I happened to go to my THS inbox today and was shocked to see we were on an unauthorised sit due to the HO not renewing her membership. It stated that being unauthorised we were not covered by any THS t&cs. The sit was still showing as busy on our calendar but essentially no longer existed in the THS system. I contacted membership services saying we were shocked at the discovery and disappointed, as members, that the status of the sit had not been communicated to us. The basic response is that it is the responsibility for members to communicate that information with each other- so essentially the extra money we paid for a membership, and a premium one at that, has provided us with nothing on this sit and we only found this by chance. They did agree to cancel their booking dates on our calendar so we can apply for last minute sits.
We obviously feel disappointed that the HO didn’t let us know this was the situation as apparently they were informed when they cancelled their membership.
We are wondering whether we give the HO 24 hours notice and leave or stay. Has anyone else been in this position and what did you do?
Another option would be to give the hosts 24 hours notice to either renew their membership or you will leave .
It could a genuine mistake- for example if they have auto renew turn on but the bank card registered on the system had expired . The host may not have received notification from THS just as you also didn’t receive any notification from THS .
Did the host’s membership expire recently ( mid sit ) ?
If this was not an official sit you would not be able to access the THS welcome guide - if you were able to access this at the start of the sit then their membership may have just expired mid sit .
Without more information I would assume the best not the worse and contact the hosts and ask them to renew . They may not have any idea that their membership hasn’t renewed.
Another explanation could be that they have been suspended by THS but THS should definitely have informed you if that was the case .
She told us on the day we arrived that THS had sent her some communication about making sure fresh sheets were on the bed when sitters arrived and she was angry and felt like they were talking down to her and that she spoke with them and was not happy with them. There was someone sitting during the immediate 3 weeks before we arrived and now we are wondering if they made a complaint to THS and they contacted her about it.
Are you sure they actually know? They may ignore their random THS emails unless they’re waiting on applications, because of all the random promo/marketing emails that THS send.
If you are sure, just be firm but nice to say you are concerned because you are no longer insured via THS, so can they either renew their membership or you’ll need to leave because you aren’t covered. Or alternatively, just do the sit, but beforehand check with THS to make sure they can give you a review (I’ve got a review before from an HO who’s membership had expired, but that was a while ago now).
Mmmmm “angry” - there could be more to this story than meets the eye, @Silversitters is right, you need clarification as to whether her membership was suspended or whether it just lapsed. Getting frustrated is one thing, but angry could be pointing to a different story entirely.
THS cancelled the booking dates so even though it was flagged as an unauthorised booking with one side not having an active membership in the THS system it was still showing as a legitimate booking on our calendar
Maeve, Is that accurate information? THS assumes no responsibility to ensure that hosts (and sitters) have active memberships which span the length of an upcoming scheduled sit?
This is the direct response I received from a member services person on Frankie
Unfortunately, as a member-to-member platform, members are responsible for keeping their bookings active. We’re sorry for any inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.
So when I took off my membership auto renewal I received a message to say I would need to cancel any sits in the pipeline beyond the expiry date. It would appear I could just ignore the message and carry on regardless. There doesn’t appear to be any safeguards in place to ensure both sitter and host have active memberships for the duration of a sit.
Do we now need to ask hosts when their membership expires and take their word for it?
Facebook is a “member-to-member platform” seems we are in the same position as if we had accepted a sit in a FB house sitting group only plus the cost of the THS premium membership
I think before making a decision to leave, I’d want to establish exactly what has happened with the host’s membership.
There’s a pretty big difference between a membership accidentally lapsing, the host choosing not to renew, and the host having had their membership suspended. At this stage, I’d be reluctant to assume which it is based on the information available.
I’d contact the host directly and explain that you’ve discovered the booking is showing as unauthorised and that THS has told you you’re no longer covered under its terms. Give them the opportunity to clarify what has happened and, if it’s simply a lapsed membership, to renew it.
If they’re unwilling or unable to resolve it, then you have a much clearer basis for deciding what to do about the remaining days.
I’d also want THS to clarify in writing exactly what “unauthorised” means for you as the sitter, particularly regarding insurance and whether you remain eligible for a review.
Hopefully it turns out to be an administrative hiccup rather than anything more complicated.
Hi @Mervyng I was in a similar position around about this time last year -wonder if it is the same home owner! You can read my post and various replies here:
I think there is a bit of double standard here that THS needs to fix for fairness. Homeowners are allowed to schedule and post a sit beyond their membership expiration date but sitters are not able to take on any sits beyond their membership expiration, they need to renew in advance Someone correct me if I am wrong.
@Mervyng If THS has cancelled the booking dates, then notify the hosts (who also should have been contacted by THS) you are leaving because it is an unauthorised sit which THS has now cancelled. The hosts need to activate their Plan B and have their emergency contact take over.
Wait a minute. Sure, it may be unauthorized, which stinks, but are you enjoying the pets, house, area,…? If so, why cancel? You won’t get a THS review, but does that really matter that much to you? Mark it off as a lessons learned and now a new question to ask HOs.
