I haven’t ever had a response from a sitter who mentions a disability on their profile! I live in London and state where our flat is so that sitters can check that it is a locality suitable for them but I never write how long it takes to walk to a station as that is so variable. For example, it takes me 10 - 15 mins to walk to my nearest tube but for most able-bodied people it takes 8 minutes!
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As a fairly new HO on THS, I take these points onboard. From my end, I do say in my listing that my kittens are still young and need a lot of attention/care. I normally WFH so they are used to having someone around all day. I would love advice on how to make it clear that while they can be left alone for a few hours for grocery shopping, local walks etc, my preference is for someone who does plan to spend a majority of the day with them rather than simply come in to feed at designated times and then leave to go off exploring the city.
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@KittenMom use exactly these words, then sitters know exactly what’s expected from them, and can decide if this is a sit they would like to undertake.
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And definitely do not expect your sitter to take care of animals YOU are being paid to board yourself!
A lot of attention and care is too subjective. Please spell out exactly what you want. If they can’t be alone for more than 2 hours then say just that. In other words just copy and paste what you said into your profile.
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Well said. I completely agree. Of course, in a lot of cases, this isn’t an issue at all but it only takes a few for it to be an issue.
Hi @LizH : it just happen to us.
As pet-sitter we spied an interesting sit in south of France : perfect location according to the map.
Because of this new 5-applicants-only rule I apply very fast…
We got selected, confirmed… and then I realize the location on the map was totally wrong : it is 500 km away !!! 
Well it dosen’t matter as this location suits us anyway… but… just to say that the location fonction on THS is not working at all !
And also that this 5-applicants rule that makes sitter applying in a urge is not working either !
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I agree, the other day I saw something interesting and applied very quickly without reading carefully, as it was already sitting at 4-7 applicants. I still got my application in, then realised the dates don’t match the area, it would just be too far to drive for our dats (about 2 hours outside my preferred area for that period). Then I had to retract my application. But it didn’t jump back to 4-7, it stayed at ‘applications being reviewed’ even though I retracted my application. This means I unwittingly took the opportunity away from someone else…I felt a bit sorry. I hate rush jobs, but feel I have little choice but to jump in.
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The THS attempts to provide the location are inadequate.
Looking at pet-sits in Melbourne, Australia, the location pin is always plonked close to the CBD, regardless of which suburb the sit is in.
Melbourne is huge! Multiple suburbs, and some up to 40 kilometres away from the CBD.
At least put the pin in the suburb, this won’t give away the home owners location.
Even in the much smaller Hervey Bay Queensland, the pin is just plonked vaguely in the middle, but the district still classed as “Hervey Bay” is 40 kilometres from east to west.
The location pin in Australia is woeful.
No risk there of “invading” home owners privacy, but useless for working out if the location is suitable for you.
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As a HO who has made a point of saying what distance I am from the nearest bus stop and train station and made a point of saying you really do need a car, I’ve been frustrated at the people who have applied and then, 2 -3 contacts in, mention they rely on public transport. Every single person who has been reliant on public transport has dropped out of the process, the last one after confirming the sit even though he insisted it was fine for a two night sit. My point being that the responsibility for making sure the sit will work is on all of us, HO and sitters alike. I won’t accept anyone who relies on public transport unless they can convince me that it will work for them. However, if the location function on TH doesn’t work well, then that does need to be addressed.
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Yes my last sit I didn’t have a phone number listed in the Welcome guide .
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I get the phone number upon agreeing to the sit -same day - and test it out, send a text or Whatsapp and see how responsive they are.
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Absolutely right @CatStaff we are sitters and HO at Scarborough in Queensland. The only location option we had when putting up our sit listing was Brisbane which is 35kms away (from the CBD). Scarborough is in a completely different council area, completely different lifestyle, amenities and attractions. We state where we are in our listing. If sitters definitely want Brisbane city they will be disappointed once they read our listing. @Ben-ProductManager can THS please make the available locations more accurate?
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Just had a real example this very day: a new pet sit listed for McCrae on the Mornington Peninsula Victoria (Australia).
The location pin was dropped right in the CBD of Melbourne, 88 kilometres away!
Not exactly walking distance …
This really isn’t good enough in this day and age.
Other sitter sites do much better.
The Owner chose to place their map pin in Melbourne. I see other sits mapped close to McCrae, so that is most likely an option for them. The Owner instead decided to place themselves in Melbourne. Maybe they don’t realize that this makes the Sitter’s search much more difficult.
I’ve moved house to be closer to the location pin that THS gives 
I always find schedules and bus routes maps for my sitters, although i never use buses… i thi k it’s a help for sitters without cars.
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Surely out of due diligence a sitter would check the distance themselves if they were concerned about walking? If I cannot find out something that is important to me I specifically ask the pet owner.
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I did both. The host told me the distance and it was closer to the sit before I got their actual address (nervous first timers), at which point my travel was already booked and we were 1 week out from the sit date. I’m not stupid; the info was just wrong/incomplete.
I am not implying you are stupid.
As you said in your original post always check the owners information if you have problems with walking. Push to get the home details asap. That gives the actual address.
Just my take on it as an OCD member of THS. I try and leave nothing to chance……or hearsay.
Hope it goes better next time.
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