EDIT: Thank you everyone for chiming in with your opinions, experience, and advice.
I just had a 12 day sit cancelled by the homeowner due to her own medical reasons. I had to cancel all my plans for the trip. And, I was going to take a long drive to get to this remote location and have my car with me. Because it was a 10 hour drive, I booked a cabin at the halfway point. The HO cancelled 6 days before the sit start date. I cannot get a full refund for my cabin rental, only a small amount for taxes and fees that I had to negotiate to get back. I am asking the HO to reimburse me. She was also new to the platform and didn’t know how to un-confirm so I had to get TH support involved so I could apply to other sits. There isn’t a comparable sit for me so I am not taking this trip. TH has let me know that they cannot help because I am not a “Premium” member. I don’t even know what that is, but apparently if you pay more, you get some kind of insurance. I would think that the (8) new paid members I have brought them would glean me some kind of “Premium” status, but I guess not. Has this happened to anyone else?
I’m so sorry this happened — I know it must be deeply disappointing, especially after making plans and paying for the cabin. Unfortunately, unexpected changes are part of the reality of sitting, and they can be hard to navigate.
While I understand how frustrating it is to be out those fees, it’s generally not considered appropriate to ask the homeowner to reimburse you. The membership tiers offer insurance for situations like this, and since you did not select the tier that includes insurance, it isn’t the homeowner’s responsibility. The same would be true if the roles were reversed — if you had a medical issue and couldn’t complete the sit, it wouldn’t be fair for them to ask you to pay for the sitter they’d need to hire. Homeowners also choose whether or not to have coverage.
Everyone approaches this differently. My own way of reducing stress is to only book sits in places I’m happy to visit regardless, and where I could cover my own accommodation if needed. That way, if the homeowner’s plans change — they get sick, they change their mind, or something else happens — I can still enjoy the trip. I do carry the insurance, but I’ve never made a claim, even in situations where I probably could have. Over time, I’ve come to see the occasional canceled airfare or hotel as an inevitable part of travel life, whether sitting or not. Chalk it up to experience, and maybe consider staying in the cabin regardless, as a refreshing but briefer break.
I’m sorry this was costly for you. I hope the host is okay. Was it something serious?
As far as I know getting the premium tier would be the only way to protect yourself from this happening and that has a deductible and limits. It is one of the risk sitters run. Both homeowners and sitters can cancel for “extraordinary reasons.” The fact is that petsitting even paid petsitting is a risky in this regard. Trips get cancelled. Pets get sick. People get sick.
A lot of feel like we are bringing things to the table for THS by being great sitters or offering sits in poplular areas. We are! But from the company’s perspective we are all paying for memberships. There is no special status based on the “value” any particular individual might bring to the community. We are all equal in this regard and cancellations sitter cancellations affect hosts in a similar way.
In addition to the premium tier, maybe there is other traveler’s insurance that would be helpful. I don’t use it, but there might be other people on the forum who have.
I understand everything you are saying, and I truly did not know about any level of membership that offers insurance. Now I know. But, just from a sense of responsibility viewpoint, if the tables were turned, and I was the HO that had to cancel, I would make up for it financially to the sitter. I think your example is different, having to pay for a pet sitter. That is how I feel about it. However, I suppose I should look into the Premium price and guage whether to engage it or not in the future.
Could you share a little more about your perspective? THS is built on mutual exchange: homeowners rely on sitters just as much as sitters rely on them. It’s a completely equal relationship. A sitter canceling six days before a trip can be every bit as stressful and disruptive for a homeowner as the reverse is for a sitter. One of the things that makes THS unique compared to other platforms is exactly this spirit of mutual collaboration — no one is in an employer–employee or transactional relationship, but rather in a partnership where both sides depend on one another.
What I’m saying, @KittySitter is that I woudn’t do that. I would pay the hotel fee back, if I was the one who cancelled. It’s about being responsible - taking responsibility for actions that one caused. That is how I see it. You may see it differently.
@tortimom I feel your pain and yes, you could argue that the HO could at least offer to split the cost of the 1-night cabin if they were really nice. But alas, they didn’t.
I think @KittySitter is asking: if you got sick right before a sit and had to cancel and the HO needed to suddenly pay for a sitter, even for one night until they could make other arrangements, would you have offered to pay or contribute towards this new cost?
Going forward, one of the main things you will have learnt from this is always make sure anything you book is fully refundable or have travel insurance that covers you for trips being cancelled.
The host has no obligation to refund your travel expenses. THS offers a travel insurance of such at a cost. I personally don’t think it’s worth it and do my own due diligence when doing any travel. It’s fustrating but as Frankie sang “That’s life”
I was aware of the refund policies of the hotel when I booked. I did take a chance. My post is about responsible action. I understand what everyone is saying. I’m just different.
