A categorical NO to that @NMcPhee - their house, their roaches, their cleaning bill. #zeronegotiation (& talk to THS MS if you need support)
@NMcPhee Iām following this thread with ever increasing incredulity at these hosts!!! Ofcourse you should not pay for professional cleaning! Thatās a totally unreasonable request. The infestation is their problem and the cleaning is their responsibility. Iām really sorry you are going through this horror sit and I hope you can successfully navigate it- with lessons for the future learned!
You may have to accept, going by the interactions youāve reported so far, that this sit may not earn a 5* review but (if so) donāt let that dishearten you. You can respond on the review if needed. And youāll have learned valuable lessons for screening future sits more carefully and in āknowing your boundariesāā¦
Absolutely not, because it is NOT your responsibility.
These HOs seem completely unreasonable and not willing to acknowledge what a challenging situation you find yourself in. Rather, they are asking you to fork out your own money to rectify it! I agree with others that you should keep screenshots of all communications, maybe take a pic of the invoice from pest control etc.
I understand that you donāt want to risk getting a poor review. Iām afraid, with HOs like this, avoiding a scathing review may mean going to the ends of the earth to accommodate them, and that still probably wonāt be enough. I would encourage you to do what it takes to make yourself comfortable for the duration of the sit and have open communication with member services who will hopefully support you.
That would be one very big āNOā from me!
In this day and age, they can do a bank transfer or pay online, or by phone. It most definitely is not your responsibility to pay @NMcPhee (although thereās some ludicrous T&C somewhere about sitters having to pay and request reimbursement, which I absolutely would not do!).
Know your worth: do not be bullied into paying this bill. If the hosts knew about this problem, they should have had pest control in before your arrival (and shame on them for not doing so!).
Sending virtual hugs!
@NMcPhee I am pleased the owners have acted and had pest control come and treat the house. However, I am astounded they request you to pay for professional cleaning afterwards. Like everyone else, the answer is NO! As pointed out, cockroaches are part of living in northern Australia as the owners well know. It is their problem, not yours. They are not at all the kind of owners many of us would want to sit for in their frugalness and not making their sitter welcome. They know the conditions in Darwin and have chosen to absent themselves for a month. You also only have their word they donāt use AC.
Yes, you may very well end up with a less than 5* review. But so will they when you give a factual, unemotional review of them plus you can respond to their review which weāre encouraging you to do.
Inform THS of the situation and most definitely keep all messages or screenshot what you have for your records.
Thinking of you.
This is not normal, reasonable behaviour. Cleaning up after an infestations is in no way the responsibility of the sitter.
To me itās super simple. Use the air conditioner as much as you need. They should have told you before the sit if they didnāt want you to use it. I have lived in Darwin. October is brutal!
Hey @NMcPhee ā¦I feel for ya! A few years back, through a different company, I did a sit in Mexico for an incredibly stingy homeowner. She was checking the electricity use DAILY online, and was harassing me DAILY.
It was a 6 week sit, and I nearly lost my mind from her harassment, the heat, and the insane # of massive cockroaches that paraded out from under her stove every evening (and came AT me - eek!!!) Little monsters.
Eventually I adjusted. But it was quite an experience. And I was very new to the traveling pet sitter life.
What I did was call the lady who was the emergency contact. A neighbor a few blocks away. I told her about the harassment. She simply said to ignore my host and do what I needed to do to be comfortable. She also told me where to buy the cockroach spray that kills them quickest. She also let me know that my host was a bit of a pain in that town, always complaining on the Facebook Groups about every little thing, and that she was just a sour woman and for me to try and enjoy myself regardless.
It was quite an experience! In the end, I had a great time. Absolutely fell in love with the dog. And didnāt continue my subscription with that particular pet sitting company.
Oh! And: that pet sitting company I used for only that sit was rubbish. Wonāt use or recommend, ever.
Anywho: hoping you are settling in, that itās super beautiful despite the issues, and basically that you are enjoying yourself as best you can.
Viva la adventure!
As an HO, the comfort of our sitters is 2nd only to our pets. Though Iāve cringed when sitters cranked up the furnace by 2C or 3C over our normal 21C house temperature, the bottom line is that those sitters cannot run our furnace high enough long enough to offset the benefits or value of having a sitter in the house. So we try not to sweat these kinds of minor disconnects. .
oof. 21 is already quite warm for me. lol. Iām currently staying at an Airbnb and itās been getting down to about 5 at night so occasionally iāll turn on the heater for a bit and it wonāt go lower than 20 which is just such a waste for me.
Yes, 21 sounds like a sweat lodge unless the home is poorly built or poorly insulated, in which case a lot of heating would be escaping.
This jumped out at me, too.
It definitely needs questioning, about what to do in the event that something happens that needs a vet.
I would worry about being slugged for the cost of a visit and never being reimbursed because āwe donāt take our dog to the vet, itās too expensiveā
I would also worry about the condition of the dog currently, is it up to date with vaccinations, flea treatments, worming, is it microchipped, etc.
Oh my gosh this is a TERRIBLE sit.
Please contact THS support ASAP to log the facts/ issues ā they are SO HELPFUL.
This kind of host should be banned from the site.
Itās a fact that free accommodation & free pet care saves both parties hundreds/ thousands ā¬Ā£$s ā this is a mutual bonus that should PREVENT being so mean/ tight/ thoughtless around basic every day necessities, such as AC and cleanliness.
Use the AC
Log the issues with THS asap during the sit
Write a fact-based review (avoiding he said/ she said)
Respond to their review with a fact-based account (avoiding he said/ she said)
Each experience adds to the list of screening Qs for HOs next time. Itās a learn & grow experience.
Sorry this sit is so unpleasant.
Good luck