Can a declined applicant re-apply, either on their own or at the behest of the HO? There are applicants that aren’t ideal sitters for my situation (because they’d bring their own pets to the sit) but if push comes to shove I would accept them. I’m tempted to decline them so I can get other applicants that could be a better fit. However, if it’s not possible to circle back with them if no other applicants pan out, that could be problematic. Thanks for clarifying how this new 5 app limit feature works.
HI @pdxgal
Even if you decline an applicant who has messaged you and they have an inbox thread with you, they can still contact you at any point, and visa versa, even if you do not have dates.
I would suggest that you message the applicant first to explain that ideally you do not want a sitter’s pet brought in, so you will need to decline them to see if there are maybe other applicants who can help that do not have pets. If you are unsuccessful, you may then reconsider.
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Good to know, thanks.
As a sitter I have wondered this too. And I know that I have sometimes been picked as a second or maybe a third choice!
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I declined an applicant and later on reopened the applications to have more choice. The declined applicant re-applied but I was unable to re-decline them!
so they kept on occupying one of the 5 possibilities until I made my final choice.
Any chance of this being made impossible in the system in the future?
@Xenia1802 That sounds like a pain if you could not decline someone that you wanted to. As far as I am aware you should be able to decline any applicant that applied, even if it was for a second time. I will pass this on to the Membership Services team so they can have a look for you. Please look out for their email and you can reach them at support@trustedhousesitters.com Thanks for flagging this!
This has happened to me twice with sitters I declined, but actually they are not using a ‘spot’. If there was a previous communication and you declined them, they can message you again but they don’t use a spot.
I thought a HO could reach out and invite one petsitter specifically? So that if you have declined an application, you could send an invite later on?
As a sitter I usually move on if an application is declined. If you would like to consider them later, it can be a good idea to give them the reason when you decline, and say something like «if I can’t get a petsitter without a pet-companion, I would like to come back to you if you don’t mind, and hear if you are still available».
Unless you’re already pushing up against your 5 applicants, you can probably let it go for a bit.
I’d simply explain that to them: “Having other pets isn’t ideal, so I’d like to give it some time to see if I can find a sitter as good as you otherwise look but who doesn’t have pets. Would that be okay with you?”
As long as you’ve got an exchange with them in your recent inbox, you should be able to pick up the conversation again and ask them to reapply if they’re still available.