Am I responsible for cleaning up accidents that happened before I get there?
Hi Sitters!
I agreed to house sit for a family with a dog, and a 4-month-old puppy. During the meet & greet, I was told the puppy was being crate trained (great!), so accidents would be to a minimum. When I got to their house to start sitting, I walk in and it reeks of pee, and the puppy is running loose. Their note reads that they have given up on crate training their puppy, and I immediately have to clean up a pile of poop and urine. That's fine. Maybe it happened after the owners took off in the morning.
The downstairs is gated off from the upstairs where the bedrooms are, so I walk upstairs to the guest room to drop off my things. On my way up, I see there's a pile of poop in the master bedroom. This means that the accident happened while the owners were still home, and they didn't clean it up and just left it. This, to me, is a little disgusting. Am I responsible for cleaning up the accident from when they were home? I mean, I probably will because I can't stand the thought of sleeping near poop, but this seems not okay.
Thoughts?
Sometimes that’s how clients live and other times one of the kids or spouse meant to clean it up but was probably stressed out about their trip and forgot. Text and ask where their cleaners are and what they use for accidents- be sure it’s in writing via Rover and send before and after pics
Going above and beyond is a reflection on you not Rover , but if you don’t have documentation through the app any negative comments will stay - Rover will back you up as long as the text trail is clear. I would be embarrassed but grateful and tip well if my sitter took care of the mess.
You're right, Ray. I do believe it is a part of how the clients live. This is my first time house-sitting a puppy that is not being crate trained. I'll have to add that on as a requirement going forward.