I’ve done ten excellent sits in France even though the offers are much fewer. There are fewer takers as well, so I’m unsure if your logic really applies. Which areas would you be interested in?
If the reason for the fees is to expand into new territories both localization and marketing would incur costs they might be ment to cover….
I wonder if the code the platform runs on is so outdated and rotten that the cost of keeping it working prevents any meaningful development of new features or migration to a more scalable solution.
You make a lot of really good points. It would explain the numerous bugs including the one that locked members out of their paid active accounts unless they agreed to Terms they couldn’t even read especially one so important as the booking fee.
that wasnt a bug, that was a calculated underhand tactic
Members were (and possibly still are) prevented from viewing the Terms that were updated to include the new Booking Fee before agreeing to them. It is/was either due to a software bug or done intentionally. Management has posted that it was due to a system glitch of sorts. Members are free to make their own assumptions as to whether that statement is accurate.
Assuming many or most sitters have been traveling internationally to sit, the political situation would have an impact. Otherwise, not that much. 2024 THS financials were published in June of this year so I expect we’ll not get insight into the accuracy of all the political speculation until mid-2026
2024 THS revenues were 4x higher out of the US than the UK. If memory serves, 1/2 of THS revenues overall came from the US market. That said, total revenues were pretty small (£24M) generating £2.8M in losses for the year.
If my calculations are right in August THS had had 100,000 sits.
If you times that by £18 that is £1.8M so probably nearer £2m for the year.
I would expect an all singing all dancing website for this!
Currently it is not great (especially issues on mobiles as it is not easy to use).
I pay a membership and I am strongly opposed to an additional booking see per sit.
Additionally, what if you are doing a 1 night sit or a 3 week sit?
That is hardly fair and will put a lot of people of short sits.
Along with many others I will be looking at my options. Plenty of sites pay for experienced sitters.
I am 100% not invested in your opinions, I’m afraid, so feel free to block me, ignore me, do whatever it is you need to do to avoid a situation where you feel so pressed to respond to any of my comments, particularly when they are not directed to you specifically.
After sitting with this a few days and watching the uproar, these are thoughts:
It was inevitable that the new corporate overlords would introduce some kind of service fees in addition to “memberships.
They made several serious errors in the rollout. The first and most obvious was forcing all members including premium members to sign some “acceptance” to new terms that you couldn’t even read in order to access your account. Then to have those new terms to be not so much changes but scary reminders of areas that Trusted Housesitters really never worked out or resolved – like what are a sitter’s responsibilities for vet care or home damage.
This was also bound to anger many housesitters. It still makes absolutely no sense that homeowners aren’t asked to provide a way to pay for vet care. There is no evidence that homeowners are resistant to this, and there are many ways that THS could add requirements to welcome guides regarding this or even for urgent situations where a sitter has to go to a different after hours vet, for THS to have a 24 vet authorization line and approve a transaction on the homeowner’s behalf.
Pushing past the sign-in fiasco, many people were charged booking fees (apparently) if they used the app even though the fees weren’t supposed to start until after renewal. It’s not clear if THS reached out to them or if some of them reached out to THS to fix this but it was another enormous oopsie.
Here is how they could have started to generate more revenue immediately without causing an uproar:
They could have introduced the booking fee to basic and standard level homeowners and only to homeowners. Most homeownersaren’t using THS more than 4 times a year and would hardly notice the new fee, and it also should have been clear that this wouldn’t start until renewal, but that they could keep autorenew on and agree to autorenew with premium at 20% off and or upgrade now and autorenew to premium at 20% off with an emphasis on the other added benefits of premium. This would have immediately given THS money for every booking made by a non-premium homeowner even if it would not have been as much from both parties. There would not have been much blowback.
They could have created some “a la carte” services for both basic and standard level homeowners and sitters that would pop up at every booking. These could include the services not covered by those membership tiers eg, cancellation insurance at a per diem rate, property insurance, 24-hour vet phone access, etc. They might also add other “a la carte” services like travel/flight change fees or something specifically appealing to sitters. While many would have complained about the pop up “options” at the start of every sit, it would be a much better look than what’s happening now.
There are probably a lot of other similar tweaks that could have been made to immediately generate more revenue that wouldn’t have irked as many people. Backtracking is difficult. Winning back the good will they’ve lost is difficult. They won’t do it by making a statement like “We’ve heard you so we’ll try to explain it better but won’t change anything.”
Real damage control would be to apologize to all members for the sign in acceptance fiasco, to apologize to people who had to pay booking fees they shouldn’t have and both refund and extend memberships as a concrete way of apologizing. Offer upgrade discounts for people who want to upgrade now, and/or upgrade at their next renewal. Refund any booking fees even for new accounts or counts that renewed after the announcement. Pause the booking fees on even new accounts to give people a breather and clarify what the new membership/fee structure looks like and make the announcement a week or so before things go into effect.
so why reply to me? 
That’s good to know. In 2026 I would be looking at Europe. I will have to spend some time highly filtering my searches as currently “Europe” also includes the high amount of UK sits. And I’m more open than just a singular country. Coming from Australia I can’t just pop over so it has to be planned in advance. I’m also not looking for farm animals etc of which I’ve seen a few. Might be keen to sit for you if you host also, or a house swap 
TP reviews score now 3.6 despite what appears to be a sudden surge of 5☆ reviews being posted.
