I would like to see percentage statistics of every individual host when it comes to sits that they later cancel.
It would be relevant info for sitters considering an application
Cancelling sits often would lead to bad statistics therfore creating a ”cost” for the host bringing total host cancellstions down.
This has already been discussed many times.
The main point of contention is: would it be fair that HO’s who cancel for legitimate reason get penalized?
I agree that information would be useful but it should apply to both sitters and HOs. Why only HOs?
I would assume that the sitter cancellation statistics would be far greater, as I’ve heard numerous HO mentioning sitters cancelling last minute.
I have read on this forum about lots of HOs cancellations, too. The only way to know would be having the figures. I wouldn’t make any assumptions.
Anyway, the process of canceling is only available to HOs, not sitters. Some of us have asked that all cancellations should go through THS.
I could be for sitters to. I just took the perspective of ”my” group.
I think hosts also should have a full profile page.
The point is you should only put up an ad for a sitter in the case you most certainly need one not just as a backup if your neighbor or friend cant do it. It happened to me the other day. As of now theres no”cost” for a host behaving like that.
Yes, the statistics would be good, still my assumption is that there would be more sitter cancellations. For instance, I have completed about 30 sits and have had to cancel 2 confirmed sits (not last minute) and have never had a HO cancel a confirmed sit. Although, I have encountered several applications that have resulted in dates being removed, as HO ended up not needing a sitter.
Two way street……never going to happen.
@Themavericksitter I’ve done 50 sits and have never cancelled, but I’ve had 4 HOs cancel sits.
Exactly the same stats for us as for @systaran so far @AndreasSwe - they’ll never do it. Did the HO not make it clear that you were “back up” when you did the video call pre sit confirmation? Definitely a question to ask going forward. #askmorequestions
What do you mean by this? The HO and sitter profiles look comparable to me
This sort of information without any context would not really be meaningful. It would end up painting an inaccurate picture of members on both sides in many cases. For this information to be used in any meaningful way it would require THS to do a lot of things they probably would have no interest in doing; it would require hosts and sitter providing information they probably have no interest in providing to a housesitting site. It just wouldn’t be practical.
As far as hosts specifically, many don’t use the site very often. If someone only used it twice and had to cancel their second sit, they would have a 50% cancellation rate.
It would be even more problematic for sitters. For someone who only sits occasionally and doesn’t book too far ahead, an injury that leaves them unable to sit for the next six months might mean the cancellation of one sit.
For a full-time sitter or someone who was planning on sitting for an extended period, that might mean cancelling a dozen. What if this happened to a first time sitter who hadn’t done any sits prior…they would have a 100 percent cancellation rate.
This would also probably more negatively impact people who sit solo compared to those sitting with someone else. If I break my leg and can’t walk the dog on an upcoming sit, I wouldn’t have to cancel because my husband could do it. A solo sitter wouldn’t have the same luxury.
I know cancellations are problematic on both ends, but strict tracking of this by the site with something like statistics would almost certainly end up being a very unwelcome change.
There are lots of legitimate reasons a sit can be cancelled by a host or a sitter and not all of them involve super-serious issues like unexpected illness or a death in the family.
Once a sit is confirmed, if the hosts springs new responsibilities on you that you would not have agreed to had you known initially, a sitter should reserve the right to cancel. Would you be happy if this sit was counted towards your ‘statistics?’
If after a host confirms a sitter, they proceed to get horrible reviews from sits in between that suggest they are untrustworthy, or incapable of properly caring for their pet and keeping them safe and healthy, and the host no longer feels comfortable having this person in their home, they should be able to cancel. Would it be fair to have this ‘strike’ on their record?
The fact of the matter is that a trip can no longer proceed for a number of reasons, and as a sitter I understand how these cancellations can cause issues for those on that side.
I know the situation the OP is discussing is different in that they found alternate arrangements for the care of their animal but the same general idea applies.
But this is just something that happens and people need to accept this risk. Hosts are not offering their homes up as some sort of kind gesture to put a roof over a sitter’s head, they are not entering into any sort of binding agreement that is guaranteeing the sitter accommodation for that time period.
They are seeking a service, and sometimes events transpire in a way where they no longer need that service. I know in some cases, the reasons for cancellation are not great but such is life.
Every time THS inserts itself into this process more people are never happy with these changes and the negative impacts are always felt more by sitters–application limits, inability to book overlapping dates,etc…
I totally disagree. We’ve completed 30+ sits, and only had two sits cancel that were within a few weeks of their start date, and both for an incredibly good reason, they both unfortunately lost their dogs, so I don’t think displaying stats is a good thing in this scenario, they’d ultimately have had to create a new profile if they decided to get another dog, as their stats would go against them, which is silly because we have sat for owners that have been with THS for over 10 years, and had and lost multiple pets pver that time! Also, we replaced those 2 canceled sits (11 weeks in total) within 3 days! JUST 3 DAYS!
All of the rest of our sits that have changed dates or cancelled have been at around 4-6 months in advance, so it was no problem whatsoever.
Out of curiosity, how many cancelled sits have you actually experienced @AndreasSwe and did you manage to replace them?
My guess is this is a stat that THS would never want published to both sets of users.
For myriad reasons.
THS is a business, and publishing cancelation stats have no net gain for their business model.
I have 11 past sits. I had one cancel for some unspecific reason. But I think it was questionable sit, they never interviewed me. Another, one pet died before interview, then the second one died. And the sit was cancelled. But months before. I will be curious how it goes going forward. I have 8 sits booked going forward.
Our own stats as sitters who have done 26 sits , We haven’t cancelled any sits but have had 3 sits curtailed by hosts - two which were for exceptional circumstances ( serious illness and an accident which cause concussion and a broken leg )
The third curtailment was not for an exceptional circumstance.
Illness or accidents could happen to sitters or hosts .
As sitters, we’ve never had hosts cancel.
As homeowners, we’ve had sitters cancel on us a few times.
how do sitters cancel? I thought they couldn’t. You had to cancel them.
I’ve had two sits cut short by hosts for legit reasons. In both cases, they offered to pay for hotel stays to make up the gap, though I declined and paid on my own.
Separately, I canceled one sit immediately after reading the welcome guide, which revealed dealbreakers that should’ve been disclosed earlier — one dog needed letting out overnight and another was prone to diarrhea.
The sit was months off and we’d video chatted, agreed to the sit and I’d received the welcome guide all within a span of about 36 hours. That meant that the host could find another sitter, hopefully by being honest upfront.
A sitter can cancel simply by telling a host that they’re not coming. What are they going to do, come to my home and force me to go to their home and do their sit?
Whether the host seeks recourse is the question. If they’ve violated terms / been dishonest or misleading, sitters have legit reasons to not go ahead with a sit. THS is voluntary, not conscription or enslavement.
Personally, I use my agency and am not some sitting duck to be taken advantage of by hosts who are deceptive, exploitative or such.