I’m curious if anyone has had experience with homeowners who accept applications but keep the applicants waiting a long time for a response. I applied for a sit a month ago. Within a couple of days applications closed, so the homeowner isn’t waiting for more applicants. I reached out after two weeks to ask if she would like to have a WhatsApp chat to learn more about me and my qualifications or ask any questions she might have. She replied that that would be great, so I asked when a conversation would be convenient for her and…crickets.
The sit is a couple of months away so I understand that there’s no rush on her part, but it seems kind of rude to have 5 applicants waiting this long. Is this something that others have experienced?
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Happens all the time. Has been discussed many times on the forum. It isn’t just rude, it actually go against THS terms and conditions. Specifically 5.1.13.
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You might find this thread useful: Timescale for Reviewing Applications
TLDR: yes, sometimes HOs aren’t responsive and you have to decide how you want to deal with that. Some people Revoke their application. Others just let it linger while looking for other sits. You have to find what works for you.
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Wow - I didn’t know that. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Makes me wonder if the homeowners actually read the agreement before signing up.
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Yeah, that’s what I’m doing. I’d rescind my application but it’s in a city that I’d really like to visit. I’m applying for other sits that I find appealing during the same timeframe, though.
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Keep in mind that it refers to ‘members’ so applies to both HOs and sitters. I am sure many don’t read the T & Cs thoroughly. I will confess that I only gave them a cursory reading when I joined. That has changed.
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I had something similar happen recently, i gave them a week then rescinded my application with a polite note of why. I’ll be honest i didn’t fine comb the policies in the beginning either. Then later i looked over them more thoroughly after reading different threads on here.
You will find many discussions on that here in forum.
For me personally, it is important to answer when others reach out to me. For me that is polite and a sign of respect. I might overthink it, as that is why I regard not answering as rude and impolite, and give the impression that one regard the other as not important enough to bother, as a commodity, not an equal. As a result - I see not answering as a red flag for the actual sit, and for me that is part of MY screening process for sits. A host that fail on this part is not a good match for me. If I don’t get an answer I withdraw my application. It differs how long I wait. It could be after 48 hours or up to a week depending on whether I check my inbox. I usually include a small text - as I haven’t heard from you I withdraw my appl etc.
It is up to each and every one how you regard it and how you handle it.
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What is ‘crickets’?
Best description is silence.
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Ah, an Americanism! Thats why i hadnt heard of it
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If the owner hasn’t responded or made a decision in a month, we would consider that a red flag. Poor communication and decision-making now will likely escalate during the sit. We withdraw our applications after 3 days in cases like this and don’t look back, no matter how appealling the sit looks on paper.
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One of our “waiting for reply” experiences: applied for a month long sit in Spain (for June/July) at the beginning of March, application read, no response. We withdrew it 1.5 weeks later, got accepted for the different sit. In JULY we received a massage from that HO, she thanked us for a "beautiful’ application and stated that she found an old friend to do the sit but hoped we will apply for the future dates 
In my experience, most people who let the listing in reviewing mode for a very long time, a month for example, get an arrangement outside THS and then forget about their listing or just can’t be bothered. I find it particularly annoying when they have already offered a video-chat and never answer or even check your reply. I have one of those pending now, I haven’t withdrawn the application just out of curiosity. In the highly unlikely case that they did get back, I wouldn’t consider taking the sit unless a really solid explanation was given, emergency surgery or something like that.
The phrase has spread through popular culture, because American movies go everywhere and social media is porous. But yes, if you’re not exposed to much of that, you’d be more likely to miss such.
Plus, we all learn or hear about things at different times and in different ways. Like I know a lot about British culture and phrases vs. most Americans because I’ve consumed a lot of British literature, movies, shows, etc., and have visited many times over the years.
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Thanks so much. I waited for 7 weeks and though I heard from the owner about a WhatsApp call on two occasions, she never responded when I sent my availability. I finally decided that if communication was this bad during the application process, that didn’t bode well for the sit so I withdrew my application. I found another sit and that homeowner replied within an hour. Glad I followed your advice.
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