We generally take our sitters out to dinner the evening before we leave. I tell that to use any of the food that we have as well as having some wine, being sure to tell them which ones are special (and those are in a separate wine cabinet.). Most sitters don’t use much of the food, but I hope they understand that it is fine if they do. My feeling is that while they are they they should be feeling as if it is their home, using whatever they need to feel that way,
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Hi Margaret. I’m just reading this thread for the first time. I think you will have figured out that there’s a wide range of what’s seen as appropriate or good etiquette. In my 7 years of sitting, I’d say your approach is on the more generous side, where you show great consideration for your sitters. I do think you have been taken advantage of, but maybe the ‘help yourself’ needs to be reigned in a bit. I have done a sit where I was welcome to use anything, other than the freezers. Clear instructions.
I will use up perishable goods but take photos of anything such as milk etc. to make sure I replace with the same type. My general approach is also to leave more than I use.
I find it interesting how so many people here list ‘staple items’ and yet we all have such a diverse range of what we’d consider staples, and many people have certain food intolerances. I have had an owner ask what’s my typical breakfast, to make sure they had the basics for me to start on the first day. I appreciated that, as breakfast is so different for so many of us.
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Just wrapped up our first experience with a sitter, and it was a good experience for all of us, I think. Our sitter was already in town the day before we left (we had a very early flight) so we invited him to stay that night. That gave us plenty of time to familiarize him with our “kids”, and as he didn’t have transportation, I took him grocery shopping which gave me an idea of his tastes (he paid for his supplies, but we left a $100 gift card in case he needed to purchase anything for the house or animals). I did tell him he was welcome to anything in the fridge like cream, milk, bread or cheese, but we cleared most everything perishable in an effort to make room for his food. We took him to dinner that evening which gave him a chance to meet my husband’s sister who would be available to help him if he needed it. We had a very nice visit, and then left him on his own while we finished packing. I wanted to bring him something from our travels, and because I learned he liked a certain kind of coffee, I was able to get him coffee from a local roaster where we were. When we arrived back home, we were very tired, but starving since we had traveled across several time zones and didn’t have time between flight connections, we took the gift card, which he hadn’t used and we all went to dinner. He had a flight out the next day, so we were happy to invite him to stay one more night (he wanted our dog to stay with him one last time, lol) and gave him a ride to the airport. He gave us a good review, so I guess we did ok.
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Wonderful @barbsun54! Sounds like you did very well.
In my experience, HO treat me like a guest, sometimes like a family member. People in this community are very special. Just like you.
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Welcome again @barbsun54 and thank you so much for sharing your first TrrustedHousesitters sit, I have to say you sound like a pro owner and a very caring one too, what a wonderful experience for everyone involved.
As @Amparo says we are a very special community thank you for being part of it and we look forward to sharing in your next TrustedHousesitters experience.
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We also just experienced our first sitter and had an excellent experience. I asked the sitter beforehand what food items she would like. We also left a $50 gift card to one of our favorite local restaurants and $50 cash in a thank you card for gas or ?
We also left vegetables and fruits and told the sitter she could eat anything she wanted.
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We have generally had great experiences with sitters and food. For a sitter without a car, we did a quick shop for them ahead of time so they had things they wanted, and we always make fridge and freezer space available (cleared out of our stuff). We encourage use of pantry staples (sugar, tea, coffee, spices, baking supplies etc.) Once we were a little unclear with the sitter about what they could use and they ate a lot of meat, cheese, etc. that I hadn’t intended them to help themselves to. We try to order in or something like that for the first night when the sitters are arriving but we always check with them first.
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Hello Everyone, Thanks for this thread, as it’s become an issue for me over the past 4 months, with 3 different sitters. I’ve used THS for over a decade with no issue at all about food. All the sitters complied with my request to help themselves to STAPLES (butter, sugar, flour, produce left, rice, coffee, tea, etc.) and left all my other food and wine alone. However these past 3 months with 3 different sitters they have dipped into, and in some cases literally cleaned out, my pantry. I’m talking about my freezer–tuna steaks, shrimp, imported wontons, bacon. My specialty items such as organic chocolates. Twice my sitters have eaten ALL my international chocolate collection. They haven’t brought it up until I specifically asked them about it. And then no reparation was offered. In the future I will lock up food I don’t want gone when I return, Anyway, thanks—looks like most people like myself have had excellent experiences with respect for the contract about food.
Hi. I’m disheartened to hear of your negative experiences lately but I hope they represent the exception. I still believe that the vast majority of sitters, similar to homeowners, are dedicated to doing an outstanding job and to showing the greatest respect to homeowners.
As a sitter I can assure you that I would never take advantage of a homeowner, regardless of whatever unfortunate circumstances I might find myself in. Also, even when homeowners repeatedly encourage me to use their supplies, including food, I always make sure I leave them at least what they left me, and usually more.
