I’m pretty bummed and stressed all at the same time.
My sitter sent me a text via WhatsApp that she would have to cancel due to a family emergency. This is 3 days before a month-long sit. Mind you, this was the second sitter for this sit as the original one was also canceled due to a “family emergency”.
As we all know, if it was “extraordinary circumstances”, people aren’t going against the terms and conditions if they cancel a sit and both parties have to agree. How can both parties really agree though? You certainly can’t force someone to not cancel (H.O or sitter). Also, you don’t have to show any proof of an emergency. People are taken at their word and there doesn’t seem to be any type of accountability. Of course, we know emergencies happen. However, we also know that people are dishonest and create stories to get out of commitments.
As I’m on a mad dash to find a replacement sitter, I really wish TH would have transparency regarding someone’s profile when a sit is canceled. I think this should be a feature on someone’s profile - the month and year when they canceled. Also, a H.O. shouldn’t just have the power to unconfirm the sit.
Sitters and H.O. should know about how reliable a user is. If we can see a pattern of cancelations, this can help our vetting and our choices in choosing the right sit(ter) for us.
It just seems that more and more people are becoming flaky. It seems that people aren’t taking agreements seriously. I had one sitter last month ask to unconfirm a sit because she wanted to help a friend (She said it WASN’T an emergency). I unconfirmed her anyway and found someone else.
I want to add that I have been a member of this platform since 2018. I haven’t canceled a sit. I’m very considerate of others’ time and money, but also, I need to follow through on promises unless I truly can’t.
Hi @Catin88, I really feel for you, especially as this is the second sitter cancelling for the same sit.
In future, if you are faced with a similar situation, I would be asking the sitter to communicate their wish to cancel the sit on the THS site where it is recorded rather than accept it just via WhatsApp.
@temba Thank you… I will definitely do that next time.
For documentation purposes, I did take a screenshot of the sitter’s message and a brief sentence that the sitter chose to cancel the sit. I put that in our TH message thread
I think the important point is patterns of cancellation. Even though it’s a matching site, I don’t think the once-in-a-lifetime or once-in-ten-years cancellations should follow people around on their profile like some kind of scarlet letter. As a host, I’ve never had to cancel yet on THS, but looking back I can remember vacations postponed and paid pet arrangements changed because of either personal illness or pet emergencies. As a sitter, I’ve never had to cancel but that doesn’t mean it isn’t ever going to happen. A lot of cancelations might not be at the last minute, and might be agreed on by both parties.
As it stands, not only do you not see someone’s record on their profiles or listings, but there is no record. THS does not track cancellations. They only look at this if there is a dispute. Given that most homeowners simply accept the excuse of the sitter, unconfirm the sit and move on that’s it. Most sitters will also accpet a host’s reasons. Even if there is a dispute if the side initiating the cancelaton can come up with a legit reason, the most THS will do is track it in the sense that if there is another cancelation dispute they may (or may not) do something.
To me that’s what needs to change. ALL cancellations need to be tracked. The reasons or number IMO don’t need to be public, but there should be some form to clarify that both parties have the same understanding of who initiated the cancelation and why it happenened. If anyone has a pattern or simply more cancellations than one would expect, imo THS should reach out and figure out what’s happening. This could mean telling a host with a very sick dog that they need to figure out another way to care for the dog because they’ve cancelled 3 times due to the dog’s health crisis. It might mean that a sitter suffering from a chronic illness who’s had to cancel because the condition is sometimes more acute might need to rethink sitting or maybe sit with a partner who can take over if necessary. It also means that people who are simply cancelling frivolously need to leave.
Sorry this happened to you and I agree there should be a metric that records cancelations for sitters and hosts alike. Weather this metric should be made public I’m on the fence. A “pattern” of cancellations though should be actionable by THS. Maybe a pop up note showing the metric when the HO or sitter makes first contact?
THS unfortunately has a lot of sits cancelled for ‘family emergencies’.
I once worked alongside a man who said his Dad had died, purely for a day off work!
That was over 20 years ago, and still astounds me today!
That’s the thing… I don’t see TH taking any action against users who cancel frequently or repeat non-emergencies whether the patterns are made public or not. I absolutely don’t have faith in that.
The only thing a user needs to say is “I have an emergency” and TH will let it go. Let’s keep it real…They want as many users to remain on the platform for the membership fees. That’s where the money is made.
This is why I say it should be on the profile just like how Airbnb does it. That way, users can make their own decisions as to whether to proceed with an application. I wouldn’t need for TH to get involved to remove a user (Which rarely happens anyway) as the transparency is there.
And of course, having one cancelation in a few months doesn’t mean irresponsibility. But 5 over the course of a few months to a year, those are red flags. This is what other users need to know.
As a sitter, I recently had a HO cancel because their adult daughter is moving back in with them so they won’t need a sitter. Another cancelled because they changed their plans and decided not to go on a trip. Another cancelled because she decided to rent out a room in her house and the new renter would take care of the pet. Another cancelled because their boiler exploded and their house flooded. That one was an emergency (it was bad, they sent me pictures), they had to postpone their trip to deal with the house situation (and they offered me the new trip dates, but I wasn’t available). The other three were just changes in plans.
Rather than log all cancellations publicly against profiles perhaps cancelled sit dates could be blocked out so that the party cancelling can’t book alternative sits. This would effectively cut out any trading up cancellations….
@BonnyinBrighton Sometimes there are legit reasons for needing to be in a different place. If I ever had to cancel a sit for a family reason, for example, a death in the family, I would much prefer to take a sit in the area than to sleep on a family member’s couch or get a hotel.
Sorry to hear this. I am a new sitter on THS & my big concern was sits being cancelled so have been careful to book refundable accommodation and ferry crossings for those further afield sits. I understand its much more tricky for HO’s to have back up plans but from what I’ve read on the forum, its really important for HO’s to have contingencies (neighbour/family help/paid sitter) in place as things could happen even when the sit is underway i.e. the sitter has an accident or becomes seriously ill.
@Colin, "Super Sitter’ certificates plus a couple of THS gifts were awarded back in the good ol’ days as I was a recipient in 2017! Was such a surprise to receive in the mail.
I dont believe PS should be penalised for cancelling sits in which the pet responsibilities differ markedly from the listing.
To learn from the WG that a dog displays aggresive behaviour and that cats cannot be left alone during a month long sit, for us, constitute valid reasons for cancelling.
Oh gosh, I’m sorry this has happened and I totally understand your frustrations.
I would be very upset if this happened to me and I found out the sitter had gone to another sit instead.
Have you managed to find a replacement?
However, as a sitter, I don’t like the idea of cancellations being made public or recorded in some way. We have had a number of succesfful sits, but ive also had to cancel 3 sits for very legitimate reasons. at Easter my son got really ill and was in hospital with pneumonia for a week. We were meant to be doing back to back sits and luckily I informed the ho as soon as I could and both were able to find alternative sitters. Then just recently we had to cancel a dream sit in switzerland due to an unexpected passport issue. Chances are it would have been ok but I didn’t like the idea of leaving it til a week before the sit and then potentially cancelling. Turns out it was the right decision because 2 days later my car broke completely and I’ve had to buy a new one- we would have had to cancel anyway as simply couldnt afford both.
I agree that perhaps ths blocking out those dates on someone’s calendar might be a measure that stops people from going for better, alternative sits. However I think its very unlikely they would put that in to practice, so I’m.not entirely sure what the best preventative measure is.