I would add that we shouldn’t accept indoor cameras. You can’t be sure they’re turned off. Everything is monitored remotely with the phone. Some models also record sound. Everyone is free to accept or not, of course, but I don’t want the HO’s watching my private life like a Netflix series.
@Solela - I am admin on, with 259.000 members. I think is the biggest UK Facebook group (I am happy to be corrected!) Just for the record - We don’t allow the promotion of big platforms on our group.
I was talking about Facebook Group House and Pet sitting Europe and UK ( 700 017 members ).
My upcoming sit changed dates to add 5 days. I agreed to this before it was done. I was charged a booking fee for this!
I guess you can be refunded. It’s just one sit.
Sorry, i completely disagree with you. Do you think you are doing sitters favors by having the care for your animals and home? It’s a trade. I just spent two days telling people how THS sitters don’t get paid, that it’s a trade, a win-win for both. Many were in disbelief that sitters were not being paid.
I get the same reaction. Disbelief that we don’t get paid, I only mention membership fee but not booking fee. I’ll leave before I pay the booking fees.
I totally agree, even though sitters are all grateful to have free accommodation, Sitters do real work every day.
Feeding the animals
Walking the dogs for hours
Grooming and brushing
Cleaning the litter box
Watering the plants and garden
Pool maintenance
Collecting mail and deliveries
House monitoring
Some homeowners are more demanding than others. I have sometimes received longer lists of tasks than usual, which I willingly accepted without overstepping certain boundaries.
Sitters should not have to pay booking fees in addition to their membership. It is very clumsy and shows a lack of consideration.
Furthermore, the benefit of free accommodation cannot be compared or evaluated in the same way for all sitters; some have a greater need for housing than others, while some are simply looking for the company of animals and a brief escape from their usual home environment.
It is therefore a truly unpopular measure that is causing irreversible damage.
Not to mention that many homeowners on THS are strict about how long sitters can be away during the day.
If you read the listings, you’ll often find that you can only be away for four hours at a time.
I’ve even had many interviews with homeowners who only wanted nomads workers who would stay and work from the house all day to keep their cats company, even if we all know that cats are sleeping most of the time !!!.
When looking into other platforms—specifically Nomador—I got the impression that the profile and atmosphere are different; the homeowners seem less demanding. Their listings very often include a comprehensive section detailing local tourist attractions.
There is also no mention of the number of authorized time out !
How can the social differences and expectations in this platform be explained ?
I even wonder if this borders on unpaid labor. I haven’t read THS’s terms and conditions; I assume their lawyers have airtight clauses, but startups these days have already tried to push the boundaries by exploiting gray areas.
Have not found that to be the case — not when I was a member and not when I’ve checked back recently.
Okay, it might just be a coincidence.
You didn’t make any difference ?
Don’t know what you mean.
Do you remember when THS said last December booking fees was like a boarding card 
Then they announced it would improve our experience. I’ve seen no evidence of this but have noted from this forum, and facebook groups, shortage of sitters, many experienced sitters leaving when renewal comes up and so are repeat hosts. Many agreeing agreeing sits off platform. Why can’t they admit it was wrong and revert to how it was before many more leave 
To pay booking fees on top of membership fee when we sit for free beggars belief. OK rant over.
Yup, “heard your feedback” but maybe not heard how many are doing sits off platform? I don’t sit a lot so I don’t have much opportunity for this, but, I will be doing one this month, 2nd time for these hosts. They let their membership lapse and contacted me privately. I’d love to know what percentage of the membership that existed when the booking fees were introduced, are now connecting outisde THS. Most of them are likely not on the forum.
Agree with @Sarah22 – can’t they just say “we’ve re-thought this…” …? 
Have you noticed a difference regarding HO on Nomador—specifically, that they might be less demanding than HO on THS ?
Nomador listings are skimpy from what I’ve seen recently and from a couple of years ago. Even less info than on THS. Who knows what the hosts actually expect.
I was checking to see whether Nomador had improved and it still sucks, unfortunately. Wish it were better, because THS could use some decent competition. I especially find it a waste of time that Nomador shows sits that have already passed. I figure it’s because they try to pad their listings, because the offerings are paltry. And I find one-day offers, which they also show, a complete waste of time as well.
This is a great point. As a HO. I’ve had the same maths issue. I heard that some basic memberships were upgraded with no extra fee as a softener, but I wasn’t offered that at renewal. It’s definitely made me look at other options for pet care.
Did you find any that were worthwhile? I didn’t, very few applications compared to here. The sit is on the island of Cyprus (near Turkey)