It really should be mandatory that HOs provide the welcome guide, whether it’s the THS guide or some other format. It should also be available to the sitter prior to accepting the sit. I’ve said this many times so I don’t expect it to happen, but the guide could be released after the HO hits the confirm button, then the sitter could review it before clicking accept.
I have an upcoming sit that I’m waiting on the welcome guide. The HO said she has everything in a hardcopy guide in the house, but would work on getting me the welcome guide. I asked that she at least send me her address and phone number. She did send the address, but no phone number. The HO will be overseas so I need to make sure all the info is in the guide. I need a way to contact her, I need to make sure there is a local emergency contact, vet information, everything I would need to know about the pet and home care. I also need to make sure there are no surprise additional responsibilities (I’ve found this to be more common when HOs are slow or hesitant to send the welcome guide).
I’m considering cancelling the sit. I’ve never cancelled a sit, but I don’t feel it’s right that I have to beg for the information I need to prepare for the sit. Or that I could find out when I get there that her home guide is lacking important info or has surprises.
THS really needs to take steps to correct this issue. We should not be expected to make a commitment without full information.
I give a friendly nudge if a host doesn’t share a welcome guide well ahead of a sit. I keep it friendly, something like: “Our sit dates are drawing near and I’d love to go ahead as planned. So would you please send the welcome guide? Unfortunately, I can’t go into a sit blind.”
I leave the rest unsaid, but basically no one can force me to start a sit without WG info — and I don’t care if it’s on the THS template or in another form. I’ve rarely had to nudge and have done 21 successful sits and have received WG info every time. Otherwise, best wishes to hosts, but I’m not going.
@Maggie8K, I always ask for it right away and give them a nudge later - although most send it right away. I might give her one more nudge. I’ll mention this time that I won’t go into the sit blind. If she still doesn’t send it, I guess I’ll cancel.
Did she give any reason for not sharing her number or just ignored your request?
I could understand her taking some time to update the guide but not sharing her phone number (on top of the delay in sending the guide) is quite a red flag.
@Newpetlover, she just sent the address and didn’t mention anything about the phone number. I agree, it’s a red flag. I sent my phone number and email address when the sit was confirmed as I always do and HOs typically respond with theirs, but not this time.
I agree with @systaran. A responsible HO should have the majority of their WG written alongside their listing. Home, pets care, responsibilities, access to the location, amenities, sights etc are all known at the time of the listing and should be available to a sitter before accepting.
If anything needs to change it should be discussed and agreed in writing before sit start date.
I have had one WG delivered just 3 days prior to starting, (one redflag) and there were a couple of extras not discussed - things which have been raised on here and are definite no-go for some sitters. I decided to go ahead and kept the peace ( I’m quite easy going still) but I did mention to the HO that they might have lost their sitter over it. All turned out fine and now the HO has a WG to share much earlier.
THS should IMO make the WG obligatory at offer/acceptance stage.
It sounds like you are comfortable accepting sits without a phone or video call @systaran and that’s why you do not have the owner’s phone number. Hopefully they will send it and the WG asap.
@systaran We always give our WhatsApp number in our application message and would not confirm a sit till after exchanging numbers/message/maybe video call outside of the app. At least if you use WhatsApp (rather than zoom) yoy are guaranteed a phone number. How do you normally message during a sit?
In your case now I would insist on the phone number & WG and give a deadline saying you’ll need to cancel the sit if you don’t get all the info you need in time.
We had an annoying sit once where we visited the HO a month ahead (as we were in the area) met the dogs, and had a quick run through. She promised she’d send through a WG & that she’d leave extensive notes for our arrival (as it was going to be a blind handover) in a large home with 2 huge St Bernhards.
She did neither. We arrived to find a small page with a few basic notes only- as if we were expected to have remembered all the details from our chat one month before despite having done 3 other sits inbetween!!
We found the garden door open and unlockable and so many questions popped up that we had to make immediate contact by WhatsApp so that we could relax and start the sit properly. The HO was already in Vietnam. In the end after some messaging back & forth we ended up having a quick phone call to clarify things. Obviously we did not like to disturb her in her trip but what to when you don’t have all the important info? A few days later the power tripped on all the kitchen appliances and we realised we had no idea where the the fuse board was in this large house so, after searching everywhere we had to send a msg asking. We always aim to be as independent as possible on a sit and all these kind of basics should be clearly stated & in the WG. Other less essential Qs popped up that we decided not to ask. Nevertheless the HO docked us a star on self sufficiency!! We were so annoyed as we’d only been responding to her lack of preparation for us and trying to our job properly!!
