I am beyond anxious! We are 4 days into a 14 day sit and the HO has said they are coming home tomorrow because they don’t feel well. And asked us to leave or sleep on the couch!!!
He informed us yesterday he was thinking of coming home on the weekend (still not ok, 7 days of sit remaining) and today outright changed the end date of the sit to tomorrow.
We signed up for premium when he said he was thinking of coming home, we sit full time, no other accomodation and across the world from our home town and we didn’t think this disastrous thing could occur so wanted to be insured for the future, but because he cancelled so soon after I’m really scared they won’t accept our claim. Any thoughts? Or rants or advice or distraction from the stress?
I’m really sorry this has happened to you I just checked our records and I can see that you’ve been in touch with Membership Services about this, and that they’ve let you know what they need in order to consider a claim.
Hopefully some of our lovely Forum members will pop on soon to give you some advice or some moral support.
They don’t feel well, so it’s just one of those occasions when you need to be adapt, it’s not great, but they have a good reason to come home.
You need several back up plans. Say to them you can’t sleep on couch (but word it in a way that still makes it an option if you get stuck-stuck), and ask them if they will cover the cost of a cheap hotel/b&b stay for you, given the unforeseen situation you’re now in. Even if they pay half, it buys you a little time to find another sit (don’t say that to them you want half… if they’re good they’ll realise the position you are now in).
Then, apply to every last minute sit in the area straight away, to see if you can get another sit.
Keep things friendly with the owners, so that worst case scenario you get their sofa. Not great, but at least it’s an option.
@Hollyj
I posted about being in a similar situation just yesterday .
We contacted the Urgent Support Line which is a phone line available 24/7- so I suggest anyone in this situation does the same.
They will talk you through what you need to do to make a claim . You have to pay upfront and there’s a limit on how much you can claim back $1500 and $150 is deducted from the overall claim . They will also change the end date of the sit so that you can apply if there are any suitable ones .
See if there are any other sits in the area or that are within reasonable travelling distance .
Looking into alternative accommodation (doesn’t have to be a hotel we also looked at booking.com & Airbnb) - the alternative must be within 20 miles of your sit .
Pay upfront then submit the receipts to THS along with screenshots of the messages where the owners says that they are coming back today .
Thanks for the camaraderie guys! I’ve got my notifications on for last minute sits and am refreshing the page like a mad woman! There’s nothing within a 3 hour drive, I’m willing to travel but obviously there’s nothing that starts tomorrow and only a 1 night sit in the middle of the 10 days which isn’t much help either!
You received some good recommendations already. I just started using this question on my international applications.
“Do you expect any changes to these dates or are your plans pretty solid? In the US, it’s not detrimental to us if a pet-parent cancels or changes dates as we can always fall back on our RV, cabin membership, or stay with my dad. If we accept your petsit, we will not have any of these to fall back on and will be purchasing non-refundable flight tickets.”
We confirmed a sit in Sydney this week and the folks said, “we are not cancelling. We already bought our flight tickets and arranged our entire holiday”. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. Of course my husband is a little more of a worrywart than me. He asked me today, what are we going to do if we fly there and these people cancel? My answer is always the same. We prepare ourselves to book an Airbnb, put in the THS claim, and apply to other petsits like crazy.
Check other platforms. See if you can find inexpensive hostels. If you end up not finding affordable alternatives or aren’t covered, then return home early and stay with friends or family.
For future: Avoid sits where you can’t manage a viable Plan B. Reality is, this sort of thing can happen with any sit, so don’t leave yourself exposed to unnecessary risks.
@Jenny You are confirming that users can simply switch to premium in the middle of a sit and be covered by the cancellation insurance for that sit? That’s huge.
Sounds far from ideal, hopefully you can find something else. FB groups & work away worth a try as well as THS or Housesit search too. Have a strong suspicion that swapping mid sit to a different plan won’t cover you for insurance @Hollyj but am very happy to be proved wrong. Explain the cost implications to the host and ask them if they have some suggestions for helping you out. You might be pleasantly surprised. #wishingyouwell
If you truly do not have resources for other accommodations, you can also look into couchsurfing or couchers (it’s not always couches!).
I’m sorry this happened. I’m sure the HO was not planning this and is disappointed as well - if they are not feeling well to the point of returning home, they probably feel pretty rotten. Although they were kind to offer their couch for the duration, I probably would not want to stay in the home of someone feeling lousy (and perhaps with something communicable!)
I don’t think any questions in the pre-confirmation call would have anticipated this. As Maggie8K says, it’s always best to have a plan B for emergencies.
The THS team seem empathetic, I did upgrade before he cancelled the sit (the cancellation was unexpected, he just mentioned he was thinking about coming home early not definitely coming home and you need to leave in 24 hours) so contractually that should be valid
Turns out not only is he coming home, there is also a roommate moving in the same day (kicking us out of our room). It’s all pretty strange
ah… bet he’s just a big old liar then and this new roommate had to bump up their arrival so they’re coming home to deal with it and lied about being sick to get you out.
Apologies for any confusion, I was just confirming with OP that MS have been touch with what they need to consider a claim. My reply doesn’t confirm or deny a claim is possible, and OP would need to speak directly with the relevant department. I don’t have the knowledge that MS does as my role is solely focused on managing the community
I would recommend OP speak to MS directly about this.
Oooh, yep. It definitely sounds like something is up here re: a roommate moving in the same day. All the more reason to pursue this with THS. Keep records of everything.
I hope that you find safe and reliable place to land…and soon !
I just checked our records and I can see that you’ve been in touch with Membership Services about this, and that they’ve let you know what they need in order to consider a claim.