Good day Sitters
.
I arrived yesterday for a week sit (southern England) - affectionate cocker spaniel and lovely house. However:
1**. Cameras in kitchen, living room, hallways**. I brought this up but was told they weren’t spying on me.
2. Grown-up son, and pet dog, arrive on the first day, and it seems he’ll be staying for about half the sit (on and off).
He’s a nice fellow, but I like privacy - singing as I cook, talking nonsense to the pup, not feeling embarrassed (guilty?) about eating chocolate in front of the telly,.
I had spent the morning in meetings online on the kitchen table - very comfortable, but had to shift to my bedroom as son and his dog were making me self conscious - and the dogs were barking!
I know it’s only 1 week, but I feel like the owners are misunderstanding the role I’m offering.
Contact membership services immediately for advice. They are breaking the T&C’s and you’re the one left feeling awkward and uncomfortable. Let the team contact the owners. What they are doing is unacceptable, don’t just put up with it, even for a week.
I’d also mention in my review that any future sitters should clarify, prior to accepting a sit, that internal cameras are not in operation and that family members and other animals will not be present at anytime during the house sit. Potential sitters will get what you mean.
Hope you get this resolved ASAP. I would be furious.
Contact the owners and say “unfortunately your son and dog are not able to stay at the property during the sit as it breaks THS Ts & Cs. Would you like to tell him this or would you like me to leave?” The cameras are also not allowed as per Ts & Cs but would tackle the person first. If the dog is lost or something happens in the house then who is responsible and how to do you prove it? Do it asap and leave if they won’t ask him to and report it. It’s a clear rule breach along with the cameras so you’re covered. A week is a long time to feel uncomfortable. Totally inconsiderate of the HOs, you’re being treated like the hired help even if they, and the dog, are nice. If you wait for support then they’ll be a delay and info lost in translation, its quicker and braver to do it yourself. Good luck resolving
@Rhe oh so sorry for this situation- do you think the owners know that their son has turned up ?
It doesn’t matter how lovely the dog and house are you don’t have to put up with this situation- there are plenty of replacement sits in South of England so don’t feel forced into accepting this imposition.
I agree you should contact the owners and give them a deadline to resolve . Something along the lines of
“There seems to be have a misunderstanding as xx has arrived and intends to stay here whilst I am house sitting .
As you are aware THS has a third party policy so no other person can be at the property during the stay , this is in the terms and conditions that you signed up to . If you wish (son’s name x ) to continue the sit and take care of x (dog’s name ) then I will leave today .
If you wish me to continue with the sit as agreed then please ask x to leave immediately ( or by latest by this evening) . I will not stay another night while he is staying here as I feel uncomfortable with that arrangement and it is not what was agreed .I have contacted member services . Please let me know your decision by xx ( time )
To speak to member service quickly use the live chat function and ask to speak to a human.
Personally I’d tell them i am unplugging the cameras (and do it). Id also say they can choose to have their son sit for the dog or me, but both of us in the house is not an option.
THS has a real issue with 3rd parties being in the home. I had a third party, also the HOs son, let themselves into the listing with a key while I was sleeping on my last sit.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and robust opinions. I do agree with most of you, but, of course, there are practicalities.
I don’t want to spend time/money/cost of leaving and heading elsewhere. I have a daily work schedule that isn’t easily changed, and public transport travel in winter UK is not easy.
As for applying to another sit - well, I can’t because ‘I’m already booked for those dates’. Thanks THS!
I have a (wonderful, regular) sit starting after this one, so will just have to suck it up here until then.
However, what should I do when the sit finishes? Strongly worded message to the owners? - will that risk a terrible review from them? Have Customer Services contact the owner? Will they even do that?
Having had two sits this year where we had to leave early because homeowners returned home several days before the end of the sit ; I do understand that leaving a sit isn’t always straightforward ( we also WFH ) So if you are happy to stay that is of course your choice.
I also think that it’s fair to give the owner the opportunity to fix it before writing a bad review - maybe they are unaware of third party or camera policy or don’t know that the son has turned up expecting to stay.
If you do decide it’s best for you to leave this sit then MS can cancel the remaining dates of the sit so that you can apply for a replacement one.
So do whatever you are happy to do , it’s your decision to make not forum members or homeowners.
From our experience with 2 curtailed sits MS will offer to contact the homeowner on your behalf to remind them of the rules either now or after the sit but only if that is what you want them to do . Aside from that they leave you to sort it out yourself with the homeowner .
Dear @Rhe, so sorry to learn of the present, unfair arrangement which definitely doesn’t reflect the pet sitting assignment you initially agreed to.
I have just finished an interaction with one of the Membership Services Team about a pet sit in early Spring 2024, where I was informed that the pet owner will be present for a week of the four week sit.
