Recently I logged into my host account and saw a warning that in order for my listing to be active and viewable to sitters I need to complete it. Given that my host profile has been complete and visible to sitters for months (and was still visible) I was rather perplexed.
After doing some digging around I realized that all the photos uploaded had to be placed into one of the new “room” categories using the new drop down box next to each photo. Even if it’s an outdoor photo. Makes perfect sense! Not really.
The warning went away for several weeks but was back again today and I was unable to save any changes because the “save” box was greyed out. At which point I quickly discovered that due to yet another unannounced update, hosts are now required to post pictures of the kitchen, bathroom, living area and a bedroom.
It would have been a lot easier if this was made more obvious rather than have the hosts try to figure it out on their own, but anyway here you go.
I’m not surprised, THS seems to have little idea how to handle changes i.e. an announcement in advance. It shouldn’t be that difficult to put together an email to all active members. The monthly newsletter is not suitable for this purpose, it should be a separate communication.
That’s an improvement that sitters have been asking for . But badly implemented by no comms from THS because they haven’t informed hosts or Frankie the chat bot about the changes .
Yes, I ran into a similar problem. I made a small text update and then could not save it. It took some research to find out what the problem was. Now I had to figure out how to implement the new requirements. Our living area, kitchen and bathroom are outdoors, but outdoors is also a seperate tag. The bedroom is also my office, and a living area in case of heavy storm and rain. But if you prefer, you can also sleep outdoors. Not every house fits in standard categories. But I made it
I cheated. I didn’t want to delete any of the pictures to add a photo of a typical toilet, sink and shower so I labeled one of the outdoor pictures as “bathroom” and explained why in the caption.
I’m actually glad to hear that THS is trying to require hosts to post photos of all the spaces in the home the sitter will have access to. Granted, they needed to communicate this more effectively but am really pleased this is being somewhat enforced. Lack of photos is one of my top pet peeves on listings. Every space in the home the sitter can and will use should absolutely be posted with clear photos.
Of course we assume there is a toilet…I’d like to see the condition of said toilet (bathroom) as not everyone’s definition of “clean and tidy” is the same.
Hvala vam na prepoznavanju vrednosti ove promene za sitters Standardizacija kategorija fotografija pomaže pri donošenju odluka, iako je implementacija mogla biti mnogo jasnija
Thank you for recognizing the value of this change for sitters. Standardizing photo categories helps with decision-making, although the implementation could have been much clearer.
(Translation added by the Forum Team via Google Translate).
@idocsteve thanks for catching that and for the detailed instructions. I was helping a homeowner today whose listing was stuck in inactive status because of the new photo categories, and it made me wonder how many other homeowners who aren’t on the forum are running into the same issue and have no idea why their listing isn’t going live. It really feels like the internal THS teams are working in silos and communication between them isn’t great, because this change seems to have been rolled out with no clear communication to owners at all.
@idocsteve and @Cathie , I think Cathie is being facetious here. Of course sitters know there are bathrooms but there should be photos of them posted because not everyone’s standards of clean and neat are the same as well as some may need a walk in shower vs a tub or whatever. Oftentimes I find a photo of a bathroom tells me a lot about the home itself.
Mark, the issue is that if the existing listing’s photos are not placed in the new categories the listing will remain paused/inactive even if new dates are added. The homeowner I was helping is not new, their listing is about 2 years old and they have had multiple sitters over the years. The listing has pictures of all the rooms, interior, exterior, bathrooms etc. When they tried adding new dates for their listing the listing remained inactive because the old photos were not placed in the new mandatory categories. The homeowner was really confused why suddenly their previously approved listing and process to adding new dates is no longer working.
You got me! It is often hard to convey certain things by text. Some hosts fail to see that the facilities we will be using is important to us. We may not need a glamorous pool or a hot tub, but a comfortable bedroom with space for our belongings, pleasant lounge and dining spaces, a usable kitchen AND a photo of the bathroom showing such things as is the shower over the bath? Will my 6 foot husband fit under said shower ( sometimes not), is there space to put my toiletries etc? These are all important requirements for me regardless of the location, dates or appealing pets.
It is really not that hard to take some good, accurate photos and post them in the correct positions. I have seen stupid photos like just a door or a corner of a wall used. Scroll on because what are they hiding? If you can’t be bothered to show me the home I will be staying in, I can’t be bothered to apply.
Steve of course will continue to be inundated with applications because a Greek location is appealing. Will they all be good applications? No, many will be just looking for a “free Greek holiday” and they are usually the sitters that are not quite what you would want.
@BunnyCat did similar with my friend recently, she had adjusted her profile to reflect new sit and wouldn’t load. We scrolled through and noticed she was missing a room and the photos hadn’t been categorised. Everything that was missing was flagged in some way. But yeah @Mark_B seems like a pop up message would be a good idea along the lines of “you need to update this…..”.
I always marvel at things like a photo of a vase, a frame, a centerpiece, a sunset etc. Why use up a photo slot for that? I don’t even need to see the park that is 1 mile away. I can figure that out on my own with Google maps and Google Earth.
Please show us clear, crisp, well lit photos of all the living spaces (including patios, backyard, etc) we will have access to. And show it in the condition it will be in when we arrive, please.
No clue why you think quality sitters will not apply to an appealing location in Greece as compared to other places but that has not been our experience. We get lots of 5 star applicants even though we don’t show any pics of a bathroom.
I have a sunset in one of my photos. As well as a few pix of the nearby beaches within 10 minutes walk, where they’ll be taking our big dog. I figure it gives a sitter what it feels like to stay there.
I agree about the sunset or nearby attractions as long as it’s something the sitters can easily enjoy. It would be misleading to show pictures of a sunset if the apartment has no views or the location is cloudy and rainy most of the year. It’s also unfair to show pictures of attractions that the sitters can’t enjoy because it’s not compatible with the sit requirements.
When I see one of those listings I just pass, even if I am not particularly interested in those attractions because that’s like attracting customers with great pictures only to reveal the reality in the small type. That’s not a good start for a fair exchange.
about the changes .
