Is bringing company a problem for HO?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

I’ve been on THS for a couple of years now and used it a fair amount. I’m a solo female sitter and on a few occasions I’ve asked HOs if a friend can accompany me. The couple of times it’s always been a yes.

So I’ve been applying for sits in July in the UK countryside as myself and a friend would love to do a rural sit, however I’ve had an unusually disappointing experience so far trying to get one. HO’s are just not responding to my messages and I’m wondering if it’s because I’m asking to bring a friend? I’ve got 10 good reviews on here and I write very friendly personalised messages, also mentioning my friend has experience with dogs in particular… but people just seem to be ignoring me :frowning: Even when they’ve had next to no applications except mine.

Is it this or could it just be bad luck? I’m feeling disheartened and frustrated.

2

I would look into temporarily adding your friend as a bonafide partner who sits with you, whatever that might entail with THS.

Your partner would appear in your profile with you. That would add legitimacy to the extra person.

People never question the fact that my husband will be with me as we are together on the profile.

13 Likes
3

You may want to check the “terms & conditions” of THS as I don’t think you’re allowed to bring friends unless they are also on your profile. As a sitter of eight years with THS, I ask homeowners if I can even have guests or visitors when I’m doing a sit, let alone asking to bring a friend along.

2 Likes
4

Yes it’s you and your application. Unlike yourself we rarely get ignored. A lot of our sits are in the North of England countryside, and 95% of the time we get a response, and 95% of the time we get given the sit. We also have a 95% response rate from Spain pet owners too etc, as it’s not just a UK thing for us.

It depends on the owner obviously, but sitting as two people in the countryside ‘should’ go in your favour in the countryside, just from the HO’s we have sat for and their preferences, unless they themselves are single obviously. But maybe as your friend isn’t in your profile it is a problem for them, or maybe they think you are going to have a party :joy:.

So I’m not sure what your scenario is, but maybe you can see the difference between you and ourselves, when it comes to UK countryside sits, to see if it helps, as we almost always get a response:-

  • we sit as a couple
  • we have our own car (in the UK) - but we don’t point that out, it’s just obvious from things in our profile.
  • we sit within a 2 hour drive of our old hometown - so no potential flight delay problems for an HO.
  • we sit full time
  • we’ve only been sitting for 13 months but now have 27 x 5* reviews
  • we have property experience
  • we’re in our 50’s and 60’s
  • we both have passive income

Also, just incase you are wondering, we typically return to the same places and pets nowadays, so we rarely apply for fresh sits unless we have the odd cancellation. So we aren’t likely to have been your competition, as we get privately messaged about future sit dates from our HO’s.

I think what you write in your message, your profile, and the reason why you want sit in their location, is the thing that determines whether an owner physically writes back to you or not. Also, the way in which you write it is important, but from your post I think you are probably pretty good at writing it in a nice and friendly manner, so I don’t think you’ve got any problems on that front at all.

If you add your profile link to your forum profile, people on here can give you a little more feedback to help get you the type of sits you want, this forum is great like that.

1 Like
5

I wouldn’t ask upfront in the initial application to bring a friend as a lot of people would be uncomfortable with that. Some ads do state no visitors. I have had a friend stay with me a couple of times on repeat sits when I have got to know the homeowner and am truly ‘trusted’. I have also had friends visit with the owner’s permission, but not stay overnight, and they have rented and airbnb close by so we can explore together. A lot of homes today have no actual spare room, they are an office or sewing room etc. Get the sit first on your own and then explore the options. Remember your friend won’t have had any verification so to the homeowner that would probably be a red flag. You need to get them added to your listing for 2 people to be considered

1 Like
6

If you’d like to sit as a twosome for a while then probably best to add your friend to your profile & include some pics of you both plus some wording on them. Asking to come and bring a friend is very different than applying as a pair, it seems like you’re asking for more from the off (even though it amounts to the same thing). Brits are often very cautious about the whole friend thing too. #trythatout

5 Likes
7

Sounds like my applications are similar to yours in terms of content, apart from I’m a bit younger. I have a car, work from home, let them know why I’m sitting. I own my flat so I have property experience.

I wouldn’t ever sit in a rural spot on my own because it would be lonely. Obviously happy for them to have more details on my friend, video call her and have all her info but we can’t really get to that if people don’t respond.

8

Yeah could be that! I’ve just had no issue in the past but maybe I got lucky with laidback HO’s :slight_smile:

Thanks!!

1 Like
9

Your situation can’t be compared as you sit as a couple

10

@RR12345 Our housesitting journey started in Australia, where, with a friendly and pleasant application, we got nearly every sit we applied for - without calls/video calls in those days. Then, when we started to apply for sits in the UK, the same happened as with you! Either no response, or declines. I came to the conclusion that it’s a different communication style in the UK than in Aus. Not so ‘friendly’, more formal. I had to change my style a bit and then it worked. Strange, eh?

1 Like
11

@RR12345 As you rightly say you can’t discuss things if a HO doesn’t respond - so It all has to be spelled out in your profile - so that any questions that a HO has are answered there without them having to contact you first . You also can’t demand to have visitors come to stay on a sit .

As others have recommended it’s possible to add your friend on your profile -their name/ photos + paragraph about them & their experience and some external references or airbNb LinkedIn .

If I was HO and saw that you wanted to bring a friend I may wonder does this mean that you are looking for a sit with two bedrooms ? Or will you be sharing a room ? Again make this clear so HO knows without having to ask. .

3 Likes
12

Ahhh you’re right, yes we do sound similar, so adding your friend to your profile temporarily may help. Good luck xx

2 Likes
13

I travel solo and I petsit solo. Always. A while ago, I got this brilliant idea to bring my granddaughter with me during school breaks. I added a short paragraph to my profile describing her and her experience with pets, and mentioned that I might occasionally (during school breaks only) like to bring her with me. I applied for a summer sit and wrote in my application that I’d like to bring her with me. Tomorrow, we are flying on our first sit together.

12 Likes
14

On my upcoming sit in the north of England, a friend (not on my profile) will be joining me for week 2. When I applied for the sit I didn’t know for sure that she could join me, but had chosen sits with more than 1 bedroom available just in case, so I asked in the WhatsApp call if this would be ok and the HO was very happy for this, saying that it would be nice for me to have human company. I explained that she is a retired nurse and health visitor and far more sensible than even I am, which might have helped.
In fact, I this was one of 2 similar sits that I applied for and both HOs were happy about it.

3 Likes
15

@anon47943759 How great to do a sit with your granddaughter? Have a wonderful time!!

I was once on a sit not far from family and when the Home Owners found out they suggested I bring my sister with me so I wouldn’t be alone :slight_smile:

4 Likes
16

Yeah I’ve ensured I’ve only applied for sits in big enough homes.

Hmmm I think in the past maybe I didn’t mention it until the calls - I guess I was just trying to be upfront and didn’t think it would be an issue.

1 Like
17

Add them to your sitter profile and apply as a ‘couple’ if you only want to do the sit if it’s both of you. Or, if you are willing to do the sit alone if they don’t want a second sitter, apply and then discuss the additional person person on the the first call you have with them rather than in the initla message.

1 Like
18

Gunna alter my approach - thanks everyone! :slight_smile:

3 Likes
19

Just updated my profile, added my friend’s info and her pictures. Messaged the HO to alert them.

But none of it’s showing on the app? Only the desktop. Anyone had this before? Bit shoddy on THS part.

20

I did some refreshing of my profile yesterday and noted that difference with the web and app as well. I closed the app and the changes showed when it was reopened.

4 Likes