Introducing a booking fee to support every sit

Product Updates
1

black and white cat playing with laptop showing trusted housesitters on screen
black and white cat playing with laptop showing trusted housesitters on screen960×400 15.8 KB

Hi everyone,

We’re sharing an update on how sits are booked on TrustedHousesitters and wanted to talk about it here with our forum community first.

We know each of you uses TrustedHousesitters in your own way. For some, it’s an occasional adventure with pets, for others, it’s become a full-time way of life.

Thanks to members like you, our global community is growing faster than ever. To support this growth, we’re introducing a booking fee, charged only at sit confirmation, which helps fund the services behind each sit and encourages commitment from both sides.

What’s new?

Starting from your next membership renewal, a £9/$12 (or local equivalent) booking fee will apply to each confirmed sit.

This will apply to both owners and sitters after their next renewal, unless you’re a Premium member. Premium members will continue to get unlimited sits with no booking fees, as they pay a higher upfront cost instead. This added benefit is in addition to other Premium membership perks, such as our Sit Cancellation Plan and free airport lounge passes.

Why are we making this update?

This booking fee helps us continue to deliver a smooth, consistent experience for every sit, while keeping membership options flexible and accessible.

Your annual membership fee continues to cover what keeps our community running: it helps to fund our platform, supports verification and 24/7 member support, and enables access to arrange as many sits as you like, all year round.

We know this may feel like a big update, especially for those who sit frequently. This is about sustaining the service you know and trust, so that everyone can continue enjoying secure sits around the world.

What do I need to do?

You don’t need to do anything. Until your renewal date, everything continues as normal. The booking fee will be introduced automatically from the date of your membership renewal. If you’d prefer not to pay the booking fee after your renewal date, you have the option to upgrade to Premium at any time.

Want to know more? Check out our FAQ page here.

Prefer to speak to someone? Our Member Services team is always here to help. Reach us at support@trustedhousesitters.com.

We’ll be here in the comments to listen and answer questions. As always, we’d like to thank you for being part of the wonderful TrustedHousesitters community.

Jenny

5 Likes
2

How about making some of the many long requested improvements, rather than expecting sitters and hosts to pay more for the same? I guess this is what private equity investment is all about, maximising profit.

Why haven’t members had an email about these changes? An announcement in a forum is disrespectful, how will the sitters and hosts who aren’t forum members be notified?

I’m not surprised.

97 Likes
3

I am so disappointed at this news.

This booking fee coupled with the duo sitter plan fee means we have seen an increase in additional payments with a decrease in the quality of service.

We experienced a serious safeguarding issue on a sit which we emailed about 3x and recieved no response.

We value the platform but some explanation as to how the service & on site support will be improved would be appreciated!

76 Likes
4

This is outrageous. You’re going to lose the rest of the community you were already losing against other websites that are not only way cheaper than you, but also with friendlier UIs, not to mention that without booking fee.

You should definitely reconsider it.

72 Likes
5

Is this fee automatically refunded if the sit is cancelled?
I note that you haven’t called it a nonrefundable booking fee.
In summary, disappointing

50 Likes
6

I’ve become more and more disillusioned with THS over the last year, and this development has made up my mind for me. I’ve cancelled my renewal, and I will be deleting my account once my current membership has come to an end.
It is probably to be expected that when the money men get involved, services become of less interest, but as a paying customer (in this case, a sitter) I expect a usable platform and product that doesn’t cause problems or challenges.

THS doesn’t fulfill that brief any longer.

64 Likes
7

What do you guys make of this?!

595506305_4356343711260517_5970895400587497640_n
595506305_4356343711260517_5970895400587497640_n946×2048 145 KB

3 Likes
8

I think this is an awful idea, no matter how you phrase the email, it’s simply an extra charge. I for one will give serious consideration to my new subscription.

53 Likes
9

Yet another way for THS to squeeze more money out of it’s members.

39 Likes
10

Seems to be a ploy to get people to upgrade to Premium if they are frequent Sitters or hosts.

I wouldn’t need to have loads of sits advertised but I don’t know how this facilitates a sit really. Wee bit vague, wee bit cheeky

30 Likes
11

What do you think Rhe?

12

It sucks, just gouging members for as much as they can get.

39 Likes
13

Does this apply to sits already confirmed before the renewal, or just new sits you confirm after your membership renews?

Either way, people will definitely sit less after this change. I know I will.

17 Likes
14

I see £10 for Basic and Standard Pet Parents.

How do you know this?

I wouldn’t leave THS for 10 euros per sit, THS saves me thousands per sit. But I’ve got Premium so it’s a non issue.

4 Likes
15

Hi Jenny

I know you are the messenger but this passage needs some clarification please

“This booking fee helps us continue to deliver a smooth, consistent experience for every sit”

How does that help Sitters or hosts exactly?

Many thanks

Sarah

38 Likes
16

That’s just marketing, nothing more. If THS was going to be accurate they’d say “The booking fee helps THS stockholders get a better return on their investment”. If THS isn’t publically traded then substitute “owners” for “shareholders”.

42 Likes
17

They just want everyone to buy premium.

30 Likes
18

Its s sentence they have put in to justify the increase. It carries a heavy load. It needs explaining

10 Likes
19

Exactly that, anything else is just fluff and BS,

13 Likes
20

I understand your frustration but that’s not how it works. THS doesn’t have to explain anything and I doubt you’ll get anything more than their meaningless one line explanation.

7 Likes