Terrible first experience

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
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We had our first sit my wife and I were pretty unsure about using this but have seen good reviews. We have 3 children 3 dogs and a cat so keeping the house clean can be a challenge.

We cleaned pretty good but some spots were missed and my wife had cooked on the stove the night before and forgot to clean it before we left. The sit started weird the sitter refusing to use the app to communicate or look at the welcome guide only wanting to use whats app. We had bought brand new sheets for all beds we swept we mopped ect. But the sitter still complained that the house was not clean enough, going as far as using a wet paper towel on the stairs and wiping showing dirt.

The next day she messages and says that dogs were very bad got into the trash can, pooped peed everywhere including in a brand new sheeted bed. and also got into the laundry room and ate cat poop. She explained she just left them out and about all night which we explained our dogs are crate trained to sleep in crates at night and all this was explained in the welcome guide. She said okay and again complained about how unclean things were.

Concerned she may leave as I have heard horror stories of sitters leaving sits I paid for an emergency deep clean to the cost of 420.00. When the cleaners arrived they discovered the sitter had not cleaned up any of the messes on the ground she took pictures of 2 nights before and that the ceiling had water leaking down and our ceiling was getting water damaged. I apologized to the cleaners who were wanting more money because they spent the first hour cleaning dried urine and feces off the ground.

The sitter even tried to have them throw away our non expired condiments out of the fridge and when the cleaners moved our 6ft x 14ft sectional and found dog hair, kids toy and some trash they swept it in a pile, and the sitter took pictures of it to guilt us into how our house was unclean. At this point we were 3-4 days into the sit we have only had complaints from the sitter not a single picture or word of updates about any of our pets.

The sitter also the first day unplugged our home security system in what I think was an attempt to prevent us from using our front outside cameras. We ended up ending the sit early because we were worried about our home and pets. The sitter just moved on to the next sit as she apparently goes from sit to sit.

We had a friend do drop in visits on our pets for the rest of the trip. The sitter never cleaned up the sheets with poop on them just left them on the bed which I will note is my 6 yr old daughters bed.

There was damage to our house from the leaking ceiling caused by a clogged condensate line which she didnā€™t tell us about for days but when she did we had fixed in an hour. She also left all her trash on our front yard. I was paranoid and dug through it and found she was throwing our stuff away shoes, kids toys, kids clothes, etc.

We had such hopes for house sitters and my wife and I feel just violated by this sitter. She also rearranged all our kitchen appliances and spread them all out as if to make it look more show room like.

So my question is if anyone has ever had an experience like this before and how did you trust using trusted house sitters again?

Edited in line with forum guidelines

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What a horrible experience!
As a sitter, Iā€™m so flabbergasted by the sitterā€™s behavior I donā€™t even know where to start.
That was not normal behavior. Minimally I hope you gave the sitter a bad review, but this sounds like you should file a complaint against the sitter.
However, because I was not there, I canā€™t say for sure.
Having a dirty stove and some clutter is not unliveable, maybe a little annoying but certainly not worthy of such behavior. It sounds like she is expecting an AirBnB instead of a housesit. Now donā€™t get me wrong, you should leave the house clean for the sitter and in return the housesitter should leave it clean for your return. A dirty stove and some messiness or other less clean areas might warrant a lower star rating on your Cleanliness rating but not that kind of behavior.
I kind of want to do a sit for you so you can have a good experience. So sorry to hear this happened!

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Sounds like a terrible situation. What were the sitters previous reviews like?

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As a sitter who has encountered really unclean homes, pets with undisclosed behaviors, reading your experience did give me pause. Everyone is going to feel differently here on the forum, depending on their experiences.

Iā€™ve raised kids and had demanding jobs. I know how life can be, especially getting ready to go away. I know how there can be rush getting out the door.

What you have described your sitter encountered is not something I would want to encounter either. Iā€™ve never had a dog poop on the bed. Is this something that has happened before?

If it were just a few crumbs, thatā€™s different, but it sounds like it was more since you paid quite a lot of money to have it cleaned, and then the cleaners wanted even more money.

I donā€™t think most sitters expect to have an Airbnb, but maybe in the future, Iā€™d have a cleaner come in before a sitter arrives. Do a walk through with the sitter so you are sure they have read your welcome guide. Some owners and sitters prefer to communicate on WhatsApp because at times, they have had communication challenges with the THS app.

To be fair to both parties, and since we are hearing only one side, Iā€™d file a complaint with THS. This will allow for both your experience and the sitters to be heard. Let us know the outcome.

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And if there were none, maybe that was because previous owners had not known what to write about such a person.

It is problematic that THS does not allow owners to see missing reviews.

That was a huge red flag.

