I totally concur to leave it as it was! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! That would be my ideal wish. However, as most things in life, I’m just looking for a compromise. If it were open 24 hrs at least every time zone in the world would at least have a chance to see it.
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@Lassie You make a really good point! There are only ~6500 users on this forum. That’s less than 10% of THS reportedly 100,000 members. I suspect it would take a much larger uproar than we are creating here to get their attention. And even then, would it make a difference??
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See my suggestion above about notifying members. I have a joint HO/sitter membership. I said that I am half-seriously considering inviting every THS sitter to a fictitious sit at my house, just so I can message them about this change. Similarly, I could apply to every sit that is listed with a message about the change, and then immediately withdraw my application. People power!
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I don’t believe that THS management really cares what the members on this forum think. If the 5 app limit makes more money for the company, they will probably keep it. They are probably happy that traffic to the site has increased, as sitters check more and more often to avoid missing out on desirable sits.
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I do wonder how THS – or Rockpool – envisions this 5-app limit bringing more revenue. I wish they would just be transparent about their reasoning. Someone in this thread mentioned that if one sitter does 6 sits in a year, they still only pay one annual membership fee. But if six sitters each do 1 of those sits, then THS gets six membership fees for those six sits. Is that it? Does the 5-app limit skew HO’s choices to new or inexperienced sitters? Or is it something else? What’s the money angle?
Rockpool, which funded THS twice to “accelerate growth” (in 2018 and 2021) is a company that exists to serve its own private investors. It says, “We source a flow of investment opportunities in established and profitable private companies and offer access to these via our Private Company Portfolio Service.” Elsewhere, Rockpool speaks to investors in these words: “Invest directly in the equity of well-established and profitable UK private companies aiming to grow rapidly. Our target is to multiply capital by three times or more over a 5-year period.”
Facing this financial powerhouse, it’s hard to see our little forum having much clout.
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All of these complaints could have been avoided if THS had simply
(1) sent out an email notifying ALL members BEFORE implementing the 5 application pause insanity test and
(2) included a brief survey asking about it.
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I have a financial investment background and I cannot figure out how the 5 application pause would make more money for THS either.
I can understand how it may mean fewer applications stored as data in their system or processed but the amount of data that would use considering applications are only text has to be minimal.
Anyone have any ideas?
@Wetravel as others have alluded to above, THS may be looking at teired access membership levels. Want full access to platform? Pay more money. Again, I hope im wrong about this.
I’m willing to give THS the benefit of the doubt that the change is just about trying to improve user experience, where trying is the operative word… but it baffles my mind that the auto pause feature could actually be doing this when looked at comprehensively!
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I am very upset with the auto pause function. I am a paid member and an adult who can handle communicating with sitters on my own. Your auto pause is making it incredibly difficult to communicate well with sitters and find the right one .
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Well put! I think you summarise how most of us feel. The worst I think is that TH don’t appear to be listening, I have approached them on multiple platforms and they give me the same canned reply re management blah blah …!
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@Pawtastic Thank you for writing this! The system can’t appease everyone all the time. I’m sure I’ve missed out on sits because I was sleeping or doing something else. Just move on and find something else! Haha it made me think of the saying, “You snooze, you lose!”
Thank you for this post. I’m on the other side of the ledger, but I appreciate hearing from owners who take their pet care seriously and want to be sure and find the best match possible. I’ve been on the site for over 6 years and have been diligent in my professionalism, and adding reviews, all to be knocked out of consideration before I can type up a simple application.
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I’m about done. This test needs to stop, and just go away!
I’m sick of getting alerts, but because I don’t live on my phone, by the time I go to look, the listing is closed.
I’m sick of searching for listings in an area, but all that shows are unappealing, demanding sits. And I know it’s because anything more appealing gets swamped and disappears quickly.
I’m sick of no longer being able to apply and even have a chance on desireable sits.
The site no longer works for me, I will no longer actively recommend it on social media, and if this continues I’ll be cancelling my membership and leaving the site.
There are other available sitting sites that are no micromanaged, nor restrictive and discriminatory. I have no doubt those sites will get a huge influx of new members if THS continues down this path.
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I’m curious as to how you received so many applicants - dozens of them, during this ‘five and pause’ test period.
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I can see where maybe someone at THS is seeking the tiered memberships
Of course, we already have tiered memberships!
But maybe THS wants to make more tiers
And more tiers
And more!
Somebody puts the old stats in their spreadsheet and says “Look how much more money we can make! if we make all these tiers!”
That would be a BIG mistake and members will leave and go to competitors and won’t come back as they won’t trust THS.
THS needs to keep the current tiers and pricing. It works a lot like health club memberships. Many members will only use it a few times but still pay their fees.
I very much like THS and have had 25 sits since joining about 3 years ago. The current THS system works! Get rid of the 5 application pause insanity!
Now I’m off to the health club for my daily workout (yeah, right)!
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The steps Muralha had to take to get more applications were crazy!
Plus, I can promise she still missed a LOT of great potential applicants.
If I’ve got a search going and the same home keeps coming up and then going away due to the 5 application pause insanity, I’m not going to spend all my time chasing it and hoping I might get an application in.
Stop the 5 application pause insanity NOW!!!
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My personal feeling is that the trust has already been lost and even if this pausing test is brought to an end it will take a very long time for that trust to be rebuilt.
For those of us who have witnessed how our concerns have been managed here on this forum I doubt that trust will ever be re-established, we will always be watching out for the next move.
It just makes me so sad. 
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Can you clarify some dates please.
You posted 19 weeks ago that you had over the last 6 weeks been testing the functionality.
In my mind that means this has been going on for 25 weeks. Is there an end in sight, obviously a very unpopular feature.
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I have a short form letter saved in my phone’s permanent clipboard. As soon as I open the inbox to apply I can insert this message. It takes just as long as pressing a single button. Perhaps this is something you can try?
Also, you know stuff has really hit the fan when Peter and Colin are unhappy. End times.