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cityoflights
Joined 2011
Posts: 14

10 years ago

Free-Loading or being Exploited?

10 years ago

tharin4prez
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new message 7/29/2013 08:01
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These type of posts don't generally generate much reply. People see it as free-loading on their dime. Ask for rooms to rent ... should get more interest that way.

cityoflights
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new message 7/31/2013 11:50
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Hello, Tharin4prez: Thanks so much for you input. I am so sorry there are people such as yourself, who see this offer as "free-loading on their dime." I would have thought it would be a welcoming service, as I know people don't want to leave their homes empty and open to burglaries. Furthermore, if the home owner have pets to care for, it would be more expensive for them to bring them to a shelter. I know pets experience anxiety being left in a temporary shelter with other dogs, and not in the surroundings they are accustomed to. This is a win-win for both parties. The sitter offers a service which would end up being expensive for a home owner. This is a very popular service in Europe, and here in the States. In fact, there are people who make a profession out it, charging for it. I don't charge. In addition, there are dozens of websites whose only purpose is to match sitters and home-owners. Sitters pay to see the homes available. Home-owners, on the other hand, don't pay anything. If I house-Sit at no charge, caring for their pets, taking care of the mail, making sure the house is safe and seeing to it that the home looks occupied, does that mean the home-owner is exploiting me? Or....As you say.....would I be free-loading? Who is free-loading here, when in fact services are being rendered for no charge at all? Perhaps this is a cultural thing, where everywhere else people in all other continents see it as a welcoming service, except in Latin America?
Thanks, although many people who have done this for perhaps more than two decades, would disagree with you. And I am not referring just to myself.
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