A sit has recently appeared in Malaga, Spain. Its description says a 3 month sit, then goes on to say 7+ days. HomeOwners are not being responsible in providing THS and Sitters accurate information. It’s really Unprofessional. Suppose one of my bigger annoyances are under amenities and they only show WIFI. HomeOwners need to be reminded to fulfill their part.
Hello
AS for the date discrepancy, sometimes the HO doesn’t remember to change the headings and/or some of the info from a previous listing…can be annoying but I don’t think anyone is trying to mislead.
As for the amenities section, it sounds like this was a listing that was initially created back before THS added those extensive AirBnb-like lists. The person is probably unaware of that change and doesn’t know to update it.
When an Owner wants to list new dates, they should be required to complete their profiles using the new Amenities section.
That might fix the problem.
I don’t know how hard it is to change listing titles but plenty of them are out of date from incorrectly stating the length of a sit, the timing of the sit eg the classic “Christmas house sitter needed” to completely getting the animals wrong where the “cutest kitten” is now 5 (probably still cute) and there are three new dogs and a goldfish also in the picture. Personally I don’t even look at titles - a chunk of which is cut off in the app anyway - although sometimes they can be a red flag when they use recruitment style language setting the wrong tone from the start.
It’s not difficult at all, but also the interface is not intuitive, and it takes some attention to detail.
The Dashboard shows the title of the listing, but you need to go to Edit My Listing to add the dates, and you don’t actually see the listing, there’s a button to add dates.
You can Preview My Listing, and it shows up the way it would online - with none of the sections showing in full. In order to see the whole thing you have to edit each section separately. I can see why people might just add dates and think they are good.
I fully update my entire listing and title for each sit, but going through the process right now I see even I have some slightly out of date info (I switched cat litters).
…My question is why are a bunch of pigeons and the tourist choo choo express the profile picture though?¿
The amenities section has been introduced/expanded over time and owners who have older accounts may not know this so it may just have the basics that existed when they created their profile or nothing at all.
From what I remember when I had an owner membership the interface is not intuitive and it’s not alsoways obvious what is part of the ‘permanent’ listing details and so there is often detail from the first dates that just stays in there. Thsi is made worse as it is not obvious/easy for a owner to see their listing as others woudl see it (this also goes for sitters). There should be a huge, simple button that says “This is what others will see” but there is isn’t.
Is there no annual semi annual way to ask HomeOwners to update (ie when paying annual fees). Sitters do an excellent job of staying current.
@Berna sure would be a good idea for THS, plus for them to:
- Better help HO’s understand THS and who it’s designed for when they sign up
- Ensure HO’s have a clear understanding of THS policies (a prompt or pop-up box with tick boxes outlining basic policies could be soooo useful before they begin to create their listing!!)
- Better help HO’s to create an updated, attractive & stand-out listing by providing better prompting & examples when they compose their listing.
- Help HO’s understand that the best way to secure a sitter is by having an attractive & mutually beneficial listing that attracts applicants rather than sending invites.
I find that many of the issues members encounter and discuss on the forum come down to these main points, and there’s definitely things THS could do to solve them, in my opinion, that are very simple and wouldn’t break their bank!
Even more effective would be if sits were prevented from going live until new sections were completed. So simple!