Hi everyone! I am still recovering from a bit of a traumatic sit experience - I arrived back and my sitter still had their things in my apartment. The apartment itself was a complete disaster - there was garbage on the floor, the litterbox was dirty, the fishtank water was basically black. My closets had been emptied and her things were put in.
I was surprised by this because the sitter had been so pleasant while I was away - she sent many photos and has a lot of positive reviews. It turns out, she had thought the sit ended a day later, despite my constant communication and accurate dates on the app.
I am a sitter myself and the home owner could come home anytime, and they’d find a clean home and happy pets.
What do you rate in such an experience? I suppose if I had come home tomorrow, I’d find it in a much better state than what I happened to stumble upon. I am still upset and trying to calm my obviously anxious cats down from the whole ordeal.
Personally, I’d give this no stars or one star if forced to. That’s because she would’ve presumably cleaned up before you returned, had she realized when, but the kitty litter and fish tank being uncared for are dealbreakers when pet sitting. If the pets aren’t looked after well, I wouldn’t rate well even if the house were pristine. You happened to find out just because of the misunderstanding, no matter who was at fault for that.
I think @Maggie8K is right. A messy and even dirty house is the sitters problem even if a little disturbing when it’s your home. Non care of the pets is unforgivable though and a dirty litter box and black fish tank are grim discoveries. What was her justification if any? Hope you and the pets recover soon
I think you already know how to rate it from what you have said.
Personally if a home owner came back the day prior to us leaving, then we’d have things laying around (in preparation to leave and clean properly… you know what I mean), but what you have described that’s terrible. Your pets and your home weren’t taken care of, simple as that. I’d rate it low-low.
@kaylarose - please review honestly to alert any future homeowners. You can score each category and comment on any good points as well as the bad.
Even if the sitter intended doing all the tasks in advance of your return that is no excuse. Cat tray/fish tank maintenance, clean pet bowls and general cleanliness should be part of the daily routine.
I always ensure I confirm the day, date and estimated time of departure/arrival of the homeowner so there are no surprises. It is not so that I can do a blitz before the homeowner returns but because I am organised and I can check in with them if there are any delays.
@Twitcher The most surprising part was that I had messaged her several times to confirm her departure time in the days prior.
I have found other upsetting discoveries since I have come home like she had used products from my cabinet without my permission and she had completely rearranged things in my cabinets and put things where they don’t belong. I really don’t understand how such a person has good reviews on their profile at all.
I don’t know your sitter situation at all. Sometimes when I’ve read about sitters who turned out counter to their reviews, I’ve wondered whether they had a mental break, fell off their meds or were on drugs. That’s because it’s such a contrast in behavior and character, which seems odd.
Ooof, I am sorry. I’m curious what the sitter said when you arrived home - did she even acknowledge the litter box and fish tank situation?
Years ago I had a neighbor stop in to take care of my cat while I was gone for a few days. The ONE thing I had said was to please only give tiny amounts of catnip, very sparingly, to reduce vomiting (I had this cat for 18 years and she was a serial puker the whole time).
Neighbor got my arrival home wrong, and I walked into my apartment to see drifts of catnip thrown all over the living room floor. Along with numerous piles of cat puke that hadn’t been cleaned up. She was embarrassed that she’d forgotten what time I was due and offered to come clean, but I’d already gotten it sorted. I’m sure the litter box was also full, but I was most mad about the catnip.
It’s been said that members leave good or no reviews to avoid retaliation.
You have an opportunity to help future HOs
by leaving a truthful review.
Keep it short but state that they had the return date wrong although you told them several times.
Since you returned before they thought
, you found that they had not been keeping up with the litter box , fish tank, or trash.
That information alone is enough for HOs to get the picture
You can mention she moved stuff. I don’t know if you made room for her put her thing away. @kaylarose
This would have made me so upset as well! It really shows people’s true colors when you come home after they’re able to just give the facade of good treatment and care.
This is exactly what I am fearful of. While she didn’t seem like the type of person to do this, I am scared she will retaliate in person more so than leave a bad review. I did leave space for her to leave things! She chose to move my things regardless.
@kaylarose , What did the sitter say when you confronted them? What exactly do you mean by a dirty litterbox? ( a day dirty or a week dirty) There could be a good reason why the water in the tank went black quickly (and black water is considered to be better for fish than clear water although not as aesthetically pleasing for humans) .
On the face of it, it sounds like a horror story but I do think we need more details, especially the sitters’ response before judging ourselves
The litter box was several weeks dirty. She had also completely put one of the litter boxes in a closet for no apparent reason. It was absolutely disgusting.
The tank was absolutely not supposed to be that dirty as I gave explicit instructions on when the filter needed to be replaced and the exact position it needed to sit at. When I asked her what happened, she told me she was having issues attaching it but she had not communicated that to me.
What I did not mention is that she had also used the medically prescribed products that I had in tha brhroom despite the fact that I had told her to always ask for that exact reason.
It’s important to play devil’s advocate but trust me, I have had plenty of sitters in the past and none were that horrible. I was more focused on getting her out of my space than I was hearing any reason for her behavior.
Please do leave an accurate review, with low stars.
Future HO’s animals deserve way better care than she gave yours!
You’re good at writing in a non-dramatic way, so that’s good for the review-writing. Just state the facts, like you did here.
I’m so sorry you and your animal friends had this bad experience!
Along with numerous piles of cat puke that hadn’t been cleaned up. She was embarrassed that she’d forgotten what time I was due and offered to come clean, but I’d already gotten it sorted. I’m sure the litter box was also full, but I was most mad about the catnip.