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. ...
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.