I agree. This five applicants and pause process encourages hastiness but it enables new and perhaps less committed sitters to apply and gain sits they might not otherwise have been selected for. From THS viewpoint obviously they are looking at the money business angle rather than the responsibility trust choice angle. As a sitter, this is the first time I have experienced ( on two occasions) on a couple of shorter sits that the owners have left the place unacceptably dirty, rushing out as we arrive, or leaving before we arrive, without any real care for the sitter or animals experience and apologising profusely whilst expecting us to clean up. I am afraid that these commercially motivated changes have detracted from the quality of the sitting experience for both parties. This is not just my experience, fellow sitters I have chatted with feel the same.
I contacted TH directly who told me to post again here on the forum because I said the issue of the 5 paused sits had been shut down.
So here I am.
I have been on alternate Facebook groups and nowhere is anyone happy with the change.
Why is TH not addressing the harm caused to so many owners AND petsitter’s with a change they did not consult us about or even inform us of.
This is unethical.
To make a major platform change when users subscribe to one plan is unacceptable.
Is TH refunding original members or providing cheaper membership? I’ve already dissuaded people from joining because of this. And whilst TH may experience a brief uptick in revenue due to new members accessing site they will lose long term memberships. This change says everything about how we are valued.
Which is to say not at all
I am having the same experience with some of the sitters I’ve talked to for our next vacation, which is coming up two weeks now, and we haven’t been able to confirm anyone because of the lack of response (they reached out to us first and we responded within 24-48 hours).
I’m not a fan of the pause after five applicants… 5 applicants who seemed eager in their first couple of messages but then went off the radar. I’ve had four sitters and have only had good experiences. Still, this new feature they’ve added makes it very difficult to find someone reliable who is genuinely interested/excited to sit for us. I get it: Chicago right now is not the most glamorous place to visit (winter), but our apartment is charming and super cozy, and our little dog is adorable and a joy to look after.
Hi @wendy_chicago welcome back we have missed you, we are merging comments where the main topic relates to the Pausing functionality to keep all feedback and content together for ease of access by other members and the internal team who monitor this thread.
I may have come late to this discussion but why oh why are only 5 candidate applications accepted per sit? By the time I see the post, talk to my husband to see if he agrees with me that it’s a good one to apply for, write my application letter, which is always a thoughtful, personal and pet-specific one, the sit application process has ended. I really find that quite unfair. Thoughts?
Well, I wanted to reply to the 02/03 post of geoff.hom re choosing the best number of applications before a pause is automatically applied but that’s been moved to the closed Conclusion of Application Test - Updated Post so I’ll post here and let it get moved over.
He mentioned a test that was done where people bought more jam when they only had 5 choices vs. 24. Back in the 1974 book “Future Shock” the author Alvin Toffler called that “overchoice” and said that rather than dealing with shortages, overchoice would be a major problem in the future.
Wow, was he ever right! Just do any internet search!
THS said there was a problem with the old application system where pet parents / owners might receive 20, 30, 40 or more applications almost instantly! I can understand that.
But THS seems to have gone from what they considered overchoice to almost no choice with the 5 app limit.
There are other options or ways to tweak the pause system. For example:
An automatic pause at 5, 7 or 10 and then an email that the pet parent / owner must choose if they want another 5, 7 or 10.
Let the pet parent / owner chose the number they want to pause at like 5, 7 or 10
Have a maximum number of applications, like 30
Now, why did I choose 5, 7 or 10? After a lifetime in sales I know people like 3 choices and if given 3 choices they will usually choose the one in the middle! (There are numerous studies showing this)
Frankly, I don’t think you need the 3 choices. Just like THS already did, pick a number, automatically pause BUT THEN let the pet parent / owner know they must take ACTION to receive another of the same number of applications.
That way it will automatically pause but the pet parent / owner has an easy way to control things.
The solution to make everyone happy is simple!
Over the last year we have booked many sits on THS but as I recently started searching for new sits there are significantly less available. It seems the 5 pause rule is hampering out ability to apply for sits in the areas we would like to travel. Five is too few for popular destinations and I hope that they will considering raise that number. I have many locations saved and there are currently few or no sits in any of them. This change is not working for me and seems many others agree. I foresee and increase in cancellations as people hastily book sits that don’t actually work.
Hi @Jdukartdc Thank you for contributing to the forum conversation and welcome to the community. Your comment has been positioned here in this relevant thread keeping all content in one place for ease of access.
@Ben-ProductManager @Angela-HeadOfCommunity People are STILL not happy about this change in the limit of applications to 5 - both owners and sitters alike. Will you please listen to your community and membership? Thank you
Dear Pet Friends,
we are a house-sitting couple with THS for four years now and (as many of you did) we started to notice something is wrong with the application process; seemingly fewer sits, fewer sitters applications, low quality sits, re-occurring sits marked as ‘new’ even though already seen the week before, sits in wrong order…even after selecting new sits, older ones appeared mixed within etc…
Here is the reason why:
You may or may not have been aware, that TrustedHousesitters has limited the number of house-sit applications to 5 per listing. This creates distress on both sides, for us as house-sitters as well as for house-owners, as we heard from several sides. Once a house-owner reaches 5 applicants, the system automatically takes the listing off the selection. Only when the house-owner declines one of the 5 applicants, the listing appears again as ‘new’, allowing one more application (this continues until the house-owner is happy with an applicant). This is tedious for house-owners (loosing unnecessary time) and for house-sitters frustrating (not being able to detect listings in time before they are paused).
