@Juno1956 can i just ask please, how long you’ve been away and how many messages you’ve sent the sitter so far?
I’m not defending the sitter, whose response to your request for more frequent updates seems both churlish and defensive, but I just wonder if this was possibly something which was not previously discussed and so a flurry of messages might potentially feel like attempts to micro-manage?
We always discuss how frequently updates are required and, since we routinely take a lot of pet pics, it’s not a problem to send little vignettes of how things are going.
It sounds a bit like your sitter has said all the right things to get this nice, long sit, but now has turned the tables on you a bit and can’t be bothered. That would ring some alarm bells for me, about how conscientiously she’s taking care of the pets and home.
Even hearing only one side, that is not the impression that I get.
Turning the tables, one could even say that the HO had said all the right things and avoided discussing their expectations in order to get a nice free sitter with good reviews for a whole month, and now they are starting to be demanding. The corporate tone of “timely manner” (and anxiety when it was about just a few hours) is where I might hear an alarm bell.
I sent her a text when we arrived at our destination 12+ hours after we left home. After I didn’t hear from her that day, I texted her the next day and asked how everything was going and said that it would be really nice to hear from her.
Hold up a minute. Let’s do the math here. On the 2nd day she was already complaining about the weekly tasks? She probably hadn’t even had to do those yet. Now she doesn’t have to do them at all. Good grief. Review, review, review!!
@pietkuip I usually don’t mind your frankness, but it feels like you are playing the devil’s advocate really hard here.
Good sitters will send at least 1-2 messages in the first 12-48 hours. One to say they have arrived safely and all the pets are accounted for (if blind handover). And another message early the next morning to say all is good, pets are getting used to me, eating, sleeping etc. This is really just common courtesy to put the HO’s at ease that they can relax and enjoy their holidays, that the sitter and the pets are settling in.
After this, fine, whatever was agreed, whether every day or every 3 days or whatever.
Have you ever left your beloved pets in the care of someone you don’t know very well? It’s stressful! I needed to know that our foster cat was doing okay with a stranger in the house. Cats are very sensitive, more so than dogs.
Let’s wait for @Juno1956 to clarify what she meant by ‘being compensated’ as many view things other than money as a form of compensation
HOs are allowed to give gifts and/or money if they want (but sitters are not to ask for it)
Consider reading @Juno1956’s previous post from 2022 ‘Sitter cancelled 2 days before pet sit’ to learn why this HO may have considered giving a money payment to the sitter (which we don’t even know if she did yet)
I think there’s just a pattern of HOs coming to the forum complaining about sitters, and then certain aspects of their story don’t quite add up. It’s worth interrogating these. I’m very communicative as a sitter, but if I had an HO getting het up if I didn’t respond within two hours to something non-urgent then I’d consider that demanding.
When I get a text from the HO “We arrived” I would probably acknowledge that with something like “Have fun, Fido is asleep” if I saw the message right then.
But if I saw it only after some time, the HO might have gone to bed, and I would not risk waking them with a pling.
When the HO gets upset about receiving a reply (with pictures!) after “a couple of hours”, I find that strange.
This really sounds like there was a lack of communication regarding the expected frequency of updates. There is no ‘normal’. In the 35 sits I’ve done, some wanted daily updates, some every few days, some once a week, and one wanted no communication from me at all during the sit. I’ve also found that HOs rarely bring this up until I specifically ask. They know what they want, but think it’s somehow obvious and doesn’t need to be discussed. And honestly, I typically don’t think to ask about it until I’m there. If we haven’t discussed it, my default is once a day.
I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect a sitter to be glued to their phone so they can respond immediately. I typically respond right away, but there are times that it might not be feasible to respond immediately. I could be in a work meeting, or out walking the dog, or doing other tasks such as gardening, or out visiting a museum or enjoying lunch at a nice restaurant, or my phone might just be in another room so I don’t get the text until later. Tonight, I’m going to the see an orchestra and I won’t be texting people during the 2-hour performance.
I think it’s reasonable on both sides to expect same day responses (or the following day if a message is sent in the evening). Unless, it’s something urgent, of course, but even then you can’t assume that they saw the message immediately.
In this case it’s hard to say what’s going on. It could be just unclear expectations, or it could be an issue with the sitter. I think it just reinforces the need for very clear expectations regarding communication.
This sounds like so much ado about nothing on the sitter’s part. Does she never take out the garbage at her own place? How much time/how hard is it to plug in a pool hose? And assuming you don’t have a jungle to water, is it really a big deal? Texting updates takes less than a minute. It shouldn’t be a problem. Of course, I don’t know her side of the story, but if it were me, I’d say sure, no problem and send the dang texts. No fuss, no stress. It’s part of the “job.”
I did a three month sit with two dogs on a ten acre property with a pool and large grounds to look after. I had a ride on mower, walked the dogs around the property, took care of the pool and got the bins down to the front path once a week. House was like a showpiece and that’s how I kept it daily. Homeowners were probably sent TOO many pics and messages because I wanted to share the dogs antics and wellbeing with them and I ALWAYS send a pic and text within the first 24 hours then again next day to assure the HO everything is OK. From then on, it might be once ow twice a week depending on the HO’s request.
In the three months, I had MORE than enough time to myself, these jobs took very little time and effort and I got to stay in an amazing home with a pool in the middle of summer. If sitters feel their personal needs or work commitments come before the requirements of an accepted sit, they should never accept a sit in the first place that requires anything more than the absolute bare minimum. It is selfish and self-important behaviour to even understand or accept this sitter’s complaints.
I’m with @botvot, as a former pet owner myself, the first few days are the hardest for separation anxiety and it was imperative that I heard from my sitter in the early stages. After I was settled knowing everything was ok, I was happy to receive weekly communication, or even more. You need to have HAD a pet to understand how the separation can be quite distressing in the initial days of leaving with a sitter. They are strangers that you don’t know from Jack so it’s not a hard ask. Sitter sounds like hard work to me.
@MaggieUU, I gave the sitter two gift cards to her favorite grocery stores before we left. She didn’t ask for any compensation, but I thought it would be nice to give her something for groceries since she would be staying there for 4 weeks. She was appreciative of the gesture.