New Owner-1st time - terrible sitter

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

We had our first experience with a sitter from TH last month. I’m one of those who cleans the house from top to bottom and goes the extra mile to leave a super clean home and set the tone for the sitter.

The week before the sit I texted to confirm that she and her child would be arriving the night before and inquired as to what time to expect her. She responded 5ish. I’d also invited them to dinner with us. At 5:25 she hadn’t arrived so I called the number she provided only to hear that it had been disconnected! Panic moment. Fortunately she did arrive about 10 minutes later. No apology or explanation.

Upon entering our home she did a quick pet of our dog, then promptly ignored him for the rest of the night. Her son made himself at home on the couch with his feet up and watching cartoons.

We left early morning. Making sure dog had been let out and fed first. Our cat is not friendly and quite independant. We made that very clear to them. It’s also in our post and in the welcome book we have in our home for sitters. I had verbally told her about things in our area including where the library and a beautiful local park are located. Much more detail in the Sitter book.

I asked her to use WhatsApp since we were out of the country. It became like pulling teeth to get an update on the pets and house and their time there. That was frustrating.

When we returned home around 9 p.m. she sent a text saying they had already left! We arrived home to an unlocked door (key had been left on dining table). There was literally dirt all over the floor when we walked in. The dog’s water bowl was BONE DRY! Do you know how long he must have been without water for the bowl to be absolutely dry?There was some kind of powdered substance on the kitchen floor and laundry room. The kitchen floor was sticky every where.

The kitchen table had a burned in circle indicating they’d put something round and hot directly on the wood!!! That same table had been repositioned.

There was enough lint left in the dryer that had another load been dried a fire would probably have started. No exaggeration.

Where the pots and pans are stored was a hot mess. Literally everything just shoved in the cupboard in absolute disarray.

The yard had definitely not been picked up and 14 days worth of poop was waiting for us. I wonder how many times the dog stepped in it and tracked it into the house?

In one of the photos she sent it showed her son holding the cat despite me warning that the cat will bite and scratch. Unfortunately the cat did mark his territory in her suitcase. She said she was going to wash all of her clothes and the suitcase was ruined. We did advise her to file a claim with TH. Not much we could do out of the country.

I had given permission to finish the produce in the fridge. She is a self proclaimed vegetarian. They ate all the eggs and drank the almond milk too. They also helped themselves to food in our pantry. (It’s my understanding that homeowners do not provide food, only condiments?)

Clearly she had not used a dishwasher before as things were just shoved any which way in the dishwasher and all of the bowls were filled with dirty water.

Fingerprints all over the stainless steel fridge and dishwasher which I had left pristine. Grease splatter on the back of the stove which also had been left pristine.

I left yellow sticky notes on each door noting what was inside each closet to make it easy for them. The pantry had a note saying garbage bags were in there. Rather than paying attention to that she opened a new box located in the garage.

In the powder room I found Cocoa Krispies from our pantry scattered all over the floor. (perhaps the child sneaked them in there where his mother couldn’t see him eating them???)

They used our power drill and toolbox in the garage (not sure for what) and didn’t put them away. A small pile of sticks was left on our back porch.

The sad thing about this is that I was returning from having major surgery and simply needed to rest for the next two weeks. Instead I had to deal with this mess.

I really don’t think this girl has the pet or housesitting experience she claims on TS.

It’s made us so leary about future pet/house sitters.

2

It sounds like a terrible experience. Make sure you leave a truthful review. If you have photos I would send to THS. If you specified no picking up the cat and they did that is not treating the pets correctly. Also dangerous to not have water available for dogs.

Did this sitter have any reviews on THS or just references?

3

She had very good reviews. That’s one of the reasons we felt comfortable having her in our home. I can’t fathom why she was so disrespectful in our home.

This was a very easy sit. We have a fenced yard that she simply had to let our dog out a few times a day. Feed both animals twice a day. That’s it!

I left a review that is almost identical to my post here. Personally I think she should be removed from this platform if that’s how she’s going to behave going forward on other sits.

4

Sorry this happened to you or anyone.

Claimed experience must be backed up by glowing reviews from earlier sits. The former could mean anything. That latter is harder to bluff.

Hopefully, you copy and paste your account here into your review of her. She will not see that review until she submits her review of you or the 14 day review window closes.

