I received an email about it today as well, but none of the graphics showed up so I had to come over here to figure out what it was all about.
Anyone know equivalent process of requesting data removal, or if this even exists, in the US?
I’m disgusted by this fee for both HO and Sitter unless I upgrade to Premium ,other wise its going to cost me another £200 a year at least.
What it is encouraging is getting the HO and sitter who have built a relationship to just make their own arrangements and cutting out the middleman.
I renew next month but now I’m questioning as to whether I will, I have many sits booked and all are repeats so I know the HOs will have me anyway so rather than increasing my fees THS are going to lose my custom after a decade.
Some of the drawbacks can be overcome. If both sitters and home owners agree on conditions that are important to them early on, everyone is less likely to take liberties.
Perhaps against prevailing current of feedback but we find THS to be fantastic value for money.
Notably, we are full-time sitters. For us, avoided shelter costs are dramatically higher than THS annual fees. Further, for us, THS has enabled experiences (15 countries) that we would never have progressed without housesitting. Many of our Pet Parents have embarked on international vacations of high expense. The break-even point for housesitters (number days accommodation) or for pet parents (number days pet boarding) seems a small number of days per year.
Our ask of THS is not pricing but functionality. Please implement some of the long-asked, seemingly-simple functional requests. And please stop needlessly bad implementations (e.g. 2FA).
I believe this newly introduced booking fee will make you lose members. Members who do short sits and pay a yearly subscription will no doubt have an issue with this.
Is this booking fee split by owner and sitter or do they each pay that amount each time?
I don’t think the introduction to this booking fee was well thought through. To me it seems a little greedy, now that you already have members subscribed to your app.
@Sunshine_G I was referring to no access to reviews for the sit and insurance cover
It seems that is what they are doing by encouraging an upgrade to Premium who don’t pay the booking fee (yet!!!).
Well, that’s one way to tank your business.
If this booking fee was <$5 (or BP or euros; whatever), it would be less of a big deal
If this booking fee was scaled to the length of the sit, with sits under 4 nights free, it would be less of a big deal. Most of my sits are a month or more, so this cost isn’t huge.
If this change had been vetted with existing members, to get critical info like the above and more, and clear information about what services that aren’t currently provided that will be able to be offered, there could be a level of buy in and support.
As it is, this will cause longtime and high quality sitters to leave (some HOs too, but I think they/we will be more willing to absorb the cost), and introduce a level of transactionality to each sit. Trust in THS will decline.
Ugh, talk about a company not having the slightest clue about their own business model.
ETA: Adding in a per-sit fee also implies that THS will be more involved/responsible when one party fails to hold up their end of the bargain or breaks TOCs. So far it’s been a matching site and the only payment has been to join. A per-sit fee indicates corporate involvement in each sit.
Also, none of this is toward Jenny. I think we all know she’s just the messenger
VERY disappointing! The membership fee already far surpasses competitor sites. I’ve been hyping this site to new users under the assumption that it is part of a barter/sharing economy…not another version of AirB&B. I’ve had complaints about the UX of this platform over the years but this is the final straw as it undermines the core nature of what I thought this community was about. Will be looking for alternatives immediately.
No thanks. I’m a solid 5* star sitter. I already do regular sits for hosts that I met on THS who have now left, and we just connect via WhatsApp, and I’ll stick with that. I daresay you’ve already run the risk algorithm and reckon that you’ll make more money on fees than the subscriptions you’ll lose through non-renewals. It’s not enough for you to make a nice profit - you always want “growth” and if you can’t get it through increased membership you’ll squeeze and squeeze existing members to get it. I’m sick of it.
I agree 100% with your last paragraph. THS went for the cheapest and easiest implementation, yet still screwed it up.
I was going to post this. There are some who will leave but in the long run THS ran the numbers and figures this to be a profitable move at the expense of the membership base who will have less options in terms of quality sitters and desirable properties.
I asked Google’s AI Gemini about this and here’s the answer.
A US citizen can submit a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) to a UK company, as UK data protection law (UK GDPR) protects individuals’ data regardless of nationality, meaning anyone whose data a UK organization holds can request it, provided they can prove their identity and the company processes their data under UK rules, even if the US citizen is outside the UK.
Now I know the THS email is not a scam I clicked on the email link to further FAQs on the THS blog that answers a number of comments about THS improving app functionality. The booking fee doesn’t fund that, it’s the annual membership fee thst funds the THS platform.
THS states “The booking fee helps to fund the services behind each sit and encourages commitment from both sides.” They then go on to explain the difference between the annual membership fee and the booking fee in dot points and end with “To put it simply, the booking fee and membership fee together make up the total sum you pay for joining and enjoying the TrustedHousesitters community and platform.”
FWIW, as a Canadian sitter, I have done the math as to how it would affect me. Not focusing on the dollar amount but how a membership upgrade would compare with booking fees.
The math is likely similar in other currencies.
A Basic member upgrade to Premium would be the equivalent of TEN booking fees
A Standard member upgrade to Premium would be the equivalent of SEVEN booking fees
I still have a few months to figure out what I will be doing.
I’m vehemently opposed to enshitificationm and greed.
Very true, it is very clumsy of them to make the new fee so high. They could have started with like 1, 2 EUR and then gradually increased it, like many other companies sneakily do
All my friends I’ve enthusiastically told about THS said not getting payed is ridiculous considering what petsitting cost their owners but my experiences were so good I didn’t mind the €149 a year even though it’s tough on my budget
Luckily I’ve just renewed my prescription so until next year this new rule doesn’t apply for me. However I do know I won’t be renewing next year simply because I can’t afford it since I’m on a disability pension. Sit’s are costing me travel expenses as well and it’s just adding up
It makes me truly sad and disappointed so I’ll make the most of the coming months and I hope to find another option
If any of you can recommend alternatives please let me know