Those 5* reviews are mostly very odd and suspect!
HiKC1102, As yet i have not received any email at all regarding the introduction of booking fees. I wonder how many others have equally not received? I know when the five application limit was brought in I did not receive any notification of that either. I also know that pet owners I sat for were equally unaware this had been implimented. They were puzzled by so few applicants and it was only when I explained that they were made aware. Are they continually introducing new rules etc. in an underhand way? If it had not been for browsing the forums, I would have been equally in the dark regarding the 5 applicant rule and also I would not have yet been aware, of the introduction of booking fees.
This forum has had its fair share of member discontent and THS bashing over the years, i.e. the 5 app limit to name but one. But nothing, absolutely nothing, has been so detrimental to the company as this new issue.
Trust Pilot, Facebook, Reddit, whatever social media site you wish to look at have all been absolutely slammed, hammered by this move, not just by THS forum members. We on the forum are but a few disgruntled members, a drop in the ocean to the overall membership numbers. We can yell and scream all we want but the majority of THS members will never see these posts because we are only a limited number of members on the forum. BUT!
When you look at the numbers on other social media sites, it is clear that this decision has caused global outrage, members that would never have posted a review before, ever, those that silently go about their business, have now stood up. Like it or not, the members are speaking and it is no longer about just this Forum - it is global disconnect.
To those who support the new fees, I have no issues with that, absolutely! Everyone in this world is entitled to an opinion on a public forum or otherwise. It is those that constantly, without consideration, that attempt to force their views down others throats, that I take exception to. I have said many times in the past. If this world was made up of people that thought the same, dressed the same, acted the same etc etc what a terrible world this would be. We are all individuals and our opinions have the right to be expressed. But not incessantly. I believe that we are entirely entitled to express our feelings and emotions if we feel absolutely strongly about an issue. I have still not decided which way to proceed with my membership, I have, and continue to look, at the pros and cons. But I have tried very hard not to try to push my personal thoughts on others but to give a realistic opinion on my own thoughts and situation - there’s a difference between that and being 100% one sided and blind. But for me personally, once I’ve said what I need to, I’m now done. The outcome, or no outcome from this issue, is now in the lap of the Gods, or whoever, and I just hope that I can continue to enjoy the love and enjoyment I get from those sloppy dog kisses and cat cuddles that I get from every unpaid sit that I do. THAT is why I sit - nothing more. It’s even gotten to the point that I stop strangers in the street to ask if I can have a dog pat of their dogs on lead, I miss it that much when not sitting. Good luck everyone. 
I am surprised that you got the referral promotion, given that there’s a standard procedure, which your friend did not follow. That’s hardly THS fault.
That’s the point for many of us. It is for me. I’m a premium member and I’m not directly affected by this change but I really don’t want to contribute to the enshittification process. I like to exercise my right to choose what I put up with and what I don’t.
They now say that the company has losses and that is the reason behind this change. That would be a reasonable explanation but if that’s the case, why not explain it straightforwardly. Why release an article where CEO defends just the opposite model?
Why ask members to pay more for a platform that they shamelessly say they
cannot promise that the Platform will be fit or suitable for any purpose
How can you increase the price of a produc that is not suitable for any purpose? I find that really insulting.
@Newpetlover in my experience with accountants and being in business, a company will often post a loss to avoid high taxation. This is common practice but looking at actual books can prove otherwise.
Probably not as bad as THS promoting their platform as a way for sitters to explore the world, then adding a Term of Service that says if a sitter doesn’t follow the immigration laws of most countries (which prohibit pet sitting by outsiders) that they are in breach of the THS Terms of Service.
I have read the the latest reply from Jenny and I regretfully, but very politely write, it is nothing but pure management “speak”. I was instructed to write many such narratives when I worked! If THS have heard the feedback “…loud and clear…” then you have chosen not to listen. Never in my whole time with THS (2022) have I read so many “angry”, incredulous or disappointed feedback on any subject! THS appears to have “hurt” 99% of its customer base! People are coming across as “angry!” You have mentioned “…continued investment..” - but please do not direct us to the bot as an example! Investment is important - but it appears that THS had a Turnover of e$50m in 2023 but I don`t know what its bottom line Profit was! Taking into account it receives annual fees from Owners and Sitters - plus I would think from advertisers and other subscribers - it appears it may be a healthy company! Considering THS does not pay its Sitters - who pay their own flights, other accommodation and food - it does come across as “corporate greed” to now raise another charge on its “community!” The message/fee does not come across as making the “…community special”. Personally, I am completely happy with the Platform as it is, I can undertake a few more searches if I want more specific information, and would rather keep it as it is, over paying for more enhancements! I had a quick check, and there are a vast amount of very short Sits in Europe! Do you think Sitters and Owners will be willing to pay endless €9,00 fees for a short Sit! As a Sitter I will not - and it puts Owners at a disadvantage. I think you will lose them.
You wrote “This isn`t about changing the core exchange or what makes this community special.” I totally disagree! That is exactly what is proposed! The reactions make that clear.
Finally, your final paragraph! If you are all listening, then you need to take the negative reactions to the Management Group who need to be made aware of your “valued” community members views. But, the content of the entire final paragraph tells me you will not, it is a “done deal” and you will go forward!