Recent Difficulty with sitter

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

Good afternoon,

I’m curious if any of you have had a difficult situation with a sitter like we recently had?

I’m writing to provide context regarding a house sit at our home that ended early due to challenges that arose during our international travel.

Situation Overview: We were traveling internationally with an 8-hour time difference, communicating via WhatsApp. Despite providing detailed instructions and conducting a thorough walkthrough, several issues developed that we were unable to resolve remotely.

Timeline of Events: The first few days went well with positive updates and photos. Around days 3-4, our sitter began experiencing discomfort with the house temperature and expressed concerns about feeling observed by neighbors. We immediately offered solutions including guidance on the patio sunscreen, additional fans, and adjusting the AC settings.

On day 5-6, one of our dogs got into the sitter’s purse while she was upstairs. We apologized and reminded her of our guidance to keep personal items in the guest bedroom.

Around day 8, despite our instructions to crate one dog when leaving (outlined in our welcome packet and walkthrough), this didn’t happen and the dog damaged the sitter’s passport in her laptop bag. We immediately apologized and reiterated the crating protocol.

Our Response:

  • We covered the full cost of passport replacement out of pocket

  • Found an emergency replacement sitter to allow her to leave early

  • Acknowledged that our dogs caused damage despite our preventive instructions

We understand that house sitting can be challenging, especially when pets don’t follow expected behavior patterns. While we provided extensive instructions and offered multiple solutions, we recognize that remote problem-solving has limitations.

We expect the sitter may leave a negative review, which we understand given her experience. However, we hope this context demonstrates our commitment to finding solutions, taking responsibility, and learning from difficult situations.

What additional steps would you recommend to help us improve as hosts and ensure future sits are successful for everyone involved?

3 Likes
2

You sound like considerate mature and balanced HOs. I’m guessing your sitter was young and inexperienced maybe? (Edit: I’ve now looked at their reviews and all previous sits seem good so I’m not sure why they lost the plot on your sit? I also note they’re local, aged 46 and pet sitting since 2019…. so something very odd went wrong here.)

My top tip is to review how you secured this sitter, did you talk to them LIVE via a video chat on WhatsApp? Did you ask questions during the chat to ensure that the sitter understood the consequences of not following the directions you gave? Have you got a list of questions you ask? Did you check their previous reviews for any red flags? I note the rather mild warning about not leaving items of interest out on tables… I think in light of this experience I’d strengthen that in your listing.

My other tip is to be transparent and honest in your review of them (reviews are blind ok). If they in fact go on to write you a critical review- reply to it calmly stating the facts not emotions, tone is important. All of this information ie both reviews and your reply to their review will reflect well on you as HOs and so in the future more mature/less careless/inexperienced sitters will take note of where the responsibility lies in terms of the contentious items you have mentioned . Best wishes to you.

4 Likes
3

@capfan31 You sound considerate and organized, which likely means you’ve already done your research by reading the person’s profile, reviews, the profiles of previous listings/matches and so on before even talking to them or confirming.

So the only precaution I can suggest is always ensuring that the listing information clearly mentions any habits or behavior patterns a guest might encounter during their stay. Since the welcome guide is revealed only after confirmation, it’s important for any host to recognize that its role is simply to extend the listing by providing more practical information

3 Likes
4

That seems entirely reasonable. Have you written your review yet? If not, list out the facts, the good & bad and the solutions you provided so any future sitters can see you’re considerate and fair hosts. Ditto if her review is bad and you then write a measured response to it. Maybe they were going through some personal issues/work stress/external factors so this was a one off (if all the other reviews are good). I don’t think you could have done any more TBH. #fairlyplayed

3 Likes
5

My suggestion would be although you left instructions for the dog to be crated, I would inform the sitter of the consequences if they don’t like dog possible causing damage to personal items. Then reminding them during the walkthrough to leave personal items in guest room with door closed. From this experience now show sitters how to use the air conditioning unit and where the fans are. Not much else you can do. I would never bother a PP while traveling to complain about the house temperature. I would try to work it out myself and even call the contact person first before disturbing their vacation. They sound young but as someone commented the sitter is in her late 40’s with many sits behind her so all these events sound like something was off on this one. Especially with her complaint of a neighbor watching her unless you know you have a creepy neighbor. The only thing left is to post an honest review and respond to hers in the mature, reasonable and sophisticated person you seem to be. Mention that you did pay for the replacement of the passport. That would show a PP I would want to sit for. Not a PP complaining that they should pay for it but someone no matter who is at fault paid and put a period on it.
Good Luck with future sits.

