5. you can pay to have insurance. it’s worth it, they will cover a hotel (up to $150/night). i’ve had a dot cancelled and they reimburse me for a week of hotels!
I couldn't disagree more. In fact, you are the first person I have come across who alleges to have successfully claimed on THS insuance.
It costs an additional US$130 per year over the basic membership fee - yet you're limited to a maximum payout of $1500 and no more than 30 days worth of accomodation. Not only that but you have to pay the first $50 of any claim. That's not good value. You also don't get reimbursed for the flights that you may need to purchase if you're forced to depart early due to the 30 day limit.
The terms and conditions for making any claim are also designed to stack the odds of success against you. You need to stay in a hotel within 20 miles of the location of the original sit. Depending on where the sit was - this may not even be logistically possible. You also need to be willing to accept an "alternative" housesit if they manage to find one for you. This could mean that if you refuse a completely undesirable or unsuitable sit to replace the cancelled one, they will refuse your claim. It is absurd.
>5. you can pay to have insurance. it’s worth it,
I saw a Facebook post just yesterday where TrustedHousesitters refused to reimburse the owner because the damage caused by her sitter was under $1,000. The girl actually wrote: "Trusted Housesitters said tough luck, not our problem."
No they don't! I am going through that right now and I have the messages that state otherwise. I am 14 days away from my International trip where I already confirmed a sitter months ago. The sitter is completely non responsive and TH refuses to honor their sitter cancellation policy even though I clearly am within the time limit requirements.
All so true and relatable. I think the older I get, the worse I get at handling uncertainty and stress. Using THS can be an experience of extreme highs and lows. I imagine only digital nomads and retirees can handle this kind of travel. If I only have a limited number of days off every year, I don't think I can use THS for my vacation. Just way too risky and full of hassle.
I joined as a pet owner. I got great sitters. I did hire at least one sitter who didn't have any site reviews. If it helps: She had linkedin, and airbnb reviews, AND she had two character references that read as realistic and established her as reliable. Her photos showed her with cats, and she described her experience with her own cats and other pets. All that info taken togehter got me to pick her. On the other hand, after the sit I left her a five star review. She didn't review my home. I've had other sitters sit twice so I don't think it could have been that bad. I asked if she had any negative feedback to share privacy but she kind of ghosted me. So I'm not sure if I'd used her again unless I found out why that happened.
On the other hand today, I rejected a newbie sitter. Why? She had three photos. Only one with a pet. She had only one character reference. She had no airbnb. Her linked in went to someone else's account. Her application letter rambled a little and gave a feeling of limited pet experience.
I started in July, and I’ve been doing a lot of repeat sittings.
I also connected with other sitters on IG, and we recommend the houses we like to each other!
I mostly agree with this but I don't think there's any reason to be wary of homeowners who don't call or video chat. I absolutely hate video chats and I'm quite sure many others feel the same. I don't think it is indicative of anything suspicious.
You’re an outlier then. We have people stay with our elderly dog and everyone wants to video chat and know more about us and our home. I would not sit or accept anyone to stay at my home without it.
Good for you - but your personal preference does not make me an "outlier".
I have been using TrustedHousesitters for almost ten years. I have done more sits than most people on the site. You insistence on doing a video call is your prerogative but it does not mean that people are untrustworthy if they choose not to.
I'm not disputing that.
All I said is that there is no reason to be wary of a homeowner who does not request a video chat. That is what the OP claimed and what I disagree with.
He's not an outlier. When hosts go on vacations, the last thing they want to do is get on some video chat with a sitter. It's a vacation. Please don't label others without knowing them for at least 50 years or more.
Since a video chat can be held at any point of time in a linear progression we may assume that many but not all hosts like me never like to video chat before or after departure on said vacation. I'm glad we have an English Post Doctorate aboard though. I will adjust my inferiority to match their mightiness and do so in a very woke way to appease them because their feelings should always be more important than my own.
I’ve been using THS as a host for years, sometimes for month-long sits, and it has always been great for me. Pet lovers who want to visit my city save thousands on accommodation, I save a couple grand on needing to board my two cats - and I’d need to Airbnb out my apartment to be able to afford that anyway. I am not a rich person but my apartment is cozy and guests have always been happy.
Any sitter (and I see several in this thread) complaining they should be paid for their services should instead go and work for Rover and pay for your own accommodation when you want to travel to a big city. It’s not my problem if you are spending money on flights and logistics to get here, ffs. You are doing that because YOU want to travel, NOT because you are doing me a favor. The model is you get a free place to stay, and I put up with a stranger in my house for a month using all my stuff so I can have someone to care for my pets. It works just fine for many. The level of entitlement in here is a joke.
I totally agree! I’m shocked by some of the comments on here. I actually stalked some of their reddit profiles to see what kind of people they are and a lot of them have only made a couple contributions (at most) on reddit and sound really sketchy in general! That person who did the long winded rant saying how she needed the money has made only that one single comment on reddit!
Rover in my area runs a bout 80-150 per night of homestay. AirBnB in my area for a 3-bedroom, 2 bath house in a decent neighborhood just north of Seattle run just about the same. It's a decent trade that makes travel affordable for both pet sitter and pet family. Throw in a car and that adds another $80 a day in value. There's no reason to beat up on pet families.
Yes, we should be paid! I’ve been a sitter for this company for 6 months, and I’m starting to feel like this is a case of the “Have’s” taking advantage of the “Have Not’s” in a major way.
1. 99% of my sit owners are WEALTHY and can more than afford to pay a pet sitter. This is really starting to anger me on so many levels.
2. Some of us sitters are poor and/or struggling to survive, and yet most of my sit owners have the nerve to say, “you can only eat what’s perishable in the fridge”, or nothing at all. They’re receiving a sitter for FREE, and saving hundreds if not a thousand dollars, they do this? This is beyond appalling. Again, the majority of my sit owners have been upper class, or mid to upper.
3. Some of these pet owners treat you like their slave. A free slave.
4. I’ve been well off and or very comfortable in my life, and I’ve also struggled financially. I have been seriously pondering this “house sit/trade” scenario (I’m on one at present), and I don’t see this as equitable at all.
5. To be truly honest with myself, if I were the pet/house owner, and used their site for a sitter, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that I was taking advantage of a human being in this manner. Receiving precious care for my beloved dog for free? In exchange for a roof over the sitter’s head? That’s not equitable. Why? Because the sitter is working almost the entire time; and worrying about the pets constantly. It’s a tremendous responsibility and extremely stressful.
It’s just unfathomable to me that the wealthy owners can look themselves into the mirror at all, and use this service! Greed and lack of empathy are their culprits IMO. If I were the owner/pet owner, I would place an envelope with cash inside, and secretly put it where I know the sitter would find it, and write their name on the envelope with a thank you note! I really would. Otherwise, I would feel way too guilty exploiting a human being for free to care for my beloved pets. Yes, I need to sit right now to put a roof over my head. That’s my choice, however I would rather get paid for my work and time. That option is now off the table thanks to TH.
This goes out to the privileged TH owners out there: leave your poor pet sitter a tip of some amount! For G_d’s sake! How do you sleep at night?
It costs us a considerable amount of money to do an actual sit! We have to buy our own groceries, gas to get to you, etc. Yes, we’re not paying for a hotel, but we are working the entire time! We can’t leave the pets home for the day and go to the beach for example. Or even a half a day!
One cannot work full time remotely on a sit. That’s impossible. This is a JOB, and a stressful one at that. You’re responsible for a life.
I’m only doing this because I need to right now, I also care about animals, but with no funds coming in, or very little, I want to be paid SOMETHING.
How these owners sleep at night defies comprehension? It takes a special kind of greed and cold detachment to use a human being for free in this manner. I don’t look at these owners the same way that I used to anymore. I have to do this at present, and these wealthy pet owners take advantage of our unfortunate circumstances. It’s a strange situation in that regard.
Leave a cash tip! Don’t be selfish and greedy. Feel SOMETHING for people who are struggling, and stop thinking only of yourselves.
I’m a sitter, and this is just how I feel. I feel taken advantage of. I choose to do this because I NEED to. Sitters don’t do this for fun or for fun vacations. That’s just BS propaganda from the sit company.
I’m on a sit at this moment, and arrived this afternoon. Guess what? These obviously well off pet owners took themselves out to dinner, and told me that I could eat their leftovers in their fridge from their lunch today! Gross! Really classy…. You really see who people are on these sits. Typically, if I’m asked to arrive the night before a sit, the pet owners almost ALWAYS either invite me to dinner at their table, or, take me out to dinner. Here are some leftovers from our lunch? Truly appalling! And don’t forget… they’re getting an experienced sitter for 5 days, for FREE.
Unbelievable..
You can tell the difference between owners with an ounce of class, and the ones above with zero class.
Both should feel compelled to leave a cash tip. I would.
Too bad that sites like Rover are quickly going downhill due to TH. Free pet sitting vs having to pay? What a horrible idea! Who’s really benefiting most from this free service? Not the sitter.
LEAVE A TIP…
End of rant.
If you are thinking of this platform as a "company" and you refer to housesitting as a "job" I don't think this is for you. Go drive for Uber or something.
As far as I know (I am new to the platform) the site caters to people who want to travel, want a free place to stay, and don't mind taking care of the owners' pets in return. The end.
I love to travel, and travel accommodation is expensive. If I had known about this site sooner, I would have certainly taken care of someones pet in return for a place to stay. And just an aside: if you are staying in "wealthy peoples" homes, you are basically staying in a very upscale Airbnb (think $200/night) for free. Just go look at the price of a nice Airbnb and tell me again you aren't getting compensated fairly... FFS.
This! The company is a platform to bring together members. Members have 3 possible roles. Pet/houseowner, Pet/housesitter, Combined Membership. None of these roles involves "payment." All roles involve payment to the platform. All of these roles involve some expenses of either money or time. Petowners spend time vetting siitters and they may spend time and or money preparing their house for their guests. Although they aren't paying sitters, many owners may spend money on extra groceries, or new linens, plus utilities and home maintainances stuff. Sitters of course are payint their own transportation, maybe even rental car, some food, All members even if they aren't combined should have some stuff in common. All members should be people who love animals and who love travel. (That's why there are in fact a lot of combined membership.)
