Truly nobody should assume anything. I think it is odd to require daily updates for a month long Sit.
I do understand when Pet Owner would like to be in touch more frequently during the first few days of a month long Sit, but after that, perhaps only 3 times per week, if all is going smoothly. Not daily. That seems excessive.
Seems reasonable to go with fewer over time with a long sit.
I only take sits of up to three weeks and figure daily works if the hosts want them. It’s not much effort on my part to do them anyway.
I usually let the sitter know up front what I expect for communication, usually just once a day check in for us, sometimes a few days go by depending on the sit. For me, as a sitter I usually check in every so often, at least once a day when we sit if they dont let me know they expect something else.
I didn’t expect or request daily updates. But if I contact the sitter with a question, I do expect a timely answer.
As others have stated, it should absolutely be discussed prior. But if you kindly say you would like an update EO day, just so you know things are ok, the Sitter/Guest would likely understand. However the comment “if I contact the sitter with a question, I do expect a timely answer” isn’t reasonable unless there is an emergency. They aren’t your employee or child. Wondering if your tone with the person is reflecting the tone in this statement, which would be off-putting.
I appreciate everyone’s input and suggestions. I e-mailed the sitter and asked her if she could give us a brief update every 3 days.
She replied that everything is fine, but it is a lot of time/effort to feed and care for 4-cats 3 x a day, clean the kitty litter and take out the trash bins for garbage pick-up and bring them back in once a week, plug in the pool cleaner hose, and water outdoor plants 3 x a week.
(All of these things were well-detailed in my Welcome Guide, the house/pet sitter instructions that I sent her, and were gone over before we left on vacation.)
She said that she wants us to have peace of mind, but needs time to recharge and take care of her work, clients, and personal life.
She agreed to email every 3-days to affirm - All is well, kitties are happy. She said that people usually go on vacation and trust that she can take good care of their pets.
I told her to forget about the pool, plants, and that she can decide how often she wants to take the garbage out for pickup.
Hopefully, this will help her and us.
Thanks for your suggestions and support.
I e-mailed the sitter and asked her if she could just let us know every 2-3 days that everything is well and the kitties are fine. I posted a summary of her reply in the thread above.
Well, at least you have reached a compromise on the communication. It does seem that the onus was on you to make accommodations though. Maybe this sitter is better off doing shorter sits so as to not be ‘weighed down’ with weekly tasks. She might still clean the pool as she may want to use it so as to ‘recharge’. Once again, your review should reflect your experience and be informative for future homeowners.
Well, it’s all about semantics and I didn’t it phrase it that way. I had texted her and said that it would be really nice to hear from her.
I agree. She was so positive/enthusiastic and never expressed a problem with any of the things in the Welcome Guide, instructions, or when we went over everything with her before we left.
I’m sorry @Juno1956 but to me, this sounds like nonsense. We do this in our stride, that’s what housesitters do, especially on longer sits. You take care of the everyday tasks as if you lived there. I would be super annoyed if I were a HO who provided a detailed description and welcome guide, only to be told - after the sitter has started - that it’s ‘a lot of work’.
@Juno1956 I agree with @botvot comments.
Your requirements sound completely normal to me and we regularly do sits in large properties with such duties and more. You explained everything and your sitter agreed. Now she has gone flakey on you and is prioritising her own work & personal needs over the sit. That’s not really OK. If she suspected the duties might be too much for her she should not have agreed the sit. You should not need to make compromises on reasonable expectations.
I’m surprised. I literally communicate with the pet parents daily as I feel communication is of utmost importance. It’s interesting as I’m experiencing just the opposite right now on my current sit. As it turned out the HO hasn’t had a decent signal as she’s on a cruise so I was concerned. In any case expectations should be discussed prior. I always let the HO know I’m a bit adamant about communication so it’s clear from the beginning.
I understand your frustration. If she knew there were 4 cats, a pool and a garden, then she knew she’d be taking care of them. Even if she is working full time, these are just things one does if you live in a home – take out the garbage, watering plants. If you are going to have to get neighbors or someone to help out, I hope she sees this as a choice she’s making – third parties coming in to help that may interfere with her focus and concentration. I am so sorry you are going through this.
Just want to say, that I hope the new blind review system, can weed out some of the problem sitters and households on both sides.
My only negative experience with a sitter – and the sitter cancelled so the sit didn’t happen – involved my feeling a bit gaslit. I’ve come to believe based on reviewing that person’s reviews that they might have been hinting for $ for “extra” work even though all the responsibilites were very clearly stated on the listing.
I hope things work out and this is just a case of a sitter feeling a little overwhelmed or a communication style issue, but if things don’t go smoothly, I don’t think an honest objective review is going to hurt the homeowner.
If there was no question, I might not respond either.
And you thought that “after a couple of hours” was not timely?
HOs cannot expect that a sitter is at their beck and call. If you expect that, you should hire somebody.
9 sits and the only times there haven’t been daily contact:
-petparent on retreat/excursion in deep woods with no signal
-petparent on cruise
-petparent broke phone/camping in woods/sent me a message through a friend’s phone and asked me to send updated texts no photos through that.
It’s called common courtesy in my country. Just like when a friend texts me, I try to respond in a timely manner.
If a friend wants a quick response, they make a voice call.
Text messages or emails can wait. Especially if there was no question.
But @pietkuip is right. Timely for you @Juno1956 might not be timely for them. Some people text immediately, some take 12 hours. Same story as ever, all about agreeing the expectation when you choose your sitter. I’m also not up for “I expect a timely response” attitude, I’d prefer. “Can you get back to me asap as am worried.” Then I know why you need me so quickly. #itsallaboutthecommsyetagain