4 Likes
6

My suggestion is to include the information about crating the dog in your listing . It’s not mentioned and it actually says the dogs are fine to be left as they have a doggy door and can go in and out as they please . So this seems to contradict what you say is in the Welcome Guide . This should be updated to make it clearer.

There are some sitters who aren’t comfortable with putting dogs in crates , so it’s best that your “crating protocol” is mentioned in your listing before the sitter applies .
Then you can reiterate by discussing in your video call with potential sitters . You can ask if they are comfortable with putting your dog in a crate . I recommend that you have this discussion BEFORE confirming a sitter .

14 Likes
7

I agree you should mention the dog(s) are crated during the day, so although sitters are free to leave the dogs for x hours per day they must be crated before leaving. Mention that sitters should be comfortable with dog crates.

Not everyone is familiar or comfortable with crating dogs so putting that upfront in your listing is best. And on video calls, ask the potential sitters if they’ve used dog crates before and are comfortable doing so on your sit. Be clear that dogs will damage/chew items if left unsupervised while people are out of the house.

Otherwise, you responded more than appropriately and I would just write the review that way. You can also mention in your review that other pet parents considering this Sitter should discuss her comfort level with crates prior to confirming.

She does sound inexperienced. It is weird she contacted you about the house temperature, unless there was no way for her to adjust the heat/AC locally.

4 Likes
8

You get to respond to their review. So with anything they mention that isn’t perfect, respond factually and with a friendly tone (ie not tit-for-tat).

Obviously you need to accept a little responsibility in your response for the benefit of how future sitters perceive you, but your sitter should have took extra notice to the precautions you mentioned.

For example, if their review of you mentions the chewed things, state that you paid the full cost of the passport bla bla bla and that you are sorry for any additional hassle it caused. That way, future sitters will read it and see that you are kind people by paying, but also friendly and warm people by saying sorry for the hassle it caused.

2 Likes
9

@capfan31, it’s certainly possible that the housesitter may frame situation differently. But your description seems specific and your Welcome Guide and reactive response seem reasonable, even thorough and kind.

it’s possible that you simply suffered bad luck. Our impression is that most pet parents and housesitters on THS are great people, but seem exceptions on both sides.

Your reaction to developments seem great. Your Welcome Guide seemed to provide specific instructions. So, other than bad luck, perhaps suggest review your sitter selection criteria and due diligence process. For any pet parent, if there are topics of importance or atypical nature in regards pet care, property or trip then directly discuss and assess in video call.

Keep smiling.

10

How can you see who the sitter was before reviews have been left? Is there a trick I’m missing?

11

You can’t see the review until both parties have written one or 14 days have passed since the end of the sit but you do see the dates and the name of the sitter.

2 Likes
12

ahh makes sense on this.

Overall, I’d like to thank everyone for their comments and tips/suggestions. I’ll be sure to update the listing and welcome guide to ensure the following:

  1. Personal items need to be located in your guestroom away from dogs.
  2. Leaving the house, please crate the dogs to ensure there are no issues.
  3. Communicate these items again during the interview and walk through of the house as well.

I’m hoping this is just a one off situation, and it doesn’t affect our future applications with future sits. Because minus this issue, these dogs have been fairly easy. We were lucky enough to have a friend come and take over the sit (while we were 5000 miles away) and he mentioned no issues, no problems with the house, and the dogs just kind of lounged around.

Again thanks for your help on this!

7 Likes
13

I looked at the HO’s last listing and sitter date (end was Sep 8th) so I could then read this sitter’s previous reviews record and also their detailed profile….

1 Like
14

Interesting, I don’t see anything on the website or app, maybe because I’m not a sitter. (Sorry OP for the minor derailment)

15

Click on the profile listing for the OP here in the thread- now look at the sitter reviews listed. Click on the face of the most recent sitter….now read their reviews

16

FYI - This works for me on the app but not the website

1 Like
17

Missing reviews can only be found on the app.

18

Isn’t that a July-sit?