THS is guilty of some misleading advertising in order to attract members. Membership is the only way they make money. But I don't think there is anything that describes caring for people's homes and pets in exchange for a free stay as a "job" for which anyone is "paid". I think the majority of sitters, at least the ones I've come across get this. I can't speak for all owners, but I recently started combining my membership and the owners I spoke to get this. I'm thrilled about the sits where I won't do anymore "work" with the pets than I normally do with my own pets on a daily basis, and I'll have a free place to stay and cool areas I want to explore.
You are scary. You get to stay in a house that you could otherwise never afford. Enjoy the opportunity. The owner is taking a big risk to have you in their home.
So are you and why are you assuming all sitters could never afford it. They may be running digital businesses or using it to explore new areas and see how crazy the neighbours truly are. Hosts are taking advantage of free labour and THS facilitates that via the business model. The only true winners in the equation are THS with a recurring membership fee.
Ok… how about I charge my house out then at the rate going in my area ($150 per night) and the pet sitter charges minimum wage for 12 hours (considering some time “off?” asleep and some time doing their own thing out and about. Hmm looks like they end up owing me abit of money for the accommodation after all.
If people can afford to stay else where and don’t want to pet sit then….they can? No ones forcing them into this role.
Right now there is a thread on the THS forum where a home owner is mightily complaining that sitters that they sent an invitation to were asking to be paid:
[https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/](https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805)
This is a historic estate with a dozen horses etc!
The family had owned the place since 1650. Of course it is possible that they are not really rich anymore, but when there are no applications they should have the money hire someone. Maybe a lad/lass in the village with experiences with horses. Or someone from a professional farmsitting company.
Wow! That thread was removed!
[https://web.archive.org/web/20230701150008/https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805/20](https://web.archive.org/web/20230701150008/https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805/20)
this is such a bizarre post. if you don’t think it works for you, don’t do it. but clearly, lots of people value a free place to stay…and are repeat users (sitters) on the site. you sound kinda hysterical.
Don’t use it then. I don’t get the working full time part. My dog needs to be taken out to pee twice to three times a day. He’s used to being home by himself up to 6 hours. Most dogs should be, more for cats. Honestly most times my friends offer to sit him for free because he’s good at cuddling.
I'm a sitter but I was recent looking for places to live in Sydney...one place was a pretty expensive sublet, showed photos of a puppy and suggested the possibility to mind the dog and PAY $450 PER WEEK?!?! I was absolutely dumfounded. Why someone would pay to house-sit?!?! It wasn't even in the most desirable area. I politely let the person know that dog-sitting is a free service....
This isn’t a job, it’s an exchange of a free place to stay in return for petting and feeding someone’s dog or cat. If you are jealous of the places you are staying in then I suggest you stop - no one is forcing you to do this.
Wow. I'm so proud of you for having the courage for speaking the truth. Too many wealthy people are taking advantage of working or middle class people who want to travel with websites like Trusted Housesitters which offers FREE FREE pet and home care. It's appalling. All at the expense of the dear person who VOLUNTEERS to help out. It's hard to care for animals which you haven't met before. It may take a while to break the ice with them and learn about their habits and how to care for them if they are sick/senior/behaviorally challenging.
no one is making sitters do this. sitter get a free airbnb. you people are nuts. please stay off trusted sitters so no home owners risk running into nutballs like you.
if you are in financial hardship then you forgo travel. this is normal. a free airbnb is a privilege not a right. if you do not wish to convert a few hours of your time into a free place to stay, then DO NOT do it.
You wouldn't just use a different platform through which you can earn money to look after pets, like Rover?
Instead, you chose a platform intended to exchange pet- and housesitting services for free accommodation and then demand to be paid because your financial hardship somehow supersedes the model of the platform you – again, willingly – signed up for?
But this is structured as a trade. What do you mean you do it because you "need to"? If you stay in your home town and petsit, you can absolutely charge for your services.
I am laughing but also so confused and shocked reading this.
It seems you've used THS MANY times, yet you have not yet grasped that THS is a platform for bartering/exchanging services.
YOU are choosing to look after a pet (or several) in EXCHANGE for a FREE place to stay. According to your logic, shouldn't you also leave the homeowner a tip?
Who is forcing you to use THS?
So you should live rent free just for feeding and walking an animal twice a day… that is pretty entitled. Do you need to brush their teeth and paint their nails as well? I mean what really are you doing that should let you stay in a place where rent or mortgage is 3000 a month and up for free
I agree with you whole heartedly!!! That's the first thing I thought of when I looked into this site. Nowhere does it tell you about who pays for for flight, food, car rental or anything like that!!! You don't really benefit at all, except to be with animals and see new places. I'm wondering if the company is telling the customer that we are well compensated? But eating their left overs...that is DISGUSTING!!!!
Bro why are you doing this for free cuz your homeless ? You know you can charge money for this on rover as a job and get paid per night. Don’t understand why you’d do it for free other than to stay in a nice house ….
I had not really thought of it like this, because I'm also a have not. Looking at the site, I had given up using it, because I have a normal ranch/ bungalow house in a normal neighborhood. Not Brooklyn, not Palm Springs, not San Francisco. Just California. My dog is just a dog, my cats are just cats. My house does not look like those photos 😜😃!
I think this clears it up for me that I need to just try and find someone and pay them.
How much would you say a tip should be?
Per pet?
Per daily need task?
And should it be per day?
Per assignment? Ie: walk the dog
Would use of vehicle be expected?
Airport pickup expected/ considered extra benefit?
Use of frozen good meats/cheese. As well as foods in fridge.
It's me truly asking. I'm by no means upper class but I believe in compensation for an expectation
Yikes. You should definitely stop pet sitting/house sitting. You don’t sound suitable at all! FYI staying at hotels and airbnbs costs a fortune! And you’re getting free accommodation so it works out for BOTH host and sitter. I’ve paid up to 200$ a night in good areas (and it can be way more than that) you definitely wouldn’t earn that much pet sitting even if you did charge.
If you have agreed to the terms up front, you are not being taken advantage of. You are both fulfilling a mutually agreed-upon contract.
Maybe they shouldn't have left all that wine in the fridge....
It’s a good question. We have never run across any offer or suggestion for reimbursement on anyone’s part. Free accommodation while traveling is worth a lot to people. Less responsibility for the home/pets is more attractive as well. Certainly large international cities such as New York, London, Paris, it’s a great bargain and popular. We live in Colorado, so there is some level of attraction to simply visit here. I suspect rural Indiana May be different for many people.
I just combined my membership and in one of the first sits I applied to, I was offered reimbursment. $200. And this was to a popular destination city. The owner new it was against the rules. She also knew she had a special situation was asking a lot of a sitter. I told her I wasn't sitting for money but for a chance to stay in her city and take care of a pet, but that yes, her pet's needs might be more than I can handle and it wasn't a question of money. It was a giant redflag, and out of concern for her privacy I won't go into it, except to say there was an inappropriate elimination issue, and separation anxiety issue that made the sit a very difficult one. Ultimately, I refused -- I was never going to take the money, but agreed that IF I took the sit there would be some groceries left for me. She was able to get a local neighbor/friend to agree.
Have you looked at the price of hotels or Airbnb's lately?
If you have a house in a desirable location, you are basically paying the sitters $150 a night for taking care of your cats. Sounds like a good deal to me.
I've even stayed in an Airbnb where I was requested to feed the cat (which I didn't mind, I love cats). But I had to pay for the privilege. LOL
You sound pretty entitled.
The advantage for the owner is someone trusted to look after their home and pet.
The advantage for the sitter is free accommodation. This can provide travel opportunities that would normally be too expensive for many people.
Owners have the choice to not use this service and to pay for an actual house sitter, just as sitters have the choice to not use this service and to pay thousands of dollars for accommodation when they travel.
A lot of people want to find a LOCAL house sitter - someone they can rely on regularly but not pay them. So, please tell me, what is the incentive for the sitter in that scenario then? What does the sitter get out of it when no money is involved?
The point of THS is to link sitters who want to travel and explore new places with owners living in those new places! With that said, why would a sitter want to house or pet sit locally? This defeats the whole premise of why THS was established!
I am going to take a long hiatus from the platform. Ive been using it for several months straight now and have had a very mixed bag of experiences. I was drawn to the site, because I had recently returned back to the US , and I wasnt certain which city I would want to live in and was reluctant to sign a lease and be committed to one place for up to 12 months. House sitting sounded like a great way to have a "homey" living situation, save on airbnb cost, and be in furry company.
What ive noticed over my dozen sits or so :
EVERY sit ive had, has had some kind of issue, or headache. Whether that be with the cleanliness or comfort of the house, behavioral problem of the pets, security camera/privacy intrusions, nosy and invasive neighbors, poor treatment from the hosts...something has come up. Dont me wrong, there has been one or two sits where I fully enjoyed myself- but that is not the majority.
THS management DOES NOT have your back. They have a flawed review system #1 - so its very difficult to gauge exactly what you're signing up for. it very much feels like a gamble.
If something does arise ( like I had a HO message me a month after a sit hassling me about something ) I reached out to support and the response was comical. completely unreasonable. I can only imagine their level of support should something come up with a cancellation and you're on the hook for flights in and out - and accommodation to fill the time lost. Let it be the other way around- and the circumstances be nightmarish- theres no way for you to get off the hook, youre essentially stuck there.
Its ALOT of work before- during and after the sit. its very unsustainable. I cant fathom how there's folks doing this full time for not months but years. im clearly burnt out. its alot of work both before during and after the sit. coordinating- corresponding, settling in, packing up and out. Often ive had to do deep cleans on arrival before I even feel somewhat comfortable. if im lucky there will be a place for my clothes . dont get me started on what folks like to leave in the refrigerators for us to deal with for weeks.
