I just had an owner send me the guide via my email before she even interviewed me for me to review b4 our interview. Seemed to be straightforward and she selected me for the sit and I accepted…a few days later… I noticed she hadn’t uploaded the sitter’s guide online. So I politely asked her to make sure that TH had a copy of what she sent me and she told me she didn’t want to waste her time downloading the information she sent me to the site…so I respectfully declined… Why do you think she didn’t want trusted house sitters to know the information she gave me??
Many homeowners report that the THS welcome guide format is clunky to use .
It doesn’t matter what form the welcome guide comes in as long as you have been provided with one .It’s a positive that this homeowner provided it to you promptly. THS don’t need a copy as the agreement is between yourself and the homeowner.
If a sitter officially accepts a sit they are committed to it and should not cancel . The homeowner has every right to make an official complaint against a sitter who cancels a confirmed sit ( unless there are extraordinary circumstances for doing so .)
Unless there was something in the welcome guide that went against the THS T&Cs like having a third party staying at the home or internal cameras monitoring the sitter ?
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The only weird thing is that you cancelled!
She trusted you with the info. And unlike the clunky welcome guide, you would still have access to it after the last day of the sit.
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As the others have said, the THS Welcome Guide is clunky. Many (most) owners do their own document and email that to us, or hand it over in person when we arrive. Best to get it beforehand, to avoid surprises. I’m sorry you feel you had to cancel. Perhaps you can tell her it was a misunderstanding on your part, if you still want to do the sit. She might re-invite you. There’s really no red flags here.
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Agree with all the other posts. The homeowner actually did the right/good thing - you didn’t I’m sorry.
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As a sitter, I don’t think I would have thought anything odd about her not downloading the guide to the site. I’ve done a lot of sits where I haven’t received any welcome guide. I have my own checklist with questions that I like to have answered prior to the sit and I have sent that to many homeowners who have answered my questions in preparation for the sit sending it to my personal email.
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I originally thought the Welcome Guide was mandatory. But on an early sit a HO refused to send anything, which was concerning not having “terms” in writing. When I complained to THS support they said a Welcome Guide or any written info was completely optional.
This HO did send something, just in an easier format. You have the email if anything comes up that becomes an issue. It would be fantastic if HO’s sent prior to speaking and confirming; they rarely do. Sounds like the HO was being extremely up-front. You should have contact support prior to cancelling.
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I have the BASICS in the online WG. Not very user friendly.
I send a word doc for a WG.
And print a copy for thsitter.
@SeMon I think this is learning experience.
I agree that if you confirmed the sit… you should not have canceled it for this.
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No written information would be a red flag. Someone using their preferred (easily updated, shareable, editable, printable) format to send said information really is not.
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I can understand your concern.
Owners have the option to complete the Welcome Guide on the THS website, and apparently that takes hours of time. Also, it is difficult to print.
So it sounds like the Owner used a different format/software and instead sent you the document via email.
Most of us would cheer to have received any version of a Guide prior to confirming a Sit. That has literally never happened to me! So you. were lucky, but you saw it as a red flag. Hmmm…
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@SeMon - as a sitter I would be delighted to receive any form of Welcome Guide before confirming a sit. It would give me the opportunity to ask any questions. This rarely happens as we don’t get to see the guide (in any form) until after the sit is confirmed.
Also I don’t think THS would have any interest in the contents of the guide should a dispute arise.
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Don’t be put off by a lack of app based welcome guide!
As a sitter, I’ve had THS welcome guides, PDF welcome guides, and on one occasion, no welcome guide. The latter was a rookie error, never to be repeated.
PDF guide is my preference because I can download it and then don’t have to access the THS app every time I want to refer back to specific instructions, or to find out when garbage collection day is etc.
As a HO, my welcome guide is in PDF format for much the same reason. The THS app is a PITA to edit and way too time consuming!
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Hello Twicher,
I think what is more of a concern for me is whether the information that is sent to me is the same information sent to you. In this day and age, its important to take all precautions in situations like these. What if a homeowner gives the pet sitter completely different information then what was given to you as the 3rd party. Should something go wrong, I have no witness as to what the agreed upon expectations were and you could have erroneous information about what took place and have no remedy for any liability which could arise.
I think it is important that all parties be on the same page and if someone is completely unwilling to supply minor but essential details to you as the 3rd party who brought us together than that to me, is a red flag. Uploading the documentation to the TH site is a precaution which shows that all parties are on the same page. In fact, I think it should be a requirement.
I think you’ve taken that completely the wrong way, a lot of HO’s don’t like THS’s welcome guide because it isn’t flexible. We’ve received quite a number of separate guides, which are actually waaaay more beneficial and in-depth to us.
The THS one is okay, but it could be a lot better.
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I tried to contact support but the chatbox seems to be a bot and they only refer you to the forum.
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@SeMon you can type “human” in the chat box during UK business hours.
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Unless there was anything super weird in it then I don’t see that would have been a problem. Many owners don’t upload a guide but email it or leave a hard copy.
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I think PDF Welcome Guide is more secure actually. When you get it, you have it. If the HO changes any information in the WG, they need to make a new guide and send it to you again.
HOs can edit the Welcome Guide on the THS page whenever they want. So you could get one version, but the information could then be altered before the sit starts or even during the sit.
For our first sitter I filled in the THS WG. But, because it really is hard and annoying to edit, we now have a PDF guide.
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I’m a homeowner and sitter here. Uploading the Welcome Guide to the THS platform is not as easy as you may think. There is no method for HOs to upload a document to the platform. They would need to manually take all the info in the WG and type it into the THs WG online format. As others have said, the THS WG is incredibly cumbersome and user-unfriendly, so many HOs - like me - have a separate document that we send to sitters. I would happily upload this to the THS platform if I could.
As for your concerns that there is no “witness” to the agreed terms - this is where the “trusted” element of the website comes in. Even if there was an uploaded WG, the HOs might have a last minute change that they tell you verbally, e,g, cat food brand has changed, downstairs toilet stopped working this morning so you need to use the one upstairs, etc. In my case, lots of minor things change between one sitter and the next, so each sitter gets a slightly different WG version, and sometimes I think of something at the last minute.
Even if there was a “witness” to the agreed terms, what do you think they would do? THS rarely intervenes in disputes between HOs and sitters, unless it is something very serious. They will not arbitrate the “minor but essential” points of a sit. That is between the HO and sitter. We are adults and can usually work out thiose minor details.
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Not weird at all. Many homeowners prefer to send their own typed out guide, as find it easier. I have completed quite a few sits where I have just received a typed out list if instructions etc, and not had TH Welcome Guide. Happy to receive either way.