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Sitter Brought in Unauthorized People and Other Pets During Housesitting?

Hi community! I've never reached out, but this experience I had has become so painful, I wanted to ask help on what to do.

I booked a sitter to stay for 2 weeks on an overnight housesit in a house I rent for my one cat while I was on an international trip - the sitter had good reviews from TrustedHousesitters (no Rover reviews, my mistake), we did a meet & greet, and seemed extremely friendly and caring, and spoke about her other sits. She had a partner I said was ok to stay over, and showed her the extra bedroom where they could stay.

I returned from my trip and found out from my 3 neighbors that not only did she have multiple people coming to stay over, multiple cars out front, but she was dog sitting THREE other dogs in the house, and my cat is not dog friendly at all! My neighbors saw an elderly couple show up to pick up their dogs, so now they were using my house to sit someone else's pets too??? When my neighbors said they confronted her about it, the sitter and the other people staying there were unfriendly and accusatory, and that they were "guests and didn't have to follow the rules" My neighbors took photos with time stamps over the last 2 weeks to document the other dogs / people coming in and out of the house, the cars, and and that she kept the blinds closed all the time. I asked her not to keep the blinds down all the time because he's gotten injured in blinds before.

Now my landlord just notified me that there was water damage to the kitchen ceiling and had a video of water coming through the roof from the sitter who overfilled the tub...the sitter never told me anything about that even happening?? I gave her my landlord's number for emergencies, and I know things can go wrong randomly, but I've been living in this house for 2 years and nothing like this has ever happened. I found open candies and trail mix in one of my bedroom drawers, and under the bed, which she denies knowing anything about.

My cat is alive and healthy, and nothing major missing I've noticed, but having all these people and dogs over without my consent feels so awful. I confronted her over text about everything except the water damage, and I expressed my discontent over this unwelcome behavior. She admitted that a few people were over, but only for a day or two, and the dogs were kept outside in a crate. If that's the case, it's summer in the south and had highs near 90degrees. If she kept them inside that was wrong to use my place with my cat I paid her to watch to sit other dogs. There was a broken plant and handrail I was willing to let slide as just accidents, until I heard about the dogs and water damage. ... (more)

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I’m so sorry that happened! What state are you located in?

Thank you, I wish it hadn't been such a poor experience! I'm south of Atlanta, Georgia.

well, after having non stop no luck on Rover I was about to sign up for Trusted House Sitter’s happy I saw this !

you should have contact http://rover.com immediately. sitter must pay for damage. her behavior is unacceptable. Glad your cat is ok

Seriously so sorry that your very intimate boundaries were so violated. I personally, cannot comprehend the idea of abusing someones home and fur babies in this kind of way. It is a huge leap of faith on many levels. I hope in the future you find someone you trust after this. We exist.

6 Answers

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It’s Horrible to read about the sitter taking advantage of the situation and betraying your trust by having other humans and pets there which were not approved in advance, in addition to the property damages that are not regarded as a normal part of housesitting. Incidentally, if these were rover booked dogs that were left outside, that is a Violation of the Terms of Service,for which the rover team could take action on her account, including / up to suspension and termination. Yes, she’s subjecting all these pets to injury and illness. So unacceptable!

If you’re concerned about safety, you may want to contact your local police department to ask them if they advise filing a report or a restraining order or something else.

For future trips, some people will place one or more cameras in the home in the common areas (entryway, kitchen, living room), so they can log into their account and view the comings and going’s from afar. Some are very inexpensive, starting at approx. $20 each.

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Thank you so much for responding! That's sincerely good to know about the terms of service, I was not aware. I feel awful not logging into the one pet camera I have inside. I told her I thought it was an invasion of her privacy. Never again. Installing cameras outside now too. Thanks for the tip!

This was heartbreaking to read. Never feel bad for having a camera. As long as you outline you have multiple cameras (You don't even need to say where) the only place I would not put one is in the bathroom. If you are hesitant to have someone sit for you again, try asking your Veterinarian's staff!

I worked for 10 years in the industry, and almost every support staff member would be happy to help or reccommend trustworthy sitters!

Thank you! That makes sense now. Will definitely contact my vet in the future

I’m a sitter & a pet owner. I hired sitters, 2.. I know this seems age-ist, but I guess I assume above 30yo is safer it’s less likely a 40yr+ old is going to be irresponsible & disrespectful of ur home, property, requests, and ur pet. ALL Rover sitters r background checked, 2, that helps.

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Report the sitter Customer Support [Edit: Rover’s contact options have changed. Visit the Rover Help Center at https://support.rover.com/ to find the phone number, help articles, or chat with the team]

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Thank you! I've filed a report, and am gathering all my evidence from my 4 neighbors to submit to them.

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Update for future readers: Rover refunded me after a back and forth investigation, and I think the sitter's profile has been removed (I don't see it online anymore). Still finding bad trail crumbs from this - like I found out they used my makeup brushes and put them back dirtied, covered with some kind of red powder (gross), and she posted photos of my cat and house on her IG account, including a fourth dog that was on the back patio.

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I understand your distress after going through a mistake of trusting someone I shouldn't have. All together it's a nightmare no doubt but you need to look at the bigger picture. Did you have your door locks changed ? Was there a house phone that could have additional charges due available to use in your absence ? Have you checked your credit report or credit cards to make sure there was no fraudulent activity ? You need to check these for the next few months. If there is you will need to put a freeze on them. Check your Bank records also. Don't make the situation any worse with the sitter. You don't want to have to live in fear in your own home. File this under just another life lesson that teaches us trusting giving sort of people that chances are our kind is a small minority. Sad but true. All the best to you and your pets. Take care.

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Absolutely report this sitter.

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I'm very glad to hear Rover refunded you. It's such a shame that people can't be trusted. I don't understand why people do this. It's 2022 - people have cameras and if they don't, they have neighbors. What exactly do you think you are going to get away with? All they are doing is making it more difficult for trustworthy sitters to find gigs. SOOO frustrating.

Personally I wouldn't hire anyone under 40 who won't give me their last name to do a google search.