I just had a sitter finish a 3-week sit and I need some advice. The sit was fine, not amazing, but the biggest issue is that the couple brought a toddler, completely unannounced/without warning. My house is 3 levels and is NOT childproof at all. I found out because my neighbors AND my housecleaner told me. First, while all turned out ok, that seems to be something that should have been disclosed and is likely against the TH policies, no? I mean what if the kid fell down one of my stairs or otherwise was injured?
I havenât written a review yet because Iâm debating how to handle, and wanted some advice from the community.
Also, even though my Welcome Guide discloses that one of my dogs is a counter surfer, the sitter apparently didnât read it and complained that he was stealing food off the counter. Yes, I mentioned that. Yes, larger dogs do do that. Especially when the owner isnât home and they think they can take advantage of someone else!
There are other little things, like they used my gas grill and didnât clean the grate and left the propane tank completely empty; they used up all my olive oil and didnât replace or tell me; the cat food needed to be replenished and didnât mention it to me; they never replaced or refilled the cat litter so the cat was acting out (Is that something I need to explicitly mention or shouldnât most people know that needs to be done? Iâve never had another sitter NOT do that, especially when my guide explains where to find the extra litter.
Iâm sorry to hear you didnât have a great experience. Essentially you should review accordinglyâŚsay what was âfineâ about it and what was not so fine.
It is almost certain they purposely did not disclose they were bringing a child, and this sort of dishonesty is serious and future hosts should see this so they canât pull that same stunt againâin a way it is for their own good so they donât end up bringing the child somewhere that may be unsafe.
This is not something one would just forget to mention. Many hosts feel very strongly about not having children at their home for one reason or another, and it is not right of sitters to hide this information. Children can potentially harm animals and do all sorts of damage to the home, and should only be brought on a sit with the explicit permission of the host.
Not properly tending to the cat litter is serious tooâŚit can have a very negative effect on them. This is one of the most basic tasks of caring for cats, and I think it is pretty obvious when it is in need of topping off or being completely replaced.
As for the other things, like the tank and the food, they are not as egregious of a âtransgressionâ but when you put it all together, they donât come across as the best of sitters, and mentioning it all could be helpful in painting an overall picture.
Just do your best to state things in a neutral, non-emotional manner, and at the very least, the undisclosed child and not changing the litter must be mentioned.
I did a sit where the previous sitter had done a similar thing with her grandchildren. She lived in Europe and came to the UK for a sit near family. She asked the pet owner if the children could come and stay for the weekends, she said no as she had very steep stairs and the house wasnât suitable. But she found out from her neighbours that they were there staying anyway. You should certainly mention it. People who sit with children normally have them included in their profile .
I look after mostly cats and the cat litter is replaced each time where I am at the moment, depends on the type of litter but I always follow the normal routine. I also replace anything l use. Did these people have good reviews?
That is not right and shows no respect for your hospitality. I think it is important to include the big issues in your review, such as sneaking in a toddler and not tending to the cat boxâŚmaybe food on the counter, but as tempted as I would be to include the other details, I think the larger issues will be enough to warn potential HOs without coming across as nitpicky to your future sitters.
Bringing a child without telling you, is very dishonest on the part of the sitters and I would definitely mention that in your review. Also, if your listing doesnât already state it, you should note in your listing that your home is not childproof and only adults are welcome.
You can also post your review here before you finalise it for critiquing if you want input on it. I am a sitter and I believe in honest reviews for all. Doesnât seem like a 5 to me.
Please review honestly that they brought a toddler unannounced. I would have been livid about that and would immediately decline a sitter with a review stating that.
They will likely complain about your dog anyway so be equally honest about them.
Ugh, that sounds like a really disappointing experience! And please DO leave a review that reflects what happened.
