I am still relatively knew in THS and am not familiar yet with different scenarios that might arise.
I am going to travel for a few months in a Country in Europe.
I have some sittings booked during the time I will be spending there, I have some Airbnbs booked in between.
I have been recently offered a sitting which I accepted and today I have seen a new sitting for a longer time, with a pet that I know I would enjoy more and in a better accommodation. This would allow me as well to reduce costs of accommodation as I can cancel or amend most of the Airbnbs until few days before.
At the same time, I do not want to put the pet parent (the one who had offered me the sitting) in a inconvenient position. However, their sitting is in 4 month time and they would have all the time to find a suitable sitter.
Said all this, I have not applied for the second sitting yet, I am here asking for suggestions and advice, also based on your experience.
Last but not least, I donât think I am able to cancel the accepted sitting by myself, I might have to ask Support for this matter. Iâll ask them for their views on the matter as well.
Happened so many times to us. Been accepted for an OK sit then two weeks later the ideal sit is listed. We have always honoured the first sit we accepted. Donât want to get an unreliable reputation.
There are amazing opportunities coming to the site everyday, what happens if the alternative sit that you would âenjoyâ more also gets trumped by another sit youâve seen that would suit you more? As @ElsieDownie says itâs happened to us all, including me. We honor the commitments we make, never make them lightly and think before you accept.
We have a community based on trust, building that trust whether as a community or an individual, is how it all works âŚ
Iâm fairly new as both sitter and HO.
I would honor the first sit.
Totally underscore @Angela_L comments.
I think of it like this:
When we were looking for a house to buyâŚI looked nearly every day.
Then when we found our house we were thrilled!
I had approached our agent about 1 or 2 other houses that came on after our offer that looked better.
Our agent very wisely said âstop looking at housesâŚâ
For the dates in your schedule that are already filled with sitsâŚstop lookingâŚ
There is always âsomething betterâ in life, be it housesits or whatever. What you think you miss this time, the same opportunity will definitely happen again, and again, and again, itâs Murphyâs Law. My word is my bond and I have turned down on numerous occasions, amazing sits in better areas, better homes, better pets, better everything because of that. . The grass is not always greener on the other side as the old saying goes. Honour your commitment. As HelloOutThere has said - stop looking.
Weâve just had exactly the same scenario; we accepted an ok sit in a location we like but itâs a short sit (were getting slightly worried nothing would come along and weâve not long left on our current sit)
We need sits to fill the gaps (doing this full time) so was still looking and the following day a perfect sit was listed; 3 weeks, amazing location, amazing house etc etc
Gutted weâve missed out on that sit but weâre committed to the other sit and the whole point of THS is trust.
Once youâve confirmed/accepted a sit then honour it.
I agree with other commenters above. Stick with the first sit.
Tbh I start to think that it is best not to even look at the listings that come up for dates that we can no longer do. That way, you will not be tempted to think that a certain listing is better than something you have already confirmed.
I have saved many listings as favourites, and I get notifs when they post new dates, but I donât even look at those notifs anymore. For me the important thing is to look at my saved searches which are defined by the dates that I have free as well as country, pet type = cat, length of stay etc. But now I save those searches as âanywhereâ rather than country (even though certain countries do pop up that Iâm not keen on) but that is unavoidable as there is not an option to put in the country/place as Europe and UK which I what I am interested in.
@Mokina, I agree with all the comments about sitters honouring their commitments, once theyâre formally confirmed. Iâll just also approach your question from a different angle. How would you feel if owners cancelled you as a sitter whenever they came across someone they felt was a better fit?
As in life generally, Iâd say to keep in mind to treat others as you would like to be treated.
Once youâve accepted a sit, youâve made a commitment. Donât look at other sits for those dates. The sit youâve committed to will probably be great and other sits may be posted later that may help you to fill in some of your Airbnb dates.
Hi, Even if able to apply for the so called perfect sit, you may not actually be offered it. There are always difficult situations. I applied for the perfect sit once but then after over a week had not recieve a reply, so applied for another couple and eventually accpeted one. Then about three weeks after applying for the first sit, I was offered it. Unfortunaterly did not have my crystal ball, so had assumed would never receive a reply, let alone an offer. But I would always honour a sit I had accepted and not go looking, to see if the grass was greener eleswhere.
So true. We had to fork out extra ÂŁ1k no joke because I screwed up on the flight tickets (transit visa problem). I could have come up with whatever reason and cancel the first sit. But that would not be ethical to let the host carry the burden of finding another sitter. My mistake, my burden, I paid for my mistake. Later on, I also received an offer of a better sit with car included but it doesnât feel right to cancel the already accepted sit.
Yep, stop looking, otherwise you are going to drive yourself crazy for the next 4 months! There are often fantastic last minute sits - dead to us!
Also keep in mind- be sure your Airbnb bookings have free cancellation options, because you never know what other housesittings will come up to complete your puzzle.
You have confirmed the sit, the owner is counting on you. The grass is always greener on the side of the fence so stop looking otherwise you will drive yourself crazy. You need to honour your commitment. Itâs the right thing to do.
Once we decide to confirm a sit we immediately cancel any other applications weâve made with overlapping dates (with a polite explanatory note) and also remove everything from favourites that was earmarked for those dates too. We then adjust all our ongoing searches to exclude the committed dates. There will ALWAYS be a âbetterâ sit but thereâs no guarantee youâll get it even if you are available! Donât torture yourself with âwhat ifsâ! Every single sit has its value.
We have never cancelled a sit in order to pursue a âbetterâ one and never will! It goes against the grain and is totally against the spirit of Trustedhousesitters. Once a sit is confirmed both host & sitter rely on the other to honour the commitment made. Simple
Iâm gonna say something that might be seen as unpopular here but if you are really having second thoughts and it is that far away, I think you should talk to the home owner. It could be they had another applicant that was great that they had to decline but is still interested. It could be that they would just rather have someone who is all-in on their sit. It could be that they have no one else and will have to start from scratch of you donât do the sit.
As you say they have four months to find someone else, and if you think you are going to resent being on this sit then you should not do it. Itâs not fair to the HO or the animals.
That being said, you will have to fully UNcommit to the sit, meaning you canât wait to get accepted for another sit and then cancel the first one. Once you release that first sit, thereâs a chance you wonât get anything else. Is that a risk you are willing to take?
You mention you are relatively new, and as someone who has also gone through this (as well as many other sitters have) Iâd consider this a learning experience. We no longer book sits under a month that far out and they have to check ALL our boxes. Once we get closer to our time, some requirements fall to the wayside. You live you learn.
Never, ever, cancel a sit because something âbetterâ comes along - It is wrong on every level. Honour the booking you have accepted and look at it as a lesson learned. In the future make sure you are 100% sure before confirming sits.
âI think you should talk to the home owner. It could be they had another applicant that was great that they had to decline but is still interested.â
I had an invite recently for a great sit but was already booked so couldnât do it. The sitters had cancelled on the homeowners last minute so they were really in a jam. They told me that they had received an application originally from a perfect sitter but decided to go with the sitter who cancelled on them (thinking they were perfect also). When they got back to the other one who they originally liked, she was already booked up so they were left high and dry and had to start the entire process all over again. So what started out as relatively easy for the homeowners quickly became a nightmare and highly stressful for them. We must always try to look at both sides of a situation and not just our own.
