We’ve recently experienced two applicants for our sit say they would be having people come with them. Both said their people were also on THS, but one applicant wouldn’t provide a name. I understand the rules, but am wondering why there aren’t checkboxes, when preparing your listing, for guests/no guests and children welcome/not a place for children?
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I’m not sure what you mean by checkboxes but we state explicitly that we do not accept applicants with kids as we want the focus to be on our dog nor do we want that liability if anything at all were to happen.
Re:guests, we are explicit that it’s a case by case basis and we need details for anyone that comes into our home. Purely from A security perspective asking for this makes sense.
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Not providing a name is a red flag.
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Generally, the checkboxes THS provides for HOs aren’t shown to sitters. It’s best to write your requirements in your listing. Lots of people occasionally travel with another person (family member, friend) and it doesn’t really make sense to add them to the profile. If that’s something you would never consider, just write in your listing that you don’t accept co-sitters who are not specifically listed on the profile. Same for guests or children. It makes it much easier for sitters to choose which sits to apply to when HOs are clear in the listing.
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@jkburnham664 Your home, your way, your rules. As full-time sitters with over a dozen years experience and in excess of 150 5⭐️ sits, we always always respect our HO’s wishes. It’s already a lot to ask, despite scores of 5⭐️ reviews, for you to trust giving over your home and the care of your fur babies to complete strangers, add to that friends and family of said complete strangers …. Be very clear in your listing and the sitters that are worth their weight in gold would not even question your boundaries
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The “default” is No Guests. In the THS terms and conditions, it is clear that the Sitter should not have any guests without explicit permission of the Owner. You should not really have to state this in your listing, but if you don’t want to deal with sitters asking about guests, it would be a good idea to make it clear in your listing, “No Guests.”
If you are open or closed to children, it would be good to state this in your listing. “We welcome families with children.” or “We do not want children in our home (under X age).”
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Just say in your listing “Our sit is not suitable for children under X age”… And “We are happy to consider occasional guests, but we would ask that we be given their basic details.”
It’s very normal.
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Checkboxes. Check or click the box next to Guests welcome or the box next to Guests not welcome. Same for children. It would be easier to have it be an option on the listing rather than the homeowner having to list it out. My opinion.
Of course it is. They were declined.
I understand the terms and conditions. That is why I was kinda surprised that two applicants asked. Since there aren’t any other options, the HO has to specify. It seems that THS would make something like this be part of the listing. One of the questions the HO has to answer is: Is your sit suitable for sitters bringing their own pets? THS could easily add similar questions for guests and children.
Except that for some hosts, the answer is conditional, rather than a simple yes or no.
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I think check boxes make things too black and white when many people are flexible in this exchange. As a sitter I could say absolutely no third parties, that’s the rules. No cleaners, gardeners, workmen, friends that need to come by and pick up something that was forgotten, adult children coming by to pick up something. Whether I agree to those things is dependent of the specifics of the situation. I think it’s the same for co-sitters or guests, some HOs would say no and others would say it depends.
I think for most HOs a check box would be difficult since many are flexible and would decide on a case by case basis.
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I am not sure how an owner’s answer to that question with the tick box appears in the listing. I am not sure that it does. Perhaps someone else can clarify.
Is your sit suitable for sitters bringing their own pets?
When I search for a sit, there is no filter for “sitter can bring their own pet.” That question might be simply for research purposes, or to make the owner think about whether or not they would allow sitters to bring pets.
There are filters for “sitter can use owner’s car” and “family friendly.” So there must be tick boxes for these items when an owner creates a listing. To me, “family friendly” means that children are allowed.
The system is definitely not perfect!
There either is or was a checkbox for whether one’s home is suitable for children. As others have said, there’s a lot of information HOs enter that isn’t visible to sitters, which does a disservice to both IMO.
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I just checked on the app and in my host listing I don’t see a checkbox or slider for anything that even remotely resembles a “family friendly” selection.
Edited to add: Our listing has a “family friendly” tag on the listing. I think I was prompted about it during sign up but don’t see any way to modify it, at least on the app.
If every possible question a sitter could ask a home host, or visa versa had its own checkbox, it would take forever to fill out a profile.
It makes far more sense to make your own judgement as each individul question is asked.
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My listing states that our sit is not suitable for children but I still get families apply. I politely decline.
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The only guest I ever request is my daughter, who is a grad student at USC. I sit in the LA area and ask if she can stay for a weekend etc. She is helpful if there is more than one dog. But I describe her etc. I have never been turned down, but to bring guests that you cannot even get a name is very questionable.
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Hi everyone,
I wanted to swing by and share a link to a new feature that has just gone live.
From today, when preparing a sit, you’ll be able to state if guests are allowed to attend the property from the outset as well as state if the sit is suitable from families, as well as if sitters can bring their own pets too.