Conclusion Of Pausing Application Test - Updated Post

Angela, could you please ask Ben to respond to the points I made in my initial post.

Hi again @CAadventurer if you could tag Ben in your original post, he reviews this thread daily and will respond when he is back online.

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Hi Kelownagurl, For sits in France, try Nomador.com

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@Ben-ProductManager
Such an awful decision! You cannot dictate how people use their decision-making. I live in a popular area and need to receive as many requests as possible and will pause the applications when I feel I have enough. I also need the time to screen them carefully and consult with my partner about the choice of a sitter. I personally try to do this within 24 hours and I always send a note to everyone about declining them so they can find another sit quickly.
Often people are good choices but until I can actually speak with them, I like to keep my options open.
I also do not like to feel “rushed” to make a decision like this new policy forces people to do. It should be a choice if people want more than 5 applicants or not, not imposed! Or make it at least 10!
Please reconsider this!! I may have to move other sites if this stays. So awful!

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I am moving over to Mind My House.

But since the THS team isn’t sharing the details on the detailed market study they performed to come up with this change, I wonder if in a couple months they would be willing to share how many members they lost, and the decline in revenue…

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A sitter that sends a quick message stating that they are typing up a more detailed response I am okay with.

But I have received quite a few: “I want to stay, look at my profile” type short messages. So, I have to wonder how many of those short messages are from applicants that never put in the effort, and how many feel that they are forced to do so because of this new process.

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Hello @Angela_L and @Ben-ProductManager, could you please explain why the post stating the thread would close at 3pm 24th and re-open at 5pm 25th, mysteriously changed to re-opening at 9am on 26th? In addition, when the thread did close on Saturday, there were over 1000 posts visible, yet on re-opening on Monday, approximately 50 posts were missing; the total showed approx 950. Why was this?

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Want a way to keep those applications coming even with the terrible automatic pausing feature that THS has imposed?

Decline your applicants with a note saying that they are not really declined and that you will get back to them ASAP about your REAL decision. Apologize for the fact that you had to do this but reassure them that they are not really declined. Then have the courtesy to at least inform them later of your true decision.

This is absolutely ridiculous, but so is this new policy. Pausing applicants should be a personal choice and not imposed.

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This describes the ludicrousness of this new policy perfectly. THS are beginning to show themselves to be who they now are - all about the $ from new subscribers and no respect for the original ethos behind the original company.

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Elsie,

" Suck it up buttercup " Really!?

This is a very rude response to someone who has a different opinion from yours.
Because you have said something twice does not make it a fact.

It remains your opinion.

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The Trusted Team responded to my review on Trust Pilot to say ‘they do not shy away from being a business’. I certainly don’t have an issue with a business attracting new members and making a profit.
What I do object to is them not listening to or communicating with their existing members and not being transparent to potential new members, especially re the cap.
I know I keep raising this issue but if they just send an email to all members explaining the new rules a lot of this would go away.

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Hi All.
We just want to pop in here with a gentle reminder in case this latest discussion has the potential to become personal. Thank you so much.

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I saw another workaround, where a HO listed “fake” dates so that people could apply and then be in her inbox contact list. I don’t remember the exact wording, but she said her reasoning was that - once e-mail contact had been made in the past - sitters could apply for future sits via direct e-mail, even if the 5-app limit had been reached.

I know that HO used to be a frequent contributor to this forum, but haven’t seen her lately.

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Are invites sent out by PP´s (HO´s) included in the count of 5 applications? Or are they in addition to that?

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I just wanted to confirm, that personal invites (private dates) sent out by Pet Parents/Homeowners, are Not included and don’t impact the 5 application count.

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I apologise if you took that expression as rude. It was nothing to do with a different opinion to me. I’m all for civilised debate. I was referring to the change THS has made. In my opinion there is nothing we can do about it. We can talk about the rights or wrongs all day long but it boils down to it’s their company, their decision. The fact is they are in the business of making money and as someone else pointed out they have new investors who obviously want more returns for their capital.
So, the bottom line is we leave or we “suck it up buttercup”.

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I don’t believe it is a choice between leaving and “sucking it up”. I think it is the duty of any business to listen to it’s customers or risk failure. The minute you put the investors before your customers(us) you risk your businees being “flushed down the pan” as my granfather would say.

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Reputation is everything in business today, so I think that as loyal customers we have a responsibility to share both positive and negative feedback, particularly with a company based on income from membership.

You may be right and THS may chose to ignore its customers but I believe that any business and its investors should be listening to its customers. And I am happy to share my views.

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Hi @Reubendog we explained the reason for closing the thread at the time, we also had members of the Forum team who were unwell. We need a full team in order to manage our global community effectively to give all of our members the best possible support, because of the extra demands of this thread it became necessary to extend the timings.

As for your second observation regarding post numbers the thread was closed and re-opened and no administrative actions were taken during that time …

Post Update: Apologies @Reubendog the reason for the lower post count a very active member had requested to leave the forum, when that happens they have the choice of leaving their posts/content or deleting, this particular member chose the latter and we are in the process of managing their request.

Thank you

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Hi @Angela_L I notice that the exact number of applicants is now appearing so does that mean all the changes have been implemented?