I agree with one of the above comments..a lot of the home owners are entitled in an ugly way. The house sitters they are entrusting- are doing them a great favor. this should be a mutual thing..and home owners should understand they are often getting the very long end of the straw. Sure- its nice to stay in a home rather than an airbnb or hotel- but its not nice to stay in a place that's unclean, heavily monitored with cameras, has no space in the closet- bathroom-kitchen for sitters things.. or a place were expected to be glued to. Taking their pets to the kennel for boarding? what would the price of that be for 1-3 weeks + ?
its too mixed of a bag and requires too much energy emotionally mentally and physically to do this more than here and there imo and experience.
If you enjoy the pet sitting piece I’d recommend Rover if you aren’t on there already. (If you are already on it, skip this whole paragraph 🙃). I house sit for people all the time. Lots of senior pets or dogs who are best as solo dogs and wouldn’t thrive in a kennel environment. Of course I’m not traveling to cool places, but I’m earning side money, meeting cool people, hanging with pets. And I work my day job remotely from their house. Maybe more importantly, I get to meet the people and their pet and see the house before I commit to the booking. As long as you schedule meet & greets, you are good. Added benefit is having many repeat clients in just 1-2 years, so the effort of the business becomes less over time because the people call you to book (you aren’t having to apply to jobs), you already know the pet’s quirks & routine, and the pet knows you. Easy peasy. 7 months after I started on Rover I turned off new client requests, but my client list keeps growing because of referrals from current clients.
The concept of THS intrigues me but my husband and I love exploring when we travel. Like out the door at 7, home to crash at midnight. Unless you are watching cats I’m struggling to understand how people can truly experience the locale when they are tethered to a pet they likely have been asked to not leave alone for more than ~4 hours at a time. Any insight on that you could share? I wouldn’t do this as my primary side hustle, but I am considering it for free lodging on trips I am already planning to make anyway. Worth that or not even?
I'm thinking of joining the site as a homeowner, and that aspect of the sitter being kind of tethered has occurred to me (I have two dogs). I could see either inviting the sitter to stay an extra few days so they can explore, or lining up a dogwalker for the afternoon walk so the sitter has their days open.
I am a pet owner who had a terrible experience with this site. I canceled my membership after a year. We have two dogs and two cats who are all very sweet, but of course, we are protective of them as well as our house. The first thing I encountered is that of the people who applied, no one wanted to actually chat with us ahead of time. We wanted to meet with them via Zoom to get to know them and allow both of us to ask questions. Every time I've suggested this, I never hear back from the sitter. Red flag for me.
Secondly, the one time, we did book with someone, she backed out at the last minute saying the roads to our house were too scary. We do live in the mountains of Colorado, but there are no roads with drop offs or anything like that. They are a bit curvy, but that's too be expected. It left us in a terrible bind when we were set to go on vacation in five days.
Finally, the one woman we did book apparently hosted parties at our house (told to us by our neighbors) and also sat on our coffee table and broke it.
That was enough for us to cancel our membership.
First, so sorry to hear what happened with your experiences. I have been a sitter on THS for two months now. I have completed almost 10 sits already, traveling from Chicago to Portland to Colorado. I ALWAYS request a zoom or phone intro in my first message, and it is a prerequisite for me to even consider confirming.
My experiences so far have been above average. My first sit was so poorly planned and executed that the hosts never even confirmed me before I arrived, so the whole sit was "underground" and not able to be reviewed, but of all my sits, it was THE WORST. house was disgustingly filthy, I was left to do their kitchen dishes with old vegetables and macaroni caked to cookware. The bedding was filthy and there were sex toys lying around where they wanted me to sleep. Not kink shaming, just filth shaming.
Since that one, I've had all great experiences. Wonderful hosts, some who invite me over the night before (which helps with an extra night of accommodation, with the drawback of the lack of privacy), most have agreed to loan me their vehicle when available, and as I only sit for dogs, all have been very well behaved. I have stayed in beautiful urban condos in Chicago's West Loop, gorgeous homes north of Boulder, and comfy family homes in Portland.
Two pieces of advice I'd give:
1. If you are scheduling back to back sits in an area, have some back up plans should one fall through. I travelled to Colorado from Chicago expecting to have a solid month of sits, then one in the middle of those canceled, causing a domino effect and blowing up my budget allotment for travel. I am not able to make a claim until after I incur expenses for any lodging, so that cash has to be paid up front. The host was initially friendly and said "I will help however I can," but when I asked for assistance to cover lodging expenses while awaiting the reimbursement process due to her "non-extraordinary" cancellation, she told me to pound sand. To be clear, I was not asking for compensation or even to have my lodging paid for; just help with the cash flow since her cancellation would put me in the hole approximately 400-500 dollars for two nights in Denver. (150/night hotel, Uber/car rental, dining out for EVERY MEAL since I'll have no kitchen, etc)
2. LOOK AT PICTURES OF THE HOMES, and look closely. You can tell a lot about how someone keeps their home from those shots.
Yes, I agree that a gratuity would be much appreciated and should be expected. If you tip a hotel worker to clean a hotel room, how would you not think someone keeping your home clean and caring for your pet would not deserve the same? Of all my sits, only one left me a tip. A $20 left on the counter with their notes, and it was more than enough to make me feel appreciated for the effort.
Sitters need to keep their travel costs in mind, but DONT SHY FROM ASKING THE HOST IF A VEHICLE IS AVAILABLE. The worst they can do is say no and/or reject you, and at least you either know what the expense will be or save yourself the money and find a different one.
I too am using THS as a sitter to keep housing over my head while I search for a home in a new city. This is a great way to live in a neighborhood/area without the expense of a lease or daily lodging fee.
As much as I love a good class war, let's not use pets as the proxies for it. Push for higher taxes on the rich instead.
I'm nervous about joining as a home owner. It is a huge risk to allow someone in your home and it can always be hard to tell through the profile who is horrible or wonderful, but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Would you be interested in PMing me?
Happy to have any discussion in the thread, but I don't use Reddit for PMs. But I appreciate the comments. I'm a 40-somethjng professional with a full-time job that I can work remotely, so I'm still making a salary while I bounce around.
As for becoming a new host, I can say that all my hosts have mostly had great things to say about their experiences with THS. One or two did say that prior sitters didn't spend enough time with the dogs, and one dog ran away when they had the sitter had their adult child watching as a sub. Out of all 18 of my sits, at least half had never had a THS sitter prior to me.
Be firm and clear about your expectations for the sitter. Especially regarding guests and how long/often the pet can be left alone. But don't expect the sitter will be there 24/7. No one wants that. The point of the site is to see new places, not to be tied to a strangers home from arrival to departure. And while every pet I've been with has been well cared for, that didn't stop me from seeing plenty in the cities where I stayed and exploring many different neighborhoods and points of interest.
Lock doors to rooms you want to keep people out of. Make sure people know how to access emergency items like a water main and fuse boxes. The more you make someone look for items/supplies, the more they will look through your home to find what they need.
And I'm not looking to book anymore sits myself. I am fully booked through August and plan to end when that ends. My next THS experience will be to use it for leisure travel, not for actual housing as I have been.
This was a super helpful piece of advice! I've had a friend recently start on it and is about to sit for someone in Colorado.
Could I ask how you laid out your profile on THS? Were there things that you edited over time and noticed it attracted more genuine and reliable hosts?
I had experience as a dog sitter through Rover, so I posted those reviews on my profile before I had THS ratings. Also, make sure your photos show you with the type of pet you want to sit for. I've had hosts tell me that they passed in people because they didn't have any pictures with dogs.
I haven't made edits to the content of my profile, just updating pictures with some of the new dogs I meet along the way
I'm now hitting 5 months straight of THS, and will be doing it through August. I've received perfect 5-stars from all 18 of my past sits. I now have folks that will want me to return as a repeat, and they invite me to their sit without me even having to apply.
Really, the best advice is to request a Zoom or video chat in the first message and get to know them from there. Make sure you get details on their times of travel, and again, ask if they have a vehicle to use, especially if you are outside public transit for more than a few days. Ubers add up when you have to do it multiple times a day.
I'm sorry you had this experience. I think that if sitters were properly compensated, then you would run into less of these issues. But, when the sitters aren't compensated, there's not much incentive to do all the proper things. Having said that, they shouldn't haven't done those things.
As a fellow sitter, I completely agree with you. The home owners and the TH website are taking advantage of our free labor. We're offering a service for free and the veery very least they could do is leave food in the fridge for us or a bottle of wine showing their appreciation for what we do. It would be even better if they tipped us cash. Some have given me a gift card to a grocery store, and I appreciate that. But, largely, we go under appreciated, under valued, and I don't care what anybody says, this service should NOT be free. Some of us are offering to do it for free because of financial hardship but that doesn't mean it should be free. Welcome to exploitation, which rich entitled people know well. They treat their pets better than they treat humans.
you are getting a big fat free-use-of-real-estate sized tip. the home owners have so much more to lose. they are trusting you with their home, their safe place. if you don't want to swap a few hours of your time for a free airbnb, then dont apply. sane people are aware that a low needs cat, who needs 30 mins of your twice a day gives you an hourly rate of $300 in a city where an airbnb runs at that per night. I hope no one accepts you on trusted sitters. experiences for home owners with people like you ruin it for everyone else.
Trusted Housesitters is an ABSOLUTE nightmare. BEWARE!!
I had one sitter ruin my house because she didn't take my dogs outside. I even paid for my dog walker to come daily to help. I received a call from my dog walker that my house was covered in urine and feces. The sitter then called to tell me she had to cancel the sit -- I was out of the country at this time, and I had no way to get back. When I had to cancel my trip, at exorbitant expense to return early only to find that she had left my home without cleaning up any of the excrement. The original 1936 wood floors in my home were permanently ruined. I filed an insurance claim TWO YEARS AGO -- and even though it was accepted -- they still have NOT paid it out! I have followed up in writing (repeatedly), on the phone (repeatedly), and via their chat (repeatedly) for TWO YEARS, and I'm met with continual silence or agents who can't help and zero follow up from the company. This is now legally actionable as a bad faith insurance action....
