You’re entitled to say no. The sitter shouldn’t be surprised by that as an answer. However they have done exactly what they should do and asked you for permission.
As others have already said you can get whatever details you need from the sitter to make you feel compfortable.
They may not be asking to stay over so they can attend an event in another town, they may be attending the event in the other town anyway and trying to take an opportunity to see their friend.
I’ve found it’s not unusual for sitters to ask about guests after the sit has been confirmed. The sitter could discover a friend who lives nearby is free for dinner one night; I generally don’t mind if an experienced sitter with multiple excellent reviews has friends in the area and asks if they can come over for a drink or a meal, as long as there aren’t children involved. I personally would not want my home to be used as housing because someone the sitter knows has nearby tickets and is looking for a free place to crash.
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Yes, definitely, but if they have those tickets anyway, don’t they also have a hotel room anyway, too?
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It’s likely they didn’t know. I can imagine it going like this:
Sitter: Hey, Friend! I’m going to be sitting a couple hours away from you! Maybe we could get together for a meal halfway?
Friend: I’m actually going to be right near there for a game during that time! I was planning to get a hotel, but maybe I can just stay with you?
Sitter: Let me ask the homeowner if that’s okay.
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Yes and that may be what they have. It’s what I would have done as I arrange accomodation for any event at the same time. However if I found out a friend was going to be in the not-immediate area I would try and fit in a visit with them as well. It’s in another town so not the most convenient of option for travelling to an event. Whatever money is saved is probably gone in travel costs.
If a sitter cancelled on me because after they’d already accepted the sit I’d not agreed to allow a friend to stay over, I would feel I’d dodged a bullet. The sit is ten weeks out, there’s plenty of time to relist.
In the post it says that the HO had accepted [the application]. Nowhere does it say that the sitter had confirmed the sit. So that is how I interpreted the situation.
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The sitter might simply be sounding you out on the possibility, and may accept a “no” from you.
Completely up to you.
You can say no, ask for more info, etc.
As others have mentioned, if they don’t have a solid review history, I’d probably say no.
If you do decide to move forward, I would get all the details on the person and their event and reiterate that the individual is the sitter’s responsibility.
As an HS, I have done the past few sits solo but my partner is listed on our account. After sit was confirmed, we found that our plans changed and he may be able to sit with me. I ofc asked uk front and all the HOs had no issue with this, but he’s also a listed member on our profile.
Regardless, as an HO, if someone asked, even after confirmation, I would just go based on what I was comfy with. Generally speaking, we prefer for people not to bring guests around simply because we don’t want to contes with the extra variables and we’re particular about who is around our dog.
At the same time, we have a repeat sitter with us now and we trust him a great delà so if he wanted guests (for instance his mum may have wanted to visit and stay), we said yes without question. His mum was also a TH HS tho and we were able to see her experience and our HS started his sit journey as part of her sits before getting his own account.
Anyway in short, just trust your instinct, ask all the questions you need to, make sure the extra people can also demonstrate they are equipped to be there, and do what you’re comfortable with. X