Hi
We are new to the platform, and we were so excited that we got quite fast a sitter confirmed which what seemed to be a perfect match. Now the sitter says she is ill and she does not think she is going to be able to make it (1,5 weeks before the sitting). She proposed us to wait and see if she is feeling better but we can not react at a very late moment. We decided to cancel and offer the sitting again, but we are worried because there is not so much time and we have already booked our trip away. We need to find somebody to take care of our 2 cats.
What a bad experience as the first one…
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I’m so sorry for this. These things happen to both sitters (who might have spent a considerable anount of money to travel to that specific location to look after a pet, and then has nowhere to stay) or to hosts (that don’t have a petsitter and wonder how they can travel and what to do). So for all it is important to have a plan B.
But there’s still time. Put up your dates again so your listing is live. When there’s 7 or less days to the sit, you are allowed to also publish your dates here on forum in the Last minute section.
If you would like help to optimize your listing, you can get help here if you put the link to your listing in your forum profile:
How to add a listing or profile link to your FORUM profile
Holiday sits are highly competitive. It could be that some locals would like to sit, for instance if they themselves get holiday guests and would like to leave their own home to homecoming kids or similar.
For peace of mind, do have a plan B at this point.
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Thanks! good suggestions.
But by a Plan B, what do you mean, a paying service? another sitter??? then if you were to cancel that is also not nice for them. Welcoming all suggestions.
One and a half weeks is plenty of time to get over the flu so it sounds like she has something serious. If this is a condition that can show itself at any time she should really put it on her profile. I would ask her what she is sick with. If she is just feeling miserable with the flu right now and just being overly cautious, she will probably be fine by that time. I would cancel the sit but tell her if she feels better soon to please reapply for the sit. I personally would have a phone call with her to see if she sounds sick. Hopefully this is not an excuse because she has changed her plans for the holidays. I hope everything works out well for you and whomever sits for you is a good experience in the end.
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I seriously do not think people on the platform need to give personal data like health information to other members or publish it on the internet open to all.
What need would there even be? Should I sue a host that claim to have a diagnosis I’m not happy with? Should I tell the host that they should man up cause it can’t be that hard?
If a partner wouldn’t take my word for me not being able to do the sit for health reasons, the trust for a sit wouldn’t be present for me.
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If it is a condition that would hinder you from performing a job it should be exposed. A condition that is managed by medication and does not hinder job performance would not matter. Although I believe the majority of people on this site are honest and responsible, I think it is naive to think you don’t have a few that would change plans during a major holiday. Maybe deciding they want to spend it with family after all or a favorite relative coming to town they haven’t seen in a long time. These are not paid sits so you can still pay your bills if you cancel and you don’t need repeat customers.
It’s just the reality. You can’t do a background check for character.
I understand needing an unexpected surgery that would keep you from a sit but what why would you have to cancel 10 days before the sit if you are ill with a minor illness like the flu.
Plan B is anything…paid sitter, family/friend that can cover you, kennel. Have another plan in case your first one falls through.
And yea, it’s incredibly annoying to be cancelled on as an HS, especially when the HO is not accountable about it.
It happens though so it’s best not to blindly rely on people and always have a back up was the point being made.
In this case, depending on your location and membership level, you may be ok to get coverage or potentially support.
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People saying “Plan B” but how? I get it. Suggestions here are great but here’s the order:
- Consider upgrading to premium tier now. It won’t help for the cancellaton that happened, but it could help if the same thing happens again with the next sitter if you do it before you repost.
- Repost and follow the listing advice suggested by putting the listing on the forum.
- Begin to consider other options without making a commitment: Contact friends and family who might do it or have suggestions. Contact local paid sitters. If you do find someone that works for you, go for it.
- Consider your needs: Could you get by with dropins (1-3 a day) or do you need an overnight sitter? Would you take someone new to THS if they had other experience?
- I get that you feel shaken about the reliability of the sitter that cancelled, but some illnesses – COVID, flu, etc are unpredictable. The sitter probably used their best judgement in cancelling but if they aren’t coming from a great distance might in fact be up to the sit , why not double-check with them? If you still haven’t found a new sitter in 3 days, and the sitter is felling on the mend, you can reinvite that person through the site and the problem will be solved.
- Many of these steps could be done at the same time.
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Some illnesses like flu and covid are unpredicable. When everyone got the omicron variant and it was “nothing” my spouse got pneumonia and was sick for a month. I had a flu that turned into pneumonia a few years ago and was bedridden for 4 weeks.
Sudden illnesses including of pets or family members can cause cancellations on both sides of the equation and even with paid sitters although they might be more likely to “power” through even if it risks the health of others!
What THS does need is better tracking and data on even “undisputed” cancellations. If “illness” is a reason for cancellation on the part of a sitter or homeowner once, that can’t be helped. If the same sitter or homeowner cancels often, it’s something that might need to be looked at by THS and even if legitimate, might be a reason to suspend an account until things are worked out.
@Garfield – Agree with you that personal health data isn’t another member’s business. We shouldn’t be policing each other. But THS should be doing more to make sure that the cancellation rate on both sides remains as low as possible, and that no one is cancelling without good reason.
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Not to politely ask how she’s feeling? Would you be able to diagnose just by hearing her on the phone? And what would you do if if you decide she’s fit enough to go on with sit? Go and drag her to your home?
Of course it’s frustrating for both parties to deal with a cancellation but even if there’s no solid reason, there’s nothing an owner can do to force a sitter to do a sit and there’s nothing a sitter can do to force an owner not to cancel or to leave or come back at the mutually agreed time and date. As a sitter, I don’t want to be in a house if I am not welcome, as a HO I wouldn’t leave my house and pets in the care of someone who is not willing to look after them.
