Yes, we have had this experience where the conversation begins to sound like a done deal. Of course it’s a compliment bc it shows they like us enough to offer us the gig.
What HO’s do not realize is that the video call is a MUTUAL interview.
They are not only “interviewing us” but we are also interviewing them!
This is what I wish HO’s understood better. Bc they receive multiple applicants (usually) they see themselves in the position of choosing among the applicants and don’t really comprehend that sitters also need to decide if it’s a good match.
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@Maggie8K Everything you mentioned here I also put in my application but I didn’t double up on my profile. You just gave me the idea to put it in there too. Thx
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Not at all @Maggie8K. I still have a video chat, ask further questions and ensure I feel comfortable with the owners as they do with me. I make no commitment (just like the owners) before there is a video chat.
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Sounds like you’re doing what the OP does, which some hosts don’t get — you’re not promising to sit just by applying, which some hosts think an application is.
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That surely is a given, for all sitters? We only apply when we are interested in doing a sit but, as full time sitters, we often apply for sits with shared dates so cannot possibly accept them all. And then there are differing response times to consider. The video chats are what ultimately determine compatibility (and that works both ways, of course) but, on many occasions, HOs have expressed surprise when we’ve subsequently withdrawn our applications and it’s very apparent that there’s very frequently an assumption that an application means an offer to sit.
I started this thread to assess how widespread this experience is - and it appears it’s considerable - which means the reality of the application process potentially isn’t being made clear to HOs.
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Here’s one thing. When a HO signs up, they receive an email with this at the beginning:
This is where THS should put important information like that instead of saying you’ll have ‘unlimited access to sitters’. It makes it sound like thousands of sitters are available to you with minimal effort. ‘Unlimited access to sitters’ is repeated once more in that email along with other perks. But most people are going to immediately click on the Create my listing button and launch right in to doing that and won’t really pay attention to other guidance.
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I’ve just been through the process as we’ve just posted dates and agreed a sitter and although a box does come up, in your inbox area, once you have agreed a sitter that they have to confirm as well it may be easy to miss for new hosts.
What would make it easier/less confusing perhaps is if the email that comes, when you have reached the ‘pause of five’ , actually put that step into the process and it doesn’t. It tells you that it’s time to review your sitters, then to confirm via your inbox. It doesn’t say to then wait for them to accept your confirmation. It just goes to the next stage for for those who want to have more applications/expressions of interest.
On that point, maybe they shouldn’t be called applications from the sitters but expressions of interest? That may be more accurate description of a step in the process?
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Hi Happy Pets, In 99% of cases I only ever apply for one sit on given dates and never several at a time. When I first joined nobody ever did video calls or even phone calls, maybe more of an American thing than a UK thing? The first few years with TH all sits were agreed via message only. I still agree sits by messages only, one very recent. A few with a phone call or WhatsApp call. I have only ever had a couple of video calls with owners prior to agreeing a sit though. They are still not that common from my experience and video calls are still rare. I find there is more than enough information in the profile and from reviews that other sitters have given, to give me a clear picture, and I can always ask questions if needing to know more All sits that I have applied for and been offered I have accepted. I can well understand a home owner assuming you want the sit, if they speak to you on the phone or via video, as I always have. If you have applied for several sits on the same dates then it is rather wasting an owners time, if you are preferring one of the many other sits to the one they are offering. For me, the owner would always be correct in assuming I would be happy to accept the sit they were offering. I am sure there must be others equally like me, who only apply for one sit on certain dates, so alwaysd accept it if offered.
Hi @Happypets
I’ve done a few sits for new HO’s where they thought the application was me accepting a sit and some confused by the process. If the video chat goes well I state I’ll be happy to accept the sit if you send me the invite via THS. Once I’ve accepted the sit I’ll always forward screenshots of my plane/train confirmation bookings.
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You’re maybe misunderstanding me; we don’t progress to a video chat unless we are 99% convinced we’d like to do the sit (we may make several applications which have conflicting dates but don’t arrange several chats for the same period), but in the event we don’t feel it’s a good fit during the chat, we’ll withdraw.
I appreciate we all do things differently and for different reasons, but the bottom line is that an application is not an offer to sit, until - or unless - the sitter deems it so, and some HOs don’t seem to grasp that, for some reason.
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The issue is that many hosts think that the application is a commitment. That they get their 5 applicants and just say 'I’ll take this one." I don’t think it’s made clear to hosts that this is a mutual exchange and sitters get to choose too. Even if a listing looks perfect there are many things that can come up after the application that is off putting to the potential sitter.
