@Chatsetchiens so sorry to hear that you have also had this experience 4 times 
.I am shocked again.
What did you do about the feedback ? I am
Interested to know if these Homeowners are still THS members after member services got involved ? ( without giving any information that would identify them )
I believe member services got in contact with the HOs to explain that this should only ever happen during emergency type situations. To be fair, they were pretty supportive but thereās only so much they can actually do of course and we are the ones having to deal with all the stress of this happening.
Two of these HOs are no longer on the platform. With the most recent incident I mentioned, I didnāt leave any feedback and hoped my silence would speak volumes. This HO lives in one of the most desirable cities in the world therefore they know theyāll have plenty of applicants to choose from so I felt very disposable. I was not willing to sacrifice my reputation due to the review system being the way it is currently. I donāt even like stating that because I know itāll ignite a lot of anger amongst some members whoāll come at me with fury for saying that but that worry is very real especially when youāve worked vey hard over half a decade to build up a great, solid reputation. One negative spiteful retaliatory review can completely unravel that. Itās definitely a tough one.
@Chatsetchiens What a horrible experience- that recent sit- being called in for last minute cover then being asked to leave early. How extreemly dismissive of those hosts to treat you so casually and so disrespectfully. I would have been furious!
Iām totally with you on the review front. You definitely donāt want to risk retaliation. Have they given YOU a review yet? If yes then there is no more risk. You can say what you like and they can only respond on their own page. If as you say they can get sitters easily they might treat future sitters in an equally casual manner.
In your shoes Iād be inclined to express my feelings on this- in a not too emotional way- but only AFTER getting my review!
No, they didnāt write a review so I just left it. They told me how happy they were with me in a whatsapp message but think they realised what they did was out of order and did not want to leave themselves vulnerable either by leaving me a glowing review giving me the ability to write them a less than flattering one. I now tend to take the view that silence (ie no reviews) often speaks volumes.
@Chatsetchiens Thatās unfortunate- they used the (poor) open review system to their advantage. So in that case I agree with you silence is the next best option and does speak volumes. We too have had a couple of experiences where we had to remain silent for the same reason. In one particular case it pains me that 3 further sitters have done that (long) sit- and they too have no reviews/feedbacks either way. Iām sure they all had a difficult time & no one feels able to warn others- therefore the fear of retaliation allows the odd bad hosts to get away with misusing sitters.
Anyway until something changes in the review system I wish you a fabulous next sit!
Iām in full agreement with you on all of the above.
After a long break away from doing any sitting, Iām off to Rekjavik in a couple of weeks and have a very good feeling about the HOs. Having dealt with so many people the last five years as well as animals, my discernment and ability to judge the integrity of someoneās character from the outset has got far far stronger. An essential skill when doing what weāre doing. Long may that continue!
Many sitters may be unaware that they can use the app to check whether there are missing reviews by sitters. It should be the easiest thing for THS to make this information also available on the web interface.
@pietkuip I absolutely agree. That is an important descrepancy between the app and web page. If a sitter or host only uses the web page they miss the gaps which can make a huge difference in perception of the sit/sitter.
E.g on the website a host with no sitter feedback looks like a first time user. OK/neutral.
The same host when viewed on the app may actually have several previous sitters who gave no feedback! Big red flag- run a mile
And if the host has also given no reviews for those sitters who gave no feedback! Run even faster!!
Elsa,
Thank you! Weād love to come and sit at your house, lol. Although we couldnāt do a sit at yours because we depend on public transportation to get us around while weāre in the UK.
We plan on being in the UK next May for an extended period visiting friends in Wales and England and touring Scotland and Ireland.
Cheers!
Avis
Yes, but obviously they can do it without any consequences. It happened to me last week.
It happened to me just last week. I did report it but it didnāt change anything. Disappointing.
Sorry to hear this has also happened to you @Marian7 was this a sit cut short whilst you were already on it or a change of dates by homeowner ?
Hi @Silversitters. Of the 14 sits Iāve done so far only one HO decided to return home a week early. They said I could stay but I decided to leave a week early. So I guess that was my choice.
@richten1 there is the THS rule that homeowner should vacate the property for the whole of the stay and should not return early .There is also the THS third party policy that no one else should be present whilst sitter is there. So assuming or expecting the sitter to be comfortable with staying whilst the homeowner is present is not fair reasonable or within the T&Cs of THS.
Whilst there is no way of stopping the Homeowner from returning to their own property- it is against the T&Cs of TH membership.
Being forced to choose between staying with homeowner or leaving is not really a choice .
Many sitters would feel uncomfortable with this
So no I donāt think you had a choice . It was the homeowner who decided to curtail/ cancel the sit .
Thatās not cool at all. As a homeowner, I think thatās a very disrespectful move. This isnāt even an owner vs sitter issue. This is just common courtesy and decency.
Iām very much turned off that they werenāt even the ones to initiate that their dates were changing. What if you werenāt close and flights were involved?
Iām noticing more and more users (sitters and owners) are canceling/changing sits on a whim.
Although I do suggest you need a car, there is public buses but not regularly. I get it though. When weāre travelling we use the bus and donāt stay where we canāt get around easily. You have a fabulous holiday.
Yes, the message arrived as I was staying for 1 week and 4 days still ahead.
@Shasta, I hadnāt even thought of it in those terms. Yes, if I were travelling a great distance and expense to partake in this sit we would not have been to pleased. Perhaps they thought because our home base isnāt far away that we wouldnāt object. I suppose we could have said the changes are unacceptable and ask them to cancel us. Thereās no telling when they were going to advise us. The only reason we found out 13 days before the original sit start date was because I initiated contact. Not sure how THS would view this situation. Also, not sure if this would have qualified under the Premium Sitter insurance program. Perhaps @Karen_E or one of the other moderators on here could chime in on this aspect
Yes, but what is this code of conduct that HO have to accept with if there are no consequences ?
Yes and there is this code of conduct and yes there are no consequences.