No red flags for me.
All that was written I would do anyway. The fact that it was written just tells me that she has had a bad experience. Time is something that is subjective what I think is 5 min for me is 5 min but for my girlfriend is anything up to an hour (drives me crazy, but I still value her friendship).
Ask for another chat and be upfront about your concerns.
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Firstly, as a sitter you can’t cancel a sit once you have confirmed. Only a HO can cancel a sit.
The requests in the guide seem quite reasonable and I’d say it’s very easy for tone to be misunderstood in written communication. Like you, I would be worried about the previous sitter not leaving a review. So, why don’t you contact the HO and say you have some additional questions and things you’d like to discuss. Ask how the previous sit went!
Good luck and I hope it works out.
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We have completed over 30+ sits and in our opinion…it all sounds fine. We would rather be told things ‘not to do’ then we do something and the HO complains after the fact. We completely get it about a white couch…we wouldn’t want anyone drinking or eating on it too. Here in AZ, the water is extremely hard so squeeze off shower doors is an absolute must and usually told to us. We would do it anyone, but it might not be obvious to people not from here. It sounds like they are just clean and tidy people who want their space respected. Nothing, in our opinion, is a red flag for us…BESIDES the no review. Does the sitter who sat for them leave reviews for other people? Some sitters just don’t have a habit of leaving reviews (which is absolutely absurd in our opinion…but it happens).
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Really? Not yourselves either? Or guests… no coffee, no cake?
I would be too afraid to do such a sit.
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Given the wording, it sounds like there are probably other couches/seating areas. So personally, I’d have no problem avoiding the one that could make my life a nightmare and sitting elsewhere, even with guests, especially with cake.
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Well, we wouldn’t have a white couch ourselves…but if a HO has one, we would just avoid it. But to prevent accidents, this is a fair warning from the HO.
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The WG in itself doesn’t ring red flag to me, especially since you add that host is in legal profession. I worry more about a previous sitter that you say usually has left reviews but not for this one. I think it is worthwhile to ask for another videocall Where you schedule it and take the time you need and take it from there. Whatever your gut feeling is, follow it. If you don’t want to go through with it, just ask the host to cancel as you have found it is not a good match at this point. It seems plenty of time for host to go forward with another. Or go through with it if you have a good feeling after videocall. Best of luck!
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I, too, don’t see the red flags in their Welcome Guide. I would rather know more than less information and I like their straightforwardness.
In relation to the missing review, they were first time owners for that sit and may just have not realised the importance of leaving reviews. Did you read the other sitter’s reviews given by owners as this may shed some light? I was due to do a sit booked months in advance when I read a very negative review they received after being booked. They had given the sitters a positive and fair review. I communicated with them to learn their side of the story and was satisfied with their explanation. I thoroughly enjoyed the sit and they were a lovely couple and I gave them a very positive review which was well deserved.
@Avamyst11 ask for another video chat and get clarification rather than guessing. You wouldn’t have applied if it didn’t take your interest and they obviously approved of you.
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I would heed such a warning by cancelling. There are so many sits with HOs that are much more relaxed about furniture etc. I would think that people with pets or kids would need to be tolerant.
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Making me wait 2 hours for an arranged call would be a red flag.
If you don’t respect my time that’s a biggee in my book.
Follow that with the no reviews from the other sit?
It equals a deal breaker for me.
I say go with your gut, the sit is months away and they and you will have plenty of time to find another sitter and another sit for you.
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I tend to agree with you. It’s not that I wouldn’t be extra careful about the white couch–I would be even without the warning (In fact, I actually take old towels with me on all of my housesits, and put them over the couches/loveseats for the duration of my stay, to avoid the possiblity of staining them). For me, it’s more that the host made a point to mention it, which, in my eyes, means they’re going to be looking for things like spots or stains on not just the white couch, but everything, and that just makes me anxious. I guess it’s an individual thing. Most hosts wouldn’t mention it and would simply clean their couch if the sitter left a stain. Hope I’m making sense.
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If you do it I hope they have another couch you can be a human on.
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The requests all sound reasonable. No food by the expensive white couch. I’d add – no pens because sometimes things go wrong with pens. No parties, no guests. Fairly standard and an opportunity for you to discuss if you were planning on inviting someone over. As for the tone. It sounds like they got burned last time. If you are concerned, then rather than cancelling on them, I’d aim for an open, honest discussion. You might start directly by addressing the lack of reviews from last time, and ask if they would mind discussing what happened, so you could be aware and avoid those mistakes. If it then sounds like this won’t work, you might mutually come to the decision to cancel, but it’s probably fine.
