I’m curious to know how other sitters feel about applying on sits where there are other people living in the home? I’m referring to tenants having separate quarters upstairs or downstairs. I think homeowners should definitely state this in their listing. We applied on one sit where we were accepted and went to meet the homeowners and then told there were tenants in the basement. On a second occasion after accepting the sit but prior to meeting we were told they also had tenants in the house. I really think this should be stated in the listing but isn’t always. I know other sitters would feel perfectly comfortable accepting but just something we’re not keen on.
Hi @Globetrotter TrustedHousesitters has a policy of no third party being present in the home, if a listing comes to the site with any indication that there is another person(s) in the home Membership Services will reject the listing until they have contacted the owner to clarify.
Listings, like profiles can be edited after approval and the advice is if any member becomes aware of a situation where there is a third part present, they contact Membership Services who will investigate.
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This happened to me finding a lodger in the house when we arrived. Luckily he was moving out the next day.
I am more interested in the problem of finding workmen in the house or workmen due to arrive and what other sitters would do?
I don’t mind letting a workman in for half a day to repair something but having decorators in the house for the duration of the sitting is something that should not happen in my opinion.
This has happened on 2 separate sittings. The first, there were 3 workmen who would be there for our entire sitting and the second a painter was due for most of the duration, Careful negotiation brought about results that suited all parties.
However, I wonder what THS policy is when faced with this unpleasant dilemma?
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Agree totally with you
Thanks Angela - good to know.
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We did a sit where there were renovations going on in the home but the couple explained this to us beforehand and it wasn’t too bothersome.
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Hi @Itchyfeet thank you for raising this, a point for discussion.
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I think if there’s any chance whatsoever that there will be any other human beings on the property for whatever reason, it should be declared as early as possible. Other than my regular cleaner I try to limit workers to when I’m home, but sometimes it can’t be avoided so I specify in my HO listing that there’s some possibility workers would be coming in, that the sitter would be responsible only for ensuring they can enter (via admitting workers themselves or via me arranging entry, sitter’s choice) and not for supervising any work. I’ve heard of housesits that require the sitter to supervise workers. I’m not sure how I as a sitter would feel about that. Supervising as in “noting they showed up, seemed to be working while here, and didn’t have a party here while you were gone” would be fine. Supervising as in “ensuring the work is done to owner’s satisfaction”, no.
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I have just seen an interesting sitting with alpacas but it mentions office staff popping in daily to use the kitchen, or they can work from home.
@Angela_L , do you need to contact the HO to advise that they must work from their own home?
Thanks
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Thank you for flagging @Itchyfeet, I will pass on to Membership Services to pick up with the listing member.
yes thanks and i have followed your thread…sounds like your situation trumps mine…i would be sending decorators away…i think you have much better tolerance than i do…its just not on! All the best and trouble free sits.
Not keen on it either and its against THS policy…you should report it to THS.
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Thanks @carpediem
We are not tolerant at all. We told the H O on both occasions to rearrange the work which they did.
Funnily enough, one of them who had had many sitters before said in her review of us that we were the best she had !
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Another one with tenants:
There needs to be an easier way to flag sits that need attention, rather than the cumbersome message system that exists now.
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I saw this one too. I feel bad for the HO who joined not realizing he cannot even use THS because he has a tenant. I hope THS will refund his membership. Suggestion: Since the third party issue arises so frequently, perhaps THS should make this policy front and center in its introductory material for HO.
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Hi @Lassie,
I’ll refer this to @Therese now. I’ll attach @Angela_L 's request from yesterday, addressing listings of concern, just as a reminder for everyone.
Francine,
Voluntary Forum Moderator
This happened to me, too, over Thanksgiving this past year. I’ve had an experience where the landlord needed to make some repairs, and since he had family in town to help, that it needed to be done over Thanksgiving. The “homeowner” disclosed that she was going to have a house-sitter during that time, and asked if it was OK and I said sure. We (all three parties) agreed to a half-day of work on one day. Phone numbers were exchanged to make arrangements.
Then - after the homeowner had left on her trip - the landlord contacted me directly (harassed, truth be told, via repeated text messages and voicemails) and told me I had to be out of the house starting tomorrow between 8am and 6pm every day for the remainder of the sit. It wasn’t their issue that I had nowhere to go all day, with two small dogs, during cold weather!
I reported this situation to THS management and I was really disappointed: they did nothing, they would only say “I hope you can work something out,” and that was the sum total of support.
I offered that I could take the dog to a pet-friendly hotel for the duration of her trip, but she declined. (You can imagine the expense of a last-minute, pet-friendly hotel on Thanksgiving weekend!) She arranged for me to stay somewhere else (I assume she covered the expenses) and finished the rest of the sit at an AirBnB.
We also had a situation of The Trusted person telling us that someone lived in the flat but she was self contained which was rubbish. Rightly so, THS said that there should be no 3rd party in the house and we have turned down housesits on this basis.
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Thank you @Lassie we appreciate having these brought to our attention however it is not something we ask or expect members to do.
When they do come to a member’s attention a quick DM to any of the Admins with the link and reason why works really well.
Thank you
Hi @MissChef
That is a horrible situation that you found yourself in.
I am not surprised that THS didn’t offer any help. Despite their assurances, they expect the sitter and HO to sort it out themselves.
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