What would be useful, as @Marion suggests, would be to keep track of cancellations. Some platforms publish the rate of cancellations and typical delay in communication. I think that would be helpful for people to decide if they are willing to take the risk. This would not prevent life from happening though.
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Marion, I actually agree with you. I am just a person who never gets sick. When I did get Covid last year in a foreign country, I was well in 5 days and I am older. I guess we all have different immune systems. This is the first time the pet parent is using TH. I feel bad that this is their first experience. If they don’t find a replacement they may not use the platform again. A loss to other sitters who may have loved the sit with longer notice and not during a major holiday.
When I was younger I was on a platform where you travel to different countries living with families for free room and board in exchange for teaching English to their kids. I would hear many stories from hosts about cancelations from people who decided their plans have changed. Most started to put on their profile must be over 25. They had better luck with people being responsible if they were over 25.
My thoughts were from many years being on the other platform and hearing the many stories.
“Never sick a day in his life” is something people sometimes say at funerals, isn’t it?
A lot of people who never get sick, got very sick in the last few years. Just like some of us are “able-bodied” until we’re not.
I do understand that some unscrupulous sitters may at times fake illness to get out of a less desirable sit, just like I imagine some inconsiderate hosts get cold feet about a sitter or think nothing of taking up their nephew’s offer to sit after the sitter is confirmed and make up a better excuse. That’s why THS should be tracking and looking for data and patterns, and members shouldn’t be playing detective by listening to see if someone coughs authentically during a phone call.
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I’ve got a Christmas sit, and another at New Year, and I am so glad that whatever it is that I’ve got arrived early enough for me to see an end to at least the worst of it before I need to drive to the sit. If anyone phoned me today they’d hear I’m not well yet.
But there are medical situations for HO and HS that don’t give the listener any clues, and there are also emergencies that any one of us could succumb to (and of course I hope we don’t) even if we are as fit as a fiddle.
Both HS and HO need to have a plan B.
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While I don’t exclude the possibility of the sitter having changed her mind, I can totally relate to this comment
That’s exactly what I would do if I was ill and I didn’t feel confident that I would recover soon enough for the sit. I think it’s up to the HO to decide what’s the best option for them. Also, I think some people, including myself, find it difficult to think positively when they’re feeling terrible, specially if there’s no clear prognosis.
I guess there must have been more communication between @IrinaF and their sitter before they decided to cancel, specially for a Christmas sit. But, being new to the platform, they might not be aware how hard it can be to get unpaid sitters at this time.
@IrinaF, any positive development? I hope everything works out well.
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If a sitter communicatedto me that she “might not” make it even for a very good reason, I’d tell her that I’d cancel the sit and begin to look at other options, but that if she felt well enough to do the sit, AND I had not yet committed to the option, I would welcome her. I’d also tell her I appreciated her letting me know what the situation was. Asking me to “wait” at that point is too big an ask and could make implementing a Plan B impossible.
The practical issue is that if you repost you can’t play around if a good sitter applies. You’d need to commit to that good sitter. If your nephew agreed to do the sit with his girlfriend and you think he’s competent, you’d have to commit to that. If you did a meet and greet with a paid sitter and they were willing to do it, you’d have to commit to that. So the only circumstance where the sitter gets the sit back is the one where they contact before Plan B is put into effect.
The maddening issue is trust… You don’t know whether or not the sitter is sincere and wants the sit or is using this as an excuse to get out of it while keeping their options open. And you’ll probably never know that. However, given the number of great sits out there, if the sitter does call and tell you they’re feeling better and can recommit, it’s probable she was telling the truth. (And if you don’t hear from the sitter again, you won’t really know and it won’t really matter.)
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Off topic but @moderators: This is also a situation where THS would do better and sell more premium plans if it changed some of the terms. In this case, the sitter isn’t initiating a cancellation. They’re asking the HO to “wait.” Waiting isn’t practical.
So the question is: IF the HO had premium would they be able to innitiate the cancelation in these circumstances and get reimbursement if they couldn’t find a THS sitter? They can’t really “wait” till the sitter “knows” because that could be the day before the sit and it would be difficult if not impossible to get a sitter at that point. I’d be very curious about how THS would handle this situation if the host had the premium plan and initiated the cancelation after getting this news.
I honestly believe that THS could scale up the number of sitters and homeowners if the premium coverage was just tweaked a little to cover these type of real world situations and presented that way.
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When I said I would do the same, I didn’t mean I would ask them to wait but make them aware of the situation and let them decide.
Regarding the insurance, I think in this case THS would have to initiate the cancellation process instead of the HO but I doubt they would until the sitter confirmed they were not able. The insurance is supposed to pay for kennel cost but those dates must be booked well in advance, I guess.
I agree it would be good to know how it works.
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Not just “kennels” but at home sitters too including drop ins. You just need proof you paid the person – not a friend or relative who did it for free.
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I had a last minute sit cancel due to illness or family emergency. They just say it and cancel. And there is nothing you can do. Luckily I was able to cover it as I was near friends and then went early to relatives for Thanksgiving. But it is annoying when you have something scheduled. Like I had a sit cancel in Feb. They were older dogs, one died when I confirmed, then the other died, and a 2 week sit in Fl was gone. It is what it is. I have paid out thousands for dog care. Didn’t know about THS. I just used my dog walker and paid out the money. That is the other option. And for sitters: hotels.
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How would you feel if someone phoned you if you were this sitter??