They were not. My pup has not been eating, now vomiting. I found a vial of Lemongrass with my pups collar. Lemongrass is toxic to dogs. My vacuum was broken which accounts for the reason the floors were messy and for some reason they took my ice packs (essential for my shoulder surgery).
I tried to overlook the small things because they are petty but when all these things start adding up and I am noticing more, then I have more cause for concern.
I did reach out to the sitter but have not heard back.
I apologize in advance because English is not my first language, so I might be wrong but I think the terms used by @thedub: worrisome, stressful, uncomfortableā¦ are not as strong as heinous.
I would also like to say that, as a sitter, I donāt think this was a 5* experience for the host. Nothing terrible, it seems, but certainly some shortcomings, in my opinion.
Ah. You didnāt mention any of that. That is far more serious than a tactless call ājust to chatā from the sitter while you were away. Or indeed, any of the other stuff. I hope your dog is OKā¦
If what she asked for at the end of the sit was the Welcome Guide, then it seems sheās getting ready to write a not so good review or sheās getting ready to counterattack. It might be worth revising if your listing and Welcome Guide are accurate and if everything follows THS T&Cs.
I wonder if
those periodical checks might have felt as an invasion of the sitterās privacy.
Judging from what you have written here, the sit didnāt go smoothly for you but the sitter has to review how it went for her. If I were you, Iād write a factual, non emotional review and perhaps be generous with star rating but that would help you balance a possible negative review on her side.
Exactly! (Although Iām only referring to the info we had earlier from the OP, which didnāt include anything about poor cleanliness or risking poisoning the dog)
Your English is better than mine. And Iāve been speaking the wretched language for more than sixty years.
Just curious, are HO or sitter reviews visible to the community even before both parties have completed their review? Iād imagine reviews are only viewable after both have been submitted, but maybe not?
I get that, but can others see a review of one party even before the other has completed theirs?
I was just wondering if after Iām notified the HO has left me a review, I could simply ask someone to check my profile and let me know what the review says. Seems like an easy workaround that THS wouldāve caught, but given the stuff Iām reading on this forumā¦
Thatās not a āfollow upā thatās important information to mention in a review. This sounds like a mismatch, but from what Iām reading it also sounds like a case where more direct communication on both sides would have been better.
The thing that concerns me here, and where I wonder about things going off the rails sounds like your reaction to the āovenā call. I can get being annoyed if the information is provided in the guide and/or itās āeasy.ā BUT I think hosts need to have a little patience and act they like welcome and are pleased to take these calls so that sitters wonāt hesitate to call them if they have concerns about the pet. Once sitters think the owner doesnāt want to be bothered, or is going to ding them for self-reliance, the sitter may make decisions which wonāt be the same as yours. I really get the sense that the sitter request for a call, while awkward, may have been a sign they were struggling.
I try to keep my instructions as simple as possible, but if someone has a question, Iām going to act like I āwelcomeā it because itās better IMO than a wrong decision.
Thank you, I provided instructions via text and suggested contacting the property manager since they know the home. I did not feel I āreactedā to the question. I will look at the text I sent.
I did not have internet or any type of service in many destinations. The 10 hour time difference made it even more challanging. This is why I encouraged the sitter to contact the pm. They are always available.
This is what concerns me āI really get the sense that the sitter request for a call, while awkward, may have been a sign they were strugglingā, in what way and why would a sitter that has 60+ 5 star reviews struggled. It just doesnāt make sense.
Iām trying to see things from their perspective but none of this makes sense.
I arrived home after traveling for 35 hours and have been a bit loopy since, though I am currently on the mend. As I settle back in, I am noticing some other issues.
Regarding my pup, I tried to give her the weekend to chill with me, but noticing her behavior gave me pause and prompted me to dig deeper into what might be going on.
@andrealovesanimals mmm I donāt know. Depending on the sitters travel experience (may be only in home country) they may not fully understand the ātravel for 35 hours, time difference difficulties, lack of internetā. Long distance, obscure place travellers have experienced that but not everyone has a grasp on that. I can see how a multitude of small things add up. My biggest concern would be the questioning of the feeding regime in the first place. Presumably they read the welcome guide before arriving at the sit, if they had concerns it could have been discussed prior to the sit starting and perhaps this would have resulted in one of the parties cancelling.
This is clearly one of the posts where we are just expected to say āgosh, terrible sitter, you were right, they were wrong. ā
The HO is here talking it through with forum members trying to balance his knee jerk reaction versus the sitch at hand. The HO is here making a post literally asking āso what do I doā?
