I had a sitter who after three days called to tell me she had emergency and had to leave and drop the dog off with our emergency contact person. Her emergency was, she’s the owner of several properties 2 1/2 hours away from our home and she needed to go down there and take care of something for a day and a half
I must say this upset me off because she should have somebody taking care of her properties in an emergency that put me in a hella spot since I was across the country. I don’t see using our TrustedHousesitters contacts in this kind of situation. Although she’s very nice, I don’t appreciate what happened
Now I have to give her a review
How would you deal with the situation?
For the review there are categories
for organised, reliable and self sufficient.
If you feel that your sitter lacked in these areas when dealing with their emergency then you can deduct stars appropriately.
Include the facts ( not emotions or feelings ) about what happened . Include all the positives too ( pet care etc ) so that the review is balanced.
The reviews will be there for future owners to see when deciding if to choose this sitter.
If you want to take it further than this and want THS to investigate this sitter -you can raise a member dispute .
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Did she come back afterwards and complete the sit?
I’m trying to visualise a house emergency: a fire, police involvement at the location etc so it could’ve been a requirement that she attend as the owner….
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There are emergencies and there are emergencies. I too rent out a property in the south of England and have reliable people to clean and do minor maintenance. However, if a pipe burst or if the combi boiler stopped working (and all usual things did not work) I would have to attend. We sit as a couple so it would not affect the pet sit but a single person is in a dilemma and that’s what emergency contacts are set up for. The problem may have affected her income stream which could be very important to her.
Yes, mention it in the review and score that section as you see fit but also mention the positives as well. If you feel very strongly about this why not ask for couples or families only to apply for your sits. It may decrease the applicants but you can still use THS which is an excellent option for pet owners and sitters.
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@Penni
You will never know how ‘urgent’ this ‘emergency’ was sadly.
At the very least, mark well down for reliabilty as these ‘emergencies’ could happen time and time again,
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Penni, I’m so sorry this happened to you. But how smart of you to have an emergency backup plan, not every homeowner does, and many sitters don’t think to ask about one. (After having had a family medical crisis happen during a sit myself, that’s something I ask about as soon as a sit is confirmed.)
In a way this is kind of a hard one…she was honest about the emergency; that is, she could have lied and said her father died, in which case you probably wouldn’t have been nearly as annoyed. But if she owns properties and doesn’t have someone who can take care of them while she’s gone, she might be an unreliable sitter. I’d certainly dock a star for reliability and note why, factually and unemotionally, in the review. Something like “I’ve docked a star for reliability because 3 days into a weeklong sit, Patty had to cut the sit short and drop the dog off to our emergency contact due to an issue with a property she owned in another city.”
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But whether or not she really needed to be there, as a homeowner considering her for a future sit, I would want to know this had happened. At minimum I would ask about it before offering her the sit to make sure it wasn’t going to happen to me. So mentioning it in the review is important to help future HOs.
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And of course the sitter has a right to reply to the review so it needs to be factual not judgemental or that could backfire if the emergency was something pretty dramatic…
Life happens. And believe it or not, sitters have stuff going on that extends beyond their role as a sitter. Yours had the no doubt uncomfortable dilemma of whether to attend to something that would potentially affect her own livlihood versus continuing her unpaid role caring for your dog. She chose to follow Plan B, which is there for a reason.
Even if you’d employed a paid sitter, there’s no guarantee that an emergency situation wouldn’t arise, because even paid sitters have personal lives. Except then you’d probably have ended up with someone you’d never even met stepping in to take over the assignment and staying in your home. Your dog was left with people you trust, and now you owe them a favour. No harm done.
Review as you see fit, but perhaps try and see the situation from your sitter’s point of view before doing so.
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Thank you for creating this forum! I am a sitter.
In the hospital, in jail or on the toilet. These are emergencies.
I own rental properties. If a pipe burst, I can’t fix it!!! I am not abandoning a sit to work a broken pipe, or a house on fire, or a flooding toilet. I am not a professional and I would have to call one. Police matter??? Well, the phone works just fine while I am out of town, I can deal with police when I return. If the police matter is of utmost urgency, they will come to you!!!
What sort of “emergency” did the sitter have? If no one was in the hospital, in jail and if she didn’t have to leave because she was stuck on the toilet for 8 hours and couldn’t care for a dog/cat/whatever animal you have, you should not at all leave her a 5 star review. This sitter didn’t have an emergency that warranted her to leave your animal(s) and home abandoned…unless you elaborate more.
Would you welcome her back? 4 star if so. 3 star, if not. And the 3 stars if if she took good care of your home and pet(s) before she abandoned them.
Leave an honest review for your fellow HO.
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I’d take her at her word and be grateful she brought your dog to the emergency contact/neighbor. That’s exactly what the emergency contacts are for. It’s awesome that you had that set up or it could have been a difficult situation all around. Instead, your dog was safe with a friend for a short period. If the sitter came back and finished the sit after her emergency I’d be extra grateful.
I don’t think it’s fair to expect any sitter to experience unnecessary stress over a situation in their personal lives just to make an HO more comfortable. This is an exchange in every way and it sounds like this sitter handled an unexpected issue with honesty and care. I don’t know how long the sit was or what else may have gone on, but if your pets and home were generally well cared for while you were away I’d consider my review carefully and from all angles.
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We’re sitters and we have rental properties & our own place is a holiday let, and personally I wouldn’t put our properties before our pet responsibilities, that may sound odd to some but instead, we have local management companies in place to sort most things straight away. There has only been one occasion where we have needed to return to one of our properties since starting sitting early last year, but we took the dog we were caring for with us, because he loves a drive out and about, it was about an hour away. We also have an additional back up plan in place because we sit as a couple, whereby only one of us will go, while the other stays with the pets. And if we’re sitting overseas… then any problem can wait until we return.
We have back up plans for everything because we sit full time and we don’t want it to end.
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My point exactly…an emergency doesn’t know distance. If I got a call that my Mom was in hospital or my brother was in jail…I’d be gone the next morning whether by car or plane. As a sitter, I declined a really nice home and an easy pair of cats because the owner didn’t have an emergency plan if I had to evacuate for whatever reason. I wouldn’t sit at a home without having contact information for the pet(s) emergency plan.
But if my Mom simply broke her arm or leg (she has a husband) or my brother was just being held for 48 hours in jail and someone else would be able to assist…I will get back when I am scheduled to. But other people would call those emergencies…
My point is the definition of emergency is subjective, I think that term gets tossed around too much. Emergency…a word with a lot of meaning.
If an “emergency” becomes one because it is 60 miles yet somehow it isn’t one at 6,000 miles, it is not an emergency.
@HappyDeb…thank you for being a great sitter!!! And taking the dog with you…I am sure Fido or Lassie loved the adventure!!!
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I’m sorry to hear this
I don’t believe your sitter should be committing to caring for animals when they clearly have other responsibilities and priorities elsewhere.
I would leave a factual, honest review of the sitter and their actions so that other homeowners are aware.
I would never apply for a sit unless I was certain my schedule was clear enough on for those dates to perform the duties expected of me. And when I commit to a sit that becomes my top priority - specifically the care of the animals. I guess I’m fortunate that I work freelance so can set my own schedule and workload. I also have a relatively simple, independent life free from too many responsibilities, dependants or dependency so I’m able to devote myself to the animals entrusted to me.
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