Please let us know below, if you have issues with this problem in response
If someone from THS is reading this, please read our letter below and adapt your services to all our needs, if you are a member, please share it with the THS team, so we can have our wonderfully functioning THS platform back. There are enough new house sits out there for everybody, if only the house-owners could decide, when to put their listing on pause.
Dear TH-Team
We love your service but lately things have become less user friendly. We just heard you are limiting the number of applications to 5 per house-sit. This creates distress on both sides:
- House-sitters; When looking for a house-sit from a place with limited Wi-Fi access or having long work hours, they aren’t able to see all new house-sits before listings are switched to ‘reviewing’ within a very short time. This can be extremely difficult to get hold of a matching date in time.
- House sit listings are not long enough online to be seen by all members in their own time
- The daily ‘new’ listings are swamped with reappearing old offers, marked as ‘new’
- Listing display is confusing & time is lost by scrolling through previously seen offers
- House-Owner; it hinders them getting suitable matches for their pets. Due to the short application window, house-sitters seem to place quick applications without reading the needs of the house-owners properly, which leaves the house-owners with a too narrow choice of suitable applicants.
- Too small choice of applicants (due to many of them being unsuitable)
- Having to decline an applicant (thereby reactivating their offer as ‘new’) and waiting for one new applicant to appear; repeated until a match is found
- Choice of applicant due to time pressure & lack of choice, rather than being convinced
- Creates more work
- Draws out the closure time to finalize a suitable house-sitter
It doesn’t mean, if house-sitters are having fewer options, or are shown old listings as ‘new’ repeatedly they would then apply to a less desired house-sit (wrong Date, Location, Pets, Experience) – if it doesn’t fit it doesn’t fit!
If a house-sit has many applicants it also doesn’t mean these house-sitters are ‘taken’. The same house-sitters should be able to apply for OTHER house-sits. This gives more chance of a house-owner to find the suitable applicant; and more chance for the house-sitter to find a sit for their desired times (unrestricted for everyone)
One can clearly see that these new measures create stress for both sides; house-sitters and house-owners alike and limits a positive outcome.
Hopefully you consider putting it back as it was with an open unlimited application window.
Thank you
After the five application limit was introduced, we were assured that if you had an application open and were filling it in at the time, it would be submitted, even if the five limit had been reached. So I was shocked minutes ago to have written a thoughtful application on the mobile app, and when I pressed Submit, got a message that the sit had reached five applications and mine would not be sent through. I was so surprised, that by the time I went to take a screen shot, the message (and my email) were gone.
It’s bad enough that we couldn’t even get to one of our favourite sits in Europe for Christmas because they all closed while we were sleeping, so we finally stayed home. This behaviour is just an added insult to the whole 5-application process.
I’ve pressed the Help button on the main dashboard of the desktop site to chat with someone directly, and it’s now been spinning for 10 minutes. So reaching out here seems to be my only option. Help Desk, please respond.
I actually came on here to find out when this 5 application limit came into effect! and have now been reading about all the frustration surrounding the new process. It was a huge surprise to us as we are having such a hard time now applying “on time” to sits that appeal to us. I would love to know the reasoning behind the magic 5 #? I totally understand that owners were sometimes inundated with applications but 5 seems so low. We too have lost out on opportunities because of time differences and not even knowing about a house sit while we slept!
@Reliablesitter I agree. If TH want to introduce such a horrid system as the five ruling, it needs to be fair on both sides. If they are limiting sitters opportunities they need to limit homeowners also.
I read a post recently from a host who said there post had 5 sitters reply then get an automatic ‘sitters being reviewed’ added to their post. I was not aware of this before! Unless you sit on the computer all day and get in fast I think it is unfair that only 5 replies are accepted before being blocked!
It might be helpful if THS actually explained how they benefit from the 5 application rule given that the majority of sitters and owners find it very unhelpful.
@Liffy99 Moderators say that it’s only a small minority that are saying it has negatively impacted them and that those in favor of it don’t want to post about it. The help desk replies with how this has been positive , overall , for members. They tout it’s great success. I would like to see a poll/survey asking , straight away , if the change is liked by members. I’d really like to know.
I feel your pain. I’m quite perturbed about this 5 application max. I really hope THS reconsiders this policy.
Surveys are going out atm. I filled mine in today. It doesn’t specifically mention the pausing limit bit there is plenty of opportunity to express your opinion and feelings. Quite therapeutic really. Although I have sore thumbs!
I had not realised that there now was a five applicant limit but feel this is far too restrictive. I have frequently been offered a sit when there have been 7 - 11 applicants or more. And I once missed out when an owner had over fifty applicants. I was one of the l.ast to apply, as only just spotted it. However a couple of months later when they needed a sitter again they contacted me first rather than open to all on the site again. They could not face another fifty plus. But there are all sorts of reasons why none of a mere five would be suitable. Not fit enough for powerful dog. Difficult as wanting to fly in from abroad, or a young single person living not far away, who they are afraid may want a party, especially if over New Year. It really is far too restrictive and definitely needs a rethink.
Newby question relative to the 5-application limit. I’m curious whether the system would allow a rapid one-line application to be then enhanced with more info?