Hi, I’m new to TH this year. I feel hugely disappointed after completing my first long term sit around date changes and not having any control over this.
Firstly the HO’s delayed the sit by 2 weeks and have now ended it a week early, this has impacted greatly on personal circumstances and I have also missed really good opportunities for other sits 
I have now got to find last minute accommodation and inconvenience friends, just feel like I’m ending the sit on a negative after going above and beyond to meet not just their pet needs but theirs too! Surely dates should be set and not moveable unless it’s an absolute emergency??? I hope this doesn’t happen too frequently, should this be mentioned in a review?
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Hi @NS55
Welcome to the Forum.
You’ll find that this forum is an excellent place to get help from our experienced members.
If you ever find yourself searching for answers to a particular question, you can use the magnifying glass in the top right of this window to search the forum. There’s a good chance if you have the question, someone else had the same question and posted about it.
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If you go to your Dashboard on the TrustedHousesitters site, scroll to your green profile box, preview and with that link, copy and paste to your forum profile here.
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/how-to-add-a-listing-or-profile-link-to-your-forum-profileWelcome to the Forum.
My experience has been that pet parents/owners are generally very respectful of the dates they have set for having sitters, so what you have experience is more unusual than the norm, and I can understand that it hasn’t been a comfortable end to hopefully a nice long term sit.
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It hasn’t happened to us in a whole year of full time house sitting but I heard something similar from other sitters only last week. I think it needs to be in your feedback but I’d wait for your review from them first - which should be 10 stars with all that flexibility - & then note it in there for future sitters. Sorry you’ve had such a bad experience! Am sure it’s a one off. I’d also reach out to THS Support and ask their advice. Good luck 
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That’s really unusual, we have had sits shift a few days back and forth for the convenience of the HO but in your case it’s 3 weeks in total! It has also happened to us that the HO had to come back suddenly but in all cases there was a good reason for that. Wish you more luck next time, most HOs really aren’t like that at all.
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As others say, this is highly unusual and unless there’s a very good reason, like a family emergency, it’s pretty unrespectful towards sitters. I hope you’ll get sorted and please make sure to mention what happened in your review.
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Thank you! I think I’ve just been unlucky, the sit itself has been great and I’ve loved every second, just disappointed that timings have not worked and feel the implications for myself have been overlooked, thank you for your response 
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As a HO I would not consider changing the dates unless there were truly exceptional circumstances and if this did happen and we had to return early I would not expect the sitter to leave until the date previously agreed……there is plenty of room at our place for the sitter to stay on for a holiday……
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Thank you, I totally agree to having some flexibility but this feels a little too much, home owners need to make it very clear there could be significant changes and give the sitter the option to accept/not accept based on this.
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Thank you, the date changes were not due to an emergency and although I respect the owners choice to return (it is their home after all ) I feel this is not a fair or reasonable approach to managing a house sit. Thank you for your response
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I hope you said as much directly.
I think this is appalling behavior and worthy of removal.
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Thank you for your feedback all, I really appreciate it, I’m looking forward to future sits, it really is great when it all goes to plan!
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The least they could have done was offer to pay for some decent accommodation for you. Imagine if it was the other way round and a sitter decided to change the dates they could sit and then during the sit decide they wanted to leave early. It really isn’t good enough and very disrespectful to you. It certainly doesn’t sound like they have taken on board the ‘equal exchange’ concept between sitters and owners. As @Katie said I think THS should seriously consider removing them from the site.
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I’d imagine that should get the HO kicked out of the system… Emergency or not, you have entered an agreement, and if they breach the agreement that’s their responsibility.
It’s NOT just annoying and often, much more than just an inconvenience, it becomes an expense! As a sitter, likely far from home, you have to now find yourself last minute accommodations and maybe rearrange your own flights. That costs money. If it’s not your problem, it should not be your expense.
Totally unfair for that to have happened. Yes, you need to mention it in your review, and also report that kind of stuff to admin/support.
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Why don’t you explain frankly that you had not planned to afford any accomodation ? There is no shame to tell them you’re broke (if you can’t go back home, if you’re stuck to a train or flight not refundable)
Can"t you ask for a b&b help (paid by the owners) ?
How did you react . Did you accept or complain ??
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This is completely unacceptable behaviour by the home owner and I really think should be reported and taken up by THS staff. It has never happened to me but I’ve read here on the forum occasional changes by the owners but they have usually offered the sitter to stay or paid for alternative accommodation. As someone here says, make sure you mention this in your feedback also but wait for them to review you first because, with the reviewing system here, they may retaliate with an untrue version of your sit.
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In my opinion, this should qualify as a cancellation. Maybe you can look into making a THS insurance claim? (Assuming you have a premium membership).
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So we have been house sitting for seven years now and I would say about 10% change the original dates or cancel altogether. This is not unusual. That’s people for you. I guess you just have to be prepared for the unknown and make sure you have some cash ready but you may be able to get some last minute deals. We once had a 6 week sit that only lasted just over 3 weeks through no fault of their own. The kind homeowners let us stay for 4 extra days. It was great and they treated us like old friends taking us out everyday to see the sights We are still friends and talk often.
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New to THS, as a HO. I’m currently away, and 3rd sitter is at my place. So: grain of salt: new, and a HO. That said, travel is, often, almost by definition, full of uncertainty: stuff changes, within our control or not. Flights change, health changes, loved ones have medical issues, countries get invaded, pandemics, etc., ad infinitum.
I’ve had a sitter schedule for Thanksgiving (US) week now for over a month, maybe two months. I realized, in booking my flights (I booked a sitter first) that I could save lots of $$$ by returning one day early. I know that THS TOS require HO to vacate the property for entire sit, unless there was an agreement before booking, but…
So, I reached out to sitter asking if it would be OK for me to return one day early. I said that I’d stick with the original schedule if an early return from me is not good with them, and I told sitter that they are welcome to stay the entire time, I’d just be sharing the house with them for the last night.
I understand that my question might put sitter in an awkward position: they might say OK because they’re worried about a negative review or they just have a hard time saying “no.” Nevertheless, I have to trust that adults can stand up for themselves and if they genuinely feel uncomfortable with something, they’ll say so.
There’s a lot that seems like it could be subject to change, both on the part of sitters and HO’s. Travel, pets, etc., flexibility as one goal seems super valuable here.
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@gardencat changing the agreed dates is not acceptable merely so you save $$ on flights. You should have done your due diligence before you agreed on the sit dates with your sitter. This is not an emergency or serious issue and likely breaches THS rules.
Turn your situation around and imagine how you would react if your sitter told you the same thing only a few weeks out from the sit saying “sorry GardenCat I’m just booking my flights and I can save lots of $$$ by arriving a day late, after you have left for your trip. Are you OK with that?”
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Sorry you feel that way. I acknowledged to the sitter that my ask differed from TOS and sitter agreed to it (cheerfully, I might add.) Clearly, I would not have done it if I would not have thought it was fine had I been the sitter.
If you were the sitter, you would have (presumably) responded that it was not OK with you and I would have booked the expensive flight. And all would have been OK, no? Arriving a day late for a sit is a very different scenario.
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