When a parcel arrives…
I wanted to share this story because we honestly had no idea this could become an issue and maybe it helps both HOs and sitters to clarify things before a sit starts.
We once had a sit in a very rural area. Lovely home, not many tasks and the communication before the sit was clear. The main things were a bit of gardening and simply making sure the house was not left empty for a month.
Before the sit started, we asked if we should check the mail or if they were expecting any deliveries during our stay. They said no.
About two weeks in, on a very rainy day, a mail van came up to the property. The driver handed me a small parcel. I was a bit surprised, but I accepted it and signed for it because, in that moment, it felt like the responsible thing to do.
Later that evening, we wanted to place the parcel on the desk in their office. That was when we noticed that the packaging had the name of a very expensive brand printed directly on the outside. We already thought, okay, that is not ideal if something valuable is being sent so visibly.
Then we noticed two small cuts, one at each end of the parcel. It looked like someone had opened it. I carefully tried to feel inside through one of the cuts and quickly realized that there was only filling material. No actual item. It seemed like someone had opened the parcel and taken the content out.
We felt absolutely awful and quite unsure what to do. We immediately messaged the HOs and explained the whole situation. That someone had unexpectedly come to the property, handed us the parcel, that we had signed for it, and that we had now noticed it looked like it had been opened.
We felt so bad. As sitters, you obviously want to do everything right and this suddenly felt like a situation we had somehow become responsible for, even though we had no idea a parcel would arrive.
The HOs only replied the next day with: “Do not accept parcels and do not sign in our name.”
That made us feel even worse. We immediately offered to replace the item, even though we did not know what had been inside. Based on the brand and size of the parcel, we assumed it might have been glasses or something similarly expensive.
The next few days felt really uncomfortable for us. We were still taking care of the house and doing everything as agreed, but the situation was hanging over us. We kept wondering if the HOs thought we had done something wrong or if they were upset with us.
After the sit was over, we asked again if they had been able to sort out the parcel issue, or if they wanted us to replace the item.
Their answer was basically: All good, we had only ordered contact lenses and they were still inside the parcel.
We were so relieved, but honestly also a bit upset. They could have told us that during the sit and saved us several uncomfortable days of worrying.
For the future, we definitely learned our lesson: deliveries should be discussed very clearly before a sit starts. Should we accept parcels? Should we refuse them? Should we sign for anything? What should we do if something arrives unexpectedly?
Has anyone else had a similar situation? How would you have handled it?