@Landbiscuit They had the opportunity to mention their contract in their listing, or in the video call, but they chose not to. They only sent it with the welcome guide after you had confirmed the sit. Where a homeowner makes a change, or in this case an undisclosed an additional requirement after the sit is confirmed, you are within your rights to cancel.
I think you should pass any conversations around this to THS support in case they try to use the “extraordinary circumstances” rule against you. Or they could be using it to try to coerce you into signing their contact. Either way, support need to be notified.
2 Likes
Why I consider a contract request ridiculous:
What would be the consequences of any contract involving free sitting and why would any free sitter want to sign such when there are plenty of sits without that ask? What kind of enforcement would be feasible so any contract isn’t a farce / a false sense of security?
Bigger picture, there’s zero chance I’ll ever sign a contract to sit. Why: This is supposed to be an enjoyable exchange, not an invitation to needlessly complicate lives.
No lay person should ever write a contract at all. If something’s that important, get a professional. Hire a sitting service with contracts, bonding, insurance and a business license. If you pay them and they have a business reputation to maintain, you have recourse.
1 Like
I often sign what am asked to sign, often without reading.
For example all those EULAs (End-user License Agreements) of software and of hardware. Everybody else is also lying about having read it all.
1 Like
Yup, companies often count on that, too, LOL.
@Landbiscuit Sorry to hear of your experience, I agree with others comments that is signing such and agreement was a requirement for them it need to be discussed in the listing and definitely before the sit was committed to .
Of course a homeowner can ask a sitter if they are ok with signing an agreement , but they should not be pressuring anyone to sign one of it was not disclosed before the sit was confirmed. They certainly shouldn’t be blaming you for the cancellation of the sit .
In this case by adding requirements to the sit after it was confirmed. It is the homeowner who has changed the sit and therefore it is they who have cancelled the original agreement to sit without there being an extra ordinary circumstance to do so . Just the same as if they changed the dates or added additional pets to the sit .
I agree that member services should be notified so that they can make a record of it . It’s possible that it’s happened before with previous sitters reporting and THS say they will take action and investigate where there is a pattern of either a sitter or homeowner cancelling sits without good reason .
However THS can’t do anything unless they are notified . Screen shots of your conversations will prove the situation to THS .
I also think that you should reply to the homeowner that you were willing to go ahead with the sit based on all information in the listing and discussed in the video call . However it is the additional requirement added after the sit was already confirmed you are not happy to agree to and therefore if they insist on this they have changed / cancelled the sit .
1 Like
@Maggie8K Our thoughts were very similar to yours - why would we sign a contract when we are sitting for free, hoping to have an enjoyable experience.
@Silversitters To give the pet parents the benefit of the doubt, they did think a contract between the two parties was a normal part of THS. Their previous sitters had signed it and in one of our notes back and forth, they even stated that “owners are encouraged by THS to have an agreement”. It was nice to have some of the language and background from the previous responses to be able to refute this. I did let them know that if they are going to require a contract, they should mention it in the video chat prior to confirming the sit.
I have been watching their listing and when I checked yesterday they had two applicants and today it has changed to no sitter required. So, it looks like they found an acceptable sitter for their pets. And, although the sit didn’t work out for us, I’m pleased that they found sitters, because, at the end of the day, the pets are what this is all about.
1 Like
Some confusion may have arisen regarding a ‘contract’ as there is a 16 page pdf document on my dashboard titled Housesitting Agreement Form. It states it is not a legal document but goes into great detail about any costs which may be incurred during a sit.
When utilities are to be paid by the sitter it suggests taking meter readings.