A few months ago I applied to sit and the communication turned out to be terrible. In trying to set up a chat, I sent my availability for the next few days and he didn’t get back to me until after those days had passed, tried again, same thing. Then I just withdrew my application and sent a polite message. Maybe he thought it was done deal since I applied and didn’t realize that I’m not required to sit for him just because I applied.
It’s important for hosts to understand the mutual exchange nature of THS and I think THS could do a much better job of conveying this. All of the ads I see for HOs are about free pet care or low cost pet care -pay $149 for unlimited pet care for the year. That implies that the fee is for pet care, not for an opportunity to connect with sitters and work out an exchange that is beneficial to both parties. New hosts go in to the platform thinking they just pick a sitter.
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I apply to all sits that fits my dates and location. Sometimes there are a few. So an application cannot be an acceptance to sit because you don’t know who will get back to you in a timely manner and offer the sit.
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At the beginning, I never applied for overlapping sits but I soon realized that most of my applications were unanswered for a really long time and I was missing other attractive sits.
Now, if I have decided I want to sit for a particular time frame I first apply for compatible dates but, if I don’t get a timely answer, I then apply for other sits on the same dates.
Something similar happened to me. We set up a time for a chat, twice and the HO failed to show up on both occasions. When I withdrew, he said I was his first choice but I said it would not have worked out.
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I don’t know why this seems to bother people, but it appears to be a minority opinion. I do see it like a job too – you have a very important job of looking after someone’s home and pets and I see that as a bigger responsibility, with more trust involved, than a regular job. So of course an “interview” helps determine suitability. I can’t remember if on one of my video calls they said they had someone else to talk to as well, but I don’t have a problem with it. They might like the next person better than me, just like I might like another HO better than them.
Maybe TH could word their HO information differently (I don’t know what it says now) to emphasize that video calls may be part of the application process to determine suitability?, or, something… and both parties need to confirm acceptance.
video calls aren’t part of it, they are up to the parties involved and I think more common in the USA than part of the process here in the UK, at least in my experience having had most of our sitters agree to sit after THS and WhatsApp contacts. Only Video call was with a sitter from the USA. Personally I’m not at my best on a video call, I burble on and sound like a fool and I’m not really, well…not much of one!
@largo Video calls became popular during the pandemic and that trend has continued, not just being more popular in USA. Prior to the pandemic, there may have been the odd phone call but largely it was just through messaging via the inbox.
I’m in Europe and always have videocalls. Find it very useful. Not only to vet if I want to go further, but also to start the relations with the hosts as a foundation for the sit. All my hosts have wanted one so far.
If it works for others without, why not.
I don’t put work in an application if I don’t want the sit, but an interest is not an offer. After the videocall I know whether I want to offer to confirm a sit. But that debate might be more of an academic debate.
All of my U.K. hosts asked for video calls, too.
It’s common with people globally who’ve previously used it for work for many years and/or many who started using it for family connections, especially grandkids. The latter has been happening for a long time as well.
Video meetings spread even further during the pandemic, with remote work, and all sorts of personal or social uses. Like some religious orgs held services via Zoom. Some funerals and weddings have been streamed live. Tele-medicine increased during the pandemic as well, with some people even getting some basic exam questions via video, and a lot of therapy being done that way. Plus, of course many schools worldwide switched to video classes during the pandemic. But many colleges / universities have been holding online classes for many years.
Some people have little or no exposure based on what kind of work they do or when they retired. But they tend to be exceptions nowadays.
My husband’s family just did a video meeting to plan their annual in-person get-together. My father-in-law is in his late 80s and knows how to video chat, because they have classes in his retirement community.
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We joined THS in 2022, it’s been our experience that for the majority of our sits in UK , we have had a video call prior to confirming the sit - this included sits for older couples .
We have also had video walk throughs prior to the sit ( where hosts would be leaving before we arrived ) . Several hosts have made helpful videos of how things work ( motorised swimming pool cover , heating temperature controls ) and how pets are fed ( outside aviary ) and sent these short videos via WhatApp .
We have found video calls very useful in making a connection ( or not ) with the host .
We wouldn’t “waste our time “ on a video call if we didn’t have the intention to accept the sit . However , on a few occasions information has came to light during a VC that revealed that the sit would be unsuitable for us ( which wasn’t apparent from the listing ) . The majority of the time the VC has confirmed what we saw in the listing that the sit, hosts and pet would be a great match for us .
I had assumed this was the norm so it’s interesting for me to hear from others that video calls haven’t always been part of the process for confirming a sit .
As you say @largo
video calls are not mandatory, and different things work for different people .
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It’s happened to me twice. Once I had to hand over to another sitter outside the platform and in another case, instead of two dogs, there were three, the third one being bigger. I didn’t feel confident enough to walk the three dogs on my own and I wouldn’t have applied if I had known that.
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