I arrived to a sit last night when I was told that the owners’ son would be wanting to use the owner’s computer in the flat. She thought he could just come and buzz the doorbell but I said that he would need to ring me to make arrangements. I am worried now about how often it will be and how long he will be in the flat. I told her if it once a week only then that is okay but I don’t think she expected me to be bothered and clearly has not read the expections for owner’s on the trusted housesitters website.
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Oh no, @Roses1 , apart from the fact that it’s not allowed, it also puts you in a real predicament and it’s a bother! How long is your sit? If it’s more than a few days, can’t he take the computer with him? Then he doesn’t need to come over.
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It’s clearly in violation of THS terms to have people onsite without the sitter’s permission.
You’re well within your rights to say that you’re not comfortable with that. If you’re feeling charitable, you can let them come and remove the computer. But there usually are computers available for rental at various businesses or for free use at libraries or community centers in various countries.
Contact membership services if things escalate, but you probably don’t need to if you’re matter of fact about it being against THS terms.
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Hi @Roses1 , you can send them this link:
Trusted Housesitters Third Party Policy
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She said he can’t take the computer out, his books for business are on it, but surely he can access it all from anywhere now- I don’t know. Feel very let down and worried about how long he will be here and when he will want to come.
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I said that he could take the computer and she said he can’t do that. She said it is for his books for business which she usually does.
As the others have said @Roses1 it’s not allowed. We had something similar happen and said “sorry, that won’t be possible as THS don’t allow third parties on the property during a sit so you’ll need to ask him to find another solution whilst you’re away” and then it wasn’t personal. Hope that helps. Definitely ask support if it doesn’t.
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For us, as a one-off, we would agree but if they are expecting to ‘pop in’ more than once, whenever it suited them, then we would politely tell them that it was against THS terms and conditions and so would not be possible.
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Part of sitting successfully requires sitters to set and uphold boundaries. I suggest you stand up for yourself. Otherwise, you’ll face unfortunately unnecessary stress and potentially be treated suboptimally.
It would be great if all HOs were considerate and empathetic, but clearly that’s not the case with such a demand — and it sounds like a demand, not a request, from how you described it.
In your place, I’d contact her and let her know that THS terms don’t allow such visits. And if she insists, then tell her you’ll have to get membership services involved and potentially cut the sit short.
If she forced the visits, you’d be in your rights to leave the sit. THS wouldn’t insist that you stay in such circumstances. They produced the guidance against random visits, because there’s liability created by having sitters forced to share space with strangers they never agreed to. If anything happened to you or another sitter because THS forced you to do that, they’d get sued and risk terrible news coverage / PR. They’re not crazy enough to do that.
Plus, if she realizes forcing the issue might lead to her suddenly losing her sitter, she might rethink.
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Yes, it was 10.30 pm when I found out after a 2 and half hour drive and I said that once a week might be alright but that he would need to ring to make arrangements, she couldn’t even tell me how long he would be here. If the door bell just rings I am not going to answer it, so if he wants to come he will need to call me.
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He may have a key and think nothing of using it. Please be very careful. Lone sitters face a multitude of things that couples don’t even think about. Stick to your guns on this one.
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Maybe you should send a written message to the HO before he tries to visit @Roses1 and reiterate that you are not comfortable with his visits during the sit, that it’s against THS Ts and Cs so not permitted and could she please confirm she’s told him this. Use the THS messaging system as well as what’s app so there’s a record of the issue with support. Hopefully he just won’t come. As @ElsieDownie says, stick to your guns.
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Thanks for posting, @Roses1. How many previous sitters have they had? I would actually contact TH membership services right away. Just give them a heads up of the situation. Ideally, they’ll be proactive and contact the HOs/PPs right away, because this is clearly a violation of the terms. And even if you wanted to be nice (which I can understand), the pet owners should have let you know ahead of you committing to the sit. Someone needs to correct the pet owners, and it’s better if membership services does that.
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yes, I agree, but I since I have told her once a week would be alright and he must ring to make arrangements, so I don’t feel that I want to go back on that, but if it turns out to be more than this I will say to her that I will need to contact THS and that I may leave the sit early.
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Hi I have a similar situation I am on a 10 day sit the homeowner is lovely, its a remote area and the neighbours were to let me in as they had looked after the cats before and were keyholders and emergency contacts. They are building a house down the lane. The night before I left home the owner told me the man next door sometimes needs to use the office for plans and things as there is no room as they are living in a caravan while building. I said that wasn’t really allowed by THS and she is elderly and got really worried and said she would tell him not to come when I was there. I realised when I got here and the neighbours showed me round he said if he came in I would know he was here as his boots would be left on the step. So the obvious arrangement was he could come if I was out which I have been a lot as it’s a lovely area and a super sit. I wasn’t comfortable about it but I decided to live with it as everybody involved has been nothing but kind but it may not have been like that and of course he shouldn’t be in the house when I am not here but I have no way of knowing. Plus if anything was wrong and needed fixing he would be able to do it so I may need him. Home owners don’t read the rules and nothing was said in previous conversations
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Absolutely not. Period.
You have no idea what kind of person the son is. You have no idea if he’ll be coming there alone, or with friends. You don’t know if he’ll want to hang out there for hours, or stay overnight, or stay for days at a time.
Tell them you’re not comfortable with that. If they or their son has an issue with it, tell them that you’ll be happy to leave and the son can do the sit. That way, he can have convenient access to the computer whenever he needs it.
You have the absolute right to change your mind about him coming over once a week, especially if you’re not comfortable and/or don’t want to be inconvenienced by it. You’re not obligated to accept the imposition. I find it strange that someone running their own business doesn’t have their own computer to manage their books.
This last minute springing surprises on sitters by owners is ridiculous and unacceptable, and people know exactly what they’re doing when they do that. It’s a good way for them to find themselves without a sitter at the last second, let alone the last minute.
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that’s awful as well, I can’t afford to leave here and go to a hotel but if I feel too uncomfortable I will end up leaving,
Definitely, I was in the shower 10 mins ago and the door bell rang, I didn’t answer it. I can’t afford to pay for a hotel but if this ends up where he comes over just when he feels like it and it causes problems I will say that she will need to find someone else.
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I wouldn’t let things play out, personally. I’d put her on notice now and let THS know. If things end up badly, they could argue that you agreed to let him come — your word against theirs.
That is really unacceptable!
I had someone coming in this morning. I heard someone at the door, and when I went there she came in with the key, totally unexpected!
She was the regular dogwalker, and she had missed the dates. I had just returned from the morning walk, that was good timing. So there was no problem. I messaged the HO, and the dogwalker had also done that. It is tomorrow that the family will return. I have had a wonderful month here. (Now trying to understand the Bissell Pet Pro floor cleaner…)