I’m facing a rather unusual situation and could use some guidance. I’m currently on a sit where, as of today, the homeowner’s account is showing as inactive. This means I can no longer access the listing, and there’s a banner indicating the sit is unauthorized. Technically, everything is still proceeding fine with the sit itself, but this situation feels odd and raises several questions.
The banner says the homeowner’s membership hasn’t been renewed, If so, will I still be able to leave a review for the homeowner and receive one in return after the sit concludes?
I’ve done some research on this topic. From what I’ve gathered in older threads, it used to be possible to leave reviews for expired members. However, under the current system, it’s not longer possible but they made it so:
Homeowners can’t organize sits that extend beyond their membership unless auto-renewal is enabled.
If auto-renewal is turned off after organizing a sit, the system is supposed to cancel the sit.
Here’s where I’m confused:
I accepted this sit weeks ago, and I’m 100% certain there was no warning about the homeowner’s membership expiring.
There was no automatic cancellation due to turned-off auto-renewal.
Just yesterday (a sit day), the homeowner’s account was still active, and I could access the listing to check details. The fact that the warning banner only appeared today—after the sit had already started—advising me not to take up the sit feels quite paradoxicall.
So, how did this situation happen? Is this a bug? Maybe the owner bank account didn’t have enough funds for the renewal ? Or could the homeowner’s account have been banned?
I’m really confused and I’d really appreciate any insights or advice on this matter especially about the possibility to leave/have a review and for the insurrance/risks part?
Thanks a lot!
(edited by Forum team to remove screenshot of private conversation, in line with Community Guidelines)
In your shoes, I’d contact the host asap and let them know. Let them reach out to THS and solve it. It’s not your problem. It’s theirs. If they don’t or on an expedition beyond the reach of any communication network, then contact THS member services.
I’m not sure. If the sitter is getting the message “unauthorized sit” it probably means neither party is covered by the insurance and neither can be reviewed. It is of course something the HOs can fix and I agree the first step should be to contact them. They may not be aware of the situation but if they don’t wish to renew they should be prepared to make alternative arrangements in case the sitter wants to leave.
Might very well be. I would contact the host, tell them about it and say that until it is fixed it is no longer a THS-sit.
In my opinion with no valid membership it is no longer a THS-sit and as a consequence terms are broken and sitter can give notice and leave. I think one should consider leaving as sitter is no longer protected by THS-terms and possibly insurance (as well as not getting a chance to review). These things are valid also for the host and could/ should motivate to renew.
I do think there should be a system so that one cannot agree on a sit with no membership, or in the least get a warning - say three months ahead - and possibility to withdraw from both sides (also sitter) if no valid membership.
I think there’s a warning mail 30 days before renewal is due but, with all these annoying emails from THS, it is easy to overlook it. I think if a listing is uncovered by THS, the owner should get a message like the one sitters get when trying to apply for overlapping dates.
If the sit takes place, of course.
What I was suggesting was the system preventing it from happening, the same as it doesn’t let a sitter apply if there are overlapping dates. Sorry I didn’t make it clear. The message would come to explain the impossibility of publishing a listing until membership is extended to cover those dates.
Strange. In the words of Douglas Adams, “don’t panic” :). Hopefully this is not your first housesit!
THS member services seems to have been notified.
Hopefully communication with the Pet Parent will yield a solution.
Your post notably does not state any red flags in regards the housesit itself.
THS MS may have a way to enable two-way review, but this seems a less significant issue.
Hope that the situation soon gains clarity and a good path forwards is evident.
Not sure about this case, but seems like there are gaps left by THS that need closing. For example:
Someone accepts a sit while memberships are active, but one or both lapse before the sit happens.
Or memberships are active, but run out during a sit or so soon after that people can’t write reviews.
At least such variations on problems have been mentioned by posters, if memory serves.
Such gaps needlessly create problems that should be prevented by THS in the first place. But their tech is probably a mess and some of these gaps might be hard for THS to address, though such problems still need addressing.
Tangentially, some folks don’t even realize they’ve not officially accepted a sit, which could lead to further complications, if memberships expire within relevant time periods as well. Given that the stages of acceptance don’t seem to be clear to folks (or some folks overlook — a seasoned sitter mentioned doing such, for example), there probably ought to be better flagging or such.
