We just had our first Rover dog sitter. He ate our food and drank our alcohol. Is this normal? We did not give permission for either beforehand.
This is our job, we are working. The house sitter is responsible for the safety of your animal and pretty much your house should an emergency arise and something happens, so drinking shouldn't have happened.
As for the food, most people I house sit for tell me to help myself & I do bring my own stuff mostly, but sometimes i do help myself to a frozen dinner or a couple pieces of candy...I don't eat them out of house & home tho.
Hi Kathleen,
Definitely not! This is out of the bounds of your expectations and is not acceptable. It is an invasion of your privacy and property.
Completely agree with the previous answers. Sitters should not help themselves. If a homeowner offers food, the sitter can decide if they want to accept that offer. If it’s not offered, and the sitter thinks it’s appropriate, than it’s incumbent upon the sitter to ask (i.e. I noticed you have some overripe fruit on the counter and I didn’t bring any, would it be okay if I eat some bananas?)
Also, any service provider drinking alcohol or taking drugs (even if sitter brought it) is extremely unprofessional, because how well are pets being monitored while sitter is impaired and if emergency arises where evacuation or a drive to a vet is required, how well will that pet be cared for? Those who disagree are Not professionals and not providing service for the right reasons. Their focus is not the pet.
You may choose to report it to Rover customer service, and also include it in comments when you leave the sitter a review.
Never drink alcohol or do drugs or medications that impair you.You are there for the Pets. If you question the food thing then be transparent and ask the owners. Food and especially alcohol are just like money in my opinion and it is stealing to do such a thing unless the owner offered it as part of the deal with the food. Linda
No, that is not normal. I do drop- ins and I make sure that there is nothing moved, touched, broken ANYTHING. It’s so weird that people get so comfortable in others home. You’re there to do a job check on the pet well-being, walk them, feed and water. If a rover sitter needs to touch anything they should definitely ask before hand. Report this sitter ASAP what they did was unacceptable it’s an invasion of privacy and so creepy and weird.
I've never house sat anywhere, that the owner didn't say help yourself to food and fridge. There are a few homes with alcohol choices. I've specifically asked if it was okay to try certain items, especially new to me. Housesitting is not like any other job! I'm giving my time to stay at another home away from my own pets. Self control and common sense go a long way ... Except Iona's croissants from Costco , they are my kryptonite!!!!
That's great for you, but in this particular case, the owner DID NOT give such blanket permission. Oh, BTW, you are not "giving" your time. You are being paid for it. This is a job, a business, which means a sitter should act professionally.
While I completely agree that this is a paid, professional position, it's different because you're only getting paid about $2/hour. It's nice when homeowners to say, "help yourself, just replace what you use" or whatever. The eating food/drinking whiskey WITHOUT PERMISSION thing is way off, though.
Your sitter definitely should not have drank on the job.. But this could be after your pup is asleep. Also, although you didn't offer, it's kind of the norm for clients to offer so maybe they assumed. After all, they are at your house for a long period of time. If it's an all day/ overnight stay, you should've offered-- sitters are paid a few bucks an hour.
I recently had my first house/pet sitter and the same thing happened to me. Not only was she drinking my alcohol but got into other things and took them as well. I filed a complaint and got no response from Rover as well as left a bad review. Makes me not want to use the service again. At least acknowledge my concerns Rover!
I know now to ask. I had a dog owner get mad that I ate a cookie, lol.
As a dog sitter, I try to bring my own food; even if it's something laid out prior by the owner that I can help myself. I'm not comfortable with it and alcohol is an absolute no go.
If it was allowed to eat your food before starting his stay, eating some of your food should be fine. Not all of it! Your alcohol should not be consumed under any circumstances! The safety of the animal is the most important thing and with your sitter being impacted, he cannot perform his duties with a sound mind.
Not at all,especially the Whiskey,please report. The food thing can be discussed to clarify.But I would not want an impaired sitter,its just like any other job.And many liquors are very expensive to replace. You should not have to worry.Tell ROVER and they will message that sitter.