Agree this sitter is problematic but he didn’t pay for the flight out of kindness. His hands were tied since this sitter was hinting at needing to cancel 2 days prior since they couldn’t afford the flight.
That is a big red flag and I would have cancelled this sitter at that point, but this host lives in a remote area and doesn’t have a plan B. They don’t seem to have made any strong local connections where someone could help out and they’ve mentioned they are no paid sitters/kennels in the area.
So, he was trying to salvage his own travel plans. Which ended up falling apart anyway.
I mean this sitter presented a couple of major red flags with the visa issue (should have cancelled then) and then with not having money for a flight (should definitely have cancelled then). And this is without taking into account the prior one star review where they again left a sit early.
I am curious why they both returned home and stayed. I thought the plan was for her to stay in Athens to handle an inheritance and he was going to carry on to the USA. Maybe they really did just want to come home.
I understood that the wife came home as she was closer. He likely continued his own trip as it was in the US.
And I think wanting to come home early anyway was a big smokescreen on his behalf. Probably a strategy to just get rid of the sitter and still try to get a decent review.
@Felinelover i couldn’t agree more. Though I haven’t always, rather never, agreed with or condoned this particular HO, this sitter certainly has a concerning history insofar as leaving sits early. It is not our place to be judge or jury but as the OP continues to harp on about this issue over numerous topics, I believe she is flogging a dead horse and needs to morally sort this out herself. Everyone will always think they are right, that’s human nature, but IMO the more someone repeats themselves time and time again to defend actions that should never have occurred, without taking any responsibility for any or even part of those actions, seems to be the red flag problem moreso. By spruiking your problem time and time again will do you no favours as I said on your previous topic. If you don’t want to be contacted, block them, it’s that simple. Whatever THS does is beyond your control. They have a duty to also do what is right just as we as sitters do.
Insofar as the flight being paid for, the sitter had finished a sit (only 3 days) in Kefalonia, Greece, two days prior according to the previous review. I’m struggling to understand where the flight thing comes in. Unless she took a flight from Kefalonia to Athens then got to a train station to get to the sit. We aren’t talking a lot of money here for what was supposed to be a long sit so why would you apply if you couldn’t afford even a short flight? I think she applied in a hurry thinking it would be great, without really looking at the logistics, then realised what she had done, tried getting out of it and couldn’t, then finally found a reason. She stated the HO drove almost an hour to the train station to pick her up. Just gets more weird by the minute
You ladies on this forum are like Sherlock freaking Holmes here !!! Where is all this extra info from ? She (sitter), visa expiring issue, sitter has no money for flight 2 days before canceling sit, HO has remote sit in Greece with few options for sitters, chose sitter with 1* review from recent sit for leaving early among other things, HO was on this forum, may currently be suspended but reading this…. ALL of this info would be useful to give Original Poster a more proper reply. I must say I feel the Original Poster is fishing for permission to not feel bad or to not feel obligated to repay the flight. Sounds like a complete cluster! Honestly this is way more drama than any HO should have to endure. And this HO made a bad choice if all these issues were known before leaving for a 4 week trip.
Ohh the drama! Better than days of our lives ( for the old folk, guess it’s Jordy shore or some such for the younger) not of course for those involved.
@Oztravels hahaha that just brought back hysterical memories of my dearly departed parents. Went to see a movie (they were 80 odd at the time) they thought was going to be a comedy love story and it ended up being a horrific blood thirsty Sylvester Stallone movie. They were horrified! They had gone to the wrong cinema
So, a lot going on here. I’ve read this thread and the other thread as well as the reviews and I do know who the HO is from these forums.
@Henry_R this should really be a learning experience and maybe you should think about whether sitting is for you. The fact that you contacted them after confirming the sit to say you couldn’t afford the airfare is the first issue. Don’t ever confirm a sit if you are not 100% sure you can get yourself there. Next, you realized 2 days before the sit that you could only stay two weeks of the four week sit due to not calculating your Schengen days correctly. When traveling in Schengen it’s really important to keep track of your days and you should have double and triple checked this before confirming the sit. It also sounds like you didn’t read the welcome guide so weren’t aware that the door would lock or the instructions for what to do if that happens. Always read the full welcome guide before a sit.
I don’t know how bad the barking was or what you tried and how you worked with the HO to find a solution. I sit for cats and have done a few sits where I got very little sleep due to cats waking me multiple times during the night. I wouldn’t leave a sit for that. But I don’t know the extent of your situation so I can’t comment on whether it was reasonable to end the sit. However, in the future when there is an issue such as this always contact THS so they know what’s going on. I’m not at all surprised by the poor review. You have to realize from the HO perspective this sit was a disaster.
Having read the review and your response, I have to say, your long rambling response is not doing you any favors. You don’t take any responsibility for any of the issues that you caused. It would have been better to write a factual response taking responsibility for the things you did wrong and indicating that you had to cut the sit short due to the barking and lack of sleep.
It may be challenging to get future sits. Maybe try to get some last minute short sits without dogs.
The host was very vocal on the forum prior to the sit and you don’t need to be Sherlock Holmes to work it out.
What a shambles it has turned out to be.
!!! Where is all this extra info from ? She (sitter), visa expiring issue, sitter has no money for flight 2 days before canceling sit, HO has remote sit in Greece with few options for sitters, chose sitter with 1* review from recent sit for leaving early among other things, HO was on this forum, may currently be suspended but reading this…. ALL of this info would be useful to give Original Poster a more proper reply. I must say I feel the Original Poster is fishing for permission to not feel bad or to not feel obligated to repay the flight. Sounds like a complete cluster! Honestly this is way more drama than any HO should have to endure. And this HO made a bad choice if all these issues were known before leaving for a 4 week trip. 
