Don’t think I’ve ever seen a listing that a HO wants the sitter to pay for their cleaner doing a sit! Not even sure this falls within THS T&C’s tbh.
Anyway that’s a pass from me.
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Well, I suppose as a HO you can ask for anything.
There’s a lot you’re not going to get though… Well Done!
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It’s come up in the forum before when a homeowner mentioned they do this.
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There have been a few times I have seen listings here and on other sites where sitters were expected to cover this cost and I wouldn’t consider applying for such assignments. I remember seeing one in Israel I believe where you would have needed to pay 100 Euro a week for a multi-week sit…that is quite a bit to lay out.
I’ve done lots of sits over the last decade where the hosts have a cleaner and have never been asked to pay. So based on my experience, this would seem to be a pretty rare expectation.
If hosts want their house to continue to be professionally cleaned during their absence, and/or they wouldn’t want to deprive the person of income they are accustomed to getting, the responsibility of payment falls squarely on them.
The only way I might consider paying is if the host wanted to cancel the service while they were gone, but I wanted them to keep coming during my stay. But I don’t ever recall seeing listings stating something like this, so probably another scenario that doesn’t happen all that much.
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I’m curious about what people think of tipping… that’s always awkward as the sitter. (This is when the homeowner is paying for the cleaners)
I never thought of it in the US because I never tipped my own cleaners, just pay.
In Mexico I had a homeowner casually mention that she was embarrassed that a past sitter did NOT tip the cleaners, I took that as a giant hint, and considering she pays $20 US to clean a giant house and all day clean, I didn’t mind tipping.
But in Europe I didn’t know if I should tip or not…and didn’t.
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I’d make the cleaner a cuppa, tell them to put their feet up and have a rest, and clean up after myself for the duration of the sit! Home owner shouldn’t be guilt-tripping an unpaid sitter into leaving a tip. They should be paying a decent wage in the first place, if they’re not already.
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Hi @tlubkin
I’ve had maybe a dozen sits all over Europe where I agreed for the cleaner to come on the normal day during my sit but never paid for them or thought of tipping them tbh.
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I’ve sat homes with regular cleaners, gardeners, window washers. I’ve not tipped any of them — in the U.S. or U.K. — because I wasn’t the one paying.
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@Becca Minimum wage in Mexico is a bit less than $2 US per hour, so $20 to clean a house is a good wage there.
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We have sat in many homes which have regular cleaners coming in weekly, twice a week, or every other week. Most of the Owners want to continue to have their cleaners do their work while we are there. We allow this, and the Owner has always paid the cleaners. We have never been asked to pay nor tip the cleaners. These were all in the USA.
For Owners who do not have regular cleaners, there have been times that I would have considered paying some cleaners to come in at the end of a sit, for MY convenience. There are companies like “Molly Maids” that will come in for a big, one time cleaning, or the Owners might have a local contact for cleaning.
I realize, however, that this could present a conundrum if there was something missing or broken.
Also, I think it would need the approval of the owner because of the third party policy. But even with their agreement, what you mentioned would be a problem.
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There was a heated discussion on here a few months ago where an HO was insistent that if her sitters couldn’t stump up $25 a week for her cleaner (on a two month long sit) then they weren’t welcome to apply. Needless to say there wasn’t much “oh of course that’s reasonable” from the sitters. She argued “your mess, your cost” and “what happens if sitters vomit on the floor?” as one strand of argument. It was very odd. Happy if HOs pay them as normal (pets make homes dirty too) or cancel them for the duration of the sit. Never tipped a cleaner, yes always to sharing tea and biscuits though. #loveanicecuppaandabourbon
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I missed that one. Do sitters vomit on the floor as often as cats? 
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Who’s to know, @Newpetlover - we HOs are not at home when it happens…
It is has never occured to me to tip a cleaner! And I never would. The one paying the cleaner should be the one tipping- if they wish.
If a host wants their regular cleaner to come so they don’t lose out on pay, fine by us. Last Christmas on a 5 week sit the host said she’d be cancelling her cleaner- which was also fine by us. She was working full time so needed her but we had plenty of time to clean up after ourselves. It was a 2 bed bungalow. On large estates with cleaners & gardeners etc we always offer them cups of tea & enjoy the chats etc!
But Tbh we prefer no cleaners as it can sometimes backfire. I’ve told this story on here before but we had an 8 day sit where the cleaner came 4 times!! and we still got docked a star on cleaning! The host said the kitchen and our room needed a ‘through deep clean’!! Totally not true as we (and the cleaner) left everything pristine. So we assumed the cleaner must have gossiped, or been questioned, about how things were during our stay, which is totally unfair- we were living there! Without the cleaner the hosts would have just come home to a pristine home (except for the- apparantly- spilt ice cube tray where we had not defrosted the freezer!!) Some people eh?!! 
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Yes @Lokstar that is completely ridiculous!
We have had our own cleaning people off and on over the years, and I always HATED “getting the house ready for the cleaners.” With 2 kids and 2 busy parents, “stuff” becomes scattered: entropy. For all you word buffs!
Now in retirement, I love doing the cleaning myself, on my own schedule. By the way, your host’s cleaner was simply spying on you, right? What a horrible host!
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Love that you mentioned it. That is exactly the reason I never got a regular cleaner. I felt more pressure than help and, living on my own, it was not really necessary.
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Me too - what PVGemini needs a family for, I can do on my own with two cats…
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Yes, and I realized that once you create a clear path for the cleaners, the actual cleaning takes no time at all!
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Hard no. Period.
The HO obviously has a regular date with the HC. This is not a threesome !