It’s quite a big assumption to make. I’d never be so casual with my own pet and home, so this is pretty worrying.
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@cherylfah Try the live chat function in the help centre - at first you will get the virtual assistant Frankie you can then ask to speak to member services and you will get through to a real person .
Update on @cherylfah issue, although I’m sure she will do this also, the owners have responded and she has the details she needs.
Thanks to everyone for their help and support.
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I tried that earlier today and it didn’t give me a live person after chat. I emailed and they were able to reach the home owner who seemed confused but we’ve got a plan for tomorrow. Thanks to everyone!
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@cherylfah @Angela_L that’s great news, I’m pleased everything is now sorted for you for tomorrow 
Glad it all worked out at the end. I am curious what were owners confused about? Did they think you already have their address?
I thirty+ sits we’ve had two owners who deliberately did not provide their address until we were on our way to their house. One told to us to drive to a certain neighborhood and to text them for the address when we get closer. The address was provided 15 min before we arrived. The 2nd owner did not provide their address, ordered us a taxi and the taxi driver also refused to provide the address. That made us really uneasy so we had to activate the Google safety check.
Asking for an address after a confirmed sit is always slightly awkward. It would be much better if the address is displayed in a designed field after the sit is confirmed (not in the welcome guide), rather than us sitters asking for it.
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Excuse my ignorance @BunnyCat What is the google safety check ?
That sounds so strange to me I have not encountered a sit like that . Why would they not give their address ? Did you have to stay at the location for the entire sit or could you leave ?
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@Silversitters In both cases the owners wanted to make sure we are on our way and wanted to protect their address if case of a cancelation.
Our Android phones have a Google Personal Safety feature where you can schedule a personal safety check within a certain time. If not turned off once the timer reaches a certain time, the phone is set to either auto dial your emergency contact or broadcast your phone info to the police. I think the Apple phones also have a similar feature.
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Thank you @BunnyCat I think I would have been very concerned and maybe considered cancelling if an owner wouldn’t give me their address beforehand as I would be concerned that the sit didn’t actually exist . Especially if it involved considerable distance to travel . I’m glad the sits worked out for you .
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You found a unicorn!
@BunnyCat That’s unbelievable!!! Where is the trust?!! This is TRUSTEDHousesitters!
They invite you to come and sit for them- and take care of their precious home & pets- and then don’t want to share their address till the last minute because of security!! That sounds deeply suspicious and I would not accept it.
I think the address should be sent automatically by THS the minute a sit is confirmed.
But since it is not we always ask for it immediately on confirming. Sometimes even before -especially if the location is not clear and we want to check travel distances, or have a look on google earth. Some hosts, with large rural or easily idenitifiable properties, write the name of a nearby town on the listing- for security reasons. That I can understand. But once they have chosen their TRUSTED sitter they should share address details privately- off site.
Any other attitude is just plain wierd!
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BunnyCat, I can’t believe they would not provide the address. As a woman travelling alone, I wouldn’t have gone in the taxi without the address. Some HOs completely disregard the risks on the sitters side. We are going to a stranger’s home.
We really need to be provided with the address. Often the location given encompasses a very large area. I’ve had a few surprises and in the future I won’t be accepting sits until I have the address (and their approximate departure/arrival times since that’s another common issue).
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Not sure, I think they don’t understand how the platform works. It’s their first time using it and they’re in a hurry. In any case I’m there now and the cat is a cuddly sweetie and the house is fine. Who knows. They’ll live and learn. Imagine if they’d just confirmed whoever and that person backed out due to the lack of communication…I was already planning to be in Amsterdam, and a 20 minute walk from their house.
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I wouldn’t do any sit where HOs were dodgy about their address. I’m not going in blind. Plus, my husband of course would like to know where I’m going to be.
If a HO won’t reveal their address till late, they’re putting their needs clearly ahead of the sitter’s. The sitter usually is traveling to a sit; often expending considerable money and time to do it. Why should there be a one-sided dynamic? And BTW, sitters from the U.S. go through criminal background checks, unlike any HOs in the world.
Beyond sits, it’s important to set and uphold good boundaries for how you allow people to treat you. Sometimes you’ll see folks left upset or bitter, because of poor treatment that they allowed, which they could’ve avoided.
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Yes. This is a good place to learn how to be more assertive, when necessary. Being a good sitter doesn’t mean agreeing to everything the HO wants. Sometimes you need to speak up for yourself. I don’t want to pet sit for anyone who doesn’t see this as an equal exchange.
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I just accepted a sit in a central part of London. The HO replied within an hour or two of my application and we set up a video chat and traded contact info right away. Then we did the video chat and she extended the offer shortly after. All of that happened within 24 hours. I have her address, as well as a dinner invite.
By contrast, a HO in an out-of-the-way location in the U.S. hadn’t even read my application msg within 48 hours, so I withdrew. And the sad thing for that HO is, their location isn’t in demand — two weeks later, they’ve reposted their sit, with little interest from sitters.
It’s about an hour from my home, so I not only could’ve easily done the sit, I could’ve been a repeat sitter if we’d turned out to be a good match. They live in a small town with a bit of history, but there are hundreds if not thousands such towns in our region / in the northeast U.S. When HOs snooze, they can easily lose.
From my vantage point as a telecommuting sitter, I can go anywhere I feel like, with high flexibility in timing. That means there are countless sit opportunities, so zero need to wait on slow HOs. Plus, as much as I enjoy traveling, I also enjoy being at home and can travel without sitting, so no sit is ever so important that I’d let any HO waste my time.
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This should be mandatory for HO even if they don’t want to fill in all the tabs.
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Since I am only a Sitter and not an Owner, I don’t see the tips that THS provides for Owners. Maybe someone can enlighten me. It makes sense to me that an Owner should post their listing only when they have time to immediately respond to applications and finish the process of selecting a Sitter. Seems like common sense!
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HI @LynKinn I have passed this on to our tech team.
Who knows what’s going on in the HOs’ heads or their lives. Shrug. To me, it doesn’t matter — I don’t have to wait, no matter their reason.
Each sitter gets to set their own boundaries, which is key. So when sitters complain about being kept waiting, it’s actually something they can control — you can always look for more responsive HOs. Of course, if you don’t mind waiting, that’s also your choice.
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