We’ve finally broken down and activated a second account in order to deal with the overlapping sits restriction. Does anyone know how to link them? We’re trying to make it as easy as possible for a HO to find our reviews.
Thank you!
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Watching with interest, but for a slightly different reason. Hopefully lots of replies 
You could always include a url to the other profile in your application message/profile and explain why you have two profiles at the same time. It’s the low tech option in case THS doesn’t cater for something more high tech atm…
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We are thinking about doing exactly the same. It is so hard to get all the sits perfectly aligned. We have joined a couple of more groups as well.
Our overlaps are two days at the most and each sit gets the utmost attention from one of us. I can honestly see why they have implemented this rule but its a case of using a paint roller to put on nail varnish. We all suffer because of the few who find something better and cancel a confirmed sit or leave the animals to their own devices so they can move on early.
Grrrrrrr.
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I am VERY technically challenged. Is it possible to include a pdf in an application? I’ve tried it on my phone and it doesn’t work, could it work on a laptop? Please don’t laugh at me? 
Don’t think you can add any attachments @ziggy - you’d have to do that later in an email once you’ve connected. Out of interest (& if not too nosey), what do you want to PDF and send?
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@Cuttlefish all my many reviews from the two other sites I am on here in Oz. During covid lockdown it was necessary for me to use these sites as Oz didn’t open to international travel until 2023. I do offer to send in email in my applications but with the five rule, HO’s may prefer to move on rather than wait for emails. Before the ruling I had no issues but now with first past the post, it’s much harder
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You can add a file if you store it in a google drive, then share that google drive link.
All my guides are google files so it’s very easy to update and share them this way.
Happy to break this down more if you find it confusing. This approach would require that you have a gmail account although im pretty sure Microsoft also has a similar share drive feature.
We transfer is another option but that requires sending a download link to people, which is a bit more invasive and you’d have to make a new one for each time period as the links expire.
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Ziggy could also quote the reviews and/or insert a link to them when sending an application.
@bakindoki so yes, I use Google Drive, have a Gmail account. Currently I store my reviews as a PDF as I update that pdf after each sit. So, if I store my reviews in Drive, I can add that to my profile page or as an attachment. Are they added to the attachments area? Thanks for your help.
No, you can share the document via a link by changing the share settings on the document and making it public/viewer only.
Example: I set up a Jpg of my dog’s CV this way
NOTE: you can also share google folders in this manner in situations where you want to share multiple documents via one link. I sometimes do this when sending a static preview of our dog’s info, etc.
Hope that helps! X
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Thanks so much @bakindoki , I shall practise/attempt this tomorrow (pm here in Oz now). Looks like I can work this out 
x
Hope this is helpful to you also @Myhnabird as this is your topic.
I’ve been a member for awhile and usually travel solo. A couple of years ago, there was a pet sit that I was interested in, but they only wanted a couple. We then signed my husband up for his own account with TH and I applied for the sit. I provided his name to the pet owners so they could find him on TH where we live. When the review came in under my account, we did a screen shot and posted to his account in the photos so it’s there as well as in mine. A couple of weeks later, I was invited to another sit and asked if he could join me. I asked the pet owners to send the invitation to his account so he could get the review, which they did. Not long after, he did a repeat sit for them on his own as I had another commitment. Since then, if I am invited to a sit and I’m busy, I ask if he’s interested. If he is, I let the pet owners know. So far, he’s always been accepted and the owners have been very appreciative.
I’m pretty sure some members are treating THS like airbnb with pets - applying to anything that may be of interest then picking a favourite and canceling the rest. It’s not a great strategy for airbnb (from a hosts perspective) but it’s a disaster for a HO. And I agree with you - THS needed to stop that sort of behaviour. Your paint roller analogy is exactly right but let’s face it - it’s much easier to use a blanket policy like no overlaps at all rather than fix the problem properly, which would’ve taken more effort.