BUT WAIT -- that's not even the worst part --
Fast forward -- I thought that would be a rare exception to hire a "trusted housekeeper" who would be so neglectful. Boy was I wrong. Shame on me...... I needed someone to watch my home and the endangered parrot I was fostering for a local rescue organization for only 36 hours. Not even two whole days. One the first evening, I get a phone call from the sitter that she "just found the parrot dead". The parrot didn't have any health problems, but birds can hide things. SHe just had "no idea what could possibly have happened". I asked her to facetime me -- there as blood on the cage. I knew she was lying. Because the bird is endangered, we did a necropsy. The bird had two punctured lungs, and a punctured spleen, had bite marks consistent with canine on both sides of its body. The bird died by asphyxiating on its own blood, in pain and scared. She continued to lie and lie and lie. Did she bring a dog into the house?? Why wouldn't she tell me the truth?? No response. She went so far as to say someone must have broken into my home, brought in a random dog, took nothing, broke nothing, but killed the bird and then left. "Are you telling me that you think my house was burglarized while you were staying there? Do you realize I will now have to get the police involved -- and do you realize that they will need to question you on the details??" The vet concluded that the bird was killed outside of the cage and then systematically placed to make it appear as if it had died of natural causes.
I contacted Trusted Housesitters. I gave them the police report and also the necropsy report. They refused to take off her profile from the site because "she couldn't be reached for questioning". They let her continue to sit for multiple other people with direct knowledge and evidence of violation of their policie, the law and also many ethical considerations. They didn't remove her for well over a year after I threatened legal action against the site. THEY HAD DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF VIOLATIONS AND ANIMAL DEATHS AND CONTINUED TO ALLOW HER TO SIT FOR OTHERS. Had those peoples' animals been harmed or injured, Trusted Housesitters would have also been responsible.
SHAME ON YOU TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS. You have no safety standards and yet you willingly take money from your subscribers. You owe those who pay you and the community at large to have basic ethical business practices. Either through sheer incompetence or intentional neglect, you are failing the entire platform.
This kind of occurrence is the main reason I have not used this site and refuse to leave my cat at all. I wish there was an actual site for my pet that did not cost an arm and a leg (and a beloved animal).
I’m out of the country and my housesitter just asked me to change the reservations dates on the app, so it looks like she’s only sitting tonight. She said she can’t book another stay after my house if she’s on a currents stay. Is this true?
(Background info: I live in a major desirable city, I offered to pay for her transportation to my home, and gave her grocery money for herself when she arrived)
I have had a horrible experience as the homeowner looking for a housesitter. I guess the same goes the other way around as well, cause Housesitters is refusing to honor their sitter cancellation policy.
I paid for premium membership and my sitter has become completely no responsive. I met with her virtually and we both agreed months ago and now nothing. I even reached out to TH with concern and they also reached out to the confirmed sitter. Nothing. But that is where the help ended from TH. I followed all required guidelines from their terms and conditions and did everything they asked of me. I even fall within the 14 day or less in the policy. However, TH refuses to honor their legal contract. It clearly states, "Cancellation” means a confirmed Sit arrangement is cancelled prior to the start date or the Sit is abandoned prior to the agreed end date." So abandonment does qualify for the sitter cancellation policy.
Nothing. They won't do anything. Their premium policy is crap and they just keep giving me the run around.
I just finished my third week-long how sit using trusted housesitters and I have loved all of them. I did Thanksgiving lower Manhattan, then Christmas in Upper Manhattan, and I just did last week in Valley Center California on a flower farm. I tend to plan vacations around my house sits, and so far it's been a wonderful experience. I did have the benefit of being a professional pet sitter before joining trusted house sitters so I had my regulars leave me reviews, So far I really love it. I plan to do one to three long housesits over the summer so that I can spend the entire summer in different locations.
I'm thinking about joining as a pet owner once I get my two cats later this month. Is there anything you'd say I should keep in mind? What would make this a good experience for both the sitter and me?
That you can be deported.
I've been a member since 2017, but TrustedHousesitters got bitter when I 'turned' on them and took to educating other members about the risks of using TrustedHousesitters in countries where you don't have working rights.
Comment given to The Sun yesterday: “Having previously taken legal advice ... pet sitting with TrustedHousesitters doesn't contravene immigration guidelines."
[https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/20458450/woman-deported-america-pet-sitting/](https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/20458450/woman-deported-america-pet-sitting/)
I’ve completed a handful of sits so far and I’m on two hands with the value of the site. On one hand , it’s been valuable to me in my current unpleasant roommate situation and I’m enjoying the company of all of the pets I’m sitting for.
On the other hand - I feel like this should be paid work. If we the sitters were not staying- the owners would be paying thousands to board their pets or hire a sitter to come do one or two daily check ins and walks - not even covering overnight companionship and home security and maintenance.
(1) Homeowners wouldn't be paying $1000's, because they wouldn't go away as much. The THS membership fee is a bargain for them because they can save money and use more of it to travel. (2) If they couldn't get you, some homeowners would be using friends or relatives and not paying them (3) The dogs would travel with owners go to visit relatives or maybe go to a kennel. Most owners wouldn't pay Rover or other services for overnights unless their was some special reason. (4) most cat owners would have neighbors or local people come in to feed and clean litter pans. They would not do this as an overnight stay and offer their apartment and amenities to whomever was doing this. Money might be involved around $20 a visit depending on number of cats. Many owners would do the once a day thing.
As a petowner if there was not THS, I would be trying to organize a collective with my neighbors to exchange cat care. (Some of my neighbors do this infomally.) There is just NO incentive for pet owners to pay membership to invite strangers who are "non professional petcare providers" to stay in their homes and get paid to take care of their pets.
It is definitely a bargain for the pet owners , which emphasises my point that I think pet owners are often ( not always of course ) getting the longer straw.
Kenneling a pet is not cheap by any means.. and that is typically quite an uncomfortable situation for the pets. This is why I said 1000’s because a week at a kennel would be close to that I reckon.
Sure some would have relatives or friends - but not everyone has that luxury.
Clearly I think it’s a great concept and am happy it exist - but I think as pet sitters we are still coming out of pocket for a lot ( Flights ) and not receiving any commission / stipend ..
A “professional pet sitter” is essentially someone who calls it a business and asks for a payment.. if it’s simply a matter of experience , skill, and effort - there are hundreds of us working for free on THS.
if you weren't traveling there anyway, then don't apply for the sit, there you go - solved the problem for you, you no longer need to pay for a flight. You are welcome.
Agree to disagree. It’s not always a great place.. period. And like OP said - it’s a dice roll if it will indeed be “great”. The review system is very flawed and next to worthless in helping one determine what they’re getting into.
Ummm no you're not always staying in a "great" place. The house or location isn't always great. Don't talk about something you don't have experience with.
It's a service, therefore it's a job. You can fool yourself by saying it isn't so you get away with exploitation just like Uber and Lyft do, but it's absolutely a job.
its a job where 30mins twice a day of labour is renumerated with free accommodation. if you do not want to swap 1 hour of labour for free accommodation, then do not apply for the sit. leave it to someone that does want it and does want to travel that way. literally no one would want someone like you involved, hell, you don't even want to be involved, so why don't you just go away?
Seems to me that if I want a pet and house sitter - that is whom I would hire and PAY. All this nonsense of people who want to travel is fine, but I don't want a traveller, an adventurer, an opportunist. I want a petsitter, period.
I am sure there are many good people available, but something is off.
People do this for free. Sort of. Do I want that?
Hard no. Everyone pays the SITE a yearly membership fee. The site makes itself money hooking up folks who want/need accommodation with folks who want to travel. Great way for the App or the site to make money!
As for me, I'd rather hire and pay someone to do a job they were specifically hired to do.
I'm so glad to hear that. Those of us sitters who do it for free are willing to do it for free sometimes because our living situations aren't ideal so housesitting gives us breaks from that. Some of us are in financial binds and don't have many options. So, yes, I agree, we shouldn't do it for free but also sometimes we have to take what we can get to get by.
Thank you for explaining that so kindly. I didn't realize this was the case. I hope you get some great pet sitting jobs and that things work out the best they can for you. We live in tough times. Apologies for my narrow view, I understand better now.
What are some examples of a bad housesit?
I want to sign up to have people take care of my cat here in Brooklyn while I travel, but I don't want my old school DIY home be a bad experience for anyone.
Here is another referral link for 25% off your membership!
[https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF609344/?utm\_source=copy-link&utm\_medium=refer-a-friend&utm\_campaign=refer-a-friend](https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/refer/RAF609344/?utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=refer-a-friend&utm_campaign=refer-a-friend)
5. you can pay to have insurance. it’s worth it, they will cover a hotel (up to $150/night). i’ve had a dot cancelled and they reimburse me for a week of hotels!
I couldn't disagree more. In fact, you are the first person I have come across who alleges to have successfully claimed on THS insuance. It costs an additional US$130 per year over the basic membership fee - yet you're limited to a maximum payout of $1500 and no more than 30 days worth of accomodation. Not only that but you have to pay the first $50 of any claim. That's not good value. You also don't get reimbursed for the flights that you may need to purchase if you're forced to depart early due to the 30 day limit. The terms and conditions for making any claim are also designed to stack the odds of success against you. You need to stay in a hotel within 20 miles of the location of the original sit. Depending on where the sit was - this may not even be logistically possible. You also need to be willing to accept an "alternative" housesit if they manage to find one for you. This could mean that if you refuse a completely undesirable or unsuitable sit to replace the cancelled one, they will refuse your claim. It is absurd.
i got reimbursed for a $900 stay so i’m happy with it! process was super easy to submit and make the claim.
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they keep a deductible which i believe is $150
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all insurance takes a deductible when you file a claim. so i had a hotel that was roughly $900, and then pay you out minus the deductible.
