There is no need to be “punitive”. You are the one “frustrated”. End the frustration and move on, lots of sits In the home and pet sitting shop.
Don’t wait for one, apply to as many as you fancy and remove your application as Peter does. I also have done this with a short note saying something similar.
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@Amparo I think I have replied to a similar thread to this in the distant past, supporting owners a bit - New members not sure of the process, or “busy” people who only check emails every few days, or at weekends, but the above 2 of mine were last minute, or very close to date sits, in faraway places, where planning is needed, and I just find it rude that owners don’t respond.
I must be getting old…Grumpy old man syndrome.
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It happens 
No big deal.
Many people have lost touch with what used to be considered common courtesy. Too wrapped up with the “work” of living vs the joy of living.
I just can’t be bothered anymore with nonsense.
This butterfly has lots of flowers to visit.
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@Molly42 I agree with you. Maybe there should be some guideline from the THS admins that HOs need to reply to applications within a certain number of days. It seems only courteous to do so.
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Yeah I have just applied for two and it’s been two days despite being “read”
Time to move on I reckon.
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I was contacted by two owners over a week after I applied, and it took one over a week to read my message. So two days doesn’t seem that long.
yes but the home owner took a week to read…
two days having been “read” is different.
Last year we applied for a sit that started in 3 weeks time. No response after a week and we accepted another sit. We withdrew the application and sent a note explaining why, the HO seemed kind of miffed and said it can take some time to set up video calls etc 
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We’ve recently had a HO who didn’t read our application for 2 weeks, then we sent them a nice nudge message, read it but no response. We withdrew our application on the basis they must have found a more suitable sitter. Then we get a quick reply saying they have been so busy blah blah blah and really want us to sit for them but they understand if we don’t want to given their poor communication. That won’t be happening as if their communication is so poor at this early stage, we hate to think what it will be like for the actual sit.
Dear home owners, you need to be responsive and on top of your communication game if you want good sitters! As you’ve seen above, if you snooze, you lose. We make no apology for moving on to better sits.
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@Crookie That’s exactly how we react too. If communication is bad now, what will it be like during the sit?
And how ‘busy’ can you be if you don’t have time to even just acknowldege the application? We all have 24h in a day, the rest comes down to priorities.
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Thanks for this. I just added this comment to mine and withdrew my application.
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Thank you for this thread, it’s good to know I’m not alone in my frustration regarding a lack of response from home owners. I applied to one last week and adhered my application to the sit. It was read shortly afterwards but I’ve heard nothing, no acknowledgement or anything. The dates have now been removed so not sure what’s going on but I’m considering @anon36831737’s tactic of withdrawing my application with a note. Perhaps it’s a small grievance in the scheme of things, but it really isn’t difficult to have a bit of courtesy and kindness surely?!
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Thats exactly my point.
“You where on our shortlist” or “interesting behavior” a.s.o.
3 days after the HO read my application and didn’t drop a short message like “I will come back to you” or “I’m out of town and will come back to you” or any short information would be nice. I will cancel after 3 days.
But nothing? No sorry.
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Personally i get more annoyed when the messages are read but not responded to than never read at all.
For the unread messages i seem to put down to life issues & disorganisation, maybe people are busy, their plans change or were never really that set in the first place. Ive come to learn this last year that some new HO’s arent sure about how to approach using the site either.
To read an application and then to not respond to that application im afraid i find just plain rude. Ho’s its the least you can do to acknowledge the time and effort that a sitter has gone to to consider your sit & apply! These get removed from my favourites pretty quickly. I feel if they havent got courtesy to acknowledge, you’d likely not be on the same wavelength to be sitting for them!
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I assume that once a sitter has submitted a request, owners get an email straight away. so why the time lag between request and response. at least a button for a “Will read and respond ASAP.” so owners can acknowledge receipt of request.
i personally only give a 3 day waiting time then i politely decline thinking if they cannot do the decent thing and response i not interested in them anyway.
Maybe email is old hat now. sending texts or Whats app message via THS. would be quicker.
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You’ve answered my question regarding ‘how long is reasonable to wait for a response’. Three days seems like a very reasonable amount of time for at least an acknowledgement. Any longer just seems like making yourself available for someone who doesn’t reciprocate that consideration.
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Absolutely! Couldn’t agree more. If it’s unread, then it could be down to all sorts of things. However, if it has been read, it says to me that they’ve had the time to read it and haven’t bothered to respond, which could even just be a brief ‘we’re in the process of reviewing appliations and will get back to you’. A lack of communication from the start is a red flag for me.
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@gina Same here- I find it very disrespectful for a host to read an application and not acknowledge it at all. Plenty of messages also just go unread. Once I did send a follow up to an unread msg to alert them to my original msg. This worked- they replied right away apologising for not having seen the first msg.
I too generally withdraw a ‘read’ application after a few days and unfavourite it. However if its not been read yet and that time slot is still unfilled I keep it open, and on the back burner, till either they respond or we find another Sit- whichever comes first!
We too have had msgs after we’ve withdrawn such as ‘I was just about to msg you’ etc! Too late mate! You snooze you lose. Time is precious! Don’t hang around waiting!! 
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This is a message from another house sitting website that I am a member of. I applied for a house sit and the message was sitting there unread. They take communication very carefully.
# We’re sorry about the non reply
Unfortunately, a first contact message you sent 5 days ago, received no reply.
As a result, the recipient has had their Reply Rating reduced by a point.
We have also archived the original message in your account as a reply is unlikely.
Message Recipient: Member ABC
WHY PEOPLE DON’T REPLY:
Often, the reason is simply that people find it difficult to say “Thanks, but No”. Then of course, there are things like illness or computer issues. Either way, we actively encourage a culture of courtesy and cooperation, hence the Reply Rating.
THE REPLY RATING:
The Reply Rating is one of the ways we work to maintain a high quality member experience across the board. For first contact messages, we send a number of reply reminders to the recipient, before we apply a penalty (reduce their Reply Rating).
We trust you have a better experience with other messages.
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