We are first time THS sitters with our first sit is due in 4 days but there has been no communication of any kind since accepting the sit 2 months ago. I asked if they would like to talk to me but they just asked for my phone number and said they would be in touch closer to the sit. 4 days out no call yet, no welcome guide, no times, addresses, contact phone. We have a 3 1/2 hr drive to the sit so don’t want to have last minute issues. Feeling really disappointed that our first sit is so up in the air (not great when you’re an organised person).
Question: Do I cancel 4 days out due to lack of communication or wait it out not knowing what’s happening and risk getting a bad review?
When you say you asked if they wanted to talk to you, and they said they would be in touch closer to the sit, was that also 2 months ago right when you accepted it? If you haven’t reached out to them at all since then, it would be okay for you to make contact without waiting on them first. For them, ‘closer to’ could be two days instead of several, but 4 days is pretty soon, and understandable you would reach out.
If this last contact was more recent, and they still haven’t gotten in touch by tomorrow. you could ask membership services to reach out on your behalf since you don’t have any contact info for them. Or you could do this today if you are feeling antsy and don’t want to wait any longer.
If they didn’t respond to THS either, they could cancel the sit for you–not sure if they have any specific deadline for the HO to respond before taking that step. There would be no review for a cancelled sit so no worries about that.
A HO simply deciding not to take a trip and just not telling the sitter would probably be a pretty rare thing. I can understand your discomfort though, especially since it is your first sit.
Hi @MaggieV and welcome.
I would definitely push for contact and the all important Welcome Guide.
Are the homeowners new to THS or have they had sitters previously?
If you do not get a response within 24 hrs I would contact membership services for their involvement.
Hope all goes well and you now know the importance of establishing contact outside the THS messaging service for peace of mind.
You are not the first person this has happened to and if you use the spyglass at the top of the page you will see many comments on this very topic.
One contact was made 2 months ago at the time of accepting the sit which is when I gave them my phone number and they advised they would be in contact closer to the time. We have had nothing from the HO for the past 2 months. I would’ve thought that a follow up would’ve been made a week or two (at least) before the sit to give us the information we need.
In an ideal world they would have contacted you as discussed but we as sitters need to be proactive to ensure we have the Welcome Guide in advance, along with the address and contact details of the homeowners. We need to ensure there are no surprises in the guide and their location and the responsibilities outlined in the listing are accurate.
Unfortunately that is not always the case and the closer you are to the start date the more stressful it may become.
Contact Customer Support and ask them if you can have their contact details to reach out directly. But 4 days isn’t long when you have to arrange your travel plans, so there’s 1 day less.
But if you decide to back out, they can’t give you a bad review as you haven’t sat for them, but you need to contact Customer Support anyway to do that, and state your reasons why you are cancelling, it’s not your fault.
We try to get a phone number and address from people when we confirm the sit, so then they can do the Welcome Pack in their own time (some prefer to write details instead).
Unfortunately, as you’re new, you’ve learnt that once you’re accepted and confirm a sit you should exchange phone numbers and email addresses with the owner, get all the timings of their departure and return and their address. Presumably you had a video call with them before being accepted? Although it looks like maybe you didn’t.
As suggested get in touch with THS immediately and ask them to contact the owners.
Welcome @MaggieV
Sorry you haven’t heard from the HO. As others have said you need to contact customer support at THS so they can try and make contact with the HO. It also covers you if this sit needs cancelling.
Can I suggest in future you get the HO’s details before accepting. I normally add the HO details to whatsapp where we can chat leading up to the sit.
Hope it gets sorted asap
I would forget the sit. Clearly they have no interest in you sitting or are just plain rude. If I had no contact at all this late in the day, I’d arrange an alternative. I’m
New to this but I would definitely expect to make all arrangements straight away. HO should be more organised before they advertise.
@MaggieV Hi Maggie
I would send them a message immediately and also contact THS today as well.
I understand you are new to this and were waiting on them to connect with you but -next time- don’t leave it so long to initiate contact. Reach out as soon as you feel its been too long. By at a least a couple of weeks before a sit (that was booked 2 months before)you should have received all the details you need.
For future reference- ALWAYS get contact details immediately- at the time of confirming. We usually ask for the address to be sent directly after the video call. However it sounds like you didn’t have a video call if you still don’t have their number?
Next time arrange at least a phone call.
4 days to go & no contact does not sound promising. Anything could have happened.
I hope you get a quick resolution.
No video call, no phone call - they weren’t interested in that at the time so, being new to THC, I thought that must of been how it worked. Have had other sittings confirmed with lovely phone calls before the confirmation. Lesson learnt for sure!
Unfortunately there was only the initial message of acceptance, they were not interested in a phone conversation which we were keen to have. When i asked for details in that acceptance that was when they said they would contact me (red flag there maybe). Lesson definitely learnt.
I would send a message through the THS message system. Maybe they are very busy and have just completely forgotten that they need to close the loop with you.
Have you asked THS member services to contact the hosts ( as advised by others on this forum ) ?
I can totally understand why you are “calling it quits”, be sure to advise member support ( supplying screenshots of the times that you have reached out to the pet owners ) so they can inform the pet owners that the sit is cancelled and cancel the sit on the system.
If you don’t do this, it will look like you are a no show and you could get a negative review.
( I am assuming that this is a confirmed sit that shows in your dashboard as an upcoming sit ?)
If they are new hosts they may not be fully aware of how the THS platform works .
Support@trustedhousesitters.com - put URGENT in the title of the e-mail. Or try taking to someone through live chat feature.
Hey Maggie, just send them a text and say “Is the sit a go or no go?” . See what happens. People get busy. I would give them a day to respond. If they don’t I will send them another text and say that you are assuming the sitting was cancelled. Good Luck!
Are there any repercussions for these Owners? Sheesh. A kind Sitter commits to spend time away from their own home, in order to take care of your home and pets, and you don’t even have the decency to let them know that your plans changed?
That is incredibly irresponsible! The Owner should be kicked off the platform.