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the price was 420 because our home is 2500 sq feet with 2 living areas and also i paid extra for a stove and fridge clean as well as a emergancy clean fee because i booked and they came within 24 hours. A regular cleaner would have just charges 200 or less and I can understand them wanting more because they spent the first hour clenaing poop and pee. I had photos showing her areas of her concern it was baseboards corners of stairs and the base of the stove. Our animals are well trained but it was a new person in the home we were not there and they were just left loose in the house. This isnt the first time we have had sitters but our first trusted house sitter.We have before we left photos we took.

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she had 2 previous sits both in July and she had 2 reviews from friends.

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I encourage you to file a complaint with THS. Based on what they learn, they will be able to move forward accordingly. If they decide it was an issue with this particular sitter, they will probably either ban them or put them on a watch list.

In your initial post, you were asking for advice on how to trust THS again. THS does not decide who you choose, you do. There are many posts on the forum to help you find a good sitter. You may find it helpful to read some of them and decide if THS is for you or not. You may decide you feel more comfortable paying for a sitter rather than using a barter system.

You mentioned that you read on the forum before that some sitters leave if a home is not clean. To avoid any complaints in the future related to cleanliness, Iā€™d arrange for the cleaner to come before your next sitter arrives.

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All excellent advice.

On your review about her I would focus on the fact that most likely the dogs peed and pooped where they shouldnā€™t have because the sitter didnā€™t follow your instructions to crate them overnight (some people donā€™t believe in crating, thatā€™s possibly why she didnā€™t do it).
Remember that you have only 14 days from the end of the Sit to leave a review.

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Omgoodness, so sorry your sitter didnā€™t follow the Crate trained instructions, sounds like this would have solved the problem, itā€™s a family home and anyone who has Kids will know or remember, they are lived in and especially when you have Pets.
Donā€™t give up, maybe look at sitters who also have Kids around your Kids ages? your Pets will be happier, they get lots more attention from the Kids. Plus your Sitters will understand ā€œitā€™s lived inā€ the Cooker not being wiped down from the night before, it happens, especially when you are trying to get all of you out the door early in the Morning making sure you have everything, itā€™s very stressful for you all.
Have a good chat/video call with potential sitters and get a feel for them and if you can plan your departure/arrival times so that you can do a quick meet and greet after you are all organised ready to leave and have everything packed so nothing gets forgotten and if you can arrive home late afternoon it gives your sitters time for them to get packed up and clean up before you get home, if you are happy for them to strip the beds and remake them at least, pop the hoover over, empty the bins etc as you would for them, if they are happy to wash the bedding even better.
We always try to get all the bed linen washed and the beds remade, especially if itā€™s a Couple as I could think of nothing worse than coming home and having 3 lots of bed linen to wash on top of the Holiday washing, sometimes the weather doesnā€™t allow for it, however itā€™s a chat I have with the Owners prior to the sit along with if they are getting in late a warm meal left on the Hob for them to reheat when they all get it.
Wishing you all the best for future sitters.

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It is illegal in several countries (for example here in Sweden), under provisions against cruelty to animals.

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Funny (and fascinating at the same time) that in many other western world countries they are touted as positive because they mimic the den. Always within reason, of course, not to shut the dog in for the entire day.

Vive la difference! :grin:

My puppy was fine sleeping in it for a couple of months, then decided that the living room floor is better.

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Didnā€™t know crating was even legal, it sounds uncomfortable. Is it to prevent them from doing such things - if the dog hasnā€™t been trained yet?

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I think it depends a lot on the dog and training. My friends have crate trained their dogs but the crate is open 95% of the time. The dogs consider it their safe space and will go in there to nap or chill even when the whole house is open to them. But, theyā€™re crate trained because 1) theyā€™re huge mastiffs that can scare people even though theyā€™re giant teddy bears. So they are put into their crate when someone is coming who might be afraid (repair person, etc.). 2) my friends travel regularly and frequently bring the dogs with them. So they trained them to consider the crate a safe/enjoyable space so they can be inside while traveling for their safety.

I have met people who leave their dogs in the crate most of the day and, in my experience, itā€™s because theyā€™ve neglected to train their dogs well and donā€™t give them enough activity/mental engagement to tire them out so the dogs can cause damage. Rather than the owners actually take responsibility and helping the dogs, they lock them up when theyā€™re not around. This I do not agree with.

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Your experience is unacceptable and I am very sorry that this was your first sit. Horrible way to start.

Legislation can differ between countries and practices can surely vary between sitters and homeowners. That can result also in conflicts - in sits and in different views on forum.

In my opinion it is good that the homeowners are transparent of their practices - in profile and/ or pre-confirmation -and then sitters should refrain from applying if it is not a practice they kan fulfill. But maybe it is a good idea if homeowner in pre-confirmation talk tell applicant of practices and specifically ask if the applicant can be in compliance with those. Maybe it should be a given but we all know that one can have missed something or not thought it through. I have refrained from applying where it was stated that the dogs had electric collars. I have opinions on that but then I need to leave it to another sitter.

