Sitter just cancelled for rather soft reason leaving me desperate to find someone for September 2 to October 19. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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How unfortunate! You could tweak your listing a bit by adding some pictures of the bedroom where the sitter will be staying. Also maybe clarify, if the cats are all indoor cats or if they go outsise too?
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I am really sorry to hear that. Your sit looks lovely and is exactly the type of place my husband and I would apply to if we were in the US at the time and available. I know a lot of sitters are like us in their preference for more rural locations with lots of nature-- I see your second set of dates already got at least 5 applicants.
I know it is really stressful to deal with a cancellation at any stage, but it is good you still have a decent amount of time to find someone, and it wasn’t super last minute.
If you think the sitter gave a flaky reason for cancellation, you might consider reporting them to the site. This allows THS to identify problematic members who may be engaging in this behavior on a regular basis.
As sitters we take this responsibility very seriously and have only cancelled less than a handful of sits over the last decade due to a few instances of ill family members–help recovering from unexpected major surgeries, diagnosis of serious illnesses and needing care,etc…
I think a lot of sitters especially on a big site like this probably assume a HO can easily find someone else and don’t realize they may be putting them in a big bind.
I know the forum has a category for sits starting in a week or less…not sure if they allow people to post here for sits that don’t fall into this category. Same goes for the site advertising the sit on its social media accounts. Perhaps one of the moderators can weigh in on that.
There are a number of other housesitting platforms that don’t charge homeowners to post so it can’t hurt to create an account on them as well. Housecarers. mindmyhouse and housesittersamerica are a few that come to mind. Their memberships aren’t as big but there are also far fewer sits listed, so that may help in a sense.
Much as we never like cancellations happening, especially for what you consider a soft reason @DLA, your dates are still 6 weeks away, not next week which really would be a desperate situation. Hang in there as you have excellent feedback from past sitters and your dates for next year are in “reviewing applications” mode (don’t keep these applicants waiting until you sort out your Sep/Oct dates) which is great as it shows it is very appealing to sitters.
Thank you for the encouragement, but I can’t wait for the last minute to make other arrangements either.
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Happy to clarify that for you. The only listings that can be posted on the forum are the ones that fall into the last-minute 7-day category, as the best place to find a sitter with a longer lead time is always the platform itself. There are many more sitters that will see it on the platform.
Any other questions always happy to help 
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Second confirmed sitter just cancelled for no reason given. I have sent out over 200 invites. I am getting so desperate.
@DLA - please ensure they are reported to Membership Services (as advised by the moderators).
Hope you find a reliable and committed sitter very soon 
@DLA sorry to hear that you have had two sitters cancel , please do contact member services to report this and see if they can be of assistance.
Did you have video calls or telephone conversations with the other sitters before you confirmed the sits ? The questions that both parties ask during these conversations can sometimes help to identify whether it’s a good fit and going to be mutually beneficial for both parties .
You will find someone. You might consider taking new photos of the kitchen and family room after tidying up a bit.
Emphasize: Sitter can use my car.
Housekeeper included.
@DLA perhaps open the listing up family friendly. That’s alot of animals to take care of. Your listing would not even show up for me because I only search for Family Friendly sits.
Thank you. I will look into that.
I always do video conversations before confirmation. Thank you.
Thank you for suggestions.
Hi @DLA
I see you have now got a confirmed sitter. We are so very thrilled to hear this, and thank you to everyone for all their contributions.
Enjoy your travels.
I will be closing this thread now.