We have been using THS for about 3 years and have had very good luck. Our last sit has us questioning the whole process. We do allow our sitters to help themselves to the basics, flour, sugar, spices, anything that will go bad before we return, etc. My wife also makes great muffins, and we invite them to help themselves (in freezer). The last sit, our sitters ate all our steak, chicken, and sausage out of our freezer. Also they help themselves to chips, crackers, macadamia nuts, unopened chocolate chips, peaches and all other non-perishables in our pantry that was not open. I estimate approximately $300 in food over the 4 weeks we were gone. Should I review and mention this? My wife suggest we don’t review and just let it go. Our welcome guide says they are welcome to a drink or two of our liquor and the other essentials. I never said they couldn’t eat other things but I took that for granted. Should I have. Since I have changed our welcome guide to state specifically that we do not expect sitter to eat our unopened/frozen food. Is this necessary? Don’t want to come across as a jerk but was very disappointed when I returned after the latest trip.
Your circumstances have been discussed on the forum several times before.
It’s usual for sitters to be shown spices & oil to use if necessary also to use up any perishables in the fridge that would have gone off by the owners’ return.
Just make sure to be specific about what sitters can eat/use & maybe don’t offer muffins from the freezer next time but leave a few out for them. You were very unlucky on that occasion & the sitters disrespectful.
I’ve often used owners’ butter, chocolate, biscuits etc that but will always replace them. They usually get more than I used!
Consider what you wish you had known about these sitters before your sit — that’s what would be useful to other hosts.
THS doesn’t expect hosts to offer sitters any food. Some do out of hospitality, but for sitters to eat hundreds of dollars worth of food without an invitation is crossing lines. Most hosts probably would want to know that.
If they sat well otherwise, you should include that, of course. If so, maybe something like: We appreciated that X and Y did (whatever they did well). We weren’t expecting them to eat hundreds of dollars of our food without an invitation, though.
If you say something factual like that, other hosts can judge for themselves and decide whether to take on such sitters.
Hi @JeffVigne
This is a hot topic for both HO’s and sitters on THS. I personally would only use oil and condiments plus perishables but have upset HO’s by not helping myself to food in the freezer and had an interesting chat with a HO’s cleaner during a local sit where the cleaner said the HO was upset with the previous sitter for not eating the rather nice but expensive wrapped cheeses left in the fridge. The HO kept reminding me to eat these!
So clear messaging is needed around food I feel from the HO.
Sorry that this happened to you. What a cheek! I would say, put it in a review for them, and continue to be as kind and generous as you are. Most sitters will not take advantage, most of us are decent people!
If you compose a welcome guide or tell sitters what to eat and not to eat, it will sound very unwelcoming and like you don’t trust them.
It makes me curious why the sitter did that. When you said help yourself to the muffins in the freezer did they hear, help yourself to what’s in the freezer? It’s very clear that sitters are to buy their own food. It’s hard to believe someone would be that disrespectful unless there was a misunderstanding in communication. No excuse but some people are just not good listeners. I would put in your welcome guide, sitters are welcome to use our cooking oils and spices and enjoy the homemade muffins found on countertop made by my wife.
Not reviewing the sitter won’t have any impact on them, as it doesn’t show on their profile.
As @Maggie8k suggests, you may consider to write what you would have liked to know before offering the sit.
Regarding the WG, I agree you could make it more specific and clear. If it’s phrased nicely it doesn’t have to sound unwelcoming. There have been lots of discussions about this and, as far as I can remember, most people preferred clear guidelines. A general “help yourself “ was thought by many as risky, some even considered if there’s no boundaries set, the sitter shouldn’t be expected to refrain from using HO’s food.
I personally don’t need those boundaries but I am not offended when they are set. It’s not about me. I actually prefer that to an owner over insisting that I should finish up this and that and whatnot… as though they got to choose what I eat.
@JeffVigne Yes, absolutely you should mention this in your review of them.
Briefly cite that they consumed foods without permission. We are sitters and HOs. We never eat HO’s food (other than spices and oils used for our own cooking) and as HOs, we are clear about what sitters may or may not use.
What these sitters did is something future homeowners really should know about. Please include it in your review.
We had this exact same thing happen to us. I told the sitters to help themselves to whatever was in the fridge and pantry. The probably just heard “help themselves to everything”. Plus, they were very young, so maybe that had something to do with it.
I had this exact same thing happen. We don’t put it in the welcome guide as I feel it was a one time issue. Those sitters were extremely young and tight on money.
I would describe what went well and add “We should have been more specific during the handover and in the Welcome Guide about what food the sitters could consume. Lesson learned.”
I can see not being pleased that they ate everything but I don’t think you should mention it in a review as your guidelines weren’t clear.
Many homeowners will use a phrase like: “Feel free to round out a meal or two.” As a sitter I’ve had homeowners say stuff like please leave the stuff in the freezer but help yourself to condiments, perishables etc.
As a homeowner, I don’t have steaks or any meats in my freezer so it hasn’t been an issue. I do encourage sitters to “feel free to take a can of soup or two or three if you need an emergency meal, but please replenish if you take a lot.”
Although sitters recieve messages from THS telling them to replenish any food they take, homeowners also recieve messages from THS telling them to empty the fridge or leave space for the sitters to store their own food. People often ignore these messages so it’s best for both sides to clearly communicate before the sit. I don’t think you’ll sound like a jerk.
My opinion—definitely put something in the review. A couple of good examples have been provided above.
These sitters are bad eggs. Sounds like you have had better, more typical experiences in the past.
More clarity is a good idea for future sits. You are not a jerk for saying, “Please do not eat our frozen foods or unopened pantry items. Feel free to use x, y, and z.” Put it in writing and verbalize it too.
Definitely mention - it could as some suggest be done as an advice or note to self rather than critizism. Keep it factual and unemotional and you’re good, usually.
For instance, instead of accusations, one could say something like:
Something about how you found the communication pre-sit and how you found your home.
Something about the issue: «We were surprised to find that a substantial amount of food (including non-perishables and frozen items) was consumed during the sit. We’d assumed that only essentials and perishable items were included in what was shared, and we’ve since updated our guide for future sits to clarify expectations»
Something about petcare (sounds like it could be fine? Happy pets?)
I feel mentioning the value of the food might come across as nitpicking and doing inventory which isn’t the point as I interpret you.
I think perhaps I would mention in the WG that because of previous miscommunication, you would like to mention that the sitters are welcome to… and not…
And as others have said, I don’t think most sitters would help themselves that much, but ofc as an international community with all kinds of cultures and also the differences in language things could be interpreted differently. For all I know, the sitters could have previous experience from hosts that stocked their fridge for their sitters. But definitely mention - that would in that case help the sitters to learn that hosts can interpret it differently.
Yes. Be objective, clear and factual. That should speak for iteslf.
I, personally, have food rules for sitting : I never use the last of anything offered or open anything.
If on the very rare occasion that I see something tempting or I’ve been stupid enough to not bring enough food and the HO hasn’t said a particular item it is off limits, I open it and purchase an new, unopened replacement.
It is pretty simple. HO’s are not responsible for feeding sitters
Our sitters have all come from outside France. I tell them they are welcome to sample food items they are unfamiliar with. If they like it enough to want to eat more, and are not sure where to buy it, they can send me a photo and I’ll tell them where to look (as many are local products not available in supermarkets). Anything I don’t want sitters to touch I put away in a separate cabinet or stick notes on if in fridge. But all oils and spices, condiments etc are available to use freely.