Appropriate wait time to hear back from and owner for a sit

@catdad1 you could also check their availability calendar and see if they still are available. If they’ve been booked on another THS sit, there will be black lines through the dates.

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Hi @catdad1 for help and advice please contact the Membership Services Team on support@trustedhousesitters.com

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I agree with the other post that says to check their availability and see if it has changed. I had someone I was conversing with last year, to sit for my pets, and she didn’t seem to be ready to commit. I wondered what was going on, then strongly suspected she was stalling hoping she’d get a different sit! I didn’t confirm it with her but the way she phrased her response, when I let her know I wasn’t having her come, basically confirmed it - reading between the lines.
In the midst of Covid, I hadn’t received much interest at all (unlike earlier sits when I had 13 replies in 14 hours) so it was unfortunate that I wasted time and energy on her.
I wonder if something similar is happening to you, even with people being busy over the holidays.

I agree with the others’ opinions, but there’s also the chance the app is glitching. I’ve heard of several issues with the app (vs the website). I think it’s good policy to exchange contact info with an applicant as soon as you’re comfortable doing that. Perhaps you can write another message with your email/cell/WhatsApp and ask them to contact you there, because you’re not sure if TH replies aren’t working.

Good advice and I’ve already done that with no response. It says that my messages have been read. I just don’t know why anyone would do such a thing instead of saying they cannot do the sit. I truly am hoping it is s glitch. I did send a message last night for admin to look into it.

Hi @catdad1. Some thoughts in no particular order:

  1. You said you asked an admin. Do you mean a moderator on the forums? Angela suggested you contact Membership Services: support@trustedhousesitters.com. Definitely do that if you haven’t.

  2. It’s surprising to me how often I’ve read about communication changes on these forums, but it definitely happens.

    1. For example, here’s a topic from Thanksgiving:
      Need advice re: unresponsive confirmed sitter

      The HO hadn’t heard anything for a month, even though they’d tried multiple channels. However, Membership Services was able to contact the potential sitter, and the sitter than contacted the HOs again.

      Note that I asked for clarity on what actually happened, but the HO never replied.

    2. Then there’s this one:
      Sitters not responding

      Here, the HO also lost contact with a potential sitter. Turns out the HO had somehow blocked the sitter’s number?!

    3. And of course, there’s all the busyness of the holidays. Or life in general.

  3. The number of 5-star reviews you would think is a good measure. But while searching I ran into this topic:
    My Sitter Was Going to Be A No Show - #30 by AllTheFerretsDied

    Here, a sitter with 12+ reviews, all 5 stars, is described as canceling a sit and then blocking the HO to avoid arguing. Of course, if that ever happens to you, please report the sitter to Membership Services, then go from there.

  4. If you link your listing to your forum profile, it’ll help everyone understand more in the long run. And once you do it, you’ll never have to update it. Instructions are here:
    How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile

  5. Is the sitter using the app or the website? On my last sit, the HO commented about some app issues, so we just used texts to communicate the whole time. I feel like the app can be a bit glitchy, especially on Android. But many sitters use the app to get notifications.

  6. You could try to hedge your bets: If your listing is blocked from more applicants (can’t tell as I can’t see it yet…), then you could send a polite message to the sitter and unconfirm them, then unpause your listing. I’d like to think the sitter would understand what you’re doing and if it’s simply a miscommunication, they’ll let you know and you can re-confirm them, if you want. In the meantime, you can accept other applications. And also ask for listing help on the forums (feedback on improvement, etc.)

Best of luck! Keep us in the loop!