A couple of clarifying questions -
From your post, it sounds like you didnât have any cross over with the sitters. Do you have a way to know for certain whether the toddler was there the whole time or just came for a visit? Have you already communicated with the sitter about the child? This feels like the most important point to raise, because it is 100% not okay for sitters to bring anyone extra without permission (even for a visit), but especially when considering the liability of a small child in a home that isnât childproofed. OTOH, if it is only hearsay from neighbors who may not have all the right information, you donât want to blast the sitters and end up being wrong.
Not reading the WG shows is frustrating, and depending on how the other stuff goes might be worth docking a star, probably in self-sufficiency?
What do you mean when you say cat food âneeded to be replenishedâ and cat litter wasnât âreplacedâ? It is your responsibility to make sure that you have left enough food and litter for the entire sit, and savvy HOs will make sure there is more than enough to last beyond the end of the sit - so this could mean that the sitters overfed the cat/didnât follow feeding instructions (I am assuming you left clear instructions as to how much the cat is fed and when) OR it could mean there wasnât enough left for them. Yes, I think a baseline good sitter will tell the HO if something is low, but also they arenât responsible for supplies beyond the sit or maybe they thought you had an order coming if the food lasted just to the end. For litter, I think you mean the litter box was not emptied and filled, not that they ran out of litter. Cleaning the cat box is catsitting 101, so if they didnât do an adequate job of it, definitely take off stars for pet care. ESPECIALLY if the cat was âthinking outside the boxâ as a result. I canât even imagine coming home to a cat box that hadnât been changed for 3 weeks!
The grill being dirty and the propane all gone is annoying; if it wasnât discussed and/or it wasnât made clear the expectation around it, Iâd consider it a learning opportunity and let it go. Same for olive oil. There are much bigger issues to focus on, and making a huge list of everything can backfire on you when it comes to reviews. Might be worth a mention about lack of communication and/or care for the home as it all points to a lack of attention, but I wouldnât be detailed about it.
It does also sound like there were some assumptions around communication that might not have been discussed before the sit. I get it, a lot of this truly does seem like no-brainer stuff, but every sit there is something new that comes up, and I just add it to things I spell out in pre-confirmation video calls (you had one, right?) and the WG.
I hope the kitty is doing better and the dog has realized his counter-surfing vacation is over. Take a deep breath, realize that everyone is ok, and think about how to write that review in as unemotional a way as possible.
For me, the undisclosed toddler is the key issue because it relates to transparency and consent. Whether a home is child-friendly or not, homeowners should know exactly who will be staying in their home before confirming a sit.
The pet care concerns would also influence my review, particularly if the litter box wasnât maintained properly and it affected the catâs behaviour. Thatâs a pet care issue rather than a housekeeping issue.
The empty propane tank, olive oil and dirty grill are relatively minor on their own, but taken together they may point to a lack of communication and attention to detail.
Iâd write an honest, factual review that focuses on the main issues and avoids creating a long list of complaints. Future homeowners will be most interested in the undisclosed child and the standard of pet care.
As sitters, weâve completed 155+ sits over 14+ years of full-time travel, and we believe reviews are most helpful when they calmly describe what happened and allow others to draw their own conclusions.
wow the dog/toddler combo is most alarming to me. my dog can be nippy with fast moving littles so I specify in my profile no families and no visitors. Couples and single sitters only. Also, check your profile settings and make sure it is set like this, THS has auto set some new toggle features and Homeowners do not know this.
In the Introduction section at the end we have this:
Write up your review, include ALL the things you mentioned and the good too (if there were any). Read it over several times, post the draft here if you like. Or run in through AI to remove emotion. The cat could be acting out due to combo of litter too low AND toddler making it anxious. I think mentioning ALL the infractions is fair and helps others see what to expect with these sitters. These are all so basic and common sense to me as a Sitter, I have Dual Membership. I wouldnât make assumptions about using kitchen basics, but maybe including this in the handover in the future you can mention your specifications to be crystal clear (ex: you can use our spices and condiments, please replace anything you finish off). Minimally, they could have informed you that the propane ran out, this one is the least of the infractions as they donât know how much you had in there to begin with. We keep a spare tank ready to go because we are big grill users, maybe something to consider for future longer sits you need covered. Being a 3 week sit, if they grill out a lot this actually seems to be something easy to forget if it occurred a few days before your return. They may have been unaware also.