Forum members have no power to act, only to suggest/advise. It is best to contact both the Host and THS MS directly to get your questions answered. It is indeed an odd and unusual situation. I hope it gets quickly sorted out.
First, I want to thank everyone who contributed to this discussion. My goal here is not only to resolve the situation, which I’ve already taken steps toward by contacting the host, but also to understand what went wrong and discuss it openly so that others can learn from it as well. I’ve done my fair share of sits and have faced many different situations. I enjoy delving into each one thoroughly so I can be better prepared for the future.
To clarify: Yes, I’ve been in touch with the host and have been working on resolving the issue directly with her. However, I also believe forums like this are incredibly valuable for gaining a broader perspective on situations like this, scenarios that could happen to anyone here.
Here’s a quick recap of what happened:
Host Communication: I contacted the host, and she confirmed that the payment hadn’t gone through. She assured me that she would process it manually, so hopefully, that part will be resolved soon.
THS Member Assistance: A THS member reached out to me proactively, which I greatly appreciate. Even though I hadn’t explicitly requested a direct contact help (was going to request in case the host don’t answer), their promptness and activeness were commendable. The member answered some of my questions, specifically confirming that I wouldn’t be covered. They also mentioned that no reviews would be possible in this case and that I, as the sitter, am allowed to leave since this sit is no longer an official THS arrangement.
That said, my primary question, why this situation arose, remained unanswered by the THS team. However, the host did provide clarification, confirming that the issue stemmed from her payment not going through, as I suspected and as some forum members also pointed out.
My Thoughts on System Improvements
Autorenewal Vulnerabilities: While the autorenewal system seems like a good idea in theory, this situation highlights a significant vulnerability. In my opinion, this could be addressed by implementing the following changes:
If a host organizes a sit that extends beyond their membership period, the autorenewal process should trigger immediately, ensuring the membership is paid and no issues arise. This seems logical (atleast to me) by arranging a sit outside of your current membership, you are implicitly confirming your intention to continue using THS after your membership expires.
Similarly, for sitters: If you accept a sit that extends beyond your membership period, a pop-up should notify you that you need to pay for the relevant period immediately.
Review Options: Even if the system remains unchanged, there should at least be an option to leave reviews. I honestly can’t think of a single valid counterargument against allowing reviews in situations like this. It’s a small yet meaningful change that would benefit everyone involved.
Grace Period Coverage: It would be a nice gesture if THS could implement a grace period for cases where one party still has an active membership. For example, if a host’s membership lapses but the sitter’s remains active, the sit should still be considered official during that time atleast on the paying member side.
Allowing messaging: One crucial point that those who haven’t been in this situation might not realize is this: you lose the ability to message the other member through the platform. This can be risky, imagine an emergency arising and having to wait for THS to contact them on your behalf. I believe this issue needs to be addressed immediately by allowing members to continue communicating, even if the sit becomes unofficial. (Yes, I know that members typically exchange phone numbers or WhatsApp details, but relying on that as the sole backup isn’t enough)
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these ideas and whether you have any additional suggestions.
I did both, I reached out to the host, posted on the forum, and took several other proactive steps, it’s called being thorough and multitasking. Many of the questions in my forum post are about how the system works and the specifics of this type of situation, which are better addressed by a THS member rather than the host. These are important topics of public interest, which is why I chose to post them on the forum too.
Dear M. Lucas, I really appreciate the way you handle this situation and share your experience via this forum. Your structured and sensible approach to the problem can really help anyone going through something similar in the future. Your thorough analysis of possible improvement is even better. I support your suggestions and would very much like to see the response from THS on this. I would like to add a recent personal experience that can give an idea why automatic renewal can be a problem. I have been with the same bank for a very long period and have used the visa card they issued for more than 20 years. So apart from the occasional update of the expiry date, it has remained the same. Last month I recieved suddenly a new card, now a mastercard. I have no idea for how many autorenewal processed my old visa card was used, but for all of them the payment will now not go through. I will have to keep a close eye on this for the next year and will not forget to “thank” my bank for this issue.
@M.Lucas, that’s a top-class update . Hopefully this eventuality is uncommon. But your recommendations seem targeted, pragmatic and actionable by THS. All good.
Glad that it all worked out. Sometimes life throws everyone a curve-ball - all we can do is adapt, learn and move forwards.
