I haven’t left a review yet, but we had a sitter last week, who took the liberty of driving our diesel truck to a place they did not have permission to do. My husband, unknowingly to me, gave her/boyfriend permission to drive our truck to the nearby state park to avoid the entrance fees to go hiking with our dog. Then they decided to use our truck to do their vacation rather than their rental car because they didn’t like the speed bumps we have on our lane. I drive a prius, a low profile car, and have no problem with the speed bumps if I am going slow. They decided to fill up the tank after they used it and rather than diesel, they used gas. Then they proceeded to drive it. When it made weird noises, they pulled over and had it towed to our mechanic, costing them $300.00. She promised to pay for the damages and repair. I have all the texts of how sorry they were and will pay. As it was a friday late afternoon, the mechanic couldn’t get to it on Monday. She promised to contact them to get the bill paid for. They had a flight at 3:00pm on Monday. The airport is a 1 hour drive. Plenty of time to take care of business. They didn’t. We arrive home late Monday afternoon, only to find out they did not leave a payment. The bill was low compared to what it could have been. $600.00. She told me she was going to bill her insurance company and we would have to wait until she gets paid before she would pay the bill. She didn’t care that we use the truck as one of our main vehicles. We needed the truck, so we paid the bill. Our insurance wants her insurance info so they can go after her but she refuses to share it. If we do a claim, it will raise our premiums, per our agent. I have contacted THS and they are supposedly contacting her. We can’t get her name or address etc because of privacy through THS.
My question: Has anyone experienced this nightmare before? Any suggestions on what we can do to get reimbursed? Thank you
You seem to have taken appropriate steps to get reimbursement and I sincerely hope this happens.
BUT please do not miss the 14 day review window. Future HOs need to be aware of this sitter’s irresponsibility. Just something factual like ‘the sitter filled our diesel vehicle with regular gasoline which resulted in us paying for a $600 repair. Although sitter promised to reimburse us, we have not received any funds and the sit ended over a week ago’.
Also, I would be concerned about the sitter leaving you a negative review about ‘harrassing’ her for payment. She may do this in anticipation of a negative review from you.
Please update the forum readers as to the outcome.
I would tell the sitters you need the money transfered within the week, if not you’ll report them to THS! This is unacceptable.
FYI: a few years ago, we also accidentally filled the owner’s car with petrol iso diesel.(we had permission to use the car) We didn’t even mention it before the owners came home. We contacted the garage, had it towed, cleaned out, and paid.
We told the owners what happened when they came back. They were happy we dealt with it without ‘ruining’ their holiday.
We wouldn’t have dreamt of leaving before everything was settled!
Mistakes happen, it’s how you deal with it that is important.
You state that you have contacted THS but the best way for THS to investigate this matter thoroughly is to “Raise a member dispute”
Have a look at the Help Section until you find Members Disputes Process. You will need to provide them with all receipts and any other documentation.
Good luck
Seems you have taken appropriate steps.
I didn’t know it was possible to fill wrong fuel. In my country that would be hard, as the valve simply wouldn’t work if one took the wrong one for «ordinary» cars at least - so very useful to be aware of. I wonder if the sitters knew that it would be possible to fill the wrong fuel at all. Last time I bought a car I said to the dealer as a joke that I hoped I wouldn’t take the wrong one (went from diesel to gas) and the dealer said it wouldn’t be possible for me to fill with the wrong one. If sitters had this experience they might not have known.
As for the sitters using owners vehicle, if a vehicle is necessary to transport dogs I think the host should provide it. Most rentals do not allow dogs or it would be an extra fee, and it could be hard wear also on the vehicle of a sitter, in regard to cleaning, scratches and such. I don’t provide my vehicle (or rentals) for transporting pets of hosts, that would be their responsibility to provide.
Not sure what is meant by « Then they decided to use our truck to do their vacation rather than their rental car» when you say your husband gave permission and then they seem to have gone somewhere without asking. But ofc it could be many options between «going to town» and «hitting Las Vegas». I just noticed that they wanted to leave the car with full tank, which is thoughtful. Seems they tried to do the right thing?
It seems they have already paid $300 for the towing, for something they might not have known could happen (?), so although it is annoying, personally I would take it as a learning opportunity, pay it and move on. Sudden expenses is part of owning a car (and a home).
