Hello, my family and I are in a little bit of a situation with a power outage. We have been without power for two nights now and this is our third day without power, it has just gotten to the point that it is unmanageable for us to stay there anymore, it is too cold and the toilets are starting to really smell. We contacted the HO and they basically are just shrugging it off saying oh it’s not that cold and the power will be back on soon, but there is no way to know that since the company estimated it would be back on last night.
We asked the HO about the generator which she mentioned before, but she said she had no idea how to use it and shouldn’t need it since “It’s not that cold”.
Are there any avenues through TH that would help us to get a place to stay for the night? Thankfully we don’t have any animals on this sit, but we just can’t stay in the cold with our toddler anymore.
THS cannot do much. Maybe there is a forum member who could help but then you would need to say where you are.
Otherwise, in this country (Sweden) the municipality would organize something for people without heat and water. Together with Civil defense, churches, etc.
It would be useful indeed to say where you are - in some countries power outages are common & HOs are prepared to deal with them. In other countries it’s highly unusual and the municipality tends to organize emergency support
Reach out to THS support. In the U.S. expectation for a guest would likely be the same as it would be for a renter. If it’s a regional outage, not just that one HO, then there wouldn’t be much the HO wouldn’t be expected to do. However, basic services (heat, working kitchen, working bathroom) are mandatory, so if it’s just the HO’s residence, they would be expected to provide a remedy. And if there is a generator and the HO is discouraging from using and not instructing on how to use, that reads as withholding basic services.
Hi there we are in California. I did my best to get in touch with
TH support, do you have any advice? I haven’t been able to find a phone number, and the chat just keeps saying there is nobody available to help but that they will be back in touch by email.
Adding some pertinent info.
We are in Northern California, in a snowstorm. Have been doing my best to get in touch with TH support and not having any success.
I didn’t even know there was a number - kind of people to put it here. The email is support@trustedhousesitters.com so you have that too.
Some other suggestions:
-Try going on the regional power company website / call the phone line. Typically they will state where there is an outage and when they expect it to be restored. PG&E is the most common power company in NoCal.
-Call the state non-emergency line. In CA it is 311 (and emergency is 911). They may be able to assist with at least knowing when services will be back or potential resources.
@Elliot did the homeowner’s provide an emergency contact someone local who can be contacted in the event of emergency ?
If no pets and you can safely travel to a hotel - do that . If you are a Premium
Member you may be able to claim for reimbursement of the cost of alternative accommodation under the sit guarantee. Ask member services to help you to claim.
Go to the PG&E outage map, enter your address and check when is the expected time for service restoration https://pgealerts.alerts.pge.com/?WT.mc_id=Vanity_outages
Call 311 the California non-emergency number and ask them for options. There should be a local emergency shelter where you can spend the night.
I feel really bad for you. It must be freezing. We were in Southlake Tahoe last week and were supposed to leave Thursday towards Oakland for a petsit. We decided to leave Wednesday night just to make sure the blizzard didn’t start early. It’s very cold here so I can only imagine how cold you must be.
If an emergency occurs during a sit, it’s important that you contact the other member as soon as possible — preferably by talking to them on the phone. Please also be sure to contact the relevant authorities if necessary.
If you need to contact TrustedHousesitters, the number for our urgent support line can be found on your member dashboard.
Has this resolved your problem?
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@Carla - can you confirm those telephone numbers are up to date? Thank You
Hope you get a solution soon. Won’t help with the cold, but, you could at least flush the toilets if you can get a bucket of water somewhere – is there a creek or pond nearby? I assume you’re on a well which is why you can’t flush? – the generator ought to help draw some water too. The HO has left you in the lurch.
Sheesh, if you have a generator you should know how to use it – she should have been able to give you that information, or maybe get a neighbour who knows how to run it.
Yes, but electrical installations are tricky and risky. When the owners say that they don’t know how to use it, I would be very hesitant to hook it up and to turn it on. I might know a few things about the theory (and about what can go wrong!) but I have never wired this up in practice.
As there are no animals, it would not be a difficult decision to just abandon the house - not fit to live in.
Don’t know what kind of generator they have, but at least in the U.S., there are whole-house generators that are always hooked up — you just start them when you need them. Sometimes, homeowners don’t know how to start them, because they bought the house from previous owners, who had one installed.
The one at our home could be started by a child if needed. That’s why googling might be useful. And you can google and still run the directions by the host before starting. Sometimes, there are even YouTube videos.
Might be better than freezing if they don’t have a fallback plan for housing or can’t afford one. THS won’t help find alternative housing. No sitter should ever expect that. Even with premium membership and insurance, THS expects the member to sort out alternative shelter on their own.
Hey everyone thank you for all the help. Thankfully a local motel allowed us to hang out in a room during the day so we could stay warm, and our power came back on a bit earlier than expected.
TH support did end up getting in touch to offer guidance but said the premium coverage was specifically for if the home owner canceled and would not have helped with accommodations if it had been needed. They also said there was nothing they could do to prevent retaliation by review had we been forced to leave the sit had the issue gone on. Hi putting this information here for anyone who reads this in the future.