I have a sit next month that I feel has a few red flags and I’m not sure what to do. The first one is that the last 4 sitters have not left a review (I’m very new to this so didn’t think about it when I applied). Also after reading on the forum for things to look out for, there are no interior photos of the house, just a few of the pet and one exterior photo. The last thing is that a month ago, I messaged the HO to ask for a call (which she’d mentioned at the beginning) and she’s not replied (but read the message). Any tips would be really appreciated, I’m really unsure what to do. Thanks.
Try requesting a welcome guide, and message again asking for a chat as it’s all very new to you.
How long is the sit for? What feel did you get from the HO initially? Not that any of that matters really, if she communicates back, you have committed to the sit and would need a very good reason to pull out.
I know some people have had experience of dirty houses, but I can truthfully say in 40+ sits we have never had this problem. In many ways a more ‘lived in’ house makes for a more relaxed sit, too pristine and sometimes you daren’t breathe!
If I was a homeowner I feel I may limit the number of house photos, not because when I had a house it was dirty or untidy, but because I want people to come to care for my pet, not to plan for their perfect holiday.
I’m sure it will be fine and you’ll have a great time, everyone’s reasons for house-sitting are different as are their expectations
Jackie
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Hi Lily and welcome to the forum. It’s always a little unnerving when you don’t get a response to a message after agreeing to a sit, but generally we’ve found that it’s just a delay because the owners are away, or working or they miss the email notification (or have them turned off) so don’t see your message.
We ourselves had this on a sit where the owner was a health worker on shifts, and missed the notification - so now we try and get a whatsapp or email address at the outset. However, yours has read the message so I would try again to say you need to have that call to confirm all the details. Follow up again after 3 days if you don’t hear anything.
I have checked the listing on your behalf and it’s all current. I did notice that this owner uses sitters every month, sometimes more than once, and has a fair number of past reviews. It could be that because of Covid those more recent sits didn’t go ahead but she didn’t cancel them - we’ve had that happen over the last year too.
But… we always say trust your instincts and with my sitter head on I would be nervy too if an owner hadn’t agreed to a call. Try a couple more times over the next week, and if you still don’t hear anything back, I would suggest emailing Membership Services to see if they can intervene and check that everything is OK. Let us know how you get on. All the best, Vanessa
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Thanks Jackie, I’ve requested the welcome pack so hopefully this will get sent soon, if not, then I’ll do a follow up. If it wasn’t for letting them down, I wouldn’t take it, but I dont want to leave her in the lurch.
Thanks Vanessa, yes noticed that she has a few more sits available at the moment. I’ll do what you suggest and see how that goes.
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Are the reviews, before the last four good, and are any of them repeats?
If she uses sitters regularly it may be more of a ‘business transaction’ for her and she may have forgotten what it’s like when it’s all new.
We had similar with an air stewardess who used sitters very regularly, we didn’t meet her at all, and actually didn’t speak to her until we’d arrived in the flat, found the cat, and sent her a picture of us getting some furry fuss. She too had few if any interior photos, which we could understand when we got there, bare plasterboard in the hall not being the most attractive look, but it was perfectly clean and she was waiting on the landlord to decorate. I was a little unnerved with this lack of contact, but it was somewhere we really wanted to go, just at the right moment. We went in with the attitude that it was only for a week and we could put up with anything… We arrived, she’d left a welcome gift, and we didn’t have to ‘put up’ with anything!
Think positive, enjoy the animal, get a good review…
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Hi Jackie, thanks for the tip on looking for repeat sitter. She has had one that has been twice but the rest are one offs. I’ll give her a little longer to reply. thanks again.
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Can I ask how you know that a HO has had a sitter that didn’t leave feedback? Thanks!
You can only see this on the App, not on the web browser
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Thanks for the response! I’ll download the app. 