As for the review you could mention, but be factual also of the good things. Otherwise it could backfire. I think I would mention also that they refilled the tank on your return, but unfortunately used wrong fuel, and give them a little grace in that regard.
What does hubby think about it all?
If the damage done was something like 30 euros, I’d agree with you. But 600 - no way. I don’t think it really matters, if the damage was done by mistake unknowingly or by mistake knowing it was a possibility but not being observant enough.
I would think it pretty normal, that when the damage is done, the one causing it should be the one to pay for it.
I would suggest you write a review as soon as possible - you only have a 14 day window. The sitter will not see your review until they do their review of you (or the 14 days have elapsed).
Raise a Member Dispute and keep all messages, receipts etc. as proof.
In Tort Law it is quite common to differ between what you couldn’t have known/ prevented (mishaps) and what you could/ should have known and prevented. Not that I know this particular jurisdiction - or even that what laws applies is important - just a matter of common principles. As I would assume many would handle it with any guest. If one of my friends had a mishap with one of my things I would suck it up, while if they were negligent maybe not (for small sums even then).
In practice, it seems a claim of sorts have been made, so well - what are you going to do if you don’t receive the amount? File a small claims-case? What would that cost in time, effort and money - and will it result in anything different? If a case was filed one might well end up with more costs and still no money. One might also end up with a counter-case, saying that the host should have provided a vehicle, hasn’t given adequate instructions and so on.
It is for me something also about the mental load, and what things I can do something about or not. If I have asked for the money and then I don’t get it, I’ll need to think through how much resources I want to put into it compared with a possible outcome.
But what about this @Garfield ?
Sorry this happened. I guess this cost you having a private sitter after all if they don’t pay. Did you tell them it took that type of gas or just assumed they would know? If you didn’t inform them then you have to take some responsibility. I would have also put a sticky note on the cap so when they go to get gas they are reminded. I would also have texted them after I arrived at my destination and said, I don’t remember if I told you or not that the car takes diesel. That way you have it in writing they were informed. Also, I am sure you walked around the house and told them several things they have to remember so reminding them in text could have prevented this.
Very likely no need. Diesel fuel caps are usually marked DIESEL, DIESEL FUEL or DIESEL FUEL ONLY.
Here in the US, diesel nozzle’s do not fit in the filler neck of gasoline tanks, but gasoline nozzles will fit in a diesel tank…I came close to learning this the hard way
Well that takes back everything I said. If it says it on the cap then now there is no excuse.
In North America the gasoline fuel caps are black and diesel caps are usually a vibrant colour ( think yellow, green or blue). All measures taken to get the filler’s attention. But all apparently went unnoticed by these sitters.
It really isn’t a matter of what the law says, it’s about common decency. If you **** up something you sort it. If I break a dish I go and buy a new one or leave the money for the cost of the broken dish. This is why I go out of my way not to borrow high value items when sitting. If things go wrong I know I’m liable.
If they get a good attorney, they will claim they are color blind, ha. Yes, I now think full responsibility is on the sitters.
The sitters certainly should pay for their mistake. What a mess! DId you file this as a dispute with THS? I know THS has some policy where they will cover damages AFTER you go though your insurance, and I’m trying to figure out what THS’s justification is for not giving you the sitters contact infor so your insurance can take care of it.
Honestly, THS should add some advice to homeowner to make sure to get a sitter’s information – either license and/or insurance before loaning them a car. Maybe as a company THS could even charge sitters an initial fee to hold their license info in case of an accident.
I think what can do is complain to the skies to THS. Use the word “dispute” when you call them about the sitter. Go to Trust Pilot and write about what happened there. They are more likely to look at this again. Of course you should address this in your review of the sitter also mentioning that the sitter isn’t paying, and THS isn’t paying.
This is not an unsolvable problem for THS.
I didn’t know this. I just assumed it was foolproof on both sides. (I was going to use a stronger word, but I thought I’d get moderated!
The way i read it was, they SAID they would pay the 300, but didn’t, and Mustangrinder paid it. This is a lot of money, not just a few pounds/ dollars. The fact that they are now refusing to share their insurance details sounds very ominous to me.
I don’t think so. OP said the towing cost ‘them’ $300. If the HO paid the $300, it would read it cost ‘us’ $300. The towtruck driver probably required immediate payment.
The repairs were $600 and paid by HO with a promise from sitter to reimburse.