No chance to applicate with the jetlag !
Especially for Europeans who would like to apply for the United States, you have no chance of being in the top 5 with 8 hours of time difference unless you no longer sleep and spend your nights with your eyes opened on the application.
The original intention of this service was to allow you to travel wherever you want. It becomes a service that favors the locals.
It’s too bad.
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I am a homeowner who was seeking a sitter, and have experienced the same frustration at the ‘five-only’ rules. In years past, I have been able to secure sitters quickly and reliably–but with the new rule, the process has become egregiously complex, cumbersome and lengthy. Whenever communications are throttled, there is a breakdown of free interaction. This policy is backfiring in a significant way–I hope the owners ease up, and allow us to communicate better and faster by jettisoning this unnecessary rule.
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It’s disconcerting to discover that people are STILL unaware of this unwelcome change to how sitter’s applications are handled.
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I live in Los Angeles, and since the 5 application limit began, my chances of getting any sits in European countries I would like to visit are almost none. I’ve been a member for 7 years, and I feel they did not think out the impact the changes would have on people who would like to travel, which is the whole point of this site!
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@Silverfox Yes, there is a way to prevent this: THS could cancel the 5-application limit “improvement” and allow homeowners to determine for themselves when to pause their own listing.
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I am not looking for sits in London as prefer coast and country areas but I do think this 5 applicant limit is very wrong. Most of the sits I have gained in the past there have already been 7 - 11 applicants or more when I have applied. I am not always that quick to spot them. It seems so unpopular with most people. In my opinion it should raise to at least 12. I am sure it is not popular with pet owneres either, as may feel they have to choose somebody, who they do not feel is really suitable.
This hadbeen moved over by adm,in from another thread.
I would like to add that I have only very recently found out aboutg this new 5 applicant rule, which must by why i had seen some sits and gone back to apply a couple of days later only to see they were no longer there. Why was everyone not notified? And I have certainly not seen any survey regarding this.
I am somebody, who when I do eventually spot a sit. (I do not look every day) I think it over and research exactly where it is and then get around to applying, if I feel an area I would like to explore etc. Some sits have been there a week or more before I have applied in gthe past. And even if sits have had 15 applicants I have ended up getting them. Now it looks like I will have a very limited choice. Or will have to apply quickly on impulse, before checking it out and deciding it isn’t quite what I want after all.
It would be far better if all home owners could choose the limit of applicants they wish to recieve. I really do not like this 5 applicant ruleat all.
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I’m not sure how best to respond to questions / requests that have been made to have a survey done that is ONLY about the 5 application pause.
In a previous reply that is on the closed pausing application test forum topic, Angela said:
“There have been many requests for a channel to leave feedback regarding the 5 pausing. THS has answered that request by providing a survey to all members who are actively using the platform. In the survey is a section for free text where members are able to leave as much feedback as they choose and we would encourage you to complete your survey when you receive it.”
While not seeking to be combative, having a survey with free text for responses is not very beneficial when (1) it is evident many members are still not even aware the 5 appli ation pause has been put into effect and (2) the survey did not mention the 5 application pause.
Accordingly, please do a dedicated survey ONLY about the 5 application pause which would alert all members to the policy, get feedback, and maybe even consider possible alternatives.
And please share the results with THS members.
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@Wetravel Thank you for your feedback and suggestion. As this post is about a survey request I will move it off of this thread as it is off-topic, however, I have copied it to the internal product channel so they will see your feedback and suggestions. They also monitor the thread that it has been added to. Thank you for your constructive feedback regarding 5 pausing on the recent survey.
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!
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Hi Angela, looking at 123kitty’s post its not about knowing the procedure or gaining help, its about their frustration with this 5 sitters only rule.
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Getting a sit has become almost Impossible with this newly introduced option for owners to close the applications whenever they want! Most of the times when i get notification from the app, the sit is already “reviewing applicatins” and gone, and that is not fair! So even the app doesn’t work right, and we can’t rely on it. You should either remove this option entirely, or set mandatory for owners to have applications opened for at least 12 or 24 hours. We are paying for our subscription to this website, and we all should have equal chance of applying and getting a sit, which has become almost impossible with this new option.
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This new rule of 5 applications and automatically closing is ruining this website, the whole experience and the point. That should be removed A.S.A.P. so all sitters can get equal chance! It should be mandatory that sits remain open for at least half a day if not 24 hours! Especially because the app is not really working well, and many times when i receive notifications and momentarily click to check, they are already “reviewing applications”! and that is of course not fair. We will definitely NOT renew our subscription if things stay like this.
