: the act of mitigating something or the state of being mitigated : the process or result of making something less severe, dangerous, painful, harsh, extensive, or damaging
I think a few things are clear: booking fees are not great news, the announcement was not well-handled, they are likely going to happen regardless. There are other threads to voice disappointment, anger, whatever other feelings you are experiencing.
What I would like is for this thread to be about some constructive ideas for THS and booking fees. I will start
Boxing day discounts for upgrade to premium (many, including myself, would have given greater consideration to that Black Friday offer had we known then what we know now)
After paying for 4 booking fees, get your 5th one free.
Allow members to use some value of their banked months from referrals towards booking fees
Come on fellow members, let’s brainstorm ideas to make this less painful.
Great idea to start a thread like this but probably too soon as per the early responses and ideas suggested by members aren’t typically implemented by the platform.
My idea which others have also suggested is that hosts cover the sitters booking fee, as they seem to be getting the short end of the stick and may not be in as favorable a financial situation as hosts. Maybe hosts can say that it in the listing if permitted.
This won’t be popular with some as it will alter the “equal exchange” perception, but if they’re going to implement booking fees they should be paid by the POs. The elephant in the room is that they receive the most tangible savings from the service, while Sitters are already “paying” for their lodging with their labor. $25/sit vs $45+/day for professional sitters or a kennel is still a tremendous benefit, & it might lessen the impending impact on short sits & full-time nomads. POs lose out big time if we lose all those folks filling gaps with 1-3d sits, which will cause a domino effect when POs can’t get sitters.
If we’re monetizing sits anyway, go all the way & convert the site to Rover for Road Warriors. Sitters set their rates & get paid. THS takes a nominal cut of the proceeds. (Unfortunate casualty: international sits no longer legal.)
THS makes overdue improvements such as fixing Search etc, to add value for the increased fees. (This needs its own thread.)
Flight in the morning so need to sleep, but I’ll keep thinking. Thanks for the constructive topic.
You know what Steve? You sound like you are actually a really nice guy, and I’m a really nice person to, but you have actually destroyed all credibility on the forum. People are open to listening and discussing everything but you…you have gone over and above what any normal human being can deal with. You are too much! Too much! For your own credibility, please give it a rest? You have no idea how much angst you are unnecessarily causing a LOT of members. Please, as a kind request, give it a rest
Members tried to mitigate against the five application rule.
The result was nothing happened except members coming up with workarounds.
Members tried to mitigate against the ban on overlapping sits. THS reasoning was it was all about the pets.
The result was some sitters paid for two memberships (more income for THS).
When that died down THS said sitters would get more sits if both sitters were verified (no proof as it couldn’t be tested at that point).
Result - more income for THS.
When that had run its course booking fees were introduced. What next?
I realise it is a business, they have shareholders, they need to make a profit.
My beef is they don’t invest in the platform
There is no customers service to speak of.
Communication and roll out of changes is abysmal.
You think that’s funny, or smart? I tried, I tried to be nice. I tried to be cruel. You are having fun with it all and you simply don’t care. It’s all a game to you. Shows your true character then.
(Post edited by the Forum team to comply with the Community Rules).
They had 20 software engineers on payroll at the end of 2024. How many are maintenance vs development would be interesting to know but 20 engineers is definitely an investment.
They had 21 service people on staff at the end of 2024. “No customer service” really?
But yeah, communication and rollout are the changes was bewilderingly clumsy. You’re right on that point.
Ah, I wasn’t talking about you, there, Steve. I meant the platform changes. Let’s meet half-way and I’ll apologize that I came down on you so hard the other day; it’s not usually my MO — as noted, I’ve been crabby, but it’s not a great excuse. I do believe that I see you working to be more circumspect in some of your responses — and you respected my request — and I appreciate that.
FWIW, I thought your joke was funny…just maybe “too soon/wrong audience” wrt the op.
)
