We apply for everything that we are interested then accept the first that invites us to sit - The others miss out but that is the name of the game, first come, first served. We then let all the others know that we are no longer available and withdraw our applications.
We sit full-time and book back-to-back, often overlapping by a day or two to avoid costly hotels. On the occasions that home hosts alter their dates, we are more than happy to split up to accommodate if we can, but if we can’t, for example, our next sit is a very long way away and we want to travel together, then we explain that it is not possible and they have to find someone else to cover. There is no way we are going to leave gaps in between our sits on the off chance home host’s plans change - this is a concept I really struggle to understand. In reality, those periods would not be needed more than they would so we would forever be forking out money on hotel rooms. If a home host wanted us to set aside extra days’ just in case’ I think it would be entirely fair to expect them to pay for accommodations costs to ourselves that occurred if the most likely scenario happened and they arrived home as expected not needing us for any extra nights.
A question for sitters. I have a live listing at the moment.
I have had three applicants, I have answered the application emails quickly, a couple of the applications arrived in the middle of the night due to time differences.
The first applicant then advised me they had accepted another sit before arranging a FaceTime call.
The second applicant arranged a FaceTime call, then, before that happened, accepted another sit, so cancelled the contact.
I wished them both a happy sit and asked that each of them withdraw their application, which they duly did.
The third applicant hasn’t read my message regarding FaceTime yet and I sent it yesterday morning.
I have several sitters who have saved my listing without applying and I guess they are trying to get their sits arranged to see if mine works for them.
Sitters, the question I have is, do you ever get accepted without a prior phone call or FaceTime contact or do you apply for several sits, having a clear favourite from the beginning and wait until that HO has made contact before accepting anything?
As a sitter and a HO, I see it as an undue burden to expect a sitter to shift plans after the sit is confirmed. I’m sorry that happened to you. Of course emergencies can happen, but otherwise that is truly an undue burden. I’d reflect that in the review should I agree to make the change. As an HO, I asked a sitter to come one day earlier, but also said that if they cannot, don’t feel pressured that I’d find someone local to cover that day.
Every HO has their own style. I post the sit and decide within a week if at all possible and would never be offended is a fabulous sitter already accepted another sit or applied for multiple sits.
As a sitter, I don’t feel I owe it to a HO to wait for them to decide before I apply for another sit since some post far in advance and are slow to choose. All said, I do withdraw an application should I accept another sit and if I have an interview I let them know if I have another application out.
Hi @Sally1959 we will never accept a sit without a video call or at the very least a phone call with the HO. We have received numerous sit invitations and have always declined them as we haven’t been available but had we been available would not have accepted the sit without speaking with the HO first. I suggest you message the sitters who have saved your listing asking them if they want to do a video call to discuss your sit.
As a HO we would never ever invite a sitter without a video call. It’s just too risky.
Thank you for the reply, the sit isn’t until June, so I guess for some sitters it’s too early to apply. It also makes sense that sitters may apply for more than one sit at a time.
I certainly wouldn’t accept a sitter without some conversation first. I guess the other HO’s were quicker off the mark or were more suitable for the sitters that applied.
I’m quite nice really
I am wondering if the premium membership would reimburse the sitter if the homeowner decided to come home 2 days early? Then the sitter could get a hotel for 2 days and not disrupt their travel plans/flights etc. Also if I upgrade to Premium, how soon would I get reimbursed for cancellations and how would I go about filing a claim to get this cancellation insurance benefit?
Hi @wshaw14. Welcome to our community here in the forum. Thanks for jumping into the conversations.
To get answers to your specific insurance questions, please contact membership services. They can be reached at support@trustedhousesitters.com. Thanks.
There should be a thread about reimbursement already. Experiences might vary, but it can take up to a few months to get the reimbursement (according to some members in that thread).
I’m just curious if the TH website allows sitters to accept sits that have dates overlapping by a couple days or if you have to ask one of the HO to change their dates to match your “availability”.
For example, a couple is doing a sit and in order to not have a gap between sits, one person goes to the other sit before the first one ends.
I feel like asking a HO to change their dates is a little off-putting, especially if they want liability coverage for the actual dates a sitter will be there. I see no problem with booking two sits with some overlapping dates if it’s just a few days and there’s an agreement with the HO verbally.
I just finished setting up sits with overlapping dates. Often it’s the end date and the start date that overlap and I have to coordinate my travel but I only do that if the sits are in close driving distance. Today’s arrangement overlaps by two days but they are in the same community. I do let everyone know what is going on.
Yes, if needed sometimes we apply for slightly overlapping sits (We also regularly apply to sits with completely overlapping dates, but that’s a different question .) If we get one of the slightly overlapping sits, prior to confirming either sit, we let the pet parents know that one of us will stay on the first sit through it’s completion, and the other of us will start the second sit. So far that’s worked wonderfully for us and the pet parents we’ve sat for.
.) If we get one of the slightly overlapping sits, prior to confirming either sit, we let the pet parents know that one of us will stay on the first sit through it’s completion, and the other of us will start the second sit. So far that’s worked wonderfully for us and the pet parents we’ve sat for.