Now you’ve got me worried! I’m going to have stop watching stalker/true crime documentaries! i’m off on a sit next week so I shall be packing my high buttoned granny nightdress!
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Isn’t it also a requirement to have a real bed? Not an air mattress, or sofa bed, or mat on the floor?
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I’m about to start a 4 week sit on Wednesday. I met with the HO today for a walk thru and handoff. I had my checklist in hand to reiterate hot topics we discussed during the video chat. One of those topics were indoor cameras and audio recording devices. I asked her to confirm that all indoor cameras and audio recording devices will be disabled for the duration of the sit. She said there is only one indoor camera with audio that is on the automatic feeder and that she would like to leave the camera on so she could see the cats. I explained to her that indoor cameras and audio recording devices are prohibited per THS T&C. She replied - the other sitter was ok with the camera being on. I replied - indoor cameras are a deal breaker for me as it is an invasion of my privacy and if she preferred a sitter that is ok with indoor cameras being on she could cancel my sit and proceed to find another sitter. I feel some HO think they can bully sitters into proceeding with sits while the indoor cameras are enabled because they think sitters have no other options and desperate for “free accommodations”. I am no such sitter. I travel full time, my passport and financial means are at the ready for me to hop on a plane and fly away to whatever random destination I desire. I left the key on the table in the event she find a sitter that is willing to take her sit with her camera enabled.
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@kimshady Good job standing up for yourself. It doesn’t matter what other sitters might be OK with. All that matters is that it’s a deal breaker for you.
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Has she officially cancelled the sit ? If not contact THS to get the sit cancelled and explain why .
Otherwise you risk her leaving a bad review .
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@silversitters She hasn’t cancelled she message me a moment ago claiming to have found the THS T&C confirming what I told her about indoor cameras not being allowed during the sit. She pretended she didn’t know of such T&C during the handoff and thought she only had to disclose the camera. I don’t believe her. She sent me a screen shot from the auto feeder app showing the camera setting set to off. But now I’m not excited to move forward with the sit and not sure if I can trust her to leave it off.
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@Crosswords_and_puzzles my sentiment exactly. I have decided this will be my last sit with THS. I will not renew my membership when my it expires in January. I had 2 good years with THS pet sitting throughout Europe, Asia, Australia, UAE and North America but the quality on HOs on the platform is starting to decline and the experience is no longer enjoyable.
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@kimshady Ah it’s sad to hear you feel that way, especially after so many sits all over the world. I think you mentioned in the past you have the financial means to pick and choose, the way we look at it the membership fees are about one nights accommodation so as long as we do one sit a year we are still financially ahead. And we have so enjoyed having temporary pets in our life.
At least she has sent the screenshot of the app off. Genuinely trying to correct her mistake or manipulate? Only you can decide that. Let us know what happens.
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@Cathie I was thinking the same - her presenting as being cooperative but sneak and turn the camera on periodically. I’ve never cancelled a sit but I’m pretty close to doing now. If I see the camera has been activated during the sit I will end the sit immediately. I will have no use for the THS membership upon expiration as I will be doing more slow, leisure travel for enjoyment moving forward. It was a good run but now I just want to enjoy my travels without the added responsibility.
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@kimshady Could you see the indoor camera was on when you visited? If so, I would alert the HO that if you saw it on again where she has shown she has turned it off, then you would be leaving the sit immediately. She would then have a dilemma on her hands which she probably would not want, especially where it’s over Christmas. Sorry to read you’re not going to continue sitting through THS but I can understand why also. Enjoy your travel and freedom!
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@temba during the handoff, while she was trying to convince me that leaving the camera on was a good idea even though it’s against THS T&C, she opened the indoor camera app her cell phone and showed me what she sees when the camera is on. I repeated to her - camera on is a deal breaker for me.
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Is it a camera that can be turned to the wall? In your position and how you are not comfortable trusting this owner to keep the camera off, I would not be doing the sit, especially as it’s not going to harm you as you’re leaving THS.
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@temba good point I have nothing to lose! I’m sure she can make arrangements for a new sitters before the sit starts on Wednesday.
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It didn’t sound like she was bullying you at all from your own verbiage. More like she was confused as to why you would have an issue with it and tried to alleviate your concerns. You made yourself clear and she complied. I don’t see the issue anymore. Sounds like a good interaction.
you might not have known it was there. often if you don’t look closely you can miss them.
I found one in a hallway once dressed up as a picture after I had walked passed that spot numerous times in just a towel or my panties. I felt very violated.
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I would be tempted to file a report with the local police! That’s just creepy and gross. I’m so sorry you were violated like that.
This is a great idea. I think there should be a confirmation of the arrival and departure times…that there will be no smoking on the premises and that both the homeowner and the sitter agreed to have nobody else on the property that wasn’t formally agreed to before hand in writing. And that homeowners sign off by clicking a box that they do not have any indoor cameras or microphones operating.
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It also feels that with AI it would be very simple to individualize the checkoffs to add things that both the sitter and homeowner discussed and that each mentioned. So maybe there’d be an optional form that could be AI geneerated for more check offs. You might get things like: Bobby will label all the housepants with watering instructions ___ Susanne will do a quick daily walk through to water the pants.____
So awful. I have 2 x cctv cameras inside the house (one trained on my cat’s basket and the other in the hall because my husband can never remember if he’s shut the front door, so we can now check!) but I unplug them and remove them the day before my sitters arrive. I’d feel massively unhappy with that. We do have outside cctv trained on the front door area and the driveway, to deter burglary and car theft: do I assume that that’s OK?
You’re good. All cameras need to be disclosed prior to confirming a sitter.
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