Being invited to sit with no messages or online meetup

Hi all,
A few weeks ago I applied for a sitting.
Today, all of a sudden I received an invitation to sit.
I haven’t received any reply to my message sent for the application neither had received a request to meet online.
I can see they have experience as they have a good number of sitters in their history.
Has anybody experienced the same?

Hi @Mokina Yes this has happened to us but before we accept or agree any sit, whether we applied to them or not, we like to have some form of communication with the homeowners. Preferably a video call, but if not then a telephone conversation and at the very least written communication.

Communication is important for both sides to make sure the sit is a great fit for all.

From what you mentioned, they clearly liked your application/message and profile and this is why you have received an invitation to sit.
It is not mandatory however to have to converse with each other before accepting but if you are still interested in completing this sit I highly suggest that you do and that you write back again before accepting and this will then give you a chance to ask any questions that you may have and make sure this is the right sit for you.

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Thank you for your reply @Samox24
I totally agree with you.

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They may have made some change to their listing that made it appear as a new listing. In that case, they probably needed to invite you rather than continue with your existing application.

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I’m not sure this message is valid as most times I get my messages either not posted or amended. Anyway… I’ll give it a try.
Following the invitation to that sitting, I did not say anything thinking that perhaps the invitation might have been sent in error.
After almost a week, I got a message asking if I am still interested.
I replied almost immediately as follows:

Thank you for your message. I am seeing the invitation for the sitting now. I thank you for the offer, however before accepting or agreeing any sit, I would like to have some form of communication with the homeowners. As mentioned in my message, I am available for an online connection. This is a common practice within THS. Communication is important for both sides to make sure the sit is a great fit for all. I suppose you also want to be sure of the person who is going to take care of your pet and your home while you will be away. Thank you for understanding. Kind regards…

I sent the message almost a week ago. I saw the message was read straight away, but no answer was given.
I am not insisting as based on this lack of contact, I wouldn’t feel comfortable to go ahead and I would definitely wouldn’t blindly accept the invitation.
From what I can see now, the pet parent is still reviewing applications.
I am not sure what are the duties or rights in these cases. I am not sure either that the invitation is still open to me, I cannot find it anymore under my profile.
Do I have to reject it or the pet parent can withdraw the offer?

Another less worrying question I would like to ask is regarding another sit.
I applied for this sitting on February 27th.
I see they are still reviewing applications since around the same date. This is almost a month ago.
I haven’t seen so far reviewing applications for such a long time. Have you encountered something similar? Is there any time limit?
Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Hi @Mokina,

If I am understanding everything correctly about the communication with the HO and the sit you have applied for my advice would be to just go ahead and decline the offer. To me as a HO and and sitter this sounds a little “off.”

We are typically the ones that ask for a video call first if the sitter hasn’t already mentioned it in their application. We’ve never come across anyone that hasn’t wanted to do one as you’re correct it benefits all parties and personally I would never be able to choose a sitter without talking to them first with at least a phone call. It’s not at all like booking and Airbnb or hotel room when there’s the details about the pet to consider as well as any quirks about the home or further details.

As for your other question about not being responded back to by the homeowners when it shows “reviewing applications” …yes this happens (but I don’t think it’s common) it has happened to us too where I sent off a really detailed thought out application that we were hopeful for and for FOUR months it said “reviewing applications.”…I had honestly forgotten about the application because they never even responded.

So while it does happen I can also say their are HO’s like myself that take great time and care to getting back to our applicants and reviewing each one of their profiles and trying to set up a date to do a video call…this is what I would say is the average communication pattern between HO’s and sitters…if this isn’t happening for you with these sits. Time to move on and keep applying to other sits because you will find one that it the “right” fit and you’ll know it because the HO’s are just as eager as you to find someone.

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Hi, Yes I have frequently been sent an invite to sit without a message. Most times though I do get one reply to message with the invite. The majority of sits I have accepted have been without a phone call or video call.

I have been invited to two house sits where there was no personalized message nor did the homeowner look at my profile to see who I was and how I undertake my house sits.

While i found this a little rude, I decided to be friendly and engage with them; tell them about myself and all that jazz and they were very interested in me but sadly the dates didn’t work out for me.

I know that there was one lady extremely keen but I just couldn’t commit. Luckily, she found someone else.

I think this all seems a bit fishy. Do they have any past reviews from other sitters? If they don’t communicate with you at the start then imagine trying to communicate with them when you’re looking after their pets :flushed::thinking: Nope. Doesn’t work. We never take a sit without a video call and so far, so good - 21 sits and 18 months full time sitting in 12 countries. It’s our failsafe :raised_hands::raised_hands: Communication is everything. Hope it all works out.

Thank you for your message @Cuttlefish
Yes, they do. All positive reviews of course… as always are on THS! :wink:
It is a good point yes. Also for this reason I decided not to go ahead.