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I think the maximum review of five applications is thwarting all the popular city sits. I have been a member for over five years, and it is frustrating not to see actual city sits in New York City or London for example. What is the point? Again, there are no active sits in my borough of Manhattan right now. This is a hugely popular area and vast location. The “New York” city ones are lumped with suburbs again and I think one is in actual Brooklyn. Again very misleading and too frustrating for those seeking sits in these areas. Before this five maximum limit, there were oodles to choose from and that is how it should be.
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I don’t know if it’s just me of if other sitters are facing the same issue. Despite logging on to THS almost twice daily and searching for sits in specific countries, say, Italy or France, I only see the posting after it’s closed and the pet parents are reviewing applications. The posting would still say “new”, but it wasn’t there in the morning. Like, an hour or so, even less, after I searched and there were no postings for that country. I upgraded my membership Premium, thinking that having the basic or the standard memebership was the issue, but that didn’t change anything. I use both the app on my phone and log on to the site on my phone, but still, postings appear only after the owners are reviewing applicants.
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A few months ago, THS introduced a new policy where sits get into “review” mode after the owner received 5 applications.
This means that highly popular sits “disappear” after sometimes 15 minutes!
Checking twice a day is therefore no longer enough. Do you have "saved searches’ set up? You can save a search for Italy and when an owner posts a new sit, you’ll get a push notification and can then apply straight away.
The notification usually pops up straight away, but there are bugs…
So basically if you’re not within the first 5, you very likely missed your chance.
If none of the 5 first applicants suit the owner, he/she can reopen the listing.
Hope that helps?
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I am having the same issues. I can’t see any new hosts at all in the world on my laptop, day after day. I’ve refreshed, logged out and in again many times and nothing. Then I jump to my phone and see tons and favorite them and then go back to the laptop and they are there by even if I search for that specific city I can’t find them. I can only find them if I have hearted them. Frustrating for sure.
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I don’t know if it’s just me of if other sitters are facing the same issue. Despite logging on to THS almost twice daily and searching for sits in specific countries, say, Italy or France, I only see the posting after it’s closed and the pet parents are reviewing applications. The posting would still say “new”, but it wasn’t there in the morning. Like, an hour or so, even less, after I searched and there were no postings for that country. I upgraded my membership Premium, thinking that having the basic or the standard memebership was the issue, but that didn’t change anything. I use both the app on my phone and log on to the site on my phone, but still, postings appear only after the owners are reviewing applicants.
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@Bluehorse I totally get where you are coming from. I can almost guarantee that before the five rule, there were MANY more sits in Europe available to browse at any given time. But because they are being taken up by people living in the same timezone, the chances of securing a sit in Europe is now pretty much zero for me, coming from Australia. By the time I wake up, all sits have been posted and limit reached. I have not renewed my TH membership because of this as I usually fly to UK to sit but wanted somewhere in other places in Europe this trip. I continue to monitor this forum in the hope things will change and I can renew. But as they are simply all gone because of the time issue, I have given up. Noticed an increase in sits in the USA though but the legalities to sit there plus cost of travel insurance makes it not so inviting. But there is without a doubt, many less sits “available to apply for”, in wider Europe, since five came about.
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Thanks @ziggy , good to hear it’s not just me who has the impression that the (im)balance between UK and rest-of-Europe sits listed on the site has become yet more extreme since the 5 application rule was introduced, which on average makes the ‘scarce’ non-UK sits disappear from the listings even faster.
Yes I can imagine that when you live outside Europe it has become near-impossible to apply for Europe sits due to the time difference. I do live in Europe though, and I equally struggle to find non-UK sits these days - roughly since September’22 I’ve had a lot of difficulties securing sits. I’ve only done 3 sits since, 2 of which were in the UK. The 3rd one (non-UK) was a lucky strike. Normally I would have done more sits by now though in that same time period.
Nonetheless, this is not a thread about the 5 rule - that already exists (although it’s closed), but it did make me realize that the rule contributes to an even greater imbalance in listed UK vs non-UK sits at a given time, as the latter have on average a shorter ‘turaround’ time before they switch to reviewing status
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I am extremely dissatisfied with the 5 application limit. I just went through the listings for NY where I have a saved search. I did not get notifications for any of them. By the time I saw them, they are all reviewing applications. Huge disservice to the home owners as well. I always get my best pet sitters way past 5 applicants. The best ones are busy caring for pets and homes. Not sitting on their phones waiting for a notification.
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