@Brightlight Yeah, I get having different prices for different regions, but I wouldn’t expect the US price to be 60% more than a European price (although I don’t know what country the quoted 2 euros was for). If the price mentioned in this thread for the US is accurate, it’s $45 a year which seems way overpriced for an add-on. I would have expected around $20. If someone has the basic tier membership, that’s a 35% membership price increase for a small add-on feature. I wonder what the next add-on option will be? Maybe being able to contact HOs who’ve indicated they have flexible dates (something that should just be part of being a member).
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I couldn’t agree more. And what they’re charging for are features that used to be included in the premium membership anyway (verifying identities for multiple sitters who travel together on the same profile, allowing overlap, etc – this all used to be included)
Sadly for us all, you were proved right – it is about the money.
My partner and I have been sitters on THS for years, and they’ve now removed his ID check, background check, phone & email verification, etc – and require us to pay extra to add it back on…
Are you in the US @Caralise?
I am in the UK and have been sitting with my Husband since 2013 on a basic membership.
He has never been verified and only his age and occupation show on our profile. We have no problem securing sits so will not be upgrading.
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When we joined 3 years ago , my spouse could be added to my profile but there was no option to get my spouse’s ID checked - I didn’t know it was previously available. When did you join @Caralise ?
(Sorry Twitcher, this started as an answer to your question but developed into something else. It’s not aimed at you personally )
I think the problem was single sitters doing overlapping sits. We used to overlap when necessary (asking both HO before we accepted an overlapping sit). It worked perfectly as there is two of us, two cars and the sits were always within a 10 minute drive. That was taken away. I was one of sitters who shouted about this and am in the Beta group. They have found a solution. Yes, they are charging for the solution and I will willingly pay that charge as it suits our lifestyle. I am under the impression that only couples or families who are all verified will get this option to stop pets being “abandoned “ when a single sitter moves on to their sit.
An aside. I have being pet sitting for over 8 years on this site. I still pay the fee for the original package. I don’t think I’m missing anything. I use THS as an introductory service and the rest is up to me and whatever HO I’m talking to. I have never been aware of being turned down because I don’t have an all singing, all dancing membership. I use the money that I save on good travel and health insurance when I go abroad and a pot of “safety” money that I can use to get to somewhere safe if anything happens. The only time I read the terms and conditions of the site was when I joined. They have no doubt changed over the past 8 years. I do things I want to do. If I don’t want to do something I don’t then I reject whatever sit is asking unreasonable (in my opinion) tasks. I don’t need THS to intervene. This way has served us well over the past 8 years and hopefully it will continue to do so.
We are all different, looking for different things, needing different levels of support. Choose carefully and don’t blame the business for making money from these differences.
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Actually… not the worst idea! 
Love the hooks for it: “Confirm even more sits!”… “Enjoy Bigger & Better Adventures!” …some poor marketer’s clearly binging Oprah reruns 
Think they should pump it up a notch; Make the use of car a baked-in clause of the deal: you get a car… no, everybody gets a car!
Please tell me this duo-deal comes with a badge like ‘premium,’ so I know what to avoid if ever becoming a combined member
I just discovered this feature exactly for this reason. I was very disappointed when I was contacted by the sitters that I chose a few months ago for an upcoming sit, I always ask one or two days before I need to leave to stay with the sitters and be sure everything is ok, I don’t like to leave just instructions. And then they asked me to take a sit that was going to end the day I’m going to leave.
I really don’t like that. If I choose a couple is because I want to share some time with both of them. Now they are going to split and there’s a chance I’m not even meeting them before I leave. There’s a reason why sits cannot overlap and it’s to let owners keep relaxed and easy about leaving house and pets to sitters. Besides, this is not fair to us as we were the first confirmed sit, and the one that’s overlapping arrived later. They should be arranging and changing their plans, not us.
We didn’t receive any notification like that.
