House sitters calendar availability

Hi everyone, I am trying to book a sitter, but every time I try to book one the availability on any calendar of any sitter is white , so, it’s something different now and I need to invite the sitter instead? Thanks

Hi Pati,
There have been repeated discussions about exactly this issue already. Read these threads for info: No active sitters

Availability calendars

Hope that helps! :blush:

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Hi @Pati and welcome to the forum.

The way THS works is that pet owners / hosts create an attractive listing describing their location, home and pets. Sitters who are interested in sitting in your location and for your type of pets then apply to sit. If you like the look of their application and profile you can then arrange a video call, or maybe just an old fashioned phone call. If this goes well, you can choose them as your sitter, and they can then accept the sit.

THS is a mutually beneficial exchange, so there is no “booking” sitters.

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@Pati you can not book a sitter but you can invite a sitter. To increase your odds that they are interested, invite sitters that have saved (added as a favorite) your home.
The best route is to list your request for a sitter and review the ones that apply.
If you are not getting good applicants there may be some things you can do to make it more attractive.

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You can’t book sitters @Pati you can simply invite them. The issue is that they may not like your location, may not be available, May want a different type of sit. Best way to attract sitters is to post a great listing and let them apply for it. Use the spyglass on here for multiple threads & help on the subject. @Jenny we keep seeing more & more HOs thinking they can “book sitters”, THS marketing needs to look at that messaging to fix it. #clearcommsagain

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I soooo second that @Jenny @Carla - I am seeing post after post like this. Can THS please help HO’s to understand both the calendar and that the most successful way of securing a sitter is through applicants rather than invites. Would be so beneficial!

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I agree with you @Nagy26 , but perhaps the OP is not yet even a member of THS, and just a member of the forum (which I’ve heard is possible, correct?) It would be nice if there was a way that THS could make a note on a forum member’s profile whether they are actually a member or not.

I agree, but I remember couple of years ago you were able to see their availability and then invite them . Now you can’t see any availability, making everything more complicated as I do not know if that sitter is free or not .

I am a member . I will invite sitter and see how it goes . Thanks to everyone

Yeah, unfortunately the calendar sucks and is stuck in the dark ages. This is why 1: A more functional & user friendly calendar, and
2: clearer instruction on how to use the calendar would be incredibly helpful!

@Cuttlefish & @Nagy26 I have popped that feedback in the internal Marketing & Product channels. Very insightful thank you!

@sledgejoyce Great feedback! Some forum users use different email addresses from their THS one so we can’t link them as members, also some users may not want to be identified as members as forums tend to be more anonymous. The forum is also separate from the THS platform (it is hoisted by a provider called Discourse) so we would need to find each member in our database, but who knows this could be something we can link in the future. The Forum team will take that on board.

Sorry, I derailed the ‘House sitters calendar availability’ discussion slightly, but I wanted to acknowledge your idea. Please feel free to get the topic back on track :slight_smile:

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