@Katie …that was brave of you Katie! Yes I have seen some pretty grim fridges over the last few years…I guess it goes with the territory! Here’s wishing you an easier run next time out!
1 Like
@Katie @carpediem … Ah fridges, there have been many I find the terms “Research Lab” and “Petri Dish” very useful terminology when describing some … not all of course.
7 Likes
@Angela_L haha! yes and some David Atenborough could run a complete series on ‘Life In The Freezer’ or some similar title! As you say only a few!
3 Likes
my mother was a prof cook and she said never use soap in a frying pan it just needs to be wiped clean with clean kitchen paper
Good way to deal with that. I have had people accept me right off the bat without having so much as an email exchange. Slow down.
2 Likes
@carpediem @Angela_L @Katie Hey sisters ! Can I be a member of your “let’s clean this fridge first” team ??!
5 Likes
I have cleaned so many fridges, sigh!
2 Likes
“Do finish off anything that’s in the fridge”
But when I look and it’s perishables well out of date, do I
- thank them and bin the items as soon as they’ve left? or
- leave the items (assuming we’re only there for a few days) as a hint that we don’t eat well out of date food.
I know there is much debate around the difference between labels such as “use by” and “best before” but would I risk finishing off, say, an opened pack of smoked salmon which should have been consumed 10 days ago? No thanks - having to walk the dog whilst suffering an upset tum is not my idea of fun.
3 Likes
Hello @Diggy
If it doesn’t stink I would leave it in the fridge (maybe they like stinky salmon, the same way we, french people, love stinky cheese ?).
If it is not even open I would just leave it in the fridge.
But I think there is a very different way of running your fridge depending which part of the world you leave in. We only sat twice for american people and I must say I was amazed by the amount of food that were in the fridge (most of it out of date !). For me cleanliness of the fridge is far more important than tidiness of the floor… but not easy to spy with a video call !! 
2 Likes
@Françoise-et-Youn yes a grubby fridge with out of date food really puts me off…and when you can’t even find space for your own food and then find the HO has not cleared one drawer or hanging space in the bedroom for you…I make a mental note not to go back…a little courtesy goes along way for any HO reading this who want sitters to do repeat sits and surely that works to your benefit as you don’t need to keep doing a first-time detailed hand-over, you can go away knowing that the place will be looked after because the sitter came before and left the place clean and tidy, AND most importantly your animals don’t have a string of people looking after them. You know it makes sense.
8 Likes
I try to remember to ask for empty shelves in fridges/freezers, hanging and drawer space, but sometimes I don’t if they have had numerous sitters with good feedback. Then I arrive frustrated at the lack of space and I always apply for larger houses to ensure some space.
I remember your comment in that HOs think you live in a cupboard. I also think that they assume you will not be bringing any clothes with you.
6 Likes
2 posts were merged into an existing topic: How about a list of questions for HOs to ask the potential sitters?
Thank you for sharing this Colin
Love that idea!
I’m a little stupefied at some of the stories here and while people are joking about “team fridge cleaning” are sitters really expected to also be unpaid house cleaners?
The fridge and freezer should have been cleaned out and space made for the sitters food. This seems a common sense courtesy. Do situations arise so that this doesn’t get done for a sitter? Sure, but then the HO should apologize and explain the extenuating circumstances that prevented them from leaving an acceptable sitting situation.
Sitters should not be taken advantage of. Boarding an animal, hiring sitters and housekeepers who water gardens, take in mail, etc, are all ordinarily rather costly and here they receive these things at no cost.
These exchanges are supposed to be a win-win scenario, and many certainly are, but they all should be. There shouldn’t be this many stories of unpleasant and unacceptable situations.
I agree these should be a rating system that does not risk retaliation.
10 Likes
@Jaja I like your ideas.
A brainstorm idea…
Sitters can leave a review that’s public and also private comments visible only to HO (perhaps this is what others mean by the Airbnb model). As a HO I would WANT the feedback, but would not want to be publicly shamed.
In addition - sitters could leave a star rating (maybe also comments) that are visible only to other sitters
4 Likes
Hi @pdr the review system is in discussion and during the discussions the team will consider all member feedback the aim is to have a fair system that works for everyone. So please keep posting suggestions and ideas.
1 Like