Do not be afraid to cancel. I had to cancel with a famiky member that had constructiin going on. I do not think I want to be responsible for anything that could occur. In my case they were goung to Europe and I was doing the sit in the USA. And yesterday I had to cancel a sit in May. The HO were very understanding. Everyone including the moderator has said this is against THS policy.
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To me, you are a beautiful Sitter who cares. This HO is confused. I would suggest cancelling, because it is akin to a last minute HO-mention of a marching band practicing in your bedroom while you are sitting, at night! I see as a Nomadic Sitter it is uncomfortable to cancel, but there MUST be a mutually beneficial choice, and it may take some asking around to source support to find it. I wish you well. Geez, I can not imagine this is real, and I know it is! Bless you.
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Unfair. If something went wrong you could be blamed.
You will end up sitting the workers and not the pets and home. Ive been there and it was horrible.
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Never! I would as HO put thatbon Sitters and vice versa.
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Thank you to this thread: I was in a position of having to educate HO that construction crew on one side of the house for 3 weeks would not allow for my “peace + privacy.”
HO was able to move construction crew dates.
Phew. (I sent excerpts from TH 3rd party policy, to help with the clarity.)
There are workers here at the sit I’m on today. On a Saturday. I can’t be in the backyard with the dogs to play with them and enjoy the space. There are building materials and construction rubble all over the lawn, front, back and sides.
If having workers on the property is against THS policy, and I didn’t agree to them being here on the property, and they’re here anyway, what can I do about it?
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@MissChef Have you spoken with the owners about this? Are they able to contact the workers and reschedule?
I will pass this on to the Membership Services team and they will be able to assist you further. Please look out for their email and you can follow up at support@trustedhousesitters.com
I am sorry you are unable to relax and enjoy the yard. I hope you get this sorted as this should not be happening during your sit!
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She’s not answering my messages!
Including my message about how the meds she left for her elderly dog are insufficient (I need three more doses before she gets here!!)
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@MissChef Wow, so sorry to hear that, it must be very stressful not having fluid communication with the owner. Are you able to call or try any other contact methods as you said getting the medication and sorting the workman out is super important. Well done for coping with this situation.
Membership Services can look further into this for you, I have alerted them of the issue already.
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No for me. Check with ths administrator.
There is no reason you can’t say no now. The hosts have changed the agreement, and their arrangements are against policy. It is absolutely okay to say no now and explain to them all the reasons why you are uncomfortable with it. It is problematic if you say yes when you really should not be responsible for all these things. It is perfectly acceptable to communicate your boundaries and the hosts will respect it, or they can find another sitter last minute. Chances are that they are having this work done now because they do not want to be inconvenienced in their own home, and it is not a fair situation for you.
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IMO, this should have been disclosed before your accepted the sit, so this was not fair to you, sorry you had to deal with this. I have a cleaning person, but if my sitter didn’t want them coming while they were there, I would respect that totally. I hope it all worked out either way.
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Sad to say we’ve had this a few times. We’ve been told ‘it’s the only time the builder can come’ but I think sometimes HOs think it’ll be great to get the building work done while they’re away!
On one occasion the HOs said, ‘it shouldn’t bother you - your room is at the other end of the house’. Which would have been okay if we stayed in our bedroom for the entire sit…
On another sit we only discovered when we arrived that a decorator would be in. We were met by the daughter, who said, ‘but not if you’re not okay with it…’ and when we said we weren’t, we had an indignant mother on the phone saying, we do this every year (!) but sent an apologetic message once she’d looked at TH policy.
I understand your worry about losing the sit but it has been agreed and they shouldn’t be able to cancel you now. My partner recently had a similar request from a regular HO, who also said ‘but not if you’re not opkay with it.’ He said he wasn’t, that the main thing he loves about their sit is the peace and quiet. She said fine, and all was well.
I know it’s uncomfortable but if she has given you a choice, just say no to building work - and then move pleasantly on with the sit as usual. People usually do respect boundaries being set.
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It’s not something that should be disclosed — it shouldn’t be done at all, according to the terms laid out by THS.
And FWIW, HOs take on legal risks by creating such a situation. Imagine if something happened to the sitter because of the work or workers. The HO would probably face a big lawsuit. And in various cases, insurers would refuse to pay for something done voluntarily by the HO.
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