Make some tweaks to your Housesit profile to avoid this, and make some tweaks to the Welcome Guide for people who maybe arenât used to caring for a cat for more than a few days. (ie. refill the litter every x days).
Sorry you had this experience and I am thankful things didnât turn out worse.
Iâm sorry, everyone can write a book about this, but itâs simple, they took advantage of you. Not disclosing they were bringing a toddler when you have dogs?! No, warn other HOs. Not dealing with the litter box? No, thatâs a horrible sitter. No excuses for that one. If the catâs ended up peeing somewhere, you may have to relace carpeting, a couchâŚ
These people should not be allowed to sit in otherâs homes. Ok people, go ahead and defend, you usually do. Bringing a toddler unannounced, totally unacceptable.
These sitters sound like jerks who neglected your cat and used your home like an Airbnb. Bringing a toddler without permission is outrageous. Please review factually and warn other hosts off them.
Youâve described one very big issue and a number of small ones. I donât know what THSâs default is but I just checked my listing and it definitely does NOT say open to families! So you should check to make sure yours doesnât. If it did that would mitigate a little, but not much. Clearly a toddler should be disclosed. Was the todder mentioned in the sitterâs profile? Was the toddler mentioned in reviews?
Is your neighbor, certain about this? Was the toddler maybe a visitor with other relatives or friends and you okayed visitors?
I would definitely disclose this in the review and deduct something because if something had happened, you could have been liable and it certainly wasnât right. Iâd also let THS know as Iâm certain it would be against the rules. Little things like not cleaning the grill, or using all the olive oil and not replenishing also donât sit right, but not replacing and refilling the litter to the point where the cat is âacting outâ by which you probably mean peeing and pooping outside the box and leaving you to fix this newly created problem sound pretty bad. Not reading your instructions or being aware of the dogâs counter habits could have led to the dog swiping something harmful and been tragic.
All of this needs to be disclosed because other homeowners need to know.
If you came back and everything is in tact and nothing else is missing beyond the olive oil, and your pets appear healthy, Iâd probably give them a 2. This wasnât a disaster, but that was luck. It couldâve been.
We donât know if this dog is even used to kids. What if the toddler annoyed the dog and the dog reacted? Bad parenting too.
Because the HO let them stay in their house, youâre right, the HO wouldâve probably been responsible for any injury that may have occurred. Yup come to pet sit and end up owning the home. Also lucky they didnât decide to squat.
I agree with you on the first part, however I donât think not welcoming children needs a reason or explanation. HOs have the right to offer what theyâre comfortable with.
The last time I had a toddler in my home is approximately a decade ago. He consumed a slice of cake topped with lurid blue icing from a party that heâd been to, and then proceeded to treat my living room furniture as though it was some kind of parkour course. Then guzzled a bottle of milk whilst simultaneously blowing raspberries at himself in the mirror. All of this whilst supposedly under parental supervision. I breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got crated â sorry, retired to his travel cot - for the evening, and vowed to myself never again.
In your shoes, I would not be happy. The situation shows at best a lack of transparency, and at worst downright dishonesty, on the part of the sitters, not to mention potentially compromising the safety of both the toddler, and your pets. It definitely needs mentioning in your review, along with the lack of basic care provided for your cat.
I did have crossover for about 10 minutes. The husband and wife showed up as I was leaving and there was no toddler. And no, this was not my neighbors and housecleaner not knowing the situationâthey documented the kid coming in and out every day. Neighbors on all sides.
Your point about my dog and toddlers is well takenâone of them is NOT ok with little people and he is frightened of them. Iâm sure he was stressed the entire time.
re: cat food. I meant that the spare bag that I left to cover the entire trip was empty and thrown away after filling the plastic food container. Given that I asked about the litter quantity left, it would have been easy and normal to mention that I needed to buy more cat food when I got home too.
to me.