Steve, I signed up literally years ago. And, I don’t remember the Premium option, because it was years ago. I’m pretty sure it is set up on auto renew. I have done many sits, but was not aware of Premium service before. Now I am. Thank you for explaining the way it works. And, now that you have, I would not find it worth it. That would have cost more than what I’m expecting to be reimbursed. It is your point here that literally NAILS it: b) people will be courteous and considerate and take responsibility for their actions that affect others. THIS is what disappoints me. Because I am that person. And, yes, I do expect others to be that person too. Looking at your profile pic, I am going to assume you are of the same generation as me. It used to be that people had manners and took responsibility. I find that to be more the exception than the rule, sadly. It affects all aspects of life, really. I’m sorry to hear about your $100 umbrella. Shame on her for not offering to compensate you for her negligence.
“but the point being that’s just how most people are.” Yep, but I don’t have to relish that.
2023 -( our first year on THS ) Host became seriously ill on a cruise and had to be medi vacced home .
2024 - Host had a serious accident and had to come home day 5 of a 22 day sit .
For the first we did not have Premium membership . We didn’t expect the host to provide accommodation for us , we returned home .
We had several more sits already confirmed , so we “upgraded “ to Premium membership.
The following year we did need to make a claim and it was paid out .
However in your case it wouldn’t have covered the cabin on route to the sit - it covers the sit dates only, and any alternative accommodation must be within 20 miles of the sit .
Also $150 is deducted , there’s a maximum claim of 10 days and other terms to make a successful claim.
Cancellations do happen occasionally - ( by hosts and sitters ) it’s good to be aware that it’s a possibility and then be prepared with a back up plan in mind if it does .
Yeah, I don’t do back to back sits much as I’m still working full time. And now that you have explained the insurance policy I see it would not have applied here. My post is more about personal responsibility. I can see how the insurance would be a valuable thing for the kinds and frequency of sits someone like yourself does.
It is ok to think one should reimburse to be courteous - but would you then reimburse the host for the expense of a petsitter if you had to cancel for medical reasons? It would probably be a much higher amount than a part cost of cabin-rent.
Because this site is about a mutual exchange, that would be the consequence, IMO. That if we were to reimburse for a cancelled sit, that too would be a mutual obligation.
As it is, we need to have a plan B, and consider whether the Premium plan would serve us (or not).
In general, also apart from this topic, it seems THS works best if one has some emergency funds. It is easy to get stranded somehow without. Without accommodation, or having less choices when in a bad sit.
If free housing is vital, it could be better also to concentrate on areas with many sits.
I understand your frustration, and while it would be nice if the HO offered compensation, I wouldn’t accept it. Hosts aren’t involved in my travel planning or my decision to apply to a sit requiring travel expenses. Those are my choices for which I am responsible.
I think @mdarden1x and @Garfield say it exactly as it is. These things can and do happen and it is all part of the highs and lows of house/petsitting. Unfortunately you have to take the good with the bad and cop it on the chin when something like this happens. The homeowner didn’t plan on getting sick, it wasn’t intentional, and I’m sure if the tables were turned you wouldn’t feel the way you do. Last November I had to cancel on a homeowner to fly home for emergency surgery, five days out from a sit. It happens, I lost a lot of money, a lot more than you have I promise you, but life happens I’m afraid and both parties just accepted it graciously.
You need to move on from this and accept that though it’s not ideal, for you, it’s part and parcel of what we do when we take on a sit. It’s tough love and I’m sure the homeowner isn’t happy having a medical issue either and would have preferred to still have a holiday.
I’ve had two sits cut short by my hosts’ legit emergencies. Both sets of hosts offered to pay for my hotel stay because of that (or share the costs of a return home early, in one case), but I thanked them and paid my own way. That’s because THS terms are that you incur your own risks and costs (whether as a sitter or host) unless you opt for premium, which covers limited costs (and not your specific costs in this case, as other folks have mentioned).
You keep repeating what you would do if you were a host. That’s not actually relevant, because we don’t get to decide what others are obligated to do — there are already THS terms, and if you need or want something else that the other party doesn’t want to do beyond those, you can’t insist on that.
In the future, if something like this matters so much to you, you should raise it at the outset. And if those hosts don’t agree, then pass.
I used to see it precisely the way you do - I even tried (unsuccessfully) to find the thread elsewhere on this Forum where I argued, quite vehemently, that I would pay a pet owner to hire a sitter if I had to cancel (I only sit; I don’t host).
It was the back-and-forth on this Forum (sometimes heated, often instructive) that helped me understand that THS is a - different thing. Going into THS with assumptions based on past paradigms puts blinders on us all - it is a new and wonderful thing, something that didn’t exist decades ago, that we are all building together. It is neither a relationship between friends, nor a business. It is a mutual exchange with guardrails, and the guardrails are what protect members from financial losses if things go wrong.
It is unfortunate that you were unaware of the insurance option, but now you are.
“Taking responsibility for actions that one caused” means taking responsibility for booking a nonrefundable room and not fully understanding the terms and conditions of the membership. The host did not “cause” any actions here - the illness did.
Getting sick is not an action, it’s something that happens to people and has an impact in their lives and often in others’ (work, plans, etc). @SteveS situation was different. The umbrella was broken because of a negligence and the sitter should have taken responsibility for it.