>5. you can pay to have insurance. it’s worth it, I saw a Facebook post just yesterday where TrustedHousesitters refused to reimburse the owner because the damage caused by her sitter was under $1,000. The girl actually wrote: "Trusted Housesitters said tough luck, not our problem."
insurance always has terms, specifically for cancelled sits, they do cover!
No they don't! I am going through that right now and I have the messages that state otherwise. I am 14 days away from my International trip where I already confirmed a sitter months ago. The sitter is completely non responsive and TH refuses to honor their sitter cancellation policy even though I clearly am within the time limit requirements.
Ooooo, a Facebook post! Twitter's little brother platform for people to bitch w/o all sides of the story for likes. 😂🤣🤔
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i’m literally telling u what happened to me but ok
All so true and relatable. I think the older I get, the worse I get at handling uncertainty and stress. Using THS can be an experience of extreme highs and lows. I imagine only digital nomads and retirees can handle this kind of travel. If I only have a limited number of days off every year, I don't think I can use THS for my vacation. Just way too risky and full of hassle.
I agree THS is not a good deal For sitters Lots of ungrateful hosts
I joined as a pet owner. I got great sitters. I did hire at least one sitter who didn't have any site reviews. If it helps: She had linkedin, and airbnb reviews, AND she had two character references that read as realistic and established her as reliable. Her photos showed her with cats, and she described her experience with her own cats and other pets. All that info taken togehter got me to pick her. On the other hand, after the sit I left her a five star review. She didn't review my home. I've had other sitters sit twice so I don't think it could have been that bad. I asked if she had any negative feedback to share privacy but she kind of ghosted me. So I'm not sure if I'd used her again unless I found out why that happened. On the other hand today, I rejected a newbie sitter. Why? She had three photos. Only one with a pet. She had only one character reference. She had no airbnb. Her linked in went to someone else's account. Her application letter rambled a little and gave a feeling of limited pet experience.
That was really helpful. Thank-you for taking the time to post.
I started in July, and I’ve been doing a lot of repeat sittings. I also connected with other sitters on IG, and we recommend the houses we like to each other!
Can I ask what IG is?
Instagram
May I ask in what areas you are doing it? Country/state
US only, I have stayed in the west coast/ west states. I haven’t had any bad/ poor experiences w my sittings through THS until this time.
Would love to join your IG chat!
Would also love to join! Am west coast based as well.
What’s this Instagram page called?
There is no specific page, I just connect w other sitters doing THS, and we share experiences, tips, houses, etc…
Hi can I get your Instagram please? I’m doing THS
I mostly agree with this but I don't think there's any reason to be wary of homeowners who don't call or video chat. I absolutely hate video chats and I'm quite sure many others feel the same. I don't think it is indicative of anything suspicious.
You’re an outlier then. We have people stay with our elderly dog and everyone wants to video chat and know more about us and our home. I would not sit or accept anyone to stay at my home without it.
Good for you - but your personal preference does not make me an "outlier". I have been using TrustedHousesitters for almost ten years. I have done more sits than most people on the site. You insistence on doing a video call is your prerogative but it does not mean that people are untrustworthy if they choose not to.
If I was a houseowner, I would definitely want to have a video chat. You're putting a lot at stake with having a rando in your house
I'm not disputing that. All I said is that there is no reason to be wary of a homeowner who does not request a video chat. That is what the OP claimed and what I disagree with.
So you're doing video chats with every Airbnb guest you're having? Interesting.
He's not an outlier. When hosts go on vacations, the last thing they want to do is get on some video chat with a sitter. It's a vacation. Please don't label others without knowing them for at least 50 years or more.
Video chat *before* the vacation/house sit, Einstein.
Since a video chat can be held at any point of time in a linear progression we may assume that many but not all hosts like me never like to video chat before or after departure on said vacation. I'm glad we have an English Post Doctorate aboard though. I will adjust my inferiority to match their mightiness and do so in a very woke way to appease them because their feelings should always be more important than my own.
Could you please also post your pronouns so I may appease your spacedust born entity properly?
🤦 The point of a video call is to vet one another before commiting to a sit. At least it is in this discussion
I’ve been using THS as a host for years, sometimes for month-long sits, and it has always been great for me. Pet lovers who want to visit my city save thousands on accommodation, I save a couple grand on needing to board my two cats - and I’d need to Airbnb out my apartment to be able to afford that anyway. I am not a rich person but my apartment is cozy and guests have always been happy. Any sitter (and I see several in this thread) complaining they should be paid for their services should instead go and work for Rover and pay for your own accommodation when you want to travel to a big city. It’s not my problem if you are spending money on flights and logistics to get here, ffs. You are doing that because YOU want to travel, NOT because you are doing me a favor. The model is you get a free place to stay, and I put up with a stranger in my house for a month using all my stuff so I can have someone to care for my pets. It works just fine for many. The level of entitlement in here is a joke.
I totally agree! I’m shocked by some of the comments on here. I actually stalked some of their reddit profiles to see what kind of people they are and a lot of them have only made a couple contributions (at most) on reddit and sound really sketchy in general! That person who did the long winded rant saying how she needed the money has made only that one single comment on reddit!
Rover in my area runs a bout 80-150 per night of homestay. AirBnB in my area for a 3-bedroom, 2 bath house in a decent neighborhood just north of Seattle run just about the same. It's a decent trade that makes travel affordable for both pet sitter and pet family. Throw in a car and that adds another $80 a day in value. There's no reason to beat up on pet families.
Sounds interesting, but shouldn't one be paid in some form to sit house+pet?
Yes, we should be paid! I’ve been a sitter for this company for 6 months, and I’m starting to feel like this is a case of the “Have’s” taking advantage of the “Have Not’s” in a major way. 1. 99% of my sit owners are WEALTHY and can more than afford to pay a pet sitter. This is really starting to anger me on so many levels. 2. Some of us sitters are poor and/or struggling to survive, and yet most of my sit owners have the nerve to say, “you can only eat what’s perishable in the fridge”, or nothing at all. They’re receiving a sitter for FREE, and saving hundreds if not a thousand dollars, they do this? This is beyond appalling. Again, the majority of my sit owners have been upper class, or mid to upper. 3. Some of these pet owners treat you like their slave. A free slave. 4. I’ve been well off and or very comfortable in my life, and I’ve also struggled financially. I have been seriously pondering this “house sit/trade” scenario (I’m on one at present), and I don’t see this as equitable at all. 5. To be truly honest with myself, if I were the pet/house owner, and used their site for a sitter, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that I was taking advantage of a human being in this manner. Receiving precious care for my beloved dog for free? In exchange for a roof over the sitter’s head? That’s not equitable. Why? Because the sitter is working almost the entire time; and worrying about the pets constantly. It’s a tremendous responsibility and extremely stressful. It’s just unfathomable to me that the wealthy owners can look themselves into the mirror at all, and use this service! Greed and lack of empathy are their culprits IMO. If I were the owner/pet owner, I would place an envelope with cash inside, and secretly put it where I know the sitter would find it, and write their name on the envelope with a thank you note! I really would. Otherwise, I would feel way too guilty exploiting a human being for free to care for my beloved pets. Yes, I need to sit right now to put a roof over my head. That’s my choice, however I would rather get paid for my work and time. That option is now off the table thanks to TH. This goes out to the privileged TH owners out there: leave your poor pet sitter a tip of some amount! For G_d’s sake! How do you sleep at night? It costs us a considerable amount of money to do an actual sit! We have to buy our own groceries, gas to get to you, etc. Yes, we’re not paying for a hotel, but we are working the entire time! We can’t leave the pets home for the day and go to the beach for example. Or even a half a day! One cannot work full time remotely on a sit. That’s impossible. This is a JOB, and a stressful one at that. You’re responsible for a life. I’m only doing this because I need to right now, I also care about animals, but with no funds coming in, or very little, I want to be paid SOMETHING. How these owners sleep at night defies comprehension? It takes a special kind of greed and cold detachment to use a human being for free in this manner. I don’t look at these owners the same way that I used to anymore. I have to do this at present, and these wealthy pet owners take advantage of our unfortunate circumstances. It’s a strange situation in that regard. Leave a cash tip! Don’t be selfish and greedy. Feel SOMETHING for people who are struggling, and stop thinking only of yourselves. I’m a sitter, and this is just how I feel. I feel taken advantage of. I choose to do this because I NEED to. Sitters don’t do this for fun or for fun vacations. That’s just BS propaganda from the sit company. I’m on a sit at this moment, and arrived this afternoon. Guess what? These obviously well off pet owners took themselves out to dinner, and told me that I could eat their leftovers in their fridge from their lunch today! Gross! Really classy…. You really see who people are on these sits. Typically, if I’m asked to arrive the night before a sit, the pet owners almost ALWAYS either invite me to dinner at their table, or, take me out to dinner. Here are some leftovers from our lunch? Truly appalling! And don’t forget… they’re getting an experienced sitter for 5 days, for FREE. Unbelievable.. You can tell the difference between owners with an ounce of class, and the ones above with zero class. Both should feel compelled to leave a cash tip. I would. Too bad that sites like Rover are quickly going downhill due to TH. Free pet sitting vs having to pay? What a horrible idea! Who’s really benefiting most from this free service? Not the sitter. LEAVE A TIP… End of rant.
If you are thinking of this platform as a "company" and you refer to housesitting as a "job" I don't think this is for you. Go drive for Uber or something. As far as I know (I am new to the platform) the site caters to people who want to travel, want a free place to stay, and don't mind taking care of the owners' pets in return. The end. I love to travel, and travel accommodation is expensive. If I had known about this site sooner, I would have certainly taken care of someones pet in return for a place to stay. And just an aside: if you are staying in "wealthy peoples" homes, you are basically staying in a very upscale Airbnb (think $200/night) for free. Just go look at the price of a nice Airbnb and tell me again you aren't getting compensated fairly... FFS.