We are also on other platforms and have had great success with them in Australia and the UK. But they don’t cover Europe very well, which is our area of interest. I’m not thrilled with having to buy another membership but for the moment, it’s the best option for us.
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@bakindoki I have not been able to post hyperlinks in the THS email platform.
Links only copy as text when I have tried.
Are you able to post actual hyperlinks?
You can’t make hyperlinks as far as I’m aware but you can copy-paste the text. I’m not sure why it makes a difference.
I will use a URL shortener if I feel the the link is too long but I haven’t had issue with sharing thinks even if they’re not “clickable”. Generally people know how to copy and paste a link to view a page.
@bakindoki hyperlinks are more convenient I think.
Thanks for replying.
I am not sure I agree with this.
A - Because none of us has any idea of the size of this ‘problem’ - THS told us recently that there have been over 3.6 million nights of petsitting completed throughout 2023. With that confirmed information, how many cancellations are needed to realistically necessitate this sweeping rule that has caused so much disruption, expense and missed opportunities to so many sitters and home hosts?
B - As far as I know, sweeping cancellations have never been an issue for Airbnb. We were hosts for 13 years with thousands of bookings and I was Admin on a large Airbnb host Facebook forum. Cancellations were never a big issue to be discussed.
I wonder how many home hosts failed to get sitters over the Christmas period because of this ill-thought-out and ill-timed rule?
We opened a second account just before Christmas and noticed a short Christmas sit with no applications ten minutes walk from where we were currently sitting. I applied explaining that we would be overlapping but are happy to help out. They were delighted!
Had we not opened our second account we would not have been able to see their predicament
We received their review yesterday, it said "Karyo & Colin have been wonderful pet & house sitters. We were let down by another couple quite late & didn’t think we were going to be able to get away, but Karyo & Colin saved our Christmas! "
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This is the THS I thought I was signing up for - a group of people who want to help each other and have the happiness of pets in the forefront of their minds. Instead, we have a corporation who’s goal is to keep their investors happy and HO’s, sitters, and pets fall somewhat lower on the importance scale.
And yes, I know I’ll get censored for my comment.
Congratulations on your wonderful review, Colin. It warms the cockles of my heart 
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Love this!
That being said though, I would still prefer the rules as they are now where double booking is not allowed as opposed to the other way around.
If the vast majority of sitters were like you, then great…but they’re not. The long and short of it is that whether through ignorance/naivety, lack of experience or carelessness chances are they’re not going to be taking this level of care and consideration when thinking about double bookings… most people are opportunists. I don’t say this to be pessimistic, but instead to be realistic. Even when they do, if an issue arises, that’s going to be extremely messy to sort out.
The system will need to be built in a way that works to prevent the most mistakes/mitigate human error for the majority. If TH had so many issues with double bookings gone badly that they actually felt it worth while to devote time to adjusting the system, that’s very telling.
The people who are willing to take the care to make double bookings work will do what you, @anon10466095 and @ziggy have, which is set up a second account and manage them responsibly. These are also most likely the people experienced enough on the platform to understand how to maneuvre and juggle the proper overlapping of sits in a way that does not cause others to suffer.
I think a better conversation could be had around discounts for what is clearly a second coupled/paired account as opposed to allowing for double bookings because on the HO side, they’d be a nightmare if TH doesn’t have the capacity to track and hold everyone accountable…which to be honest, is very difficult from a legal perspective as well if you think about sit liability…
RN, liability is traced from start to end of your sit, if you have multiple sits running…it gets super messy because where do the lines start and end when you are effectively claiming to be in two places at once? At least with a dual account, one person is point responsible for one locale and another is point responsible for the other…which makes a lot more sense. If you work something out under the table with your HO’s awesome, but if anything goes wrong, it’s on you at that point if you’re technically in two places at once.
So yea, it would be easier for us to view stuff, but if you’re actually trying to do multiple sits at the same time (which is basically what we’re saying), I get why it would then be multiple accounts and how this removes a lot of ambiguity and ensures each sit is covered, even though it’s more apparent work on the exterior.
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