Many homeowners are currently restricting their search to those who live within their province/state/country because of possible complications. Maybe that’s something for you to consider for the future, until we’re truly clear of this pandemic.
Note: I have edited this reply today, given that reference to specific nationalities has been removed from the original post.
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Thank you for your reply. My post wasn’t meant to imply a prejudice against Canadians, or any other group. It was only meant to be an observation, given the governments of Canada and Australia for return of these housesitters. Yes I engaged 3 housesitters from other countries, but they were here in CR already, so it seemed simple. No COVID tests, no complications of travel. I think I signed up people who were stuck here.
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I’m also shocked to hear this. @Angela_L , is this something membership services should know about? Shouldn’t these sitters be informed that this is not acceptable? @beth, did you mention this in your reviews of these sitters?
Is it possible these were applicants you would ordinarily have passed by in normal, non-covid times? Were there any clues on their profiles that gave you pause?
Thank you for posting this. It’s important so other sitters reading this, who might not realize this is wrong, are made aware.
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No, no clues on their profiles or reviews. And I certainly don’t write off anyone from Canada or Australia, it’s only that these 3 sitters were from there and were already in Costa Rica for many many months. I hadn’t considered that they may not be able to easily return to their home countries, during the pandemic! I didn’t post reviews, because I was not sure what to say.
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Hi @beth welcome to our community forum and thank you to @Snowbird and @mars for your support and replies … Beth we never want to hear about any member having a less than positive experience and as you say these sitters took great care of your home and pets. However and when this happens, we do everything to help support those involved through our Membership Services Team, there is a process in place and @Therese who is part of our forum team will contact you directly when she is back online.
I hope you will explore other topics of conversation on the forum now that you have joined us and we’d love to hear about life in Costa Rica, your home looks amazing, also the other great sitter experiences you’ve had.
Welcome again.
Angela and the Team
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I wouldn’t want to have to lock away my wine rack and freezer contents, but I make it clear in my WG that the sitters may help themselves to any dry goods, like coffee, flour, pasta, rice and spices in the kitchen and that they certainly may enjoy a bottle of wine, but I also mention that I would appreciate if there was enough coffee, milk and wine left for our return.
I make a welcome basket anyway with one or more bottles of wine in it, depending on the length of the sit and the number of sitters. I tell them that if they don’t like my choice to exchange them to any other bottle in the house.
If I was a sitter I would never just help myself to anything without being invited to and I certainly would never empty the pantry.
But with any topic I think it’s all about communication.
It might feel weird or even rude to say that you don’t want to give away your freezer content for free but not everybody is reluctant, obviously, to touch it. Write it down or tell the next sitters during the video call.
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Yes, thank you for your thoughts! Apparently it IS necessary to specifically say more both in my written guides and during interview. I’m just gob-smacked that I need to be that specific, as you say, about don’t go into the freezer etc. Never needed to do that in my many years with THS, including at this location on a mountain in Costa Rica. To offset that which seems weird/rude, I will ask for a list to buy groceries for my sitter, that they will reimburse me for upon arrival. Or I will take them shopping. That may make it more clear that there are boundaries.
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What an interesting topic! As someone who lived in a home that was offered for rent on Airbnb, and also did home swaps, it can be a different with each guest/HO. The contents of the pantry was always open for their use, and in turn, we often found leftover staples left behind. We typically always left a fresh bowl of newly picked fruit on the table for their use, and let them know to pick whatever ripened when we were away. It depends on the HO/sitter how much/little they feel comfortable sharing. There is no wrong or right for this subject matter.
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@Joanne As a sitter, I prefer to select my own food. I’ve had several hosts leave grocery store gift cards for me and that was always a pleasant surprise.
It’s actually very uncomfortable when a host buys food for me without asking what I like or if I have any food intolerances. Or, when they want me to use up leftovers or food that’s less than fresh. Obviously, that’s food that just ends up being wasted.
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@beth I’m shocked that anyone would have the nerve to do that!!! I had a host once who told me that a previous sitter drank every last drop of alcohol in her liquor cabinet. That same sitter REARRANGED all of the items in her pantry, her dresser drawers, etc. The host is legally blind so putting things back where she could find them was a nightmare for her. I can’t imagine doing that. I want the host to come home to a house that’s in the same shape (or cleaner) that it was when they left and everything intact.
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My first thought was that the sitter had a cruel streak 
I always make sure that there is plenty of milk in the fridge plus butter available and tell the sitter to help themselves to tea, coffee and any cereals that are in the cupboard should they wish. I also make sure that they know they could use things like olive oil and herbs and spices from the cupboard should they wish to cook at home during the sit. Generally I remove all perishable items from the fridge etc. I do usually leave our sitters a couple of slices of homemade cake and bottle of wine to say thank you for looking after our home and our kitty.