a member to member situation which would be hard to manage on a public forum …
It’s easy to forget that this is a public space where owners, sitters and even non members come to connect. By all means feel free to contribute and discuss the topics which interest you but we should be respectful of others no matter how justified we believe we are in expressing our views and accounts of the experiences we have … good or occasionally challenging.
I’m sure you wouldn’t want to have another member openly discuss your behavior in detail, no matter how valid it might be.
Thank you and have a wonderful Christmas and a happy, safe and healthy New Year, I hope it brings you everything you wish for yourselves.
A friendly reminder to HO that things that may seem normal to them (or that they are used to) about their home and it’s idiosyncracies, may not be at all familiar to the sitter/s. So do not take anything for granted about the various appliances/aspects in your home when writing your welcome guides or issuing instructions. We have learnt a very upsetting lesson on our current sit which otherwise, is one of the best sits we have ever had, with HO who have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and comfortable!
Hi
Just wondering if sits could have expected arrival and departure times. This would be helpful if you were traveling to a sit to know if you needed to travel the day before or the day of the sit
Cheers
Ian
Hi Ian
This is something you should ask the owners if you have a FaceTime conversation with them. There’s probably no point them posting this information as it could change. It should be one of the questions on your list of questions.
Hi @IanA and as @Smiley mentioned, this should all be discussed during either your initial video call such as a FaceTime or telephone conversation prior to accepting the sit along with any other questions you would like to ask.
Also the dog tracker tags etc, I don’t have myself being tracked ie a fit bit or GPS tracker on my phone or even my location, personal preference, I feel that the “phone” gathers enough information from me having it on basic settings, no banking apps etc and limited searchers, I use a VPN and yet still somehow within days of searching “country walking boots” for example I get bombarded with walking boots adds or “learning driver insurance” for our Son, I am now being over run with “learning driver insurance” argh… anyways I think they should disclose this also, I get it and if I get a Dog again the Future it will be chipped, it will have a GPS tracker only in case it was to get stolen or lost. I am aware this would mean i’d have to go against “big tech” knowing when I stop to have a hot chocolate while out walking the Dog, lol.
Re: tracker tags – I have clarified previously that sitters are not obligated to keep pet tracker tags on the pets. Because no electronic surveillance of any kind is allowed. And that is what that is!
It’s my understanding that if a sitter wants to allow it, that’s up to them. Some sitters don’t even mind if there are cameras in the house, and that is 100% clearly prohibited. Some sitters don’t mind having other people in the house at the same time, again, that is prohibited by THS terms, but some sitters are okay with it.
Hello. I’m new to sitting and wonder whether sitters have Qs that they recommend asking of homeowners.
I’m easy going and can’t think of any Qs I need to ask other than the standard ones that the sit profiles typically already cover. I wonder whether I’m just being clueless, LOL.
Please advise. I have five or six sits booked for the coming months.
Hello @Maggie8K A very warm welcome to the forum community and I am positive that you will find some great answers to your housesitting questions here. You can use the spyglass feature to search for previous topic threads and add to the discussion if you wish.
I can see that you have added your THS sitters profile to your forum profile which is great, other members can view it and give you helpful feedback and tips.
Hi @Maggie8K if you use the spy glass at the top to search for your query you will get get a lot of information. I searched “questions” and got several hits. Here’s one to get you started
@Maggie8K
I haven’t really felt a need to ask many more questions than are in the profiles, either. But then, I don’t mind where I sleep, and I’m comfortable dipping into a really wide range of lifestyles. Also, I’ve only cared for healthy animals.
The one set of questions that feel urgent to me, and that are NOT covered in profiles, is when the host needs me to arrive, and exactly when I’m free to leave. I’ve learned to nail this down very clearly before confirming a sit.
Thank you, Carla! I’ve got several sits lined up in the U.S. and one in the U.K. Will try to branch out later, once I’ve got the hang of house- and pet-sitting. This is a great resource.
Coincidentally, small world: I applied for a sit and it turns out it’s the home of a coworker I’d just met. We both work remotely and her partner posted the listing, so I had no idea till he told me. That will be my first sit, so I’m wading in happily.
@Maggie8K How exciting to have a few sits already lined up. Wow, thank you for sharing that story, what an awesome coincidence and great opportunity for your first sit. I hope that you have an amazing time and I love your profile photo
