Hi all-
I’m new to the forum and a host, so not sure if this is the right category. I’m lucky in that, living in London, I’ve always been inundated with wonderful applicants and have had great experiences on THS - where ideally, I feel like everyone benefits (the host, the sitter(s), and the pets!). I try to be honest, open, flexible, and realistic.
I’d hadn’t been able to agree dates with my ex, so was later in posting than I would have liked, and honestly had no idea Christmas sits were so hard. Yet it very much seems as if there are far more sits than sitters for London over Xmas. Despite all this, I thought I had a sitter all sorted, only to them back out.
If anyone can offer any advice on my listing, or if anyone on THS is interested in a London sit with two 5-month old adorable and friendly kittens, and an affectionate bouncy pup - please let me know!!
On top of that, I’ve just had, what to me, was a rather worrying exchange. I’ve reposted my sit when the sitter I’d chosen backed out, and have had an old applicant see my new post, and offer to take care of pets with a sit they’d agreed AND my own pets (about a 45-minute tube ride away) IF I would help out with their airfare. They’re now offering to stay at mine instead - How do I handle this?
Wow! NO!!!
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Nope. And you can decide whether to report them for trying to double book and get airfare.
Ditto @PVGemini
I’m confused. You are in London. This is a NY sitter looking for airfare? That is all kinds of wrong. However, I have a combined membership and the reason we aren’t sitting this Christmas is because airfares are INSANE. Unless you are already at a location, it makes no sense to travel there for a Xmas sit, especially if you could go other times of the year.
I did wind up taking a mid-January sit, and I am having more trouble than I’ve ever had finding an experienced sitter who didn’t join yesterday for a NY sit!
Is the issue not getting applications or is it getting lousy applicants. If the latter, I’d be heartless in declining, so you can get more applicants. You can always tell people that you need to see more applicants but will come around to them again if needed. Plans change. Plans get canceled. I wouldn’t give up.
I’m also beginning to suspect, that possibly sitters aware of the glut of homes, may be trying to get more from homeowners – stipends, travel paid, etc. I can’t prove that. I have no evidence, but my experience with this January’s has been very different than anything previous, and I’m beginning to wonder if I’m missing something.
It can also be more difficult if your plans are flexible as a new product update will keep sitters from applying if they have overlapping dates confirmed, so they can’t even ask about date changes.
NY is New Years!
If you’d like us to look at your listing I suggest you attach it to your forum profile. Here’s how:
Welcome @ShannonL
Firstly please report the sitter for requesting you pay their air fare. It’s very wrong and against THS T&C’s.
I made a post a few weeks ago about the number of listed Xmas sits in greater London with no applicants. I haven’t checked this week but it was in the hundreds.
I’m a London based sitter but after a short Xmas visit with family I’m doing a repeat sit from the 26th that was agreed in June. I’ve been approached a lot by London HO’s asking if I can do a Xmas sit in recent weeks.
Unfortunately this year seems to have far more listings than sitters. However I do hope you find someone.
Yes, NY is New Years, sorry, NOT New York. I’m also wondering what is up, as I have NEVER had any difficulty finding sitters, and suddenly - most of the applicants for this sit (and there were far fewer, and I’ve spoken to friends who’ve had the same so I know I’m not alone), don’t have reviews or references. I appreciate everyone has to start somewhere, but surely if you haven’t had a chance for reviews yet, you would put references up. This sitter who offered to double-sit IF I would help pay for her and her boyfriend’s airfare had no reviews and had just joined. So I guess the issue is both - far fewer applicants and less quality.
Also, I was declining, but am now regretting that as many of them have been booked up. I also wonder if I missing something, as it has never been like this before. Unfortunately my dates aren’t flexible, but I have heard there is a glich that if a sitter is ending a sit on one date, then can’t start a new sit on that same date - that should surely be an easy fix for THS…
You can start and end a sit on the same date @ShannonL (we’ve just tested and done it) but you can’t have an overlap 
Thanks for the tip - I’ve added this to my profile here now. If anyone has any advice - the sheer number of sits still available over Christmas is really making me panic, so any suggestions welcome. Or if anyone is interested or knows other THS members who are, please let me know!
Hi @ShannonL - a lovely looking sit and beautiful pup. Please add a picture of the sitters bathroom to the listing, also things like Netflix and Apple TV etc if they’re home alone over Christmas. Maybe offer to leave a hamper as that would be kind and might sway someone. The only thing that flags are all the missing sitter reviews - if there’s any chance any of them can be added that would be helpful but might be tricky in the time frame. Fingers crossed for you all 
@ShannonL While the sitters request was inappropriate, airfare cost is why I’m not sitting this Christmas. I’m a US based sitter and the airfares to the UK are exhorbitant, so I’m staying home. I think travel costs are a consideration that has kept many sitters at home. Plus, my own senior dog would need care if I left. I’ve just moved so my home is not ready for a sitter so I’d have to pay 80 dollars a day for her care while I was gone too. Hopefully travel costs will normalize and I’ll be traveling again soon.
@ShannonLeone
This sitter should be reported to member services
E-mail support@trustedhousesitter.com
No sitter should offer to “back out” of a sit they are already on !!!
It isn’t a glitch @ShannonL - it’s a recent introduction by THS so unfortunately there isn’t a fix.
I’ll definitely add a bathroom pic now, thank you for the suggestion. I’d never bothered to chase up sitter reviews, even though I’m still friendly with a number of past sitters who never left reviews (though I left one for them), and now the review has closed sadly. I’ll make sure to do this in future though. Thanks again for the tips!
Your idea to split the Sit is a good one. It should be much easier to find someone to cover the last half of your Sit. Sitters cannot even reach out to you if they are already busy (on a THS Sit) during your dates. Are you also aware of the new 5 application rule? In the past, you probably would get 10+ applicants, but now you can only get 5 at a time.
But when I try to end one host-sit and start another on the same day, it won’t let me? I need a sitter for two weeks over Christmas (24 Dec - 7 Jan). I do have a previous sitter who would be happy to come, but she can only arrive on the 27th. So I thought I could ask for either 24 Dec - 7 Jan -or- 24-27 Dec. It won’t let me do that, which I can understand, but it also won’t let me split the sit into 24-27 Dec AND 27 Dec-7 Jan, it will ONLY let me list 24-27 Dec, and then 28 Dec-7 Jan - leaving a night in the middle with no one sitting??