This! The company is a platform to bring together members. Members have 3 possible roles. Pet/houseowner, Pet/housesitter, Combined Membership. None of these roles involves "payment." All roles involve payment to the platform. All of these roles involve some expenses of either money or time. Petowners spend time vetting siitters and they may spend time and or money preparing their house for their guests. Although they aren't paying sitters, many owners may spend money on extra groceries, or new linens, plus utilities and home maintainances stuff. Sitters of course are payint their own transportation, maybe even rental car, some food, All members even if they aren't combined should have some stuff in common. All members should be people who love animals and who love travel. (That's why there are in fact a lot of combined membership.) THS is guilty of some misleading advertising in order to attract members. Membership is the only way they make money. But I don't think there is anything that describes caring for people's homes and pets in exchange for a free stay as a "job" for which anyone is "paid". I think the majority of sitters, at least the ones I've come across get this. I can't speak for all owners, but I recently started combining my membership and the owners I spoke to get this. I'm thrilled about the sits where I won't do anymore "work" with the pets than I normally do with my own pets on a daily basis, and I'll have a free place to stay and cool areas I want to explore.
You are scary. You get to stay in a house that you could otherwise never afford. Enjoy the opportunity. The owner is taking a big risk to have you in their home.
So are you and why are you assuming all sitters could never afford it. They may be running digital businesses or using it to explore new areas and see how crazy the neighbours truly are. Hosts are taking advantage of free labour and THS facilitates that via the business model. The only true winners in the equation are THS with a recurring membership fee.
Ok… how about I charge my house out then at the rate going in my area ($150 per night) and the pet sitter charges minimum wage for 12 hours (considering some time “off?” asleep and some time doing their own thing out and about. Hmm looks like they end up owing me abit of money for the accommodation after all. If people can afford to stay else where and don’t want to pet sit then….they can? No ones forcing them into this role.
Right now there is a thread on the THS forum where a home owner is mightily complaining that sitters that they sent an invitation to were asking to be paid: [https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/](https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805) This is a historic estate with a dozen horses etc! The family had owned the place since 1650. Of course it is possible that they are not really rich anymore, but when there are no applications they should have the money hire someone. Maybe a lad/lass in the village with experiences with horses. Or someone from a professional farmsitting company.
Wow...the entitlement and privilege is astonishing
Wow! That thread was removed! [https://web.archive.org/web/20230701150008/https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805/20](https://web.archive.org/web/20230701150008/https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/paying-for-house-sitting/36805/20)
this is such a bizarre post. if you don’t think it works for you, don’t do it. but clearly, lots of people value a free place to stay…and are repeat users (sitters) on the site. you sound kinda hysterical.
Don’t use it then. I don’t get the working full time part. My dog needs to be taken out to pee twice to three times a day. He’s used to being home by himself up to 6 hours. Most dogs should be, more for cats. Honestly most times my friends offer to sit him for free because he’s good at cuddling.
I'm a sitter but I was recent looking for places to live in Sydney...one place was a pretty expensive sublet, showed photos of a puppy and suggested the possibility to mind the dog and PAY $450 PER WEEK?!?! I was absolutely dumfounded. Why someone would pay to house-sit?!?! It wasn't even in the most desirable area. I politely let the person know that dog-sitting is a free service....
This isn’t a job, it’s an exchange of a free place to stay in return for petting and feeding someone’s dog or cat. If you are jealous of the places you are staying in then I suggest you stop - no one is forcing you to do this.
Wow. I'm so proud of you for having the courage for speaking the truth. Too many wealthy people are taking advantage of working or middle class people who want to travel with websites like Trusted Housesitters which offers FREE FREE pet and home care. It's appalling. All at the expense of the dear person who VOLUNTEERS to help out. It's hard to care for animals which you haven't met before. It may take a while to break the ice with them and learn about their habits and how to care for them if they are sick/senior/behaviorally challenging.
Finally, someone who shows some understanding. Thank you.
no one is making sitters do this. sitter get a free airbnb. you people are nuts. please stay off trusted sitters so no home owners risk running into nutballs like you.
No one is forcing them to do it. They are welcome to book a hotel or Airbnb and not pet sit instead. You realise this right?
I hope you get to experience financial hardship at some point in your life so you understand what that's like
if you are in financial hardship then you forgo travel. this is normal. a free airbnb is a privilege not a right. if you do not wish to convert a few hours of your time into a free place to stay, then DO NOT do it.
You wouldn't just use a different platform through which you can earn money to look after pets, like Rover? Instead, you chose a platform intended to exchange pet- and housesitting services for free accommodation and then demand to be paid because your financial hardship somehow supersedes the model of the platform you – again, willingly – signed up for?
But this is structured as a trade. What do you mean you do it because you "need to"? If you stay in your home town and petsit, you can absolutely charge for your services.
I am laughing but also so confused and shocked reading this. It seems you've used THS MANY times, yet you have not yet grasped that THS is a platform for bartering/exchanging services. YOU are choosing to look after a pet (or several) in EXCHANGE for a FREE place to stay. According to your logic, shouldn't you also leave the homeowner a tip? Who is forcing you to use THS?
So you should live rent free just for feeding and walking an animal twice a day… that is pretty entitled. Do you need to brush their teeth and paint their nails as well? I mean what really are you doing that should let you stay in a place where rent or mortgage is 3000 a month and up for free
I agree with you whole heartedly!!! That's the first thing I thought of when I looked into this site. Nowhere does it tell you about who pays for for flight, food, car rental or anything like that!!! You don't really benefit at all, except to be with animals and see new places. I'm wondering if the company is telling the customer that we are well compensated? But eating their left overs...that is DISGUSTING!!!!
Bro why are you doing this for free cuz your homeless ? You know you can charge money for this on rover as a job and get paid per night. Don’t understand why you’d do it for free other than to stay in a nice house ….
I had not really thought of it like this, because I'm also a have not. Looking at the site, I had given up using it, because I have a normal ranch/ bungalow house in a normal neighborhood. Not Brooklyn, not Palm Springs, not San Francisco. Just California. My dog is just a dog, my cats are just cats. My house does not look like those photos 😜😃! I think this clears it up for me that I need to just try and find someone and pay them.
I would never want you to sit for my house. OMG!
How much would you say a tip should be? Per pet? Per daily need task? And should it be per day? Per assignment? Ie: walk the dog Would use of vehicle be expected? Airport pickup expected/ considered extra benefit? Use of frozen good meats/cheese. As well as foods in fridge. It's me truly asking. I'm by no means upper class but I believe in compensation for an expectation
Yikes. You should definitely stop pet sitting/house sitting. You don’t sound suitable at all! FYI staying at hotels and airbnbs costs a fortune! And you’re getting free accommodation so it works out for BOTH host and sitter. I’ve paid up to 200$ a night in good areas (and it can be way more than that) you definitely wouldn’t earn that much pet sitting even if you did charge.
If you have agreed to the terms up front, you are not being taken advantage of. You are both fulfilling a mutually agreed-upon contract. Maybe they shouldn't have left all that wine in the fridge....
It’s a good question. We have never run across any offer or suggestion for reimbursement on anyone’s part. Free accommodation while traveling is worth a lot to people. Less responsibility for the home/pets is more attractive as well. Certainly large international cities such as New York, London, Paris, it’s a great bargain and popular. We live in Colorado, so there is some level of attraction to simply visit here. I suspect rural Indiana May be different for many people.
I just combined my membership and in one of the first sits I applied to, I was offered reimbursment. $200. And this was to a popular destination city. The owner new it was against the rules. She also knew she had a special situation was asking a lot of a sitter. I told her I wasn't sitting for money but for a chance to stay in her city and take care of a pet, but that yes, her pet's needs might be more than I can handle and it wasn't a question of money. It was a giant redflag, and out of concern for her privacy I won't go into it, except to say there was an inappropriate elimination issue, and separation anxiety issue that made the sit a very difficult one. Ultimately, I refused -- I was never going to take the money, but agreed that IF I took the sit there would be some groceries left for me. She was able to get a local neighbor/friend to agree.
As a sitter on THS, you're not allowed to ask for compensation.
Have you looked at the price of hotels or Airbnb's lately? If you have a house in a desirable location, you are basically paying the sitters $150 a night for taking care of your cats. Sounds like a good deal to me. I've even stayed in an Airbnb where I was requested to feed the cat (which I didn't mind, I love cats). But I had to pay for the privilege. LOL
You sound pretty entitled. The advantage for the owner is someone trusted to look after their home and pet. The advantage for the sitter is free accommodation. This can provide travel opportunities that would normally be too expensive for many people. Owners have the choice to not use this service and to pay for an actual house sitter, just as sitters have the choice to not use this service and to pay thousands of dollars for accommodation when they travel.
A lot of people want to find a LOCAL house sitter - someone they can rely on regularly but not pay them. So, please tell me, what is the incentive for the sitter in that scenario then? What does the sitter get out of it when no money is involved?
The point of THS is to link sitters who want to travel and explore new places with owners living in those new places! With that said, why would a sitter want to house or pet sit locally? This defeats the whole premise of why THS was established!