I had a sit last year where the host kind of apologized to me for some stuff about “partying” in the guide, as it was put in based on a bad experience.
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Definitely get out of it then. Trust your intuition! There’s plenty of time to find something else, and plenty of time for her to find another sitter.
If you want to be kind, give her a few examples as to why, so she can learn what the normal is with THS. But you don’t need to, you could just cut off from her and move on.
Perhaps just let her know for example it’s totally fine to say what she doesn’t wants in her Welcome Guide, but using the word ‘absolutely’ along with a couple of negative examples has left you feeling negative about her sit as you read it, there’s no need for that additional word, it seems to be written for the sitter you don’t want, rather than the respectful and caring sitter you do want. Along with the ‘do not purchase any items’ part, which again is for the tiny handful of bad people out there, but implies you mistrust every sitter. So rather than it being a Welcome Guide, it’s left you feeling a little unwelcome as a good sitter. It’s a lot of little things.
Run!
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Sitters or hosts can have bad experiences and tip into dogmatic, over anxious, micromanaging behavior and such. That doesn’t mean you have to put up with it as a sitter who hasn’t done anything wrong. Your choice, of course.
From my POV, I lean toward hosts who are more trusting, because there’s a better shot that things will go well.
And to me, why bother with unnecessary risks or trouble when there are so many sits to choose from? How unique or rare would a sit have to be to make it worth that?
Personally, I always imagine that if anything goes sideways with a sit, is that host the person I want to be problem-solving with or otherwise dealing with? What’s the likelihood that they’ll be chill, be good partners?
Sitting successfully is a partnership. I recommend not settling for iffy or bad partners.
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I personally wouldn’t as you want someone who is thorough and communicative about how things are done on their property. Not doing so can lead to stress about what is/isn’t allowed for you as the sitter. It can also be difficult to write these “rules” in a friendly tone, but I understand how the way it comes across may seem a little intense. I also understand the hesitance when you get a gut feeling, so I’d prompt you to really think about what irks you more. Their tone of writing, or their lack of reviews? The tone of writing really wasn’t that bad, it just came off as negative because it was setting boundaries. Regarding reviews, I’d try to find more information about why they lack them. If they’re new, ofc they’re not going to have a lot to show for how a sit goes. However, if they’ve had a sit and there was no reviews, maybe that sitter was also new to the platform and isn’t versed yet. I’m new and am still figuring things out. Maybe just ask. Let them know of your hesitancy. You’re at a point where you’re leaning on letting it go, so there’s no loss to communicating your thoughts. Good luck!
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It’s possible the cleaner complained to the owner about crumbs on the white couch, muddy paw tracks, general untidiness. Maybe the sitter made online purchases using their computer/tv and neighbors complained about a party. You’ll never know unless you ask. You can simply say “I notice that you’ve had a sitter recently and no reviews were left. From the WG it sounds like you might have had a bad experience – can you tell me what happened?”
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Honestly, I tend to be the sort of person who reads too much into tone of messages, and I don’t find the welcome guide language worrying at all. Your examples actually read similar to ones in a WG I received, and the sit went great.
As others suggest, it sounds like the previous sitter may have presented teething issues for the first sit. Perhaps expectations weren’t communicated well. That would make sense to me as well as explaining why both parties chose not to review. This is pure speculation though.
The video call is the biggest issue for me, but it sounds like both parties were vague with arrangements. If you choose to continue with this sit, future comms need to be much clearer. Then you can better measure if HO is taking liberties.
In short though, I wouldn’t be concerned about this sit at this stage, especially if the HO has been pleasant in their interactions.
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After knowing that the HO didn’t actually agree to any particular time for the chat, I think this is probably the best advice
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I dont take that to heart. Because either they had past bad experiences or friends on this site who told them some stories about their experiences. I see it as being cautious ,maybe a little overboard but I think they just want to be forward to avoid any issues. Sometimes i read sits very similar . I just learned not to take things so serious anymore. Everyone has their quirks this might just be that these things bother the HO more then other things. And if you know yourself and know you wouldn’t do such a thing on a white couch upstairs where you probably wont even sit on best to just let it go. As far as wipeing dogs paws when they come in i did that with my pets too. I dont want them tracking in dirt. But if you feel like its going to bring up problematic issues down the line, then pass on this. Good luck.
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