Hi everyone. I have a concern, and it may not even be necessary. I posted some dates for the end of the month, June 24-27 to be exact. Once we had an application we confirmed her as she seemed perfect. She sent me her rover site too and we researched her (and loved what we found) and then confirmed the application. she seemed anxious to visit her friend in our city, and all seemed well.
But now….
It’s been 6 days since I’ve heard from her. Even though I’ve sent several messages through to her, they remain unread. I also sent her a message through Rover as she has sent me the link and all for that so we could read up on her as she is new to THS. I did this mainly giving her the benefit of the doubt as she did mention she was new to THS and maybe she hadn’t gotten the notifications that there were chats in her inbox?
Is this abnormal? I can’t imagine it being normal as I would be in close contact with my point of contact for a sit, but maybe that’s just me. What are your thoughts? Anyone recommend anything that might help calm my nerves about our upcoming trip? We are going six hours away with two other couples and we have already paid for our Airbnb (no sits in the area we are headed), and the other four people have already taken off of work, and are in the midst of planning this vacation. We are the main couple (the other two couples don’t know each other well yet) so we have been spearheading the whole things.
I look forward to hearing from you all. Perhaps I’m just overreacting. Thank you so much!!!
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Did you have a video interview/call with her? I always make sure we have another form of contacting the home owner (WhatsApp, Skype, cell phone number) so that if we don’t connect within 24 hours, I try another method of contacting them. You can try contacting her through other means. Good luck - I would be concerned.
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I would also be concerned. If you hear nothing by tomorrow, you might want to contact Membership Services to see what they can do. Good luck, I hope there’s a plausible reason and things work out.
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Your June dates are still showing on your listing. This makes me think that the sitter you’ve offered the sit to has not confirmed her acceptance of the sit yet. Until she also accepts it is not a confirmed sit.
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Another option may be to list it in one of the other house sitting sites - I’m thinking Housesitters america .com - smaller network but maybe another vein for exposure. The membership is free for home owners on that site. Many of us sitters belong to multiple networks. Good luck!
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I see that this sitter fell through, but when I read your first post, I wanted to encourage you to relax and assume that your sitter was probably either busy on another trip or connecting with people or pets at another sit they may be on.
As a sitter I am often busy emailing several different prospects for dates I need to cover, or trying to catch up on work and personal life stuff and give the pets I am currently sitting for my full attention when I am not actively making other travel plans. I am also trying to do a better job of confirming things further in advance since I’m learning that HOs prefer that, even though my own travel style is more spontaneous and last minute. I get burned out if I spend more than a couple hours a day on messages and listings, but that doesn’t mean ones I have already confirmed are any less important, just that I am prioritizing and one of the challenges of this wonderful traveling lifestyle is to balance the time I spend planning with being present wherever I am right now. So my reaction to many of the posts like this from homeowners, especially the ones along the lines of “oh no, there’s only 3 weeks till my vacation and I haven’t confirmed a sitter yet!” is that they should relax and trust that the right person will turn up at the right time.
I looked at your listing by the way and it looks like one I would go out of my way for! Unfortunately I am in Texas and due to the cost of gas right now, it just doesn’t make sense to drive across multiple states for stays that are less than 2 weeks or so. This is really frustrating, but I’ve saved it so I can apply to sit for you if my dates and location line up with yours in the future 
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Hi @SunshineNCoastlines Your listing shows dates of June 23-27. Which is correct?
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The dates are June 24 - June 27. Not actually leaving until the 24, had the 23rd in there as a meet and greet day, if needed. Thank you SO much for pointing that out!!!
That’s a great idea! Going to check into that now.
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Hi @SunshineNCoastlines That may seem like a minor detail, but a day or two difference of the start and end date can be a big deal. This rings true particularly when considering that potential sitter(s) may travel from a distance away and would have to book a hotel, flight, and / or rent a car.
Yes, many sitters will arrive a day prior to get acclimated and meet the pet(s), but if the start date is on June 24 and the end date is on June 28, why not list it that way? You can point out in your listing that you would like to meet the sitter(s) the day prior (of the sit) or even the day of.
It was right until I posted it here on the forum. Thanks for mentioning though.
Maybe a good feature request would be a box for HOs to tick on their listings “sitter welcome to arrive the night before,” so that applicants can understand when the actual pet care requirement starts vs. when they are welcome to arrive if suitable for their travel plans. That way HOs can list accurate dates, and searches filtered by date could capture the day before if they had ticked that box.
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Hi @happycatsitter I like your idea and maybe that could be something for the future for THS to explore. Since I have been a member, I have understood that the start and end dates of the sit are the dates the homeowner has listed.
If the homeowner would like for me to arrive a day earlier, then that is something that is discussed during the video chat. Usually, that day of arriving before the sit begins is to introduce me to the pet(s) and give me a walk-through of the home and the pet(s) routine. And of course, we discuss what time I am needed to arrive the day of the sit and what time they will return on the end date. I have also had sits where I meet the pet(s) on the day of the sit a few hours before the homeowner(s) leaves for their vacation.
Either way, it is always beneficial to give sitters enough notice/time so that they can plan accordingly.
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I have put through several requests for sit through the other platform now also. Seems everyone is busy that weekend. Must be a really busy one! Fingers still crossed someone comes along. How do we, we homeowners, keep these things from happening? Perhaps that’s a post I should look for through that forum or maybe post it myself as a new question.
Quite honestly, since your sitter was hospitalized, I don’t think that there was anything that you could have done to avoid her having to cancel. That said, it is important to trade personal contact information once you confirmed the sit, so perhaps you would have known earlier. Many HOs prefer to have couples sit, with the theory that If one got sick or had a family issue, the other might still be able to make it. (But realistically, many are not going to leave a sick spouse by themselves in the hospital to do a sit) It is always a good idea to have a back up plan for cancelations. Perhaps a neighbor, friend or relative may have a responsible college-aged child who is home for the summer and could stay at your house to care for the pets, if you can’t find a sitter. Good luck!
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Anyone want a lovely long weekend sit in beautiful Branson, MO?? 