On one sit the wife said to help myself to oil, rice, bread, cheese, eggs etc and the husband said please don’t use anything of ours.
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I was only offered anything once. Including the any wine I wanted. I didn’t use anything but spices. I will use up fresh fruit left if they are gone long enough for it to go bad, like berries. I think they really crossed a line and I would put that down. I think that is bad form and others should know that.
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Truly not that exciting @Colin
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Firstly, I think it’s pertinent to say that yes, if it wasn’t discussed in the interview or the handover meeting and they drained your pantry that it should be included in the review. I am a firm believer in always giving an honest review and if I was the sitter and got a review like this, it would be disappointing but I would treat it as feedback to ask better questions of you the HO.
And yes, while it seems silly to have to, I would add that you do not want the sitter to eat your unopened or frozen food to your listing and also state that you added this caveat because you want to make sure to avoid any confusion so that both you and future sitters have the best opportunity for five star reviews.
Every HO is different, just like the sitters.
In the 4 years of sitting with THS and 17 years total, food is something I always address in handover meeting becuase it’s not really appropriate in the interview stage in my opinion unless the home is very isolated and even then, I still plan to bring what we need but I would ask in case there was something that prevented shopping before arrival.
Just from the sheer number of sits we’ve done over the years, we’ve seen that many homes have tons of close-to or expired foods they don’t use or plain forget about in the back of cupboards and many times just my OCD around this means I want to clean the cupboards and make sure things are fresh and this means we explore if they should get composted or eaten.
However, I always take a picture of the food being addressed unless it was something we discussed clearly in the hand over. Since we do long sits, many HO’s request us to use up perishables and open bags so that it doesn’t get wasted. This also refers to freezer goods if they’re not packaged for long term storage.
We never expect food because my wife and I have particular diets and so we bring the main staples we need always and consider any bonus food a wonderful gift from the HO.
Finally, one caveat about food or liquor from personal experience. Some food or booze is irreplaceable due to being extremely rare or perhaps acquired in a place that it’s not possible to replace without great difficulty. For the HO, it’s important to tell your sitters if you have something like that so there’s no dissapointment BUT it’s also important for the sitter to ask, just in case the HO forgets about something special because while sitters are focused on arrival, the HO has way more things to think about in comparison so the easier we can make it for the HO, the better in my opinions.
Hope that helps the OP and other readers.
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@MaggieUU , Well, that is my disappointment of the week. I was all set to melt a big bar of chocolate the next time I have a chippy tea 
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I would mention that you didn’t expect them to kinda eat you out of house and home. Ive read several posts about sitters drinking all the alcohol in the house and some very expensive whiskey or wine that cant be replaced. Im guess some ppl you give them an inch they take a mile. Food is expensive today and if someone ate all my steak, chicken, meat plus canned foods id be pist. Thats $300 you have to go out and buy more. So you just paid $600 for a sitter for 4 weeks. By mentioning this in your review you are warning others HO’S to watch what they offer. Some ppl just have no morals and if i were a HO i sure would want to know about a sitter thats going to eat everything in my house.
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If the sitters ate $300 worth of food, then the cost to the hosts is $300. Even if it costs another $300 to replace the food, that will be consumed by the hosts. There’s no $600 cost for sitting in that case.
Why I suggest specifying that they ate $300 worth of food if that’s the case: Any normal host will estimate how much food they ate, and that’s not being petty, especially with the cost of food nowadays. And if you fuzz up or don’t specify that it was hundreds of dollars’ worth, then other hosts will be left to guess and maybe wonder whether you were just cheap and discount your review, because they might be OK with sitters eating some food, though not clearing out as these sitters did. Plus, you can ward off sitters who’d think it fine to eat so much of a host’s food.
Normal people, even when invited explicitly to help themselves, wouldn’t clear out hundreds of dollars’ worth of food. For instance, I’ve been invited to eat what I wanted on some sits with robust pantries, fridges and freezers. I’ve also been invited to drink hosts’ wine and booze. Yet I’ve never taken advantage of anyone. I don’t sit because I’m poor — I normally feed and cocktail myself, so there’s no reason I should be taking advantage of hosts. Plus, THS specifies that hosts aren’t expected to provide food. If they do, that’s hospitality. Good guests — whether sitters or otherwise — don’t abuse their hosts’ generosity.
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Hi @JeffVigne
Did you manage to write a suitable review or change up your welcome guide using any of the advice shared by our members? It’d be great to hear back about how you got on.
Jenny 
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I don’t find that unwelcoming at all. Owners vary as to what they are willing for you to consume, and that’s fine. I’ve had a host show me the drinks cupboard and say you can drink what you like from this side but not from that. I’ve had hosts tell me which drawers of the freezer I can consume from. If they don’t say anything (and they sometimes don’t) I eat whatever would be off before they get back, use their oils and condiments (but not lavishly), and nothing else. I wouldn’t eat their cheese, unless they had specifically said I could, unless it was a very long sit and it would be mouldy before they got back.
