Be careful what you wish for.
If a HO can just change the dates of a confirmed sit they could do this without consultation with the sitter which could lead to all sorts of difficulties
Really sorry to wander off topic @GardenCat but what is pilling a cat? I’ve never seen it mentioned before. Does their fur need the pilling removed? Why doesn’t it happen to dogs too?
Hi @Saltrams I have attached various other threads relating to pilling but basically it’s when you need to give a pill, (to administer medication), to your cat or dog or various other pets.
Ah, right, thanks @Samox24, it isn’t actually a proper verb. No wonder I didn’t understand. So if the action “to give a pill” creates a new verb “to pill”, I wonder what other fantasy words we can come up with where a noun becomes the verb?
“While I was sausaging my wife last night…”
“I was just Bonioing my dog when…”
“I’m busy this evening, would you consider Angel Delighting my husband…”
Nope. I think I will stick to the traditional forms of speech. It all looks too dangerous
@Saltrams “sausaging”??!!
“Pilling” is a common term in English. I understand how it could be confusing to those who English is not their first language, but is in common usage.
edited to add just like “to pill” means "to administer a pill, the below phrases show where the word “to” can also mean to put on.
-To “shoe a horse” means to put shoes on a horse.
-To collar a dog
-To halter or saddle a horse
English is a funny language, for sure.
I think we are going to have to disagree on this @GardenCat. English is most definitely my first language (the British kind, which I suspect might be the cause of the distinction).
I have no problem with the terms shoeing, collaring or saddling but the only verbs “to pill” in British English relate to the small balls of fluff that arise on fabric and an archaic form, from which to peel has developed.
I think the Brits on the forum will not use this term (unless already learnt from Americans).
Anyway, I’m glad my “sausaging” is going to find its way into mainstream use @PVGemini
@Saltrams I’m with you on that. I am Brit through & through & only learnt about ‘pilling’ a cat here on the forum. I understood it immediately because of the context but have never used, or heard, this term before @GardenCat
I think my hubby might enjoy a bit of ‘sausaging’
Thanks to all who responded to my post. I believe all is well now. Just a brief note for TH staff: we never leave any pet early or alone to go to another sit. And, we always keep owners informed - daily if they want that. And we always follow their instructions. Larry and Sandy
Hello , we just wanted to update you that the new email that you are discussing will now be going out to everyone that has a double-booked sit.
We know that the majority of members that do this agree to this with the pet parents and do it responsibly, but there’s a small minority of members that are double booking and this has led to pets and homes not getting the full care and attention that they should. This goes against our guidelines for making sure that there is a sitter on site caring for the pets.
Please see the screenshot of the email (the name is a generic one for display purposes and the email will have your name on it).
We welcome any feedback and would love to hear your thoughts!
@Catgoddess_99 did you get an answer as to why you got this e-mail when you didn’t have any overlapping sits ?
@Carla can you clarify what counts as a double booked sit please ?
When we do back-to-back sits the end date of one sit is the same as the start date of the next.
There is no overlap or abandonment of pets since we tell both hosts that we will be leaving for another sit / arriving from another sit before we confirm. So it is all done with their knowledge and agreement.
For example sit 1 ends on morning of 14th August.
Sit 2 starts evening of 14th August .
Will I get an e-mail in these cases or does the system understand that sitters do back to back sits ?
What are the consequences when a sitter double books and gets one of these e-mails - are the sits cancelled by THS or can a sitter continue to double book sits without any consequences?
Hello @Silversitters Great question! I will clarify as much as I know and then the Membership Services team might be able to help you out further.
I think if one sit starts and one officially ends on the same day, as long as the owners are aware of this and agree with you on how long the pets will be left or the handovers sync up (you hand over to one sit, then go to the next sit to hand over) then this is probably not a double booked sit.
An example of a double-booked sit could be, for example: sit one: 10th August - 22nd August, sit two: 19th of August - 29th August. These sits clearly overlap and if for example, you were a solo sitter how would you make sure both sets of dates are fully covered for pet care? If you sat as a couple you might split up as has been mentioned on this thread already.
So, any members with double booked or overlapping sits will get an email and it might be if the sit ends and starts on the same day you get one, this would need to be checked with the Membership Services team.
As far as I am aware the sits are not automatically cancelled by TrustedHousesitters, they just ask you to reach out to the Membership Services team if you need help with unconfirming any overlapping sits or have any questions.
They are probably the best bet to support you with individual sits that overlap and what you can do or if you get the email and you are not sure why.
You can reach them at support@trustedhousesitters.com or the help desk chat: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb
In my experience dates are often changed without being updated on the website. I have also taken sits where I tell them I’m not availabile the first day because of another sit obligation and the owner agrees to have me come in a day late. If they are doing two sits at the same time, it certainly should be disclosed, but I would make sure that’s the case.
Thank you - I would not book a sit that overlaps with another - I just wanted clarification that a sit that starts on the same day that another sit ends is not treated as an overlap by THS . I assume common sense applies and this is not treated as such - but there was a previous poster who said they had received one of these e-mails even though they didn’t have any overlapping sits . So I thought that maybe this was an explanation.
As a suggestion - If the times that the sit starts and ends were added to the listing dates then that would avoid any issues / confusion for the sitter or host and also avoid unnecessary e-mails being sent out by THS.
But if there is no follow up or consequence to receiving one of these e-mails then they can be ignored by anyone who receives them .
I do a lot future sits where we know up front the dates are approximate because it’s six months or more in advance. The owners have never changed the official dates on the site but we always have written communication between us. I guess it’s too much of a pain for them to do it on the website and I never thought I had a reason to care.
Not really, and i received another’s email today stating the same thing. The only thing I can think of is i have a short sit in Seattle the end of September which ends the day I need to be in Portland. My Portland is a repeat and it won’t involve a pet right away so the HO and I made an arrangement that I’d arrive the next day. She, however didn’t modify the dates to reflect that so maybe thats why.
I’ve found date changes to be very common and are typically not changed officially. I’ve done a couple sits that appear to overlap but they did not, the actual sit dates were different from what is listed. I guess hosts will have to formally change the dates from now on.
I primarily sit for cats and the vast majority of sits I’ve done have just wanted me to feed the cats in the morning the last day and then go ahead and leave whenever I want. Since the sits end in the morning there is no reason that I can’t start another sit that day. Ending one sit and starting another later that day is not an overlap.
So the only “overlap” is a sit that starts on the same day that the previous sit ends ?
Which is quite usual for sitters who do back to back sits and is allowed under THS code of conduct. The sitter leaves one and starts another all on same day and it doesn’t mean that the pets at either sit are abandoned .
Has THS received complaints about overlapping sits from owners? If not I cannot understand why the need for an email. Surely there are quite valid reasons for overlaps - I have read for instance where couples sit that one might stay at the first sit for a day or two whilst the other partner goes to the new sit. Provided this has all been agreed with owners and all are happy with the arrangement I can see no reason for THS to intervene.