I’ve been uncomfortable about the motive given by Ben for this experiment since the beginning: to produce ‘more successes’, referring to numbers of houseowners who find sitters and numbers of sitters who apply and are chosen for sits. And perhaps gross numbers of sits completed because many sits never come off? All other forms of ‘success’ aren’t considered. It’s not exactly double-speak, but it is creepy to see this phrase repeated over and over without regard to how many other things ‘success’ can mean.
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@Angela_L my impression of what people are upset about is the silence from THS and silence speaks volumes.
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I never posted much on the Forum until this 5 application pause insanity.
I’ve tried to think of some good analogy other than New Coke (which still applies) and may have one to put things in even more perspective for THS.
Imagine a professional sports team needs one new player and holds tryouts.
People show up for the tryout and after the first 5 go through the gate, the team says, “Sorry, the rest of you are too late. We think we’ll find “success” with these first 5. But if we don’t we’ll let you know and you can come back.”
So, rather than having 25 potential players try out and choosing the best one, they’ll just pick from the first 5 that showed up or not pick any of the first 5 and hope some of the others come back later.
Think they’ll get the best player they could?
Think the players who were turned away might not return or might join another team?
Can you imagine tryouts for a team being run that way?
I can. I can also imagine that team being in last place or the team falling apart completely.
I hope THS stops the 5 application pause insanity and continues to be a winning team.
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Hi Angela,
The problem is we are not patient or understanding anymore.
We are sad and disappointed and disillusioned .
We feel ignored and disregarded.
Not one suggestion has been implemented to try to alleviate problems being flagged on this forum for two months.
The fact that this pause would cause major problems for people applying in another time zone is a major flaw from the perspective of many. This test has changed the behavior of your customers as they try to adapt.
Communication of this test was abysmal and deliberately under the radar so many people still have no idea this is happening.
We deserve better. Sometimes disappointment is more damaging than anger.
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@anon1411559 Exactly! Any good manager knows that communication is key and this doesn’t seem to have been happening in this case. Surely some kind of update could have been made acknowledging the concerns expressed and giving a timeline for a more in-depth response to the ‘test’.
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The majority may not be complaining because they don’t know the 5 application pause is happening as it was never mentioned in an email and never asked about in the survey.
THS could have sent out something in the past 8 weeks but hasn’t.
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@Els I’m sorry your impression of US based businesses is so low … there are many many fine US businesses that have similar revenue scale to THS and have a great deal of heart, good stakeholder communications, etc.
My friend, the Google, indicates that Rockpool, the investment broker that facilitated the THS investment package is UK based. Just because the news release denominates the investment in USD, this does not cause the company governance to change (perhaps it has, but that’s probably not relevant anyway).
I suggest/request a little less assumption and generalization, as that can only contribute to unfounded prejudices. I think it’s fine to express concern or suggestions about THS customer relationship style issues, but to tie that to generalizations about country of operation seems both unnecessary and unhelpful in a world in which we are all connected and ought to be cooperative.
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Hi @anon1411559 I completely get that however unless there are relevant updates with pertinent information on progress etc., which is what members are looking for and which we want to give, numerous “thank you for your feedback” post will be of little relevance or benefit and may not be well received either. We have been giving appropriate updates as and when they became available, I refer to Ben’s updates throughout this test.
We have been trying to maintain a fair balance for members.
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I’m concluding that ‘saved search’ emails are no longer worth looking at because too many of the sits contained have closed by the time I get the mail. Please note @Ben-ProductManager
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Would it not have been a relevant update to communicate that this test in now entering 9 weeks, rather than the 8 weeks originally stated in Ben’s communication?
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@BruceT Exactly! Thank you for your well-phrased response.
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Great resuming analysis of the issue !!!
Only few~~ .
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I am going to make one last point, before resigning myself to wait to the latest “update”.
I am a homeowner looking for someone to stay in my house, where I have all of my worldly possessions, and where I have decided to entrust a stranger to stay.
More importantly, I am going to ask that stranger to take care of another living being. One that I love, and is part of my family.
I want to choose from the best pool of applicants I can. NOT the first five people or couples that happened to see my posting. My home, and my pet are FAR too important to rush the process.
This unannounced and forced “TEST” is destroying that fabric of trust we home owners had in your service.
This has gotten to the point that people are now threatening to leave, even if you decide not to implement it, based primarily on the apparent disregard for your loyal customer base.
So, whether it’s investors, a board, or some other ‘business innovation’ reason for doing this, it has severely backfired.
Perhaps it’s time to immediately scrap this absurd idea, apologize to your members, and get back to providing a good service?
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That is my point! That’s why I want to inform them via fake sit applications/invitations.
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That would be a possible solution IF you know that you are only going to receive 5 applications and you can turn them down and get more. We did not know what was happening or why we did not get more applications. We should not have to try to work around a system that we are paying membership fees for annually. Also, I was never informed that the system was changing. There is just so much wrong with this whole program!
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Well said! As a HO we also take great care to read the applications and profiles and the reviews of sitters who apply for a sit. I find it very disconcert that THS has taken it upon themselves to change a system that was working well for sitters and HOs with a devastating result. From now on I will immediately decline every sit application that does not meet my criteria so as to receive the applications that I want and need. I am very dissatisfied and disappointed that this change has made it more difficult for me to receive qualified applicants.
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Very well said!
If the HO does not know about the 5 applications pause they WILL choose one they do not want because they think they have no alternative. This is bad for HOs as well as sitters!
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@Crookie- But that’s not how we home owners usually select the best candidate. We choose the BEST of the applicants. That means we get in a pool of applications, we rank them, then we conduct one or more interviews. From that point, we then select the best and ask them to sit for us.
We don’t usually look at the first five and say- “Wow- this one looks great, they get it!” So now we have to ‘decline’ the first five, and write a long reason to state that 1. They have not been selected, or 2. They are in our short list, and we will get back to them.
Meanwhile, the listing is locked, and no one else can apply until we decline one or more of the first five, then manually open it back up again.
What if the ‘perfect’ housesitter is blocked, and doesn’t bother to search and find us again while it’s open? Oh well- guess we just have to settle for the one that was quickest…
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Very, VERY well said!
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