The team member’s guidance is as follows;
‘We do encourage all members to adhere to our policies, but sometimes things like this happen as everyone’s circumstances are different. We unfortunately cannot stop anyone from accessing their own home which is why we ask for members to speak with one another in hopes of arranging alternative arrangements which are in line with our policies.’
I have to admit I am disappointed and would feel much more comfortable if the code of conduct both parties ascribed were enforceable, for safety and security purposes.
I can see that we offered to reach out to the owners on your behalf and took you through some suggested ways to avoid a third party being at the property, but you had already decided against the sit by the time you’d contacted us so that wouldn’t have been possible. I’d recommend anyone who sees something similar in a sit request contacts Membership Services where I’m sure they’d be happy to intervene.
I also agree with their advice around filing a complaint if any sit goes ahead with a third party being present at any point.
It looks like we’ve already confirmed that we’ll reach out to this owner, but I’ll feed back your comments to the team, as although you decided to withdraw from the sit, it’s still good for them to have feedback.
Hopefully the additional advice I shared will reinforce what members have already advised, and reassure anyone reading that Membership Services can reach out to sitters, that a complaint can be raised about any third parties, and that there can be scope for amending sits to not incorporate days where unavoidable third party presence is required.
This is a little concerning. 3 hours earlier @Rhe says they will tough it out due to needing a place to work and the cost of leaving (which is understandable). Now they have left?
@Rhe - I hope everything is ok. Unfortunately this disregard for sitters seems to be becoming more commonplace. When it is brought up it is generally brushed aside as an innocent mistake by the owners but I don’t see how multiple cameras in side the house (and yes they are definitely spying on you if they put in multiple indoor cameras) and a adult male PLUS dog coming over are innocent whoopsies on the part of the owner. I hope you manage to find somewhere not too expensive to stay until your next sit. Personally I think leaving is the right course of action here short of the son leaving immediately and the cameras being removed or disabled (I won’t advise how you could do that as it seems to upset people)
An unfortunate side-effect of this will be that there is no way to leave an accurate review of this sit so the next sitter will likely fall victim to this owner. Please do feed back your experience to THS. Hopefully they will remove this owner but I wouldn’t be surprised to see them stay on the site.
The insurance really should be set up to cover sitters for this type of situation. If an HO breaks the T&Cs they are essentially nullifying the agreement and it should be considered a cancellation on their part. Sitters often end up putting up with this type of treatment because they’ve already spent money to travel there and may not want to spend a lot of time and money on finding last minute accommodations. As far as I can tell there are zero consequences for HOs violating the T&Cs, all the resulting problems fall on the sitters.
I’d suggest asking on FB groups (ie “host a sister”) if you can crash with anyone while MS allows you to cancel this sit and apply for another, or ask the HOs to cover accommodation and just leave. I’d unplug the cameras and communicate this to the HOs. You might want to make sure they understand all these conditions are part of the agreement when using THS.
Remember to make a big stink to anyone who will listen about how this put you in a potentially unsafe situation, and due to the rule on blocked communications, you felt you needed to remain at a sit with a stranger against your wishes.
I wouldn’t worry about toughing it out for a review, as any sensible person would understand how inappropriate and untenable the situation is.
I’m so sorry this has occurred, and I hope you can find a solution soon.
If you are a Premium member I believe that the sit cancellation guarantee covers abandons sits ( where sitter has good reason to do so )?and this would cover cost of alternative accommodation. You pay upfront and claim then get repaid 2-7 months later .
When a homeowner came home early we were told that the Premium insurance covered this as it was a curtailment of the sit .
By breaking the THS T&Cs (by having a third party come to stay ) the homeowner has in effect cancelled / curtailed the sit . You would need to confirm with member services if this is definitely covered .
They aren’t just “misunderstanding the role” they are violating several of the terms of conduct. I wouldn’t abandon the sit, but I’d probably cover up the internal cameras for a start. You can’t kick out the son, but you should report that and the camera situation to THS. You’d be in the right to leave – the son could take the dog, but if you don’t want to do that or are afraid of getting dinged by THS, then in your shoes I’d give the sit a low rating and discuss the violations very openly in a review.
Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions. I will stay here at the house (it’s only 4 more nights), frankly because leaving would put me in a very inconvenient (due to work) and expensive (travel, accommodation) situation. The adult son is a nice guy, and I don’t feel any threat whatsoever, but clearly his presence and the multiple inside cameras, are an infringement of my privacy. Had these two elements been mentioned in the original posting, or in the pre-sit call, I probably wouldn’t have accepted the sit.
Instead I will write to the owners when I have left the sit, offering them ‘friendly advice’ about what the platform requires and their obligations as pet/home owners.
I have had THS customer services reach out to me, I just hope they don’t contact the owners while I am still here, as this will put me into a very uncomfortable and expensive situation.
