Hi so I’m currently away, and only the 2nd sit I’ve had. My only instructions to my sitter is to feed my cat twice a day 6am and again 6pm and be home overnight. 2nd night in still not home 21hrs later. Incase of late return had left extra dry food. Had chat group in place with friends and family incase of emergency. She told no one she couldn’t get home and I had to get a neighbour to go and feed my cat that hadn’t had his breakfast or wet food for 24hrs. Just a pile of dry food which he wouldn’t eat. I wouldn’t even have known without my ring doorbell showing her going out and not coming back.
I had gone out of my way picking her up from her last sit about half an hours drive away, taking her food shopping as she had no money, letting her come a day early so she didn’t have to pay for a hotel and letting her stay another night before her next sit, along with driving her an hour away to her next sit ! I think I’ve gone above and beyond for her and not asked much in return? Just feed him and be around at night.
She is now remorseful for letting me down, but asking if she is late back can the neighbour feed him ! I don’t think I’m being unreasonable am I in saying no ? She is there to do that not them ..
This is insane. How long is the sit? I would be very tempted to inform sitter you would like her back with your cat and pictures, and if unwilling or unable to comply, I would be terminating the sit. If neighbors are being relied on anyway, I would think they would be amiable to you seeking a replacement sitter. Of course, a nice dinner upon return or such to thank them. We were once in a position to need the neighbors help on a sit, we both caught flu, my husband was hospitalized 30 minutes away and we had ice storms, followed by blizzard. We still kept up better communication with hosts than this. Good luck however you handle this. Don’t forget to review.
Firstly I am sorry to hear about your current situation. Just to let you know that I have passed this across to the Membership Services team and someone will be in touch with you shortly, so please do keep a look out for an email from them.
@SeniorSitter1 it’s only the OPs second sit, she still learning. Yes red flags there but it’s not that easy when the sitter turns up and has no food, compassionate people try to help out, sometimes to their detriment.
That is crazy. I would not care how remorseful she is, she is a freeloader who is not keeping her end of the deal. I would give her 24 hours to leave and ask neighbor/friends to look in on the cat while you are gone. I would also open a member dispute with THS.
I hope she is kicked off the platform. Totally irresponsible and unexcusable.
Hi thank you the sit is for a week ending on Friday . I did consider ending the sit but didn’t think it fair to drop it on my neighbours as I don’t want him being left overnight and they are unable to do so. I would like to think she is remorseful enough not to do it again and have made it quite clear it’s not acceptable and won’t be tolerated. I know she has nowhere else to go so would hope she won’t or I will have no hesitation in telling her to leave immediately.
I didn’t realise she had no money for food until she arrived and am not the type of person to leave her with nothing. She is quite young and I was trying to help her. It was my only 2nd time, the first being for 2 nights so I didn’t really know what is expected of me.
I asked my friends to take over as soon as I was aware of the situation, and did not know to contact THS or that I could open up a dispute it’s all very new to me and never for one minute thought she would do this ?
You do sound like a very empathetic person. However, this sitter has already shown you who she is. Believe her. The remorse will not be enough to magically make her a responsible person.
I do hope you consider ending the sit early. If not still consider opening the member dispute at the end of it. She does need to be held accountable, or she’ll do this to other pets.
She sounds terrible, she is there to take care of your cat, and she isn’t.
You sound like a lovely person, you really do. If you have friends or family to help, I’d end the sit early, but do it in the right “THS” way, THS will help you with how you do it if that’s what you decide to do.
That is a lot of victim-blaming and unkind. The OP is pretty new to THS and didn’t know better. Whether or not the OP ignored red flags is somewhat irrelevant to the fact that she is being abused by the sitter.
Would you or I have got into that situation? Maybe not, but we have much more experience. Don’t blame the OP for the sitter behaving badly.
As a sitter, I think you’re spot on!!! You’ve gone over and above in accommodating her needs by taking her shopping and, by the sounds of it, paying for it, and offering to drive her to her next sit. These things are NOT your responsibility, they are the sitter’s. I think she’s taking the proverbial.
I think the key issue here isn’t simply that the sitter went out. You had specifically agreed that she would be home overnight, and more importantly, she was away for 21 hours without letting you know, resulting in your cat missing his scheduled care.
I can understand why you’re reluctant to put your neighbours in a difficult position, particularly as you’re new to THS. I’d be very clear with the sitter that a neighbour cannot become the default backup for an agreed responsibility.
You’ve clearly tried to be generous and accommodating, but at this point I’d let THS advise you on the appropriate way forward and make sure everything is documented.
I’m confused. The sitter supposedly has no money for food, but can be out all night doing what? She must be using money to go wherever and do whatever. So, don’t feel sorry for someone that is clearly taking advantage of your humanity. With that humanity, please write a review that spares others from sharing a similar experience.
Helping someone in need is a generous act and shows a lot of humanity. I admit I don’t tend to act like this in similar circumstances but I do admire people who do and I don’t blame them at all. I hate it when people take advantage of others’ kindness and I am convinced the world would be a much better place if everyone could behave in a kind, generous way without fearing being taken advantage of.
We’re new to THS & our first sitter ever was unhoused, asked to start the sit early because she didn’t have a place to go, we then cooked dinner for her & filled our refrigerator with items she wanted. We saw red flags too but by then we had chosen this person to care for our cats. She had many glowing reviews except for one that was not very good. We learned a hard lesson when we arrived home to a flooded apartment. In the end always trust your gut. And call references, don’t only rely on reviews.
The sitter is not remorseful. Actions speak louder than words. If anything the sitter is being rather manipulative and taking advantage of your generosity.
Although @SeniorSitter1 was perhaps a bit harsh they’re not wrong. The sitter isn’t doing their job properly but you’re allowing this to happen to some degree you may want to reconsider your approach.