Anticipate a bad review from her; it is unfortunate human nature that many individuals who perpetrate a bad thing on another preemptively go on defense and try to gaslight the THS community. You get 1 chance to respond to any negative review she submits about you. There is no time limit on that response. You do not need to counter a bad review until you next post sit dates. Don’t rush to respond if you don’t need to.

5

You can file a member dispute based on her mistreatment of the cat and withholding water from the dog. Maybe not enough for THS to take action, but at least it’s a try.

Thank you for leaving an honest review and I hope you recover soon.

6

@SharonV, welcome to THS and THS Forum. Kudos on your mindset of leaving a clean home and providing a thoughtful welcome to housesitter.

We continue to believe that vast majority of THS members are good people with good intentions. But there are exceptions, on both sides. The two-way, blind review process can weed out some bad actors but some outliers persist (like your experience) … and those experiences are often represented on THS Forum.

There are clearly several bad component to your housesitter

  • reflect on learnings, not for past-blame but for future-betterment. Perhaps there are some topics that could be clearly stated in listing or Welcome Guide. For example, communication frequency (can state ‘require WhatsApp on certain frequency’) - pet parent preferences vary enormously so upfront transparency on expectations is wise.
  • leave a brief, objective, specific review. Housesitter will have a single opportunity to ‘reply’ to your review so encourage focus on material topics.
  • revisit housesitter selection process. Listings vary a lot in terms of number/quality of applicants (it’s a trade after all). If you receive plenty of applicants then consider criteria for shortlisting applicants, and write down specific questions to include in future video calls. (as experienced housesitters, we withdraw applications after a significant portion of video calls - surprises - and it’s totally ok for pet parents to decline applicant after video call - key outcome is great pet care and strong fit).
  • consider high-review housesitter next time. Sounds like you need to reduce risk on next housesit. One tactic is to prioritize a housesitter applicant that has completed a significant number of housesits and has positive reviews.
  • keep smiling. What you encountered is not normal. we’ve met numerous pet parents for whom housesitting is highly positive experience.
7

@SharonV Please leave a factual review for the sake of future homeowners.

8

WOW. This is baffling. She had very good reviews?? How many? Did they mention cleanliness? Hard to fathom.

As for food in the pantry, this is between HO and sitter. Some say “help yourself” and others leave a completely empty fridge (which I love). There is everything in between and if not clearly defined, it can be left up to interpretation. One HO said “just please replace anything you consume” - perfectly stated and that is what we do.

As for her eating the eggs - If she was a vegetarian, not a vegan, she likely eats eggs. I personally would only eat the HO’s eggs if they asked me to bc “otherwise they’ll expire”. Even then, we only buy pasture raised eggs so I’m not likely to eat commercial eggs - but there are so many assumptions made in this exchange. It is important to be detailed and clear if you don’t want some things consumed bc you expect them there when you return (like eggs or milk) then the phrase, help yourself but please replace whatever you use, is useful.

I can’t fathom leaving a place in that condition - how she got great reviews is mind boggling.

Glad you left a very detailed and honest review!!

From now on I’m sure you’ll read reviews with a more critical eye. If reviews say nothing about the condition in which they left the house, I’d skip them. Keeping in mind it is entirely possible sitters arrive to homes that are not meticulous to begin with. When info on the home being clean is omitted by the sitter or HO, IMO it says something.

9

I do think even casually clean people can have a bad week. I have both reviews: a star missing on cleanliness, and “left the place cleaner than we did”-reviews. Though reason might be also on how clean the hosts are… easy to leave the place cleaner if it was messy. But also I am definetly not perfect in cleanliness, and have occasionally left the place just “ok”. So yes, you will see from my reviews that there is a “risk”.

10

Sorry that your first experience was a poor one. I sit and I host. I haven’t had experiences like this with Trusted Housesitters. I vet sitters carefully and even though everyone has to start somewhere, I rarely choose sitters without some site experience and I avoid sitters with problematic reviews or responses.

I would advise you not to be too nice about this and write a review. I get how upset you must be about the dry water dish, the burnt table and the unlocked door. I would mention all of the facts in your review but try to avoid editorializing and bringing in your feelings. The facts speak for themselves.

While it would be understandable to never use THS again, and you don’t have to, if you do try again, think about anything on your end (besides vetting) that you could have done better in terms of a written guide, showing someone how you do things, etc. (FYI in addition to a written guide with lots of photos, I also have some videos that sitters can refer to.

