Disappearing messages sent with invitations

THS News & Feedback
1

Now that many sitters are receiving countless invitations are any experiencing the same as me?
Sometimes I receive an invitation without a message. I always ask the HO if they have sent a message and some respond that they have.
What seems to happen is that the HO sends a message and then hits the Invite button at the same time. The invitation arrives in the sitters Inbox but the message disappears.
I have advised the HO to send the message and then once it has gone, send the invitation, or vice versa.
This scenario has been going on for years and it needs a technical fix.
Maybe this is why some HOs are not receiving any responses to their invitations as their messages are not being received by the sitter. I always respond but maybe other sitters donā€™t.

2

When I receive an invite without a message I must admit I donā€™t ask if they sent a message - I just assume they didnā€™t. Occasionally I suggest to them to send a personalised message to improve their chances. I feel pretty bad now!

If I think about it, in the past when I have received an invite to sit and needed to decline I could not see the message I sent if I declined at the same time. I have now got into the habit of sending the message first and then declining shortly afterwards.

Hope this makes sense!

3

I think a lot donā€™t send a message. If I donā€™t get a message I just ignore it & wouldnā€™t bother asking if theyā€™ve sent a message.

5

Hi @Itchyfeet Iā€™ll tag @Lucy-B who can take this up with you when she is back online ā€¦ thank you for bringing it to the forum.

6

Hi @Itchyfeet thank you for bringing this to our attention. I have taken a look and raised the issue with our wider team who are going to be looking into this. Hopefully we will receive some feedback soon and I shall endeavour to update here when I can.

Thanks again for raising.

All the best
Lucy

7

Thanks @Lucy-B
I am a little confused as to why there is a grey box under everyoneā€™s message saying Solution with a tick. As it is not resolved should this box be here?

8

@Itchyfeet I believe the box is there so that when a forum member responds with an answer that solves the initial query, you can click on ā€˜Solutionā€™ and it will mark that particular reply as the solution.
Perhaps @Vanessa_A or @Angela_L can verify just in case Iā€™m barking up the wrong tree?

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9

Iā€™m having a problem with messages disappearing to a HO and a sitter in the past few days. I know I sent the messages - and the recipient has received them - but they donā€™t show in my Inbox (yes, I have expanded it).

Also - messages that I send via the app donā€™t show on the web version. Itā€™s all very glitchy :frowning:

10

Thanks Lucy and you are absolutely right. The option is only turned on in categories where itā€™s relevant :slight_smile:

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11

@Lucy-B I like your use of ā€˜barkingā€™ here. :dog: So appropriate on this forum. :rofl:

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12

Thanks @Lucy-B

and so agree with @Snowbird your animal analogy is very appropriate :dog::star_struck: where would we be without a sense of humor?

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13

I do that. send message informing them of my reason for declining.
I then know I have acted in a good way :blush:
I have had 1 or 2 invites without anything in the message box and have to admit I declined 1 of them without a message. It caught me at a bad time. :slightly_frowning_face:

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14

I use the website on a computer and have always assumed my careful messages were lost in the ether if I sent them without ticking dates first. I would then go back and tick, declining in what seems to me an abrupt way, and afterwards send a message. This goes back at least 9 years. @Vanessa_A

15

Hi everyone and apologies for the delay in responding, Iā€™ve been off for a while.

We have followed this up with the product team and can confirm this is the way the system works currently:

  • First the owner selects the dates which sends an invite

  • Secondly, they can follow up with a message.

We have raised everyoneā€™s concerns on this process and your suggestions for improvements.

My own experience is that in all cases of the frequent invites we are currently receiving, we do receive an accompanying message sent separately - whether thatā€™s instinctive or trial and error Iā€™m not sure.

In reverse as a sitter, I send a message first and then decline the dates.

Sorry this isnā€™t worthy of a SOLUTION tick at this stage.

1 Like
16

My experience differs from yours
Over the past 30 days I have received 36 invitations
13 of these did not have a message.
4 of these responded to my question ā€œDid you send a messageā€ and said that they did send one but it disappeared. They were all mortified that they must have seemed rude.
I look forward to further updates

17

I believe the message disappears as an action of the screen refreshing if they type it first, before sending the invite. Needs some messaging as part of the processā€¦ letā€™s hope this getā€™s picked up as an area to improve on. :hand_with_index_finger_and_thumb_crossed:

2 Likes
18

@Ben-ProductManager, I opened up this thread in April and there have been comments from Angela, Vanessa and Lucy and still nothing has happened.
Yesterday, I received 3 invitations with no messages. I asked them all if they had sent a personal message. One didnā€™t respond but the other 2 did, saying that they had sent a personal message. Again, the process is confusing and it is embarrassing responding to these invitations, asking if they sent a message.
Surely this procedure must be fixed once and for all.
I look forward to your input
Thanks

1 Like
19

Hi there, we are new to THS and have a question re inviting a sitter.
We wrote an email to invite someone, clicked the dates we wanted them and hit send. It appears that the sitter has been invited as their name appears in our Inbox, but the email we wrote has disappeared. Have we done something wrong, or is this what normally happens?
Hoping someone can advise us.

20

This has been discussed numerous times and has been reported to Membership Services but nothing is done.
Use the spyglass and search for ā€œDisappearing messagesā€ and you will see many comments.
To summarise - it has not been sent as when you hit ā€œInviteā€ it cancels the message. Isnā€™t that ridiculous?
You will need to write it out again.

21

Hi @HonkyTonks and a warm welcome to the Community Forum :wave:t2::slightly_smiling_face:

As @Itchyfeet mentioned, there is another thread which you can read regarding this issue, I have attached the link for you

For reference as a member, you can also add your TrustedHousesitters profile on to your Forum profile by following the attached link, should you wish. This will then enable others to offer you helpful advice and feedback and will also give your listing extra exposure!

If you are unsure how to do this, or if you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask, we are all more than happy to help.

Also, remember you can use the spyglass symbol at the top of the page next to the TrustedHousesitters logo and search for any questions that you may have as they have most likely already been answered on here and of course if not then please just ask!

I have attached a thread below, it would be great if you could join in with this as we think you could offer great feedback and your input would be a great addition :blush:

1 Like