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Yet again, “interview stage”. It’s not a job interview. Nobody is being hired. It’s a conversation to get to know each other a bit and see if owner and sitter are a good fit.
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If we use it, we replace it! Any other behaviour is simply rude. We are there to house and pet sit not take advantage.
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As sitters we appreciate very clear instructions and guidelines around expectations. “Eat the fruit and veg (because they’ll spoil if not consumed) and help yourself to condiments” is clear. Putting one bottle of wine on the counter with a note on it that it is for them is clear. Saying “do not take anything from the freezer” is clear. I would put this in the Welcome Guide as verbal instructions can get muddled or forgotten. Do this without nit-picking or getting overly detailed. I do not want to hear “you can eat the frozen muffins and frozen peas, beans and corn, but not the frozen okra, quiche or meat” as it is too much detail.
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You really shouldn’t have to specify what to eat and what not to eat really. If I was sitting I would buy my own groceries. Plain and simple they have a place to stay but this should’nt include food.
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@Grace1215 - Your comment doesn’t make sense at all !
Would you not offer your gardener refreshments because you’ve given them a garden to work in.
Please don’t forget, your alternative option to a trusted housesitter it to pay a ‘professional’ sitter, I think in the UK, an average price is around £350 per week …AS WELL as them staying in your property.
Why? - Because it is literally impossible for a sitter to do what you are asking them to do if they don’t stay in your property - The reason we stay in your property, is because you want us to!
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Hi @Grace1215,
I understand and respect what you’re saying, but I’d like to give my point of view about HOs and sitters, a very diverse universe of characters and different personalities. Communication is essential to avoid surprises, on both sides.
Anecdotally, referring to ourselves as sitters, we spent two weeks using our own coffee (not because we’re picky) but because we didn’t want to cross an unspoken boundary with the HO.
Upon returning, the HO laughed a lot and explained that it was silly and that we were more than welcome to use the house’s basics (there were dozens of coffee capsules). We weren’t aware of this, as amateurs.
Today, with more experience with the app, we’ve had all kinds of experiences:
- The prompt to eat everything that’s open or ready to expire if we wanted.
- Same with fruits and vegetables on long-term stays (a month, for example)
- Houses with things that were about to rot (inside and outside the refrigerator)
- Pantries filled especially for us (after asking about allergies and personal preferences)
- In some cases, we have consumed simple products, such as chocolate, noodles, or flour, for example, at midnight (taking photos for replenishment before the HO arrives, obviously items from well-known brands in supermarket chains)
- “Green light to use everything,” which we respectfully apply common sense.
- We have also encountered stays without toilet paper or soap.
- Welcome and farewell gifts, and even an invitation to a restaurant “of our choice” as a thank you for our services.
In all cases, it would NEVER be right to shortage HOs or take things that were not offered, no matter the amount. I’d like to emphasize that communication is key to a win-win-win experience (pets, HW, sitters).
Sitters should ask, and HOs please indicate and clarify.
I’ve seen in your post that you mentioned that you have a nice gesture to your sitters and it’s always very appreciated to start a sit like this.
Based on what was listed above, I must disagree with the last point you made.
It’s not that plain, nor that simple. 
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Colin I plan to leave a welcome basket with some breakfast items. Do you expect a homeowner to spend a couple hundred dollars on food for your stay? .
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Sorry @Grace1215, there are many factors involved. It’s not as simple as estimating a dollar amount. It doesn’t make sense from my point of view.
# of pets, type of them, complexity of the pets (taking meds, size, special care, age), country where the sit takes place, hospitality of the parent/guardian (super subjective), among others.
Ultimately, whatever makes you and the sitter happy.
Let’s think outside the box and not set a specific amount of money as an indicator
An exercise we do is to step ourselves on PP’s shoes before operating and consciously think about “how I would feel as a parent if the sitters did this or that thing…”
Not every HO receives you in the Playboy or Kardashian mansion, nor are sitters Cesar Milan or Steve Irwin 
A fair exchange between animal lovers is the premise of the site.
Cheers!
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Just to be clear, you think your sitters stay should’nt include food, but you are leaving them a welcome pack- and who has told you that you should spend a couple hundred dollars ?
You’re talking in riddles!
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WOW, I wound not expect this to be that complicated. A welcome basket is not a weeks worth of food, it is simple a few things to help the sitter get settled in. Based on your comments I guess you would exxpect the home owner to pay for flights to get you to sit, leave their car for you to drive and leave you a thankyou tip of a couple of hundred dollars because we are so gratefull you pick us? Boy it must be tough on you to do this full time!!
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Ghirardelli chocolate chips are the best for baking cookies and brownies. 
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