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hello so our dogs free roam the house when we are home and ask to go outside to potty and such if we leave the house we crate our dogs as they can get into stuff as 2 are border collies which can be high energy and our other is a husky. At night when we are home the dogs sleep in our room but most sitters dont like dogs sleeping in room with them from what we seen so we had instructed the sitters to have the dogs potty get water and such then put them in crates for night time to sleep each crate has a dog bed in it.

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This all sounds like a mess - in every respect - from start to finish.

Iā€™m not condoning that your sitter ignored the welcome guide where youā€™d specified that the dogs should be in their crates at night, am just wonderingā€¦ are they adult dogs? Do they usually mess in their crates, overnight? Iā€™m just finding it a bit odd that intelligent, adult dogs (Border Collies and a Husky), would seek to mess on a bed. Near the door where they usually exit the property maybe - especially if they usually ask to go outside - but on a kidā€™s bed? I wonder if the sitter was actually present, or if the dogs were simply not given access to the outside space at reasonable times before bedtime and before breakfast?

So, it sounds like your sitter agreed to stay after this fiasco, until the cleaning team had been in a couple of days later? But didnā€™t make any attempt to clean up any of the mess caused by the dogs? Did she remain at the property and live with things like this? Thatā€™s very odd, too. Were the dogs still allowed to roam free?

Wouldnā€™t they then potentially have been walking through their own urine and poop, and making things worse?

Itā€™s bafflng how any sitter could ignore those circumstances.

It does worry me a bit that you say:

Did the sitter raise concerns about the cleanliness in the home before the incident with the dogs?

Weā€™ve sometimes had to clear kitchen worktops and clean, then clean and re-position appliances, just to meet our own standards of cleanliness for a sit. Could it be that the sitter was doing this?

Iā€™m feeling there are big red flags on both sides here, and potentially nobody is blameless. The sitter absolutely should have read your welcome guide, just as you should have discussed important issues with her to ensure there were absolutely no misunderstandings, especially since the sit involved 3 big, high energy dogs plus a cat (thatā€™s a lot for one sitter to take on and I feel you might have been better with people who sit as a couple, to handle so many pets). Equally, you had a responsibility to ensure the home was clean and tidy for the sitterā€™s arrival (I know itā€™s not easy with kids and multiple pets but itā€™s still a requirement, and saying you ā€˜forgotā€™ about stuff just doesnā€™t wash. What if she says she ā€˜forgotā€™ to put the dogs in their crates? None of us on here can use that excuse).

For info, once on a sit, we communicate with pet parents exclusively via WhatsApp, so if the sitter voiced that preference, itā€™s not necessarily a red flag.

I think your experience is rare and very unfortunate, but it illustrates how important it is to ensure that both pet parents and sitters are on the same page, before confirming a sit.

As others have said, due diligence is called for; think seriously about factors which would provide the best care for your multi-pet household (a couple who are experienced with multiple working dogs, for example). Read reviews, do a video chat and listen to your inner voice regarding compatibility. Ask questions and assess the questions the sitters ask you. Talk about things which might impact on the sit, such as training requirements, walks, times the dogs can be left, how long they can be crated etc (a sitter should never use a crate as a punishment, or to give them time for themselves). Assess what applicants think of crate use. Possibly show them your home during the video call, and if itā€™s a bit rough and ready, make no secret of that. Be transparent, in both your listings and in the welcome guides and during the video chats. Incompatibility is just setting everybody up for disaster.

Hopefully you can put this behind you now. Better luck, next time!

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My wife made sure all surface in bedrooms and such were clena we used cleaners and windex cleans tibs toilets showers vaccumed mopped the floors ect my wife was almost in tears because she thought she had done a good enough job for our sitters. Our pets have never urinated or pooped in crates for us unless they were sick so maybe once or twice ever. Like I said when people are actively in the home the dogs will go to the back door and vocalize to be let out my wife spent 2 hour doing a very detailed welocme guide regarding our home our pets the area around our home everything. I had photos but they will not let me post them after the first night she took photos of all the poop the dogs had made as well as the pee. 2 days later when we had cleaners come in the photographed the poo and pee in same locations so the sitters just stayed in our home like this and had the dogs going around the poo and pee. After she started crating them at night no other issues with poo or pee happened at all. Also the damage to our house is extensive enough that we are doing a water damage claim. My wife and I think this person wanted to come to our home to do tiktoks and instagrams. Looking at her page after the sit has ended you can see that is what she has done at previous sits.

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Well, that is certainly reprehensible. Please be sure to begin the process to get her booted from the THS platform.

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I would not give much value to references written by friends.

What did the THS reviews say? And even when they were five-stars in every category, one may need to read between the lines. In hindsight, was there any faint praise? Or areas that were left out?

And then there is this problem that THS does not allow HOs to see how many missing reviews there were. Many members who had poor experiences are reluctant to write a poor review. Some then give then five stars, some write nothing at all.

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