Cancellation by sitters

[geoff.hom]

Hi @FJLOVER. I’m still confused on what happened.

@FJLOVER

This year we have had four sitters withdraw, after they have committed to the sit. Once we have a verbal agreement, we have paused the site to more applicants and declined other applicants.

You don’t have to pause the listing manually. Also, in TH terms, a verbal agreement isn’t a commitment. A TH commitment is described here:

How do I confirm a sit or a sitter?

1. A sitter must apply to a set of dates on a pet parent’s listing.
2. The pet parent must then confirm them as their sitter via the message thread in their inbox.
3. Lastly, the sitter must then go into their own Inbox and in the message thread click ‘agree to sit’.

After the sitter has confirmed via the TH website/app, this happens:

If you confirm a sitter via the platform, this will automatically decline other sitter applications you’ve received and notify them that your sit is no longer available. You may wish to still send them a personalised decline message as a courtesy.

• from: https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001933697-How-do-I-decline-a-sitter-application-to-sit-for-me-

With all that said, here are some suggestions/notes:

• Since you currently seem to be experiencing some sort of “cancellation,” don’t pause your listing prematurely. Let the system do it after the sitter has formally committed. And until then, keep interviewing applicants. You may want to let them know you’ve invited another sitter (if you have), but that statistically you’ve seen sitters not commit, so that’s why you’re still interviewing.
• If they formally commit and then cancel, then let TH know so they can at least let the sitter know this is frowned upon. For more info, please see:

What do I do if my sitter cancels?

• Premium PPs have sit cancellation insurance:

What is Sit Cancellation Insurance

• You asked “how to encourage only applicants who are willing to stick to their commitment?” You can veer toward sitters with more reviews, or perhaps local (less things can go wrong). Couples (if one gets sick, the other can pick up). Retirees (more flexibility? more money/experience to fix issues?). Parents/families who sit together (more responsible?). Really I’m just brainstorming here. There will always be exceptions all around.
  • You can put something in your listing, like “Only serious inquiries need apply. We’ve had several sitters confirm and then cancel lately.”
  • You could ask the sitters what they would do if they had a personal emergency before the sit (e.g., sitter has car totaled).
  • Or ask them their MBTI (Myers-Briggs).
• PPs should always have backup plans, emergency contacts, etc. Some things are outside the sitter’s control.
• If you link to your listing, we can all give constructive criticism on it. Who knows?

How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile

It’s important to firstly understand that your FORUM PROFILE is different to the profile you have as a member on the main TrustedHousesitters’ website. We do not allow links to profiles or listings in forum topics or posts (see guidelines here), but you can add the link of your TrustedHousesitter website profile or house sit listing in your FORUM PROFILE. The process is slightly different for owners and sitters. Note - We would recommend you do this on the desktop version as it’s easier to ma…