I was told today THS is doing s free trial membership for new sitters… how does that work…and why only sitters, are they in short supply?
I can’t imagine how that would work. It’s obvious that a free trial couldn’t include a sit, and anyone can join the forum/look at housesits without becoming a member. I’d be interested to know too!
These kind of things drastically de-value THS.
We chose THS because when we joined, it seemed to be more about caring for the critters but the ads lately seem to be more about the company making money as you can see over in:
This is a super risky move. I worked with a software company and they almost went out of business over a similar move. They had brought in a new marketing advisor who recommended some promotions that would make sense in some markets but not the one they were in.
THS, did you folks bring someone in to work on your marketing in the past 12 months, because what I’m seeing in this post and others can have a long tail impact on your business.
It’s short term gain, long term loss when you marketing like this.
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If you want to see some of the other offers being made by THS to entice membership, try this: Register as a new user (using a different email address) without selecting a plan.
Over the course of the next few weeks you will get several emails offering discounts, etc. It’s disconcerting to see them when faithful, long-time, members are never extended that kind of offer.
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Read about that too. Apparently you sign up for a trial week, and if you don’t cancel after that week, they will start charging you…
You would need to be very lucky to score a sit in the 1st week with a new profile, and that low possibility is exactly what THS is counting on I guess…
@Els It does not need that much luck. There are always the listings where they would be the only applicant. And some are so last minute that one could even start (and maybe finish) the sit within a week.
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Hi @Colin - are you able to see the T&Cs for the free trial?
Apparently it can also be done on the basic sitter membership at £99 even though I was advised this level was no longer available to new members. If I wanted to stay on the basic membership I would have to select the auto renew option.
I am not sure if the trial is ‘free’ at all. I understood that if a new sitter didn’t secure a sit in the first week they were entitled to a refund but they had to pay up front.
I am sure someone will be along soon to enlighten us.
@Twitcher , I will take a look, that screenshot was sent to me when I doubted their info that THS was doing a free trial
Come on THS. Which is it? A free 7 day trial? A 14 day money back guarantee? A “job” that’s not a job at all as no money changes hands? A “free vacation” that omits to say “for full time pet care”so nothing free there? Or perhaps it’s simply a company trying to recruit sitters for more sits than it can fill? This marketing style and these marketing messages are misleading, dishonest, confusing and conflicting #shameonyouths
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@Twitcher I can help clear up some confusion with that one.
I think what you are referring to is that when the new membership tiers were first launched all existing members were kept on the ‘original classic’ plan as long as they stayed on auto-renewal. This plan is no longer available to purchase and if any existing member cancelled their auto-renewal then they would need to rejoin and choose one of the available plans, this includes the basic plan as well.
With the free trial Membership Services will know more, but the 14-day money-back guarantee is different and is something that was on the platform separate from the free trial.
@Colin We previously had an owner’s free trial and if I remember correctly how that worked was the owners signed up for a free two-week trial and if they didn’t find a sitter then they could cancel at the end of the two weeks, but if they confirmed a sitter during the trial then they would pay for the year at the end of the trial as they had found a sitter for future dates, I presume it will run along similar lines for the sitters trial, but this can be confirmed with the Membership Services team at support@trustedhousesitters.com as they will have access to all of the terms.
I hope that helps clarify a little 
This a very risky move by THS, especially in light of the Hilton Head tragedy. Sitters could sign up for a free trial, find a sit, exchange information with home owner and then do the sit without paying for their membership.
I am guessing there are still a lot more sits than sitters, but if I was a home owner I will be very careful if I am hiring a sitter who is on a free trial.
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Not really @Carla1 -
I have two accounts which are one as a fully paid up member and one just for searching the site so I can see what a potential member sees. Quite an eye opener with regard to the number of ‘sits’ available.
On the second account it is still offering me a basic sitter membership at £99. I have also received offers of a further 20% to join up.
@123ForumUser - how would they know if they were on a free trial?
@Twitcher Sorry if there is any confusion. You are not seeing the basic plan on your current membership as you are locked into your ‘original classic’ plan for the same price as you are an existing member. If you cancel your auto-renewal you will be able to rejoin and choose the basic plan for that price, but then you will lose access to your ‘classic plan’. I will DM you and explain further as I am keen to help
You won’t know right away, but if I am a HO and they have no reviews and personal references I will ask them directly and I will be checking if their THS profile is still active within a few days.
My test user that registered but has not selected a plan was just offered 20% off any plan.
Has any existing member been offered a discount?
@weirdholyman no - and to be honest we would upgrade our plan if they did offer small incentive
This is off topic from the free trial, but relevant to the discussion of discounts. Not too long ago, I went into my account to cancel my auto-renewal. I was offered a 20% discount to keep my auto-renewal set up. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to renew, but currently I’m set to renew at $207.20 instead of $259 for premium membership.
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Hmmm, that’s interesting: if I’m a new sitter and within 14 days & the 5th application I’ve not confirmed a sit I get my money back.
However if I’m a regular sitter on this platform and I miss out on 10 listings that I’d really like to apply for but they switched to Reviewing status before I managed to get to them, I’m not offered a discount
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