Why post a sit listing if you. don’t have time to repond to applicants? We usually withdraw our applications after 48 hours, if we can see it’s been read but no response has been forthcoming.
i believe that some HOs just want to wait to see if more applications come rolling in, so they can have more of a choice of sitters. Whilst we can understand this, we personally believe that if our application doesn’t immediately resonate with HOs then it’s not going to be a good fit.
Each to their own, but we feel that prompt responses bode well for good communications during sits, which is an imperative for us.
Today, I’ve noticed a sit which we applied for early last year. Despite a personalised application, no response was forthcoming. It was a sit we really fancied doing, so on this occasion i did send a couple of prompts as time went on, but still not a word. We withdrew our application.
Will we apply again? Nope. Communications should be 2-way. However lovely the sit appears, if thoughtfulness and courtesy is missing, it’s a hard pass from us.
sometimes just after posting a sit- unforeseen things happen creating “a lack of time to respond” A death of a loved one, for example.
All I’m saying, is we don’t know for sure why someone didn’t respond to us. Even if “read”. Regrettable, but it happens- not ideal and a little grace goes a long way. Indeed, maybe they just don’t care. Regardless, I have an issue with auto labelling all HO’s as “rude” if they didn’t get back to a sitter a response meeting a sitter’s timeline. To infer I was at all being rude at the time of family member death because I didn’t then have time to respond? I’m just surprised by lack of any curiosity or empathy; that is, wondering if something might be happening. But- may no crisis- and just a bad planner or inconsiderate, true.
I respect that others feel differently.
@Halifax23 I once applied for a sit in Bali that would have been a perfect fit. Our application went unread for a few days so I sent a follow up which was read but no response. A couple of days later we sent a last follow up still expressing interest & availability &…nothing.
Normally wouldn’t bother but as I said it looked good & sits in Bali, where we were heading anyway, are rare. Finally we withdrew our app and told her it was due to lack of response etc.
The sit dates came & went & we moved on..
Three whole months later- when we were back on the other side of the world- she wrote us an angry message berating us for being so impatient and having no compassion for the dramas she’d been going through!!! How could we possibly have known what was going on without any feedback from her?!!
So whilst I understand your point of view, and can retrospectively have compassion, I think you could also understand how lack of response or follow up to a well thought out application can be seen as rude. A situation like you, or this lady above, experienced is the exception & not the rule. I would say most times lack of response or an autodecline without a personal message is indeed a lack of courtesy on the host side.
Just a quick note to say that I’ve carried out some moderation on this discussion as things were starting to veer a bit off topic into something more personal.
Sometimes it’s best to respectfully agree to disagree.
I don’t think its rude, people have a lot going on and aren’t necessarily checking the site every day. Also they may be waiting to see if other sitters apply. You may not be a perfect fit for them so its not unreasonable for them to take a little time. After all HO’s are encouraged to make sure they take the time they need to make the right choice, rushing to accept a sitters application might end up being a poor outcome for both parties. I do think that it is important that HO 's acknowledge and thank sitters who apply and where possible give an indication of where they are in a process of making a decision.
I agree with you. I have 2 applications pending for the same time period and they have been sitting as read for a solid week now with no response…i do think they want to maybe get more folks to chosse from, or waiting for the weekend to deal with it, but I do wish they would decline if they dont think we are a fit or just drop a line, saying we will review when all 5 spots are taken…guess we will see who get back first if either does!!
I applied for a sit a couple weeks ago. It’s not until July. It’s been in ‘Reviewing Applicants’ status for about a week now. Then last night I noticed the same sit popped up as a new listing again. When I checked my status it said ‘You’ve already applied for this sit’ or something similar. This afternoon it’s back to ‘Reviewing’ again. What does this mean? The HO didn’t prefer any of their initial 5 applicants and they requested 5 more, or what? Regardless, it seems the likelihood of getting selected for the sit now is minimal, right? Or, if by some chance I’m still selected it makes me wonder if it’d be because they’re settling tho they were looking for someone better
If they had reached 5 applicants, they would have to decline someone in order to get more applications. It could also be that they voluntarily went into reviewing mode before having reached the limit and they have decided they want a wider choice.
I was feeling pretty grumpy about a sit i really wanted and had no reply to my application for over a week. I said i would give it one more weekend then withdraw. That Sunday i heard from the HO and we did a video visit and i got the sit. They are a young working family with lots of travel obligations and two small children and a big dog! Like folks have mentioned before, this was a priority for me because i wanted a answer but the sit was a month away and the HO were super busy with life. Now i try to not take it so personally.
I too was very keen on a particular sit and the Home Owners got in touch that they were going off on a holiday shortly and had had some splendid responses for a later sit date that they wished to follow up on when they got back in two weeks’ time.. would I be happy to wait till then?
I said that was their choice but in the meantime please realize I would be applying to other interesting options for those dates.. they are calling me tonight.
I think Home Owners need to realize it’s a two way street. The early bird catches the worm?