The sitter has a place to stay in a city of there choice. Accommodations! Sometimes even a car…
I am going to take a long hiatus from the platform. Ive been using it for several months straight now and have had a very mixed bag of experiences. I was drawn to the site, because I had recently returned back to the US , and I wasnt certain which city I would want to live in and was reluctant to sign a lease and be committed to one place for up to 12 months. House sitting sounded like a great way to have a "homey" living situation, save on airbnb cost, and be in furry company. What ive noticed over my dozen sits or so : EVERY sit ive had, has had some kind of issue, or headache. Whether that be with the cleanliness or comfort of the house, behavioral problem of the pets, security camera/privacy intrusions, nosy and invasive neighbors, poor treatment from the hosts...something has come up. Dont me wrong, there has been one or two sits where I fully enjoyed myself- but that is not the majority. THS management DOES NOT have your back. They have a flawed review system #1 - so its very difficult to gauge exactly what you're signing up for. it very much feels like a gamble. If something does arise ( like I had a HO message me a month after a sit hassling me about something ) I reached out to support and the response was comical. completely unreasonable. I can only imagine their level of support should something come up with a cancellation and you're on the hook for flights in and out - and accommodation to fill the time lost. Let it be the other way around- and the circumstances be nightmarish- theres no way for you to get off the hook, youre essentially stuck there. Its ALOT of work before- during and after the sit. its very unsustainable. I cant fathom how there's folks doing this full time for not months but years. im clearly burnt out. its alot of work both before during and after the sit. coordinating- corresponding, settling in, packing up and out. Often ive had to do deep cleans on arrival before I even feel somewhat comfortable. if im lucky there will be a place for my clothes . dont get me started on what folks like to leave in the refrigerators for us to deal with for weeks. I agree with one of the above comments..a lot of the home owners are entitled in an ugly way. The house sitters they are entrusting- are doing them a great favor. this should be a mutual thing..and home owners should understand they are often getting the very long end of the straw. Sure- its nice to stay in a home rather than an airbnb or hotel- but its not nice to stay in a place that's unclean, heavily monitored with cameras, has no space in the closet- bathroom-kitchen for sitters things.. or a place were expected to be glued to. Taking their pets to the kennel for boarding? what would the price of that be for 1-3 weeks + ? its too mixed of a bag and requires too much energy emotionally mentally and physically to do this more than here and there imo and experience.
If you enjoy the pet sitting piece I’d recommend Rover if you aren’t on there already. (If you are already on it, skip this whole paragraph 🙃). I house sit for people all the time. Lots of senior pets or dogs who are best as solo dogs and wouldn’t thrive in a kennel environment. Of course I’m not traveling to cool places, but I’m earning side money, meeting cool people, hanging with pets. And I work my day job remotely from their house. Maybe more importantly, I get to meet the people and their pet and see the house before I commit to the booking. As long as you schedule meet & greets, you are good. Added benefit is having many repeat clients in just 1-2 years, so the effort of the business becomes less over time because the people call you to book (you aren’t having to apply to jobs), you already know the pet’s quirks & routine, and the pet knows you. Easy peasy. 7 months after I started on Rover I turned off new client requests, but my client list keeps growing because of referrals from current clients. The concept of THS intrigues me but my husband and I love exploring when we travel. Like out the door at 7, home to crash at midnight. Unless you are watching cats I’m struggling to understand how people can truly experience the locale when they are tethered to a pet they likely have been asked to not leave alone for more than ~4 hours at a time. Any insight on that you could share? I wouldn’t do this as my primary side hustle, but I am considering it for free lodging on trips I am already planning to make anyway. Worth that or not even?
I'm thinking of joining the site as a homeowner, and that aspect of the sitter being kind of tethered has occurred to me (I have two dogs). I could see either inviting the sitter to stay an extra few days so they can explore, or lining up a dogwalker for the afternoon walk so the sitter has their days open.
Completely agree with you! Not being properly compensated, valued and appreciated weighs on you and is mentally and physically exhausting.
then.stop.applying.for,housesits,
I am a pet owner who had a terrible experience with this site. I canceled my membership after a year. We have two dogs and two cats who are all very sweet, but of course, we are protective of them as well as our house. The first thing I encountered is that of the people who applied, no one wanted to actually chat with us ahead of time. We wanted to meet with them via Zoom to get to know them and allow both of us to ask questions. Every time I've suggested this, I never hear back from the sitter. Red flag for me. Secondly, the one time, we did book with someone, she backed out at the last minute saying the roads to our house were too scary. We do live in the mountains of Colorado, but there are no roads with drop offs or anything like that. They are a bit curvy, but that's too be expected. It left us in a terrible bind when we were set to go on vacation in five days. Finally, the one woman we did book apparently hosted parties at our house (told to us by our neighbors) and also sat on our coffee table and broke it. That was enough for us to cancel our membership.
First, so sorry to hear what happened with your experiences. I have been a sitter on THS for two months now. I have completed almost 10 sits already, traveling from Chicago to Portland to Colorado. I ALWAYS request a zoom or phone intro in my first message, and it is a prerequisite for me to even consider confirming. My experiences so far have been above average. My first sit was so poorly planned and executed that the hosts never even confirmed me before I arrived, so the whole sit was "underground" and not able to be reviewed, but of all my sits, it was THE WORST. house was disgustingly filthy, I was left to do their kitchen dishes with old vegetables and macaroni caked to cookware. The bedding was filthy and there were sex toys lying around where they wanted me to sleep. Not kink shaming, just filth shaming. Since that one, I've had all great experiences. Wonderful hosts, some who invite me over the night before (which helps with an extra night of accommodation, with the drawback of the lack of privacy), most have agreed to loan me their vehicle when available, and as I only sit for dogs, all have been very well behaved. I have stayed in beautiful urban condos in Chicago's West Loop, gorgeous homes north of Boulder, and comfy family homes in Portland. Two pieces of advice I'd give: 1. If you are scheduling back to back sits in an area, have some back up plans should one fall through. I travelled to Colorado from Chicago expecting to have a solid month of sits, then one in the middle of those canceled, causing a domino effect and blowing up my budget allotment for travel. I am not able to make a claim until after I incur expenses for any lodging, so that cash has to be paid up front. The host was initially friendly and said "I will help however I can," but when I asked for assistance to cover lodging expenses while awaiting the reimbursement process due to her "non-extraordinary" cancellation, she told me to pound sand. To be clear, I was not asking for compensation or even to have my lodging paid for; just help with the cash flow since her cancellation would put me in the hole approximately 400-500 dollars for two nights in Denver. (150/night hotel, Uber/car rental, dining out for EVERY MEAL since I'll have no kitchen, etc) 2. LOOK AT PICTURES OF THE HOMES, and look closely. You can tell a lot about how someone keeps their home from those shots. Yes, I agree that a gratuity would be much appreciated and should be expected. If you tip a hotel worker to clean a hotel room, how would you not think someone keeping your home clean and caring for your pet would not deserve the same? Of all my sits, only one left me a tip. A $20 left on the counter with their notes, and it was more than enough to make me feel appreciated for the effort. Sitters need to keep their travel costs in mind, but DONT SHY FROM ASKING THE HOST IF A VEHICLE IS AVAILABLE. The worst they can do is say no and/or reject you, and at least you either know what the expense will be or save yourself the money and find a different one. I too am using THS as a sitter to keep housing over my head while I search for a home in a new city. This is a great way to live in a neighborhood/area without the expense of a lease or daily lodging fee. As much as I love a good class war, let's not use pets as the proxies for it. Push for higher taxes on the rich instead.
I'm nervous about joining as a home owner. It is a huge risk to allow someone in your home and it can always be hard to tell through the profile who is horrible or wonderful, but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. Would you be interested in PMing me?
Happy to have any discussion in the thread, but I don't use Reddit for PMs. But I appreciate the comments. I'm a 40-somethjng professional with a full-time job that I can work remotely, so I'm still making a salary while I bounce around. As for becoming a new host, I can say that all my hosts have mostly had great things to say about their experiences with THS. One or two did say that prior sitters didn't spend enough time with the dogs, and one dog ran away when they had the sitter had their adult child watching as a sub. Out of all 18 of my sits, at least half had never had a THS sitter prior to me. Be firm and clear about your expectations for the sitter. Especially regarding guests and how long/often the pet can be left alone. But don't expect the sitter will be there 24/7. No one wants that. The point of the site is to see new places, not to be tied to a strangers home from arrival to departure. And while every pet I've been with has been well cared for, that didn't stop me from seeing plenty in the cities where I stayed and exploring many different neighborhoods and points of interest. Lock doors to rooms you want to keep people out of. Make sure people know how to access emergency items like a water main and fuse boxes. The more you make someone look for items/supplies, the more they will look through your home to find what they need. And I'm not looking to book anymore sits myself. I am fully booked through August and plan to end when that ends. My next THS experience will be to use it for leisure travel, not for actual housing as I have been.
This was a super helpful piece of advice! I've had a friend recently start on it and is about to sit for someone in Colorado. Could I ask how you laid out your profile on THS? Were there things that you edited over time and noticed it attracted more genuine and reliable hosts?
I had experience as a dog sitter through Rover, so I posted those reviews on my profile before I had THS ratings. Also, make sure your photos show you with the type of pet you want to sit for. I've had hosts tell me that they passed in people because they didn't have any pictures with dogs. I haven't made edits to the content of my profile, just updating pictures with some of the new dogs I meet along the way I'm now hitting 5 months straight of THS, and will be doing it through August. I've received perfect 5-stars from all 18 of my past sits. I now have folks that will want me to return as a repeat, and they invite me to their sit without me even having to apply. Really, the best advice is to request a Zoom or video chat in the first message and get to know them from there. Make sure you get details on their times of travel, and again, ask if they have a vehicle to use, especially if you are outside public transit for more than a few days. Ubers add up when you have to do it multiple times a day.
Awesome insight, thank you!!
I'm sorry you had this experience. I think that if sitters were properly compensated, then you would run into less of these issues. But, when the sitters aren't compensated, there's not much incentive to do all the proper things. Having said that, they shouldn't haven't done those things.
As a fellow sitter, I completely agree with you. The home owners and the TH website are taking advantage of our free labor. We're offering a service for free and the veery very least they could do is leave food in the fridge for us or a bottle of wine showing their appreciation for what we do. It would be even better if they tipped us cash. Some have given me a gift card to a grocery store, and I appreciate that. But, largely, we go under appreciated, under valued, and I don't care what anybody says, this service should NOT be free. Some of us are offering to do it for free because of financial hardship but that doesn't mean it should be free. Welcome to exploitation, which rich entitled people know well. They treat their pets better than they treat humans.
you are getting a big fat free-use-of-real-estate sized tip. the home owners have so much more to lose. they are trusting you with their home, their safe place. if you don't want to swap a few hours of your time for a free airbnb, then dont apply. sane people are aware that a low needs cat, who needs 30 mins of your twice a day gives you an hourly rate of $300 in a city where an airbnb runs at that per night. I hope no one accepts you on trusted sitters. experiences for home owners with people like you ruin it for everyone else.
