I have cancelled a confirmed sit one time, after deal-breaker information was only disclosed to me in the ‘welcome’ guide. (The tone of the so-called weIcome guide was off-putting in other ways, too.)
I politely informed the HO very soon after reading the Guide, that if they did not cancel the sit on my behalf, due to the previously undisclosed info, I would contact Member Services, and request that it was cancelled. I also made sure I had supporting evidence, which proved I had been misled into accepting the sit. All worked out fine for me - I went on to do several fantastic repeat sits for a wonderful appreciative family soon afterwards.
I think they’re unlikely to change it, because they want to make it quick and easy for a home owner to make a listing. If they insist a HO create a full welcome guide at the same time as they make a listing, the program would become too tedious and they will lose owners in the process.
I’ve had this once before. The welcome guide had information on what to cook for the dog if it got diarrhoea, or what to do if it got impacted an@l glands.
I wasn’t aware of these possibilities prior, and I didn’t want to cook chicken and veg for a dog at any point, so I was just honest with the HO.
It’s an uncomfortable conversation, but honesty is the best way to go. Most HO’s aren’t going to force you to sit (and can they even really force you?) if you’re unhappy with new information.
@Fatamorgana
Have you told the host that you’ve read the WG and would not have accepted it if you had previously been told about xyz ? Request that they unconfirm the sit because you will not be going ahead with it . They can’t force you to turn up .
Great idea. We had a recent sit where not only did the welcome guide have a significant amount more information but it was updated several times before the sit started. On top of this we had a printed guide when we arrived with a ton more Instructions and information. Luckily none of the extra stuff was a deal breaker but it could have easily gone south.
Have you considered speaking with the home owners initially, rather than backing out of the sit? The things that you use as examples of ‘red flags’ in the Welcome Guide make me think that the home owners may have had a negative experience with sitters in the past, and are simply covering themselves as a result of this. Most people are reasonable, and I wonder whether an open discussion about the points that you’ve raised would help smooth concerns for both yourself and them?
The sit I am currently on, a repeat sit, HO told me last sitters increased her Gas bill by £40, in a 7 day sit. That is ridiculous.
She knows that I won’t do that. I don’t even touch the heating thermostat, and don’t do a laundry, taking mine home with me.
I can understand the knock on effect of these thoughtless sitters, being wasteful of an owner’s amenities when they don’t have to foot the bill, and this causing HO to now be alert and proactive to a possible repeat of this bad behaviour.
Thank you for your contribution. I had considered speaking with the HOs. There were definitely some things that could have been worked out, but honestly, about 60% of the issue came down to how it was worded. Tone matters a lot to me and that’s one of the reasons I really like the UK because people are usually extremely polite and the subtle hints are generally understood.
Here though, the tone was so strict that I got a bad feeling after reading the very first sentence. While it’s not necessarily a bad thing to be clear and direct, that can even be a very good thing, it felt too much like micromanagement to me. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive about this because a lot of things seem obvious to me and don’t need to be spelled out. When they are, it makes me feel like they don’t trust me and a lack of trust is a dealbreaker for me.
That being said, there were still another 40% of red flags related to the amenities, things that were listed but then not actually allowed to be used, which isn’t really acceptable either.
Well, it looks like she got exactly what she wanted. I think it’s completely inappropriate to say something like that — it was clearly mentioned to warn you not to do the same. That kind of comment feels unnecessary, especially when she already knows you and knows that you won’t do it.
I wouldn’t let that get to me, and I certainly wouldn’t stop doing my laundry or sit in the cold because of it. You can’t expect sitters to live under the exact same conditions as the homeowners. I have no idea how careful she is with her own energy use, but I think it’s absurd to dictate to sitters how they should set the thermostat, as long as it’s within reason. I’m sure she spent £40 on something during her week of vacation that she wouldn’t normally spend — so what.
In my opinion, that should be prohibited — or at the very least, once a Welcome Guide is shared with the sitter, it should only be allowed to be changed if the sitter agrees to the update. That would be fair and balanced for both sides.
They have now unconfirmed the sit without any comment. I had let them know, in a friendly way, that we wouldn’t have accepted the sit if we had known about those details beforehand. I also mentioned that we had already contacted THS to follow up on the case.
THS had initially pointed out that these things should be clarified before confirming, but once they saw exactly what the issue was, even the member service team agreed that it’s absurd to have to go through each listed amenity and explicitly ask whether you’re actually allowed to use it fully.
A n a l glands on our Basset Hound were done by the vet. It’s not everyone’s forte. That job doesn’t have to be yours! What a bummer!
Not allowed to write A N A L in this .. talk about A N A L is ok though lol
No, of course no one can force you to sit. But what they could have done, especially since it was quite a long sit starting only in August, is simply not unconfirm it — which would have prevented the sitter, in that case us, from securing another sit for that time since the system blocks those dates once a sit is confirmed.
They would still have had plenty of time to find another sitter (most people prefer to lock things in early, but you never know). That’s exactly why I reached out to Member Service right away both times I backed out of a sit after reading a problematic Welcome Guide. That way, they could step in and cancel it if necessary.
I understand that concern, but I still think it would be a good idea to require a completed Welcome Guide before a listing goes live. A lot of homeowners already reuse the same listing multiple times, so it’s not like they’d have to create a new guide from scratch every time. Once the template is in place, it would just be a matter of updating a few details. It also helps the homeowner when creating the listing because they have to go through all the important details in their mind anyway. If the Welcome Guide were better structured, easier to create, and maybe even included text templates, it would be simpler for them to set it up initially rather than trying to remember everything again a few weeks later.
Also, having the full picture upfront would likely lead to better matches. Sitters would know exactly what they’re agreeing to, which would reduce misunderstandings and last-minute cancellations. That benefits both sides — homeowners wouldn’t have to deal with sitters backing out after confirmation, and sitters wouldn’t feel pressured to push through a sit that isn’t what they expected.
Requiring the Welcome Guide upfront wouldn’t necessarily make the process more tedious for homeowners. It would just shift the effort to the beginning rather than after confirmation, which in the long run would probably save everyone time and frustration. Better clarity means fewer cancellations and more positive experiences for both sitters and homeowners.
@Fatamorgana , when you mention that you like the UK because people are so polite, which countries are you comparing it with? I’m not sure where you are from or where your sitting experiences are? Thanks!
@Fatamorgma, I think you have misunderstood me. The owner was telling me this in a friendly way, emphasising how much she trusted me, not as a warning to me. She did even show me how to boost the heating by an hour. Actually, I have slept with bedroom window open, as I am too hot. I am not used to central heating. I don’t have it.
