Personally, it doesn’t matter to me whether a host is busy, forgetful, lazy or whatever. I just look for good matches and someone who doesn’t communicate promptly isn’t a good partner for me.
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They could do it in a simple video problably under 10 minutes. Basically, they collect the membership dollars and then let everyone figure it out and all of us in the forums by often repeating the same steps for people are “volunteer” coaches.
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As a HO I’ve had the exact same experience, either verbally confirming during the video call, offering the sit, and the sitter disappearing or being told they’ll really positive but just need to confirm and then not writing back.
As far as we’re all concerned, until a sit is confirmed, we don’t owe each other anything. For some people (HO and sitters), taking 2-3 days to reply is normal. Maybe for them, expecting a reply in a matter of hours is overbearing and suffocating. Maybe (more often) it’s because they are still talking with other sitters/HO, and are just being dishonest. Either way, consider yourself lucky that you discovered the mismatch BEFORE the sit was approved.
The most important thing is that this WILL reflect on how the communication with them will go as long as you deal with them.
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For that very reason I’ve started setting some time frame boundaries and also ask at the end of video call if they are interviewing others. If so unless I’m super keen I usually cancel and crack on to the next one, as I only like to apply for one sit at a time and as we all know if it involves travel- flights go up exponentially!
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Yes, I find this strange. If I have had a phone call and it is obvious they want me to sit, it has been confirmed immediately and I have accepted immediately. All done and dusted within a matter of seconds.
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@Treesypeesy If you want to know if they are speaking to others its better to ask at the beginning of the call and not at the end! Especially if it would make you withdraw- why waste the call time?! There is nothing more deflating than having a great Video call, expecting to confirm the sit, and then being told they’ve speaking to others and will let you know later!! Grrrr… I really think hosts who plan to do multiple ‘interview’ calls should be upfront about it. Personally, Its not our way of working and we prefer to withdraw.
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I disagree, if at the end of the VC they say they want to speak to others when asked I figure they aren’t 100% sure you are a good fit so keeping their options open I dunno think I’m getting a little bit cynical of hosts that think they are doing you a favour rather than it being mutually beneficial, so if the interview doesn’t feel a two way process of choice I pull out the race!
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I think there’s a difference though between sitters trying to fill a diary gap or who really want to visit a particular location and the more casual sitter (like us) who ‘could sit’ but equally could rent an Airbnb or stay in a nice Hotel or indeed stay at home!
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spot on, no ifs no buts, no excuses. If they don’t value our time, move on to a pet owner who does.
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