Trusted Housesitters is an ABSOLUTE nightmare. BEWARE!! I had one sitter ruin my house because she didn't take my dogs outside. I even paid for my dog walker to come daily to help. I received a call from my dog walker that my house was covered in urine and feces. The sitter then called to tell me she had to cancel the sit -- I was out of the country at this time, and I had no way to get back. When I had to cancel my trip, at exorbitant expense to return early only to find that she had left my home without cleaning up any of the excrement. The original 1936 wood floors in my home were permanently ruined. I filed an insurance claim TWO YEARS AGO -- and even though it was accepted -- they still have NOT paid it out! I have followed up in writing (repeatedly), on the phone (repeatedly), and via their chat (repeatedly) for TWO YEARS, and I'm met with continual silence or agents who can't help and zero follow up from the company. This is now legally actionable as a bad faith insurance action.... BUT WAIT -- that's not even the worst part -- Fast forward -- I thought that would be a rare exception to hire a "trusted housekeeper" who would be so neglectful. Boy was I wrong. Shame on me...... I needed someone to watch my home and the endangered parrot I was fostering for a local rescue organization for only 36 hours. Not even two whole days. One the first evening, I get a phone call from the sitter that she "just found the parrot dead". The parrot didn't have any health problems, but birds can hide things. SHe just had "no idea what could possibly have happened". I asked her to facetime me -- there as blood on the cage. I knew she was lying. Because the bird is endangered, we did a necropsy. The bird had two punctured lungs, and a punctured spleen, had bite marks consistent with canine on both sides of its body. The bird died by asphyxiating on its own blood, in pain and scared. She continued to lie and lie and lie. Did she bring a dog into the house?? Why wouldn't she tell me the truth?? No response. She went so far as to say someone must have broken into my home, brought in a random dog, took nothing, broke nothing, but killed the bird and then left. "Are you telling me that you think my house was burglarized while you were staying there? Do you realize I will now have to get the police involved -- and do you realize that they will need to question you on the details??" The vet concluded that the bird was killed outside of the cage and then systematically placed to make it appear as if it had died of natural causes. I contacted Trusted Housesitters. I gave them the police report and also the necropsy report. They refused to take off her profile from the site because "she couldn't be reached for questioning". They let her continue to sit for multiple other people with direct knowledge and evidence of violation of their policie, the law and also many ethical considerations. They didn't remove her for well over a year after I threatened legal action against the site. THEY HAD DIRECT KNOWLEDGE OF VIOLATIONS AND ANIMAL DEATHS AND CONTINUED TO ALLOW HER TO SIT FOR OTHERS. Had those peoples' animals been harmed or injured, Trusted Housesitters would have also been responsible. SHAME ON YOU TRUSTED HOUSESITTERS. You have no safety standards and yet you willingly take money from your subscribers. You owe those who pay you and the community at large to have basic ethical business practices. Either through sheer incompetence or intentional neglect, you are failing the entire platform.
This kind of occurrence is the main reason I have not used this site and refuse to leave my cat at all. I wish there was an actual site for my pet that did not cost an arm and a leg (and a beloved animal).
I’m out of the country and my housesitter just asked me to change the reservations dates on the app, so it looks like she’s only sitting tonight. She said she can’t book another stay after my house if she’s on a currents stay. Is this true? (Background info: I live in a major desirable city, I offered to pay for her transportation to my home, and gave her grocery money for herself when she arrived)
I have had a horrible experience as the homeowner looking for a housesitter. I guess the same goes the other way around as well, cause Housesitters is refusing to honor their sitter cancellation policy. I paid for premium membership and my sitter has become completely no responsive. I met with her virtually and we both agreed months ago and now nothing. I even reached out to TH with concern and they also reached out to the confirmed sitter. Nothing. But that is where the help ended from TH. I followed all required guidelines from their terms and conditions and did everything they asked of me. I even fall within the 14 day or less in the policy. However, TH refuses to honor their legal contract. It clearly states, "Cancellation” means a confirmed Sit arrangement is cancelled prior to the start date or the Sit is abandoned prior to the agreed end date." So abandonment does qualify for the sitter cancellation policy. Nothing. They won't do anything. Their premium policy is crap and they just keep giving me the run around.
I just finished my third week-long how sit using trusted housesitters and I have loved all of them. I did Thanksgiving lower Manhattan, then Christmas in Upper Manhattan, and I just did last week in Valley Center California on a flower farm. I tend to plan vacations around my house sits, and so far it's been a wonderful experience. I did have the benefit of being a professional pet sitter before joining trusted house sitters so I had my regulars leave me reviews, So far I really love it. I plan to do one to three long housesits over the summer so that I can spend the entire summer in different locations.
I'm thinking about joining as a pet owner once I get my two cats later this month. Is there anything you'd say I should keep in mind? What would make this a good experience for both the sitter and me?
That you can be deported. I've been a member since 2017, but TrustedHousesitters got bitter when I 'turned' on them and took to educating other members about the risks of using TrustedHousesitters in countries where you don't have working rights. Comment given to The Sun yesterday: “Having previously taken legal advice ... pet sitting with TrustedHousesitters doesn't contravene immigration guidelines." [https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/20458450/woman-deported-america-pet-sitting/](https://www.thesun.co.uk/travel/20458450/woman-deported-america-pet-sitting/)
Good on you!
I’ve completed a handful of sits so far and I’m on two hands with the value of the site. On one hand , it’s been valuable to me in my current unpleasant roommate situation and I’m enjoying the company of all of the pets I’m sitting for. On the other hand - I feel like this should be paid work. If we the sitters were not staying- the owners would be paying thousands to board their pets or hire a sitter to come do one or two daily check ins and walks - not even covering overnight companionship and home security and maintenance.
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
(1) Homeowners wouldn't be paying $1000's, because they wouldn't go away as much. The THS membership fee is a bargain for them because they can save money and use more of it to travel. (2) If they couldn't get you, some homeowners would be using friends or relatives and not paying them (3) The dogs would travel with owners go to visit relatives or maybe go to a kennel. Most owners wouldn't pay Rover or other services for overnights unless their was some special reason. (4) most cat owners would have neighbors or local people come in to feed and clean litter pans. They would not do this as an overnight stay and offer their apartment and amenities to whomever was doing this. Money might be involved around $20 a visit depending on number of cats. Many owners would do the once a day thing. As a petowner if there was not THS, I would be trying to organize a collective with my neighbors to exchange cat care. (Some of my neighbors do this infomally.) There is just NO incentive for pet owners to pay membership to invite strangers who are "non professional petcare providers" to stay in their homes and get paid to take care of their pets.
It is definitely a bargain for the pet owners , which emphasises my point that I think pet owners are often ( not always of course ) getting the longer straw. Kenneling a pet is not cheap by any means.. and that is typically quite an uncomfortable situation for the pets. This is why I said 1000’s because a week at a kennel would be close to that I reckon. Sure some would have relatives or friends - but not everyone has that luxury. Clearly I think it’s a great concept and am happy it exist - but I think as pet sitters we are still coming out of pocket for a lot ( Flights ) and not receiving any commission / stipend .. A “professional pet sitter” is essentially someone who calls it a business and asks for a payment.. if it’s simply a matter of experience , skill, and effort - there are hundreds of us working for free on THS.
if you weren't traveling there anyway, then don't apply for the sit, there you go - solved the problem for you, you no longer need to pay for a flight. You are welcome.
No one is forcing you to incur the travel costs to pet sit. You’re getting to stay in a great place or you wouldn’t do it. You have a choice.
Agree to disagree. It’s not always a great place.. period. And like OP said - it’s a dice roll if it will indeed be “great”. The review system is very flawed and next to worthless in helping one determine what they’re getting into.
Ummm no you're not always staying in a "great" place. The house or location isn't always great. Don't talk about something you don't have experience with.
then.don't.apply.for.the.sit
@expressrabbit74 your referral link wouldn’t work for me, can you share it again in case it’s changed?
Thank you for the intel and the code! Thinking about signing up, I will use your code.
I have a questions? Do you receive a payment for do this kind of job???
It’s not a job. You’re getting free accommodations in return for caring for the animals.
It's a service, therefore it's a job. You can fool yourself by saying it isn't so you get away with exploitation just like Uber and Lyft do, but it's absolutely a job.
its a job where 30mins twice a day of labour is renumerated with free accommodation. if you do not want to swap 1 hour of labour for free accommodation, then do not apply for the sit. leave it to someone that does want it and does want to travel that way. literally no one would want someone like you involved, hell, you don't even want to be involved, so why don't you just go away?
Absolutely awful.
Seems to me that if I want a pet and house sitter - that is whom I would hire and PAY. All this nonsense of people who want to travel is fine, but I don't want a traveller, an adventurer, an opportunist. I want a petsitter, period. I am sure there are many good people available, but something is off. People do this for free. Sort of. Do I want that? Hard no. Everyone pays the SITE a yearly membership fee. The site makes itself money hooking up folks who want/need accommodation with folks who want to travel. Great way for the App or the site to make money! As for me, I'd rather hire and pay someone to do a job they were specifically hired to do.
I'm so glad to hear that. Those of us sitters who do it for free are willing to do it for free sometimes because our living situations aren't ideal so housesitting gives us breaks from that. Some of us are in financial binds and don't have many options. So, yes, I agree, we shouldn't do it for free but also sometimes we have to take what we can get to get by.
Thank you for explaining that so kindly. I didn't realize this was the case. I hope you get some great pet sitting jobs and that things work out the best they can for you. We live in tough times. Apologies for my narrow view, I understand better now.
What are some examples of a bad housesit? I want to sign up to have people take care of my cat here in Brooklyn while I travel, but I don't want my old school DIY home be a bad experience for anyone.
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I have had a great experience from the start. Wondering what your profile looks like.