We are brand new to THS and this type of arrangement. We have always paid sitters or boarded our animals.
We posted a stay and had several responses, some of which were not good fits. We arranged a phone call with a promising couple. They had great reviews and I was eager for them to accept. They wanted a week to think about it. Today I got a message that said they had been approached by a family they previously sat for who paid their travel and stocked the fridge and freezer. They said because we asked first, they would give us the option if we could match that. I was stunned, and felt like it was a shakedown. I asked a friend who has used THS for a long time whether she had experienced this and she said NO, that’s not the way the site is supposed to work. I then read the code of conduct for sits that says they are supposed to be free of charge.
I wrote them back and quoted the code of conduct and said that’s not the way the site is supposed to work.
Have others had similar experiences? How have you handled?
Please report them to MS as they can’t do that on this platform. Asking for any kind of payment is not on & yes, sounds like a shakedown. If sitters want a week to think about a sit then they’re not your sitters IMHO. They know or they don’t if they want to sit for you! #rumbledforsure
Completely agree. They have applied for the sit so they should be interested. IMHO, it’s OK to take a bit of time once a sitter knows all the details that were not listed and were not expected but a week is way too long. Also, asking for time to reconsider a sit goes with the risk of losing it. It has to work both ways.
Agree with others that you should report them to THS.
I think they knew that having you wait a week would result in other sitters that applied withdraw their applications and they would have a better chance of you giving in to this request. Please report them. THS will probably give them a strict warning and may remove them if they get other PP reporting them as well. First red flag, they had you waiting a week.
Report them to THS. Use the words «member dispute» as that is the phrase that will trigger THS to start an investigation.
I am a sitter myself, I don’t want members like that on this platform. That’s blackmail in my book.
If you don’t get good applicants, an option if you wish to do so is to link your listing to your forum profile and start a topic where we can help out and see if something could strengthen your listing, and get better matches for your sit.
We’re sitters, that should never happen, no sitters can request anything of the sort, it’s a kind-hearted community. Report them, report them, report them.
Be thankful you had a lucky escape, and you discovered their personality types at this point. You definitely don’t want them caring for your pets and your home.
As others have said - please let Membership Services know.
If you drop us an email to support@trustedhousesitters.com with any relevant info - and a link to the sitter’s profile - we’ll be able to take action.
Seems like I have been seeing more of this going on. Asking for travel or especially groceries for sitters. Im wondering if these are sitters new to the platform that haven’t really read the THS rules or policies. I don’t know if THS needs to put this is bold lettering but this is absolutely NO PAYMENT of any kind to be paid out to sitters. This is a free exchange. And if sitters are telling homeowners that they have been offered money or expenses paid, they are either lieing to see if you will take the bait or they are not reading the policies. They must be reported.
Thanks everyone, I appreciate the responses. I’m sure this is unusual, but these folks need to understand their commitment to THS for find another platform. I will report.
Hi, yes, we just had a similar experience. We had a sitter who appeared to have misrepresented her experience/interest in watching a large breed dog. She became unhappy with the sit almost immediately and by day two asked us to reimburse her for the ride service cost to our house because it was further away than she thought and also mentioned that we didn’t have enough food that she liked in the house. She stated that prior owners have asked her for a list of her favorite foods to be provided while she stayed. We were shocked and had to politely state that isn’t part of the TH agreement. We had provided one of our cars, which she confirmed would be used for grocery trips. She threatened to leave the sit and the requests began to feel like a mild form of extortion.
I have posted over 20 sits since joining in late 2023. We’ve had a few repeat sitters. I live in a popular area and have a way of shutting things down before they start up. So very few issues.
I had one last minutish sit. It was odd dates, and I thought I’d secured a sitter but I hadn’t. There were a couple of red flags but a local sitter said they could “help” and I accepted. They picked up keys, dropped off some of their work materials (costumes) and contacted me a few hours later to report that my cat litter made them wheeze but they’d be happy to take the sit as a paid drop in. To which I replied that I couldn’t possibly risk their health and had plenty of neighbors who could do drop ins if it came to that. When could they bring the keys back because I didn’t have a lot of closet space and couldn’t guarrnantee the safety of their materials on account of cats and limited closet space? (I found an awesome sitter as soon as I reposeted. And yup they did take another sit that overlapped my days.)
There was another local sitter I contacted because reviews sounded great and they’d favorited me. They informed me they only did local sits for pay – fair enough – but if that’s the case why favorite my sit? I said I wasn’t interested in that. Just curious. A few months later they applied to a sit and I declined reminding them why I wasn’t interested. (I found an awesome sitter anyway.)
There are a lot of applications where I just know there is know that something is off. I decline them and move on. By the time I have a chat, there’s usual been enough exchange of questions or comments that things go well.