Hey guys! Just had a question, as my husband and I are struggling on how to review a sitter. She was great; house was spotless, pets were taken care of and she did communicate and update throughout the sit. I did notice her car was gone an entire night on our ring camera, roughly 13 hours. We have never left our dogs alone over night, and we never would. The cat has been alone overnight many times, but again, she didn’t ask or give any warning that this was going to happen. While I know the dogs would be okay, this definitely made us very unsettled and a bit upset, and again, we were not told or asked beforehand.
What I’m struggling with: I don’t explicitly have “please don’t leave pets alone at home overnight” written anywhere. I honestly didn’t think I had to lol. During our video chat, we mentioned that the dogs are definitely okay to be at home for a few hours. But again, we didn’t explicitly say 4-5 hours is okay, not 13… I guess the expectation is that if you are going to watch our pets, you will be sleeping here. But perhaps this should be written in our rules?
Help! I don’t want to negatively impact her profile and I don’t know if I’m over thinking this?
To me as a sitter, I would assume the same - that if I am not going to be at my sit overnight for any reason, I would let the owner know so they can decide for themselves if they are okay with it. I would not expect a host to have to tell me this.
Maybe the sitter had an emergency or could not make it back home for some reason. If that happened, they should have let you know, even after the fact.
If it were me, when reviewing them, I would write that your pets and home were well cared for, add the positive details you mentioned. But also mention that if someone were considering using this sitter, to confirm in advance that they would be there overnight each night during their stay.
Things happen, but communication is essential when you have pets and a home under your care.
You shouldn’t need to. As a sitter I would just assume that being there overnight was one of my basic responsibilities. Yes, the dogs would probably sleep whether or not anyone is there, but what if a fire broke out etc.?
If you’re completely sure that the sitter herself was absent overnight, ie. it wasn’t just her car that was missing, I would simply state this in your review, along with the fact that this wasn’t something that was discussed with you in advance, or mentioned in retrospect.
I’m all for open communcation and giving people the benefit of the doubt, but on this occasion I’m not sure I would even try to find out why the sitter was away from the house all night - she hasn’t volunteered the information and it’s likely to open a can of worms in terms of whether the reason can be viewed as ‘legitimate’ or not.
Just state the facts, and that way you’re keeping it simple, unemotional, and giving future home owners a heads up as to the sort of questions they may need to ask.
@kassi have you asked the sitter ?
I would ask first before jumping to any conclusions. Maybe she was there at the house without her car? ( car in garage / got a bus home / friend was using her car ? ) or could she have been parked somewhere else in street nearby ? I would ask for her side of the story to get the facts confirmed before commenting on it in your review, since you can’t change your review once published .
It sounds like everything else went well but was there anything else “off” that caused you to go back and look at the ring doorbell videos of the duration of her stay ?
As a sitter we would never even contemplate doing this. We feel our obligation is not only to the pets but also to the security of the home. Regardless of you not defining how long the pets can be left alone, 13 hours is a crazy stretch The fact that the sitter didn’t even ask if it was ok is, not ok.
Assuming you’re sure she was AWOL and there wasn’t another explanation I would review them accordingly and knock off stars in the category you feel is most applicable.
No one said that they should publish where they were at night for all of the world to see. But, if a host is giving a review, and they have cameras which prove that the sitter was physically not in the home for one night which the sitter never mentioned, then yes, I feel it should be noted in their review along with all of the positive things about the sitter. Do I think that any review should contain personal details of the lives of others? Absolutely not and I never said that.
We all come at things from our own perspective and I do mine. I own a property in another country where I have cameras. I didn’t get them right away because I don’t love “big brother” and I don’t want to add to the power that any government has over its own citizens. I do not allow “big brother” access to them. But, after a year of pretty unbelievable things being done to our property by “nice” neighbors, who knew we were out of the country, then I installed cameras. The only alerts I open are the ones where it says a person is on the property. If they don’t belong there, I can call the police and they will respond because I have proof.
As far as you not applying, that’s why the reviews are important. Because if it’s important to a host that a sitter be at the home every night, and this sitter was not and they were never told, another host should know this. If you are the type of person who would not notify an owner if you were away, then of course you should not apply.
It is about not applying to sits where the owner shows complete disregard for any privacy. I mean, publishing where a sitter was is so much worse than a camera in the home.
If I were an HO, I don’t think I would appreciate it if the sitter called me in the evening to ask if they could have a drink and not drive home from the city that night. Just don’t drink too much, and be in time to feed and walk the dog in the morning.
I agree. I think people have to right to explain what might have happened before posting a review.
Personally I wouldn’t dream of leaving an animal overnight but it doesn’t do any harm to be explicit in future. Many listings say in their responsibilities section “we expect the sitter to stay overnight but the dog can be left for up to 4 hours after a walk” or similar.
Why do you keep saying something I did not say? The host has cameras which prove the sitter was not there that evening. The sitter never mentioned it. If a sitter did other things wrong, should they not mention it because a parent or a partner may see it? Why is it the responsibility of the host to cover for the pet sitter? If a pet sitter had said to the host - I’m going out this evening. In the event it gets late, do you mind if I return early in the morning, before the pets breakfast and walk and leave them overnight? If it’s a no, then they return. If it’s a yes, then the host assumes responsibility. When you take on a sit, you are sitting for the home and the pets. To not return at night, without any conversation with the host, could make a host worry and contract the parents or the partner, or THS, couldn’t it?
It’s an important point for the host to clarify, as others in the thread have mentioned. I have outside cameras on a property. I get an alert for cars, but more importantly for me, I get an alert for people. Those are the ones I pay attention to. I assumed she was able to tell if her sitter was present or not, as I can with my external cameras. But, that is an important part to know for all of us here. Because if the host was uncertain, she should clarify with the sitter. If she is certain, then I think it should be mentioned in the review as I indicated above.
Apart from anything else, we have a sitter to ensure greater security for the house. I did have one sitter who I was suspicious wasn’t there all the time, but really it’s not on. I probably would let them know that you know they weren’t there, but leave an honest review. You really shouldn’t have to specify this type of thing.