I find that things generally work out the best in the end. Good luck!
She just declined everyone again and has it up as a new listing, again.
Yeah, this is not someone I would ever sit for. Either VERY demanding or VERY flaky. Neither of which I choose to tolerate.
I covered the issues in my review, as a heads up to future sitters. All the comings and goings might not bother other sitters; it did me. I was not going to give them a bad review on something that was not done as an intentional affront to me.
Even if not intentional it was still an affront and against the rules and therefore should have been marked down. Unless you flat out said “this home owner had multiple people coming and going during my sit” you’ve done future sitters no favors. No need to be coy and hint around at what a problem might be. 100% need to be blatantly honest about issues so others are warned.
Thank you for your opinion; however, unless you are an admin, an opinion is all it is. And, you know the old saying about opinions.
I am not a newcomer to THS, nor am I a novice on giving reviews and ratings. And, I certainly am not arrogant enough to think that I have the right to tell someone else how they should write a review. I have no need to talk down to others to make myself feel superior or try to come across as “the expert.” There is a difference between discussing and “reprimanding.”
I have been sitting for several years and have always gotten 5-star reviews and have been invited back over and over again by the home owners. I also have home owners seek me out for new sits. This sit is the only questionable sit that I have had. I will continue to show grace when doing so is not adversely affecting future sitters.
Kind regards.
Hi THS pause request after 5
Is that 5 that have applied to me who needs a sitter?
Or of 5 I have invited ?
( i aporeciate most say inviting a sitter isnt the best way to go from recent advice)
Or is it total of both
Many thanks
SusanLogan
That’s 5 sitters that have applied to your listing. You can invite as many sitters as you want although I don’t think it’s a good way of finding a sitter.
It is after 5 applications
This doesn’t include the ones you invite unless / until they apply
Please do review your applicants and get in touch with them, don’t keep them waiting as they’ll go elsewhere. I was the first to apply for a sit in Dublin a week ago, can see it’s been read and quickly went into ‘reviewing application’. That doesn’t mean the owners are taking any notice, I still haven’t had a reply yet!
Yes, that sort of behaviour annoys me too. But is have applied for a sits for the same home owner in April and September shortly before Christmas and got a polite reply that they will be reviewing at the beginning of the New Year. Otherwise i might have cancelled and/or applied for other sits at the same dates
THS pauses applications once you have 5 applications that are “open”. That means you haven’t declined anyone. Once you decline someone you can “unpause” and get another application. Sometimes you might have as many as 7 initial applications though. I think this is because if people are starting an application the system will let it through.
What I’ve discovered through trial and error is that if I can rule anyone out based on the application note and profile – lack of specific pet experience, bad reviews, something weird on the application, etc – I do that quickly and unpause to increase the pool of great sitters.
I usually “invite” sitters privately BEFORE posting the applications. This very rarely works. I only invite sitters who’ve sat for me before and expressed an interest in coming back and/or sitters who didn’t sit for me because it didn’t work out but it was a coin flip or some logistics issue the previous time. I’ve had some trouble with the system and inviting sitters once there are five applicants.
Personally I apply for multiple sits for same dates if I find sits I like. Statistically - with 5 applicants it is a 80 % chance for a decline. If someone want me as a sitter I believe they can be able to just go forward and confirm. If they are unsure , the possibility of a decline is considerably higher. So I explore my options. Like they do.
That sounds reasonable. If I’m not chosen as a sitter, I understand that a host only need one sitter out of up to five applicants that are all great, and would have no prejudice should the host reach out at another time. I would ofc read given reviews etc from last we were in touch, but otherwise I could be as positive as when I first applied. 
It’s worked out a couple of times when I had dates in close proximity but not posted, and I was able to have a sitter for the first dates, and get in touch with the other sitter quickly about the second dates. Generally, though trying to get return sitters doesn’t work out a lot. I’ve had sitters email me their availability but it’s rarely when we are going to be away and when we post those sitters are rarely available.
3 years down the line with this absurd rule and I wanted to share my experience since its implementation.
Since this limit has been in place, the quality of my sitters has decreased immensely. I have never had so many sitters cancel on me last minute. It seems that having to rush into a selection or having limits on who can apply, I cannot carefully vet and choose like I used to be able to do.
I am a client for over 10 years and this has never happened to me before this rule. I was able to receive many applicants and really filter through and choose the most reliable ones. This rule has done some serious damage to both home owners and good sitters. The choice of how many applicants one receives should entirely be up to the user. THS has not taken into careful consideration about this rule that nobody asked for and statistically, has not increased the amount of available sits. It has only increased the bad quality of many sitters out there. I never understood why THS is being so bloody-minded about this rule. You had it for 3 years and it isn’t working. Give the customer what is needed!
Otherwise, perhaps add a “cancellation rating” for each sitter so we can see how many times an applicant has cancelled in the past. That might make sitters a bit more serious about their commitments.
Maybe a simple fix would be that the HO could select from 5, 10, 15+ submittals for their sit. Whatever is best for the CLIENT.
Prior to the 5 application limit hosts could pause applications at any time.
Many suggestions have been made and ignored since its introduction but four years down the line I can’t see anything changing.
I’m a sitter so I may have misunderstood but I thought the limit was 5 applicants but that if you rejected any as being unsuitable then your listing automatically opened up until you reached 5 again, and that that could go on ad infinitum meaning, in effect, that there was no limit to the number of applicants. Please correct me if I’m wrong because this is how I’ve explained it to friends who might consider joining as hosts.
Close. The HO can decline an applicant and then must manually unpause their listing for it to go live again.