@Lokstar I always give my phone number (WhatsApp number) and email address as soon as a sit is confirmed if the chat was not through WhatsApp and typically hosts respond with their info. And I did learn early on to make sure I have a welcome guide. One of my early sits did not send a welcome guide and when I got there she had a sheet of paper with some handwritten notes about the cats. Fortunately, that sit went fine. But since then I always request the welcome guide immediately after I click accept. If I don’t get it within a week I send a message requesting it. Over 50 sits in and this is the first one I haven’t received in a timely manner. So, I’m thinking maybe it’s best that I’m finding out now that the host is not responsive to my requests for information. That indicates communication will likely not be good during the sit. I am leaning toward cancelling.
My main reason for posting in this thread is because I really think THS should support sitters by requiring the welcome guide and making it available for sitter review prior to accepting. That would make hosts understand how important the welcome guide is and that it’s important for a sitter to have it early, not on arrival. I don’t think it would be difficult to implement an intermediate step in between the host clicking confirm and the sitter accepting. They could also add something that the sitter needs to check indicating they’ve read the welcome guide. This would support both sitters and hosts. It’s just wrong that we are expected to agree to everything in the welcome guide before we actually get to see it. It puts sitters in a really difficult position. We should be able to decline if there is something in the welcome guide that’s a deal breaker. However, with the current set up we can’t just decline, we have to cancel a confirmed sit by requesting that the HO unconfirm us.
@systaran I agree. The WG, in whatever format, should be compulsory. I also think a print out version at the home should be mandatory too.
Once, on arrival, where there was no print out, and no mobile signal in the house, we had to drive to a good signal area just to make a note of the wifi code in the house!!
Our current host had a handwritten note on the fridge with a summary of the cat feeding etc but all the emergancy details were in the online WG. I asked if she’d printed it out ‘Oh no- we never print it!’ As if it was s strange request! As we’d unnofficially extended 5 days I knew we’d have no access to the WG at the end so asked her to officially extend the sit to keep the access to it.
And btw if you receive the WG and there are some previously unknown deal breakers- e.g dog expects to sleep in your bed- you CAN request to cancel the sit as you did not sign up for that.
I always take screen shots of the WG, so I’ll have it available even without an internet signal or if THS’s iffy platform hiccups. And with sketchy hosts who might change the WG to sneak stuff past a sitter, you’d have proof of an earlier version.
Personally, I can’t remember the last time I printed something. I don’t think we even bothered hooking up our printer after our last two moves. Not sure where the printer is — might be buried in our garage. I mention that, because some of us have stopped printing things and being asked to print might seem odd.
Agree. I never print something.
Sometimes, when the Welcome Guide is very long, I train a Custom GPT with it. As I use the voice feature of ChatGPT extensively, it’s then very easy for me to talk to my AI when I want to know something that is written in the Guide and also regarding the area and so on.
Yes I wanted to extend it officially anyway- also just to keep accurate records of sit dates. In this case because the extention was only confirmed on arrival it was not possible to extend dates (without contacting THS) so the HO just created a second sit for the last 5 days. The positive is we can get two reviews!! #themorereviewsthebetter!!
Same, haven’t had a printer for years but I would still provide a written copy to the sitter. Easy and cheap enough to do at a library or print shop.
Also, I believe the HO can edit/change the WG at any time, so screen shots are essential.
I suggest that THS make the WG easily printable and PDF-able. That way, whoever wants a printout can print their own or PDF — like airlines do a version of that and leave to each customer to self-service.
My very first sitter asked me to ignore the welcome guide and she sent me a long list of what she wanted to know, and which was comprehensive. I updated it after most sits based on feedback or additional things I felt needed clarifying or even deleting. I never used the THS welcome guide as having also done sits found it irritating to not have a printed out copy. Always Seems to have worked for sitters!
We were so annoyed as we’d only been responding to her lack of preparation for us and trying to our job properly!!