11

Hi @SharonV :slightly_smiling_face:

That must have been very upsetting to come home to, especially when you were recovering from surgery and simply needed to rest. I’m really sorry your first experience turned out this way — it’s not how a sit should feel for an owner.

As sitters ourselves, it’s always disappointing to read situations like this because the vast majority of sits work really well when expectations and communication line up on both sides. From what you’ve described, it sounds like you made a real effort to prepare things clearly with your welcome guide and instructions.

It may help to leave a calm and factual review so future owners can make informed decisions, and it also gives TrustedHousesitters visibility if there are concerns about a sitter’s experience.

I know it can make you feel wary after a first experience like this, but many owners do go on to have really positive long-term relationships with sitters once they find the right match. Hopefully your next experience will be a much better one.

:paw_prints: :heart:

12

Whoa!!! That is TERRIBLE! I am so sorry, every line I read got worse! And that you just had surgery, OMGGGG. I have been on THS for one year and used 6 Sitters, all were great. I would encourage you to learn all you can on HOW to choose a sitter that fits YOUR needs. You sound SUPER SUPER nice and forgiving and easy going, this can lead to the wrong kind of sitter taking advantage of your home/sit. When I choose sitters I treat it like a full time job until I have secured THE ONE. It takes a lot of time and effort, and you have to do it in a timely manner or risk losing the best ones who apply. If you have a low application situation, things change a bit. If you have low applications I would work on improving your listing to really make it shine and attract a lot of applicants. You can make a NEW post here and ask for feedback to improve it, make sure you link your HouseSit listing to your profile (you can ask a moderator for help if need be, its a bit complicated, this forum is kind of wonky and old school IMO).

Then study up on techniques to find the RIGHT sitter. My successful methods involve:

  1. Read every application note, comb through their Sitter profile (ALL of it), read ALL of the reviews, and check for the sub star categories under the General 5STAR rating. Read ALL of them of at least MANY if they have a lot. I read 10-15 reviews at minimum if they are available. I also ONLY consider people with at least 5X5 Star reviews. (Adjust this to YOUR needs, it might need to be higher to make you comfy to try THS again).

  2. Reply to EVERY sitter you like within 24 hours and tell them thanks for applying, I really like your Sitter profile and would like to set up a video chat asap. Do any of these times work for you? (Provide at least 3 time options in the near future.) Decline apps with short reason for those that dont match your needs. Make sure you dont leave the Sit in Pause status once you get to 5 applications and decline some.

  3. Conduct video chats with EVERY applicant that you like 1st. Tell each one at the end that you appreciate their time and have a couple more people to chat with and will make your decision asap (give timeframe if possible).

  4. Videochat questions: write a list, it can be just to get a vibe check OR can be very specific. (I do them freeform because its not hard for me, others need a list of questions).

  5. Once you complete the chats, choose the Applicant you feel most matched with by experience, personality, number or reviews, location the come from, etc. Send them the invite and shoot a text or whatsapp if youve take the convo offline during the reviewing of applicants / videochat process (I use WhatApp or FaceTime). Ex. Hi Gina. I would love to have you and James sit for us on X dates. Are you still available? I can send the THS invite asap. THank you. (I do this because sometimes sitters have found another sit before you make your final selection - which is why you need to do this all in a timey manner and with good communication)

  6. Sit is confirmed - now Share Welcome Guide (make sure this is complete and thorough and hits ALL the things you find non-negotiable (walking & feeding schedule, use WhatsApp to communicate, bring mail in the house, etc). Be careful not to be TOO nitpicky or you can turn off the sitters. I have to remind myself that the MOST important thing is that my pets are taken care of the way I care for them is the MOST important thing.

  7. Message sitter that you shared the Welcome Guide and to let you know if they have any questions. Sometime sharing of a Welcome Guide will result in a Sitter wanting to cancel because its not a good fit once they read it. that is why I mention not to be too nitpicky.

One thing that really helped me finally choose a sitter after stressing about it was advice from a friend already on this as a Sitter - she said “You will know when its the right one”. I didnt understand that until later, but it means you will relate to, feel good about chatting with, feel at ease during the videochat. If you do not like the person, do not choose them just because they have a lot of 5 star reviews. Keep searching if you have the option to be picky.

Im sure others will also give you great advice for future sits and how to deal with this one and THS to get the support you need. You have come to the right place to feel heard and get support.

