u/Doppled

TLDR: Thank you for your anecdotal experiences of times you aimed to get reimbursed for cancellations and it worked, or if it didn't (and why). I am curious about the nitty gritty.

I see a lot of "at THS' sole discretion" in the terms and conditions.

If the sit doesn't match the description, or seems unsafe, or something not allowed like a host sharing the home briefly and I want to cancel, would this coverage apply...

or if the host doesn't hit the "cancel" button but tells ya not to come does coverage not apply...
if THS isn't notified within 24 hours of the cancellation, as they say they need to be, have the refused coverage
etc-- basically what should I know? Thank you!

BONUS CHATTER:

Seems like it's only $130/year more and means no $12 fees to book each sit so seems like a no brainer for frequent users.

Perusing reddit posts it seems like people sometimes have to wait months to be paid but it seemssssssss like THS is good about honoring it? Caveats like finding new housing within 20 miles seem unfortunate for rural sits; and I see that it is up to $1500 total and $150/night; $150 deductible, up to 30 days a year or first three sits even if longer.

https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/pages/sit-cancellation-terms-sitter/

Happy sitting and hosting, all

I'm curious how food "usually" works / how you all handle it, and if you discuss it ahead. I've been doing my first few sits. I've gone into them assuming I'd provide all my own food. Though some friends are like "WHAT, you are sitting for free and they aren't leaving you food?"
Some hosts left a few staples; some say "eat anything in the kitchen," some don't say anything and then I assume I shouldn't; one offered to take my grocery shopping when I didn't have a car which I thought was kind, but I realized also meant "provide your own food."
I will use without asking cooking oil, a bit of milk, etc. I suppose the best thing to do is to ASK, and ahead. Do you do this, any way you word it? One soft way to bring it up might be to say "oh no expectations but just in case you were going to leave any groceries, I can't eat X, so just wanted to mention thanks but no thanks if you were going to leave any of that" & that may have prompted the comment "oh eat anything you find in the house," which if it hadn't been said I wouldn't done.

It's one thing if they're gone weeks, but if someone is just gone the weekend-ish and doesn't offer I default to not using their perishables.

Just curious, thanks for any thoughts or tips.

EDIT: The summary of the 50 comments so far is the expected wide range of responses, no default way people do this. Reasonable advice being, "just ask, just tell." Some folks feel strongly there is no food involved in this exchange, and some folks feel strongly that of course folks are welcome to use anything. Hosts sometimes leave groceries, hosts sometimes say "we left these empty shelves on the fridge for your use," and the occasional outlier experience of "sitter ate all my expensive steak??" I appreciate the notion of "help yourself to anything!" does not likely mean "eat your way through the pantry for two weeks." Where I'd fall as either sitter or host would be it is nice to leave some starter groceries, either fresh or just what's remaining. A thing I am doing for a longer sit is taking a photo of the fridge, so I can leave them some starter food on their return.

Lots of different ways to do this, I approach it as "a good friend coming to take care of the pets" vs transactiony vibes. Appreciate reading the wide range of takes in the comments.