Hello, just wanted to let everyone know about what is probably the worst case scenario for a home/pet owner. I had a sitter stay in my apartment in New York while I was away on the west coast. It was a three day sit. On the second day, at approximately midnight New York time, the sitter (who had over fifteen five star reviews on the site) wrote to inform me they needed to leave my apartment because they had seen a roach. After much back and forth, she agreed to leave and return to walk my dog in the morning. My dog has never been left alone over night- I had no idea how she would react. Ultimately, I was able to find an acquaintance to stay the next night, so crisis averted.
My real complaint/issue is with trusted house sitters. I called to file a complaint and launch an investigation, so other members would not have to potentially deal with this issue- at least, not from the same person. Of course, I learned that not having premium membership meant there was little I or they could do. I just learned today, that they will not remove them from the site because there was a valid reason for wanting to leave the sit while I was thousands of miles away. Iām not going to describe the high probability of finding roaches in New York, especially after generational flooding, but if this is a valid reason for leaving a sit, thatās a very low bar.
All this to say, be very thorough with your interviews. If a sitter decides to leave your sit, there is little you can do.
Iām not quite understanding. They would not investigate your complaint because your not a Premium Member? Does that mean us on basic memberships, are second class sitters with no back up?
Moderator, please clarify this point.
Welcome to the forum @mjs457 .
All members can raise complaints, this is the procedure.
As a New Yorker, this is highly problematic. I havenāt seen a roach in my apartment in months. But every once in a while one wanders in or maybe arrives in a delivery bag. My cats are on it when it happens. Often alerting me! There is no way I can give sitters an absolute guarranttee that this wonāt happen. No one in this city can. This is NOT a reason to leave a sit. I hope you wrote this in the review so others are warned. This is now a new question Iāll ask on video chats! āHave you ever abandoned a sit?ā āWhat would you do ifā¦ā
I have had great experiences as a sitter and saved a ton of money using THS as a Homeowner, but more and more Iām convinced that the company is a matching service that doesnāt do nearly enough to protect its members ā both homeowners and sitters.
My understanding about premium versus not premium is that with premium you could have put in a claim for a payment to a pet sitter, but Iām not sure how this works, what the deductible is, or whether it would cover paying a neighbor or friend who took this on. All members can start a dispute, and complain.
Yes, they can raise them but will they be investigated if the person raising the complaint is not a Premium Member?
This is becoming like dealing with politicians. Ask a question and the answer is ambiguous.
It wouldnāt make sense to investigate or not based on the HOās level of membership. If a sitter has majorly screwed up a sit (assuming THS verifies that), they can hurt HOs no matter what membership they hold, because we can sit for all of them.
Finding an insect was a valid reason to leave?? Thatās ridiculous. If a sitter is that afraid of insects, she should not be house-sitting.
Well, not just any little insect. I might have trouble sleeping if I heard roaches chirping or running around. I would know that it was not dangerous, that it was all in my mind, but I value my sleep.
It seems that this sitter was local (I doubt they took a hotel for the night), so they should be familiar with New York wildlife. And they walked the dog. What does it matter to the dog if the sitter slept there or in a hotel or at their own home?
Ooof, when I had a dog, if there wasnāt someone in the apartment overnight she would have barked the whole time. Living in a building with other residents, this can cause huge problems, beyond just the care of the dog.
Some dogs can be left overnight; many canāt.
@ElsieDownie I can help with this one, as @Silversitters mentioned all members can raise a complaint and they will all be investigated by the complaints team using the same process. Having a different membership tier makes no difference and every member will be assisted the same.
What the OP might be referring to is the cancellation insurance that is only available to premium members which may have helped cover the cost of pet care should a sitter leave a sit.
I hope that offers some reassurance 
It would be impossible to guarantee no insects in many sits. Or even wherever you might live. This especially seems odd if the sitter is local to any city.
Iām in a low-density neighborhood now and have killed two spiders only a few days into my sit. At a previous one in London, the indoor cat gifted me with a mouse. The HO had warned me and I shrugged, because old city, old building. Even in new housing, density in cities can make insects or rodents hard to keep out 100 percent. Plus, we all get packages from Amazon and such, which can also carry insects.
@Maggie8K Yeah, itās impossible to be insect free. Iāve killed many spiders and other random insects and a cat brought me a bird just last week (he seemed very proud of his catch). A roach in New York would not surprise me.
@Maggie8K and @systaran
A spider is not an insect and you should never kill them. They help to kill the small insects in the home (not a roach though I must admit)
First of all, youād have to have a lot of roaches to hear them āchirpingā in the walls. Weāre not talking about an infestation here. Weāre talking about a single roach spotted in an apartment in NYC where roaches are endemic. If the sitter ran out at a single roach and this is supported by THS, thatās a big problem for HOs. Animals especially indoor outdoor cats often bring in prey. Would a sitter run out and abandon a cat sit because the cat brought in a mouse? What about ants or flies?
If I see a spider in the shower, sorry Iām not going to be getting dressed to relocate it. Itās going down the drain.
Thank you so much for clearing that up.
Yes- the people who came to stay at the last minute found no roaches. So, an infestation wasnāt the case. But, the bigger issue (re: the comment about why I would care if someone left my apartment and only returned for walks) is there was an agreement for the sitter to stay in the apartment. Staying anywhere else was never discussed as an option.
Wow, thatās such an irresponsible thing to do from this sitter. And finding 1 (!) roach in the city should never be considered a valid reason by THS to just ad hoc abandon a sit.
What will be next? House with a garden and the sitter finds a big spider inside and abandons the sit for āvalid reasonā??!
Just saw this flagged in another post where someone had a bad sitter experience:
So that means your sitter did NOT follow protocol! E.g. you were not given reasonable time to arrange an alternative and had to scramble after the sitter had already indicated theyād abandon the sit immediately anyway:
**5. 3.7. not leave any Sit early under any circumstances, especially where this results in any pet(s) being left unattended, without first informing the Pet Parent and giving them reasonable time to arrange alternative pet care. If you do, you will instantly receive a lifetime ban from the Platform with no refund of membership fees paid;
Yes a dead spider does not come back Iām phobic about spiders .