13

Is it very paranoid of me to see this as yet another negative outcome of the “THS is a FREE AIRBNB!!” marketing angle? I can too easily imagine this “sitter” thinking “Whoo-hoo! A dog which doesn’t need walking! And cats are so easy they can virtually be ignored! - so off we go, Sonny-mah-boy, to our free-and-gratis vacation!”..

Yeah. OK. I’m paranoid. But as an HO (as well as a sitter) I wouldn’t take on a sitter with a plus-one - of any age, but least of all a child. That’s just double trouble. No help to you now, but I do think we all need to be that bit more cautious, in the Free AirBnB age..

14

She had good reviews in the past. The only time I have known people to change so drastically is when they become substance abusers. Did she take her young son to other sits? What do the reviews say? Maybe a recent divorce? I would like to see sitters removed when pets are put in jeopardy as yours were. So sorry this happened to you and especially after arriving back after a surgery.

15

I’m so sorry this happened to you — and especially on your first sit. Please know this is not the typical experience. There are SO many great sitters on this platform (as well as wonderful hosts.)

First let me say that this is not your fault. That said, I’d like to make two suggestions that I hope may be helpful in future if you decide to try again (and I sincerely hope you do give it another chance) :

  • It can be something of an art to read “between the lines” of reviews, but it’s an important skill to develop. By all means check a sitter’s star ratings, but pay the most attention to the words written about them. Lots of generic reviews that just say “the pets were great” is suspect; it could be hosts who don’t want to risk future sitters thinking they’re picky or difficult. Instead, look for lots of effusive reviews with specific details: “they left my home spotless;” “the pets adored them & missed them the next day;” “communication was fantastic, they sent me the cutest photos every day;” “they really went the extra mile, even preparing a meal for us to enjoy on our return.” Not every host is that detailed, but if you do see comments like this you can be pretty sure they’re honest & heartfelt.
  • Always do a call/video chat before offering the sit — and always trust your gut. Make sure you connect with the sitter on a personal level & feel GREAT about them (not just “they seem ok.”) If something seems off, don’t doubt yourself or wonder if you’re being unfair; move on to the next applicant. Maybe they’d have been fine, but you don’t have to take that chance. Your home & pets are being entrusted to this person so you’re meant to be picky.

To be clear, I’m a sitter — and this is still advice I’d give any host, and similar advice to other sitters. I’ve never had a bad sit, but the couple mediocre sits I’ve had have been because I didn’t follow my own advice, per the above.

16

I wonder if you actually got the sitter in the profile though? Was this sit ‘outsourced’ to a friend maybe to cover the dates …. just a speculation but with previous good reviews it made me wonder if you even got the sitter you confirmed?

17

I understand that some things, if not clearly stated, can be left open to interpretation. That being said I told her she could finish the perishable vegetables left in the fridge. I did not give an open invitation to help themselves to anything else in the fridge, freezer nor pantry. It’s clearly stated on TH that the sitter provides their own food unless agreed upon differently.

Her previous reviews stated that she left the home clean and communicated well. As someone else mentioned, it comes down to the level of cleanliness the HO may have left their home in. You could eat off the floor of our home when we left, it was that clean. I even wiped down all of the outside of the kitchen cabinet doors, scrubbed every corner, cleaned windows, etc. I’m generally a very clean person, I just did a bit of Spring cleaning early!

I absolutely will make sure for the next sitter that in our video call I ask about all of this ahead of time to make sure we’re on the same page. If you look at our listing you’ll see I mention about cleanliness on that page. As mentioned, I also created a Sitter binder that has all of the same information in it, plus things about the local area and more.

18

Perhaps I will do some videos as well. More to document things though. In our listing all of these things are covered as well as in the Sitter binder I created.

I did write a review that it almost a replica of what I wrote in the forum.

19

We’ve got another sitter arriving at the beginning of May. We’ve spoken to him over FaceTime twice including after our first sit. We feel he will be a good fit (fingers crossed!). We will ensure he arrives early enough the day before so that we can go over EVERYTHING with him again.

I think it’s reasonable to expect the house to be vacuumed, as requested. Pets fed and watered. Kitchen left neat and clean. Dryer lint trap cleaned out if they use the washer and dryer. Purchase own food. Eat only what the HO says is okay to eat from their food stock., etc.

20

I GREATLY appreciate your reply and suggestions. I feel I’ve covered everything in the listing and welcome guide as well as the Sitter binder I created for the house. I will double check and also put a link to our listing in the forum for feedback. Thank you again for such a detailed reply.