Hi @MsKate You might find this post interesting, as I too wonder about the many sits that are upcoming in a few days and seem to be neglected or not completed for some inexplicable reason.
Unless a sit is confirmed to the point where the sitter has the dates showing a black line across the dates, the sit is not confirmed. If it went ahead without that, it’s my understanding that it would be outside of the TrustedHousesitters platform.