This is my first post on the forum and was hoping to get some advice as to what are reasonable expectations from a sitter.
My first experience engaging a sitter from this site was like a dream. I had the most wonderful couple who took great care of my home and my pet, in fact they left the home even cleaner than I left it. I was so grateful as I have a chronic illness which causes a lot of pain and impacts how much I can do every day.
Unfortunately my second sit didn’t go so well. I partly blame myself as I had some wonderful applications but I didn’t get back to the site for a month to check the applications and most of them had already booked elsewhere. I ended up choosing a last minute application, someone who sounded great in their profile and I liked their message. They only had a few reviews over the past few years, but they were all positive reviews.
When I returned home I discovered that my instructions re my pet were not followed and there were some issues around cleanliness. My dog is crate trained and happily sleeps in their crate at night. This was explained to the sitter in person and was in my household manual as well. On return, I found two of our rugs were missing. The sitter explained that the pet had had a couple of accidents inside on our rugs. My pet is extremely well trained and has never had any accidents in the house, as they have a pet door available at all times except when they are asleep in the crate at night. The sitter said it happened overnight and when I asked why the dog wasn’t in the crate, the sitter said they didn’t want to go in there. Again, this has never happened. I could accept the crate issue, but the sitter took the 2 soiled rugs outside and left them there for me to clean up. Apparently they couldn’t find anything to use to clean them up, though there were plenty of options in the cleaning products I mentioned in my house manual and also a huge bottle of animal disinfectant on the outdoor table right in front of where the rugs were placed (I use to disinfect the concrete which the dog sometimes uses). The sitter also must have attempted some cleanup as when I went into the laundry to do some washing, I could smell a very strong dog pee smell. I discovered a cloth soaked in dog pee just left on top of the washing machine, not even rinsed or left in a sink.
I also found maggots in my dog’s left over food in her bowl in the kitchen. I have never had maggots in my kitchen.
Am I expecting too much to be disappointed with these things? I would like to leave an honest review, but I don’t like confrontation and I don’t like upsetting people. I don’t want future sitters to return to these types of things though. She was a nice enough person, and I’m grateful for her taking care of the dog and the house, I just don’t feel she left the house in the same condition as it was when she arrived.