Yes, your idea is duly noted and valid - we could create a dedicated shared email address expressly for THS. We use individual email addresses.
But our viewpoint remains unchanged. We wonder what portion of THS couple members use joint email addresses. Or are willing to create one. Or are able to execute a workaround. We suspect that a high proportion of THS members will struggle and seek support.
We predict - perhaps wrongly - that by springtime then THS will have withdrawn its subpar 2FA implementation or significantly improved related functionality & customer experience. This is on the belief that THS may have saved $small on one-time software development costs but will spend $lots on ongoing remedial customer support. Very odd decision for a private equity backed organization. Against prevailing business culture of using great technology to reduce operational costs. Guess we’ll see.
For those interested, we have successfully circumvented THS 2FA with a workaround that uses a server-based rule on Apple iCloud+ to auto-forward emails related to THS 2FA. Rules needs to be on icloud.com rather than an email client, otherwise forward function requires email client to be open - which may be challenging given limited time of 2FA codes.
@deb2@millie2020 I was having trouble logging in too. I received my 2FA code to my email address but it wouldn’t work. When I tried logging in again seconds later, I didn’t receive my 2FA code even though it said it was sent. I happened to be looking at an old email address inbox that I haven’t used for ages, and changed with THS in 2024, and here was the 2FA code! WTF! I emailed THS support a couple of days ago asking why their system suddenly started sending the code to an old outdated email, but as usual no reply from them.
THS Support need a dedicated tech team for these type of tech queries .
@millie2020
Maybe calling the Urgent Support Phone Line will get the attention of THS ? Being locked out of your account unable to see welcome guide and unable to contact future sits seems like an urgent problem.
As you don’t have access to your dashboards here is the number .
That is very strange (and rubbish)! I’ve had the one same email address for years so unfortunately that’s not my issue. I am still no closer to being able to log in. Nothing further from THS, I’ve never experienced such bad support. I’m going to speak to my lawyer friend. They must be in breach of contract or something because at the moment I am paying for a service that they are unable to provide.
Many thanks for the number! I will give that a try. Sounds like they need a new development team too, because whoever signed off rolling out this 2FA mess wants sacking! My main reason for needing to be in (other than looking for sits in the place we’re about to travel to!) was to upgrade to host/sitter membership to list our Costa del Sol home for a 3-week house sit, which I’m sure someone would have jumped at. Well they’ve lost that money because it’s too late now, I’ve had to make other arrangements. And to be honest probably will look for another sitting platform.
Thanks for your help Jenny and chasing them up. They finally resolved my issue yesterday, which also coincided with me logging an official complaint citing non-provision of service under the Consumer Rights Act. I really can’t believe it took so long.
When they resolved your issue, did you pick up any hints on what they did? Did they change your email address, have you do anything at your end or pull a Wizard of Oz and fiddle something behind the curtain?
I sent this to support@trustedhousesitters.com yesterday and 20 minutes later my issue was resolved, and they gave me 4 free months membership.
“Dear Trusted Housesitters Customer Support Team,
I am writing to raise a formal complaint regarding the ongoing inability to access my Trusted Housesitters account following your recent two-factor authentication (2FA) upgrade. Since this change was introduced, I have been unable to log in due to non-delivery of the verification code to my email address. As a result, I have had no access to the service I am currently paying for.
I have contacted your support team multiple times, but the issue has not been resolved and no satisfactory explanation or workaround has been provided. This situation is now causing an unreasonable disruption to my paid membership.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be performed with reasonable care and skill and must be fit for purpose. At present, Trusted Housesitters is unable to provide access to the service I have subscribed to, and therefore is not meeting these statutory requirements.
I am requesting the following:
Immediate remedial action to restore access to my account and correct the 2FA issue.
Once the issue has been resolved and the total duration of the service outage is clear, a refund for the period during which I was unable to access the service, in accordance with my rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
Written confirmation of this complaint and the steps that will be taken to address it.
I request that this matter be escalated to a senior support representative or complaints handler.
No idea what they did or why it took so long. Jenny chased it up and I also emailed in a formal complaint citing the Consumer Rights Act and that they were not meeting the statutory requirements of providing a service that is fit for purpose and wanted it escalating. 20 minutes later I received an email asking me to try again and it was fixed! They also gave me 4 free months membership for the inconvenience. I did post a comment in here with the email I sent but it hasn’t been approved. I would suggest doing the same if you still have a problem. I just explained the situation to ChatGPT and got it to write it for me so didn’t take long!
Nicely done. The issues are obviously with THS’s backend software rather than email routing. Odd that it hasn’t been corrected across the board anfter the first week. Maybe their techs need to get some ChatGPT help sorting the problem
Can we plase have (1) an option to opt out of 2FA and/or (2) an option to do it via text instead of email? There are times I may not have access to email but can do text.
