Strongly worded message has got me feeling uncomfortable

I considered what you are saying @Maggie8K but I had opted for brevity. I think ‘reprimanding and instructional’ (ie you shoudn’t do this and you should do that) is a reasonable substitution IF the sitter doesn’t want to go the exact quote route.

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I would use the review to let them and others know. Or would tell them during the sit if the tone continues. Telling them at the end of the sit will not help improve the situation and could trigger a retaliatory review.
If that is the tone that comes naturally to the owner in a written text, I would not risk warning them about my review.

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‘I CHOPPED HIM INTO PIECES, AND HE’S ON THE GRILL IN A MINUTE. :japanese_ogre:

Stupid questions deserve stupid answers.

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when you say this kind of attitude is becoming common ‘here’, where do you mean?

I plan on killing them with kindness for the rest of the sit (photos, nice comments about the lovely dog). But I will absolutely refer to their rudeness (in a non emotional way) in my review.

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The community thank you. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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Factual would include a direct quote from the HO, just sayin’

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Wow that is rude behavior and would put me in a bad mood. Please leave an honest review and hopefully I can avoid applying to that sit when I’m ready to jump over to Europe

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sympathy and support, you’ve got it.

What horrible owners, I hope after the sit you will mark them down for both hospitality and communication.

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YES to your last sentence. nailed it!

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I like Garfield’s and Maggie’s wordings. I think something like that which is factual and polite but strongly stated so prospective sitters get what it means. I also think the HO’s need to get a message that what they did was not appropriate and actually downright rude.

Is this the HO’s first time using a TH sitter? I wonder if they are used to paying someone and ordering them around like this? As someone else said, they don’t seem to understand the exchange part of TH. I might also politely allude to that in my review of them. “HO’s seem not to understand that TH sitters are not paid staff that can be ordered around but that this platform operates on a system of mutual respect and equality.”

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We are owners and have cameras covering every angle outside of our house. This is disclosed in our listing. When we’re abroad I turn off the motion notifications on my phone because I trust the sitters are taking good care of my babies. I only get notified of three alarm goes off. My wife keeps hers on but she has caught some cute moments on the videos! Even if we did see something questionable we would not be rude like that HO was.

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I would literally quote the text they sent and let people draw their own conclusions.

I completely agree that they’re not at all treating the sitter like an equal but there are people who behave like that with everyone. I still would not approve of the tone if the text was addressed to an employee.

@Rhe, how’s it going? Is the tone getting better? I hope you are feeling better now and can enjoy the rest of your sit.

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Had there been any reasons provided or discussed prior to the sit in why the dog couldn’t go in the garden? Can he escape or has the HO had complaints from neighbours of the dog barking? Just wondering what his panic of the dog being outside is.

The dog is absolutely allowed in the garden. I think the owner came to the conclusion that I was coaxing the dog out and closing the door so I could enjoy some peace without him or something. Quite why this is the first conclusion one would jump to, nor why you would text in a such an accusatory and rude manner, I do not know.

Thankfully I’ve received no more rude messages, so perhaps the HO is regretting the tone/words etc they had used…

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It is certainly a bizarre reaction and one he is hopefully regretting. Good to hear his messages have improved and you can now enjoy the festive period!

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Isn’t it normal to let dogs out in the garden to run around? I do on all my sits that have dogs. I also always let them outside between 6 and 7am when I wake to do their business. And dogs are always let out prior to going to bed at night: again for a last minute run a around and to do their business again. They do also have long walks in the day. Owners normally expect their dogs to be running around in the garden, as I am usually given instructions to go around the garden picking up their poops.

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A sense of entitlement from HO. I’ve noticed it as THS has grown, and it’s been discussed here on the forum a fair bit.

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This is a possibility. You could give them a little grace. It’s possible they’ll try to make it up for it, but unless there is an absolutely clear ownership and apology, it feels like something that has to be mentioned in your review if not to warn others, then to protect yourself if the host still sees herelf as having saved the dog from your putting the dog out. For all the clever replies, IMO given that both sitters and hosts will read the review, it’s best to make it not clever, cutting, or reactive because then it becomes drama and about the people not what happened.

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I don’t think you are being observed, it’s not uncommon to have security cameras that are triggered by movement and the owners probably received notification and then saw that their dog was outside. This doesn’t make their reaction, or the tone and content of their message acceptable. But, harbouring the thought of being watched is not helpful to you. Try reframing what happened to something like “the HOs were alerted to the dog being outside by the security cameras and reacted in a way that surprised and upset me”.

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