Seeking advise for item left at pet sit

I have thought about posting if someone else from THS in this area can help. I have reached out to a friend who has a friend in the area to see if they can assist. Thank you for your advice.

No DHL does not package for their courier service but sending her the packaging had not occurred to me until I posted for advice.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

I am more than happy to pay and I want the box insured. I am not understanding your comment. I cannot find a courier to package the item and commit to such a restrictive window of time. A hotel would be staffed 24/7 and would have packing supplies.

Thank you to all who have offered solutions and support. The location is San Miguel de Allende. I know it will be expensive to get my property and I am more than willing to cover all costs. I do not want to inconvenience anyone but as a homeowner on THS and owning a short term rental, items are left behind often. I would gladly pay a trustworthy person to collect box and ship or pick up a FedEx box and take to the homeowner which are both in El Centro. I am in the U.S.

It was my birthday and my partner gave me a nice gift. There are strange circumstances as to how/why the box was left behind. This was not a careless mistake.

I want to thank everyone again for your suggestions. Following this pet sit I had a paid pet sit in my home city and they happen to live on my street. I shared the experience of this sit and they told me they had good friends in San Miguel de Allende who would have been happy to have us stay when this pet sit became uncomfortable.

I asked my client to reach out to his friends on my behalf. I have confirmed they are happy to collect my property and refused any money for the cost of shipping. They know exactly where the home is located because they have friends on the same street.

A complete stranger is doing far more than I asked or expected. Having a very satisfied pet sitting client/neighbor turned out to be the answer to my problem. Moral of the story is ā€œit’s a small worldā€ and how you treat people in one circle will likely leak into your other circles.

I also learned a new question to ask homeowners prior to confirming a pet sit. Are you friendly with your neighbors? They did not appear to have any friends in their current neighborhood. We have had pet sitters have dinner and drinks with our neighbors. Having a neighbor who can help in an emergency is worth its weight in gold. I never thought about it until this situation that someone’s relationship with their neighbors can say a lot about about a person. I’m someone who has a hard time moving because my neighbors become such good friends. I have an open door policy to borrow something and took meals and masks to seniors during Covid. I treat my pet sitters with respect and show my appreciation by providing a car, meals and even hotel rooms. We have nearly 50 glowing reviews on THS because of who we are as humans. I believe when you are happy and satisfied in life you naturally share it with others and creating community is easy. Food for thought for other pet sitters screening for good home owners.

Edited to meet posting guidelines

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@claudinekent so glad it worked out for you in a very unexpected way

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@claudinekent thanks for the update!

Probably a new thread but my neighbors have asked if our THsitter needs anything due to some challenging weather NH is having right now.

Yeah…good neighbors are great. We lucked out in our neighborhood.
This neighbor even wrote a reference for us when we joined!
They are good people :slightly_smiling_face:

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Neighbors differ a lot, depending on the location / country / culture and in how frequently people might move. Some areas have a lot of turnover. In some, people might not know their neighbors much other than a polite wave or nod of the head.

Personally, I’ve experienced a wide range of neighbor dynamics and that’s ranged from polite nod (like in Hong Kong) to we all know and rely on each other and hang out (in some neighborhoods in the U.S.). And yet I’m the same person everywhere I’ve lived, LOL.

Currently, I live where everyone has large lots and people tend to keep to themselves, though the neighbors did all welcome us with a gift and introductions. We might ask each other to look out for packages and such while we’re away, and are friendly, but we rarely even see them. Meanwhile, I’m still in touch and chatty with some old neighbors who always say they miss us and want us back. With those folks, our homes were much closer in an urban setting. Different dynamics and circumstances.

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@Maggie8K very well said . I don’t think it’s fair to judge someone solely on their relationship with their neighbours . Every community is unique

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Nowadays, I see deer much more often than I see neighbors, LOL.

Everyone decides for themselves how to screen. For me, there are better ways to screen for good hosts. And I’d say look at your results — some folks have had a number of crummy sits and I wonder whether they’re screening well enough. Not that anyone can’t run into bad luck, but if there are a bunch of them, the common element is the person picking people. It’s like dating — if you find yourself dating a bunch of jerks, then maybe screen differently.

I appreciate everyone’s support and suggestions. The property in question is in San Miguel de Allende. Understanding that retrieving the box may incur expenses, I am more than willing to cover all costs associated with the retrieval process. As a homeowner on THS with a short-term rental, items are frequently left behind, and I would greatly appreciate the assistance of a trustworthy individual. I am willing to compensate for the service, be it collecting and shipping the box or picking up a FedEx box and delivering it to the homeowners in El Centro. Currently residing in the U.S., I want to ensure a smooth resolution despite the unusual circumstances surrounding how the box was left behind. Again, thank you for the support and assistance.

OMGoodnesss, I would be so stressed by this. This is a long time to wait to confirm it’s there with the HO. A courier is not going to package it so sorry, they just won’t.
Is there anyone else who can help you? a friend in the same Country that could at least help arrange a different Courier maybe?
As for nothing to pack it in, I would get packing materials sent by Amazon. (including scissors, tape, labels etc) because for me personally by this time I would be so stressed by the whole process and just want my items returned.
Wishing you all best.

So… this sounds like the homeowner had a part in the box being left behind? If that’s the case, this is creepy and I hope you write an honest review to warn future sitters. Glad it eventually worked out.

This was great advice and I looked into it but no luck.

Amazon only sends packing boxes in bulk. I tried this option.

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I thought I had shared my final post but I feel a need to share this new detail so people truly understand the frustrations with this HO and ask for advice again. I informed the HO the name of who would be calling her to confirm a convenient time to pick up box. She replied back to me that he needs to text her. He is an older gentleman who likes to speak to people. Would you ask him to text instead of call? I honestly don’t know if he texts. This is a stranger doing me a huge favor.

@claudinekent ok…this is magical thinking…but what stops you from returning and picking it up yourself?

Personally, I would love that scenario. Kinda MI/Ethan Hunt-esque.

Is it plane ticket $?
Schedule?

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This HO….Like what?!? Am I missing something? Like are they hard of hearing and so wouldn’t be able to speak to someone on the phone? Or maybe they have a social anxiety that manifests on phone calls?

I would maybe just have him call you when he’s there and you can text her? If you can call and explain the situation to him, hopefully he’ll understand difficult people. I would also have him help the contents of everything that is supposed to be there but tbh, if something is missing, I’m not even sure how you’d follow up on that.

Please don’t ever take something that valuable on a sit with you again. But yea this is wild. :sweat_smile::woman_facepalming:t5:

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Ah, okay well if Amazon read this, there is an opening there for packaging for one off smaller items. Hope you get it resolved soon.