@giuvax, if you have dealbreaker or strong preference on any specific topics - such as in-person meeting - then recommend inclusion of a clearly statement in your listing. As you wish, this may include arrival on certain date and/or in-person meeting prior to housesit. A strict approach may deter some applicants, especially full-time or non-local sitters that are piecing together plans, but that’s your choice.
We commend your desire to meet housesitters. As housesitters, we greatly welcome meeting Pet Parents. We suspect that this often reflects a relationship mindset but it may simply be pragmatic comfort that housesitter will turn up and understands pet, property, other details before pet parent departure.
That said, Pet Parent view vary. We have completed a handful of housesits where the Pet Parents clearly had no interest in meeting us. We collected keys at start, left keys at end. Done. This may reflect a transactional mindset or perhaps they’re just busy people.
We have used Duo Sitter feature successfully once. Neither Pet Parent expressed any concerns or disappointment.
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Not sure what you mean by this did they ask you to change the dates of the sit ? Or is the other sit a THS one or one they have arranged privately or through another platform ? What did you say when they asked ?
These doesn’t sound like duo sitters-( which would have generated a notification from THS ) they may be joint sitters but not duo sitters - check their profile .
Based on this change of arrival date you can cancel these sitters if you wish to . However there are many sitter that don’t want to overlap with hosts for more than a brief (1-2 hours) handover . So you may find it difficult to find sitters that are willing to stay with you for one or two days & nights before you leave .
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Were the extra days prior to your departure included in the actual confirmed dates? Or were they just added and not officially included in the sit dates? If the sit start date was listed as the date you are leaving, you would not have received a notification. Sitters can end one sit and start another on the same day, it’s not an overlap.
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My sit is starting November 15th and the other one is ending 17th.
I had already met the sitters in person and I had already explained I wanted to share some time together to explain things in person, though I have a very detailed welcome guide. This was something I always say very clearly in every videochat even before choosing the sitter/sitters.
I want to clarify, since I have the double subscription and I have done many sits myself as a sitter, that I would never ask to change the arrival date to fit with another sit, most of all after I have guaranteed I will be there on a certain day.
I would do it if I had an emergency, maybe.
No change for me. They asked to arrive at my home one or two days later than expected because they wanted to accept another sit, overlapping with mine.
Since it seemed that one of them could stay a whole day with us I answered “well, no problem”. Than it became “maybe one of us can get there after you’re leaving, or, if we’re lucky, one of us can get there the evening before” (that’s totally useless to me, because there’s no time to make anything together, and I will leave very early in the morning).
You can cancel these sitters if you are not happy with the change of arrival dates that the sitters have requested.
If you don’t change the dates of your sit they won’t be able to apply for the other sit - unless they are duo sitters - what does their profile say ?
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The sitters have been able to apply to the other sit.
I didn’t receive any notification about the overlap.
Now that the other sit has begun they told me that this other sit is ending one day later than expected.
And to clarify: only now that their sit has begun, I see in my dashboard a message that says that my sit can overlap with another sit.
Nothing more. I asked them to manage this overlap with the other owners because it’s unfair to me that I have to arrange their arrival the same day I’m going to leave, while the original dates where two more days and they agreed. I’m waiting for their answer but THS really managed this issue badly, because they could apply to the other sit and I was never notified officially by the platform, no email, no app notification.
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We sit as a couple. As a courtesy I always ask the home owner if they are ok with me taking an overlapping sit before I confirm the overlapping sit. It’s the mannerly way to deal with this.
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That is not how it is supposed to work -
THS says
“You’ll be notified of any overlapping sits for full visibility ”
Have you told THS about this situation ? Maybe @Jenny can pass this information on to member services .
Or you can contact them by e-mail
Support@trustedhousesitters.com
You can also include this information in your review of the sitters - after my sit was confirmed the sitters arranged an overlapping sit without informing me .
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These sitters are definitely pushing the boundaries and are doing the duo sitter feature no favours.
Even if Membership Services resolve the issue I guess there could still be some stress and awkwardness between the three parties involved.
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