The last 2 sits that I have applied for, after waiting 2 weeks and then 1 week, the pp cancels the post relaying their dates do not work! It would be great if pp would have their own plans in order prior to posting a sit. Of coarse, I keep applying for sits , but, their is always that sit that you wait for a response to! What do others think?
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I withdraw my application after 48 hours if the HO hasnât responded, I took this advice from more experienced sitters and itâs worked very well for me.
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Personally Iâd wait longer than 48 hours but continue applying for other sits and withdraw once I had a replacement sit. Sometimes Iâve had an application sitting unread for weeks/months and have left it out of interest!
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Is this the automated message though? I think if an HO declines without saying anything, the THS default text is âsorry the dates havenât worked outâ or something similar.
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I consider myself âa very experienced sitterâ and around ten days back I applied for what I thought was a great sit, car included. Intuition told me to hang in there with this one, no reply after ten days. HO all of a sudden got back to be apologising profusely, over and over, so upset she hadnât responded. Her daughter had gone into premmie labour, she is in the midst of negotiations for selling her motherâs house and she completely forgot to check the THS responses. I got the sit, a month in the Cotswolds, with the car and an easy as doggie,so sometimes itâs worth hanging in there, sometimes life just overwhelms some people and priorities are hard to negotiate and we slip up. Not saying this is good all the time but sometimes there really is a sit worth waiting for.
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In my opinion, that is bad advice and could be interpreted as biting off your nose to spite your face.
There is a myriad of genuine reasons why a home host may not respond quickly.
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@Colin genuine reasons exactly, as per my previous post. Not all HOâs are the baddies 
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@Campbell this sounds like the wording of the automatic email notification that is sent out when a host cancels their listed dates on THS
This may mean they have cancelled their trip . Which is their prerogative and perfectly fine since they havenât chosen or confirmed a sitter yet.
It could also mean that they found a sitter from another pet sitting platform or a friend or family member so have cancelled the dates on THS âŚ
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Oh⌠I did not realize it was a default THS message!! In the past it was an email that said â sorry you have not been chosen this timeâ⌠since one of these sits I had applied to a month ago , I thought there sit was cancelled. Iâll check their reviews post the dates to see!! Thank you!
Can anyone explain what options HOs have for declining a sit? Is there a drop-down menu they can use for generating automated declines for example?
I am getting increasingly frustrated with the generic âSorry, the dates havenât worked outâ. Not only does this feel like an easy cop-out rather than sending a personalised short message of decline (this is another issue that has been discussed), but it is surely an oxymoron. Clearly the dates do work out - the HO set the dates, the house-sitter accepted the dates, so why this reason? Iâve rarely had a sit where the dates change from the outset, so I find this reason rather disingenuous.
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@Kainga that is an automatic message that comes through as soon as a sit is confirmed by another sitter. Itâs unfortunate that the owner is unable to customise it, or delay it until they have a chance to contact other applicants, but there is nothing they can do.
I sometimes get a follow up message from the home owner but it always.
Oh, I am so glad to know that! @Jenny might you be able to suggest to the THS team that they change the message to simply say, âSorry this didnât work outâ ?
I, too, have gotten the âSorry, the dates havenât worked outâ and thought precisely the same thing @Kainga did - what a dumb message! You set the dates, I applied - how did they not work out?
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Yes same here. Itâs very rude I feel not to respond at all.
As a HO I felt really embarrassed when I found out these messages were automatically sent. I had planned to write personal messages after I confirmed a sitter. Now I know how this works, I do send these messages first, and confirm the sitter after that.
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No problem, I can pass that over as a suggestion 
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Thanks Cathycat. This clarifies things for me. Good to know! I do find that around maybe 50-60% send a personal reply (thankfully) anyway, which is something. I am careful to tailor my application to each sit and spend a lot of time on some, so after that you do feel entitled to at least a one line personal decline. That way everyone comes away happy.
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Not really it suits my life and my approach to planning, if Iâve been âreadâ but no response at allâŚ. I move on. Itâs no great shakes, we donât rely on sits to go to locationsâŚ.
But the sit is not truly confirmed before the sitter also confirms it.
I know itâs higly unlikely a sitter wouldnât confirm a sit if they already expressed their willingness to do the sit during a videocall, bu it does happen.
Thatâs why I donât decline any other sitters Iâd be happy to accept for a sit, before both parties have officially confirmed the sit.
The automatic message from THS is unfortunate, but thereâs nothing I can do about it. I just send my personal message after that.
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I donât wait. In my experience if a HO doesnât respond with 24-36 hours itâs a big red flag.
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