@alegría I had to click edit listing on the app to see these fields on my listing as it doesn’t show if I just view my listing in the “me” section of the app. It looks like it isnt there in this view
But it is there when I click on the “your home” section, scroll down to below all your photos (remembering first to click edit listing). It’s very clunky to find on the app and like you, at first, I thought those new fields weren’t there. See screen shot below
@Mark_B I can’t see those new fields on your link (using the app)
Thanks. I’m a sitter, so that doesn’t work.
Some yes. Definitely not all.
I’ll disagree with you as a host for a couple of reasons.
2 and 3 above makes infantalising necessary for plenty of members.
Anything that highlights an oft ignored and egregious violation of trust by sitters is worth tick boxing, imo. If someone suffers information overload from this kind of stuff they should probably not be caretaking stranger’s pets or homes.
It needs to be clearer that the guests should be cleared before confirmation, not before the “sit”. This is the policy I have in place with sitters during the chat. I had one experience where a sitter asked to have someone stay after confirmation. I wasn’t 100% comfortable with their asking at that point, but I did have a linkedin for the person and felt slightly more comfortable, but I could easily see situations where this would not be acceptable and if it’s after the confirmation it’s too late to change things so it really needs to be prior to the confirmation.
That will now have to be my stated policy in the listing, and I’ll probably be filtered out because of it. So I can’t say this is helpful.
@Mark_B I would like a response to my comment #6. This new section on Guest policy states it’s for the safety of a host’s home and pets. My reference to the 3rd Party Policy and Recording Policy are for the safety of sitters yet, once again, it is hosts that are being prioritised and not sitters. Trust and Safety featured big time in the spiel given to members for the unpopular introduction of booking fees. I’m sure other sitters would like to see THS looking after our welfare too. I would appreciate you feeding this back to Team “Trusted”.
At that point in time I really would not have any prospective guests yet.
That’s a good point @pietkuip, especially if the sit is months away.
And that wouldn’t be my problem as a host. That’s the sitter’s problem.
I have my sits planned anf confirmed usually between 10 weeks - 3 weeks before the sit starts. I want to know something about people staying in my home. If someone decides two weeks or one week to invite an additional person, there is no reasonable way for me to vet that person. Did they just meet them? Do they even know them? Does the person know anything about pets?
It’s not acceptable. And while I understand that I can say no to guests, the new policy seems to imply that I should accept the guests because I said I would. So my otherwise reasonable policy of ask and let me vet before confirmation, is now unreasonable. Therefore, I have no choice to go with “no guests” from the outset.
THANK YOU !!!
This is getting outrageous……and all in the name of “improvement” !
We try to book sitters 4+ months out. We’re very tetchy about surprise guests of sitters but we don’t expect sitters to know whose paths they’ll cross 4+ months out. Post confirmation, we would impose stricter requirements on knowing the identity of the guests of sitters. We just want to know who’s in our house. Sitters and their guests.
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate that you guys took the suggestion re: better methods of communication on board. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling to see the email today. Thanks for listening!!! 
Typical case would be that friends might ask me if they could come by if they knew that I would be spending a month in for example Berlin. And then I would tell them that I could ask the HO.
I think the subject was brought up by the HO in most of my longer sits, that I was welcome have guests. Sometimes because they thought I might feel lonely on my own. Sometimes with a restriction like “no people from the village”.
“Flexible” might be/have been a better option than “to be agreed” (or in addition to it.)
While I’m not an incredible fan of either of the 2 new features, there’s nothing stopping me from having the conversations with the Hosts that I need to have.
What I am really happy about is the email communication that got sent out. Might seem a small thing, but it’s an important turn in a great direction.
I’m talking about cases that I’ve had to deal with or read on the forums where very close to the sit start date, often for relatively short sits another person – often presented as the significant other of the sitter is suddenly mentioned and the sitter is “just asking.” Or suddenly someone’s sister is coming, or some friends will be passing through town and often this is well after the point when a pet parent will feel comfortable saying “yes” but also won’t have time to look for another sitter.
I feel like if given a “yes” or “no” options, many homeowners will simply opt for “no” under these circumstances but at the least a third option could be offered : guest policy “to be discussed” prior to confirmation. I’m not calling for sitter celibacy or hermitage. Generally sits in my home are under two weeks with lead time of under 10 weeks. Surely most people know whether or not they have a life partner who might be interested in coming?
I agree to this comment.
Have to say, I’m amazed at the some of the concern expressed here, especially by sitters, about the audacity of having someone over for a visit. I think we need to recognize that some of us, at least a need a bit of human socializing, whether it’s with a cup of tea in the kitchen or a beer on the patio, and are not meant to just spend all our time with pets, whether our own or HO’s. Yes, these are HO homes, not our own, but we are caring for them and the HO’s pets. It doesn’t have to be so dogmatic, does it?
I’ve just read through every comment on this thread @RichardNYC and I see no vitriolic comments.
You are able to flag a comment which will then be checked by a moderator if you think there are vitriolic comments.
@Marion I think there is a big difference between asking, after confirming the sit, for a Partner/companion to join FOR the whole sit OR to have someone over for a coffee/dinner/beer or even for an overnight etc as a visitor DURING the sit.
My take on the new policy is that it is, like the new timings policy, going to create confusion on either/both sides and will backfire. I agree with everyone elses objection to (both) policies. It is micromanaging. We have always discussed these issues directly with the host.
One Problem I see is that the THS Definition of a guest is so limited- (someone passing through and quickly popping in). For me a guest does more than that- they visit for a coffee/dinner/drinks and, exceptionally, for an overnight.- All agreed with the HO ofcourse. The problem with the choice of the two options- Guests welcome or No guests- is that it gives no room for flexibility. An HO may be happy with a daytime/evening visit but not an overnight. Therefore they are more inclined to specify No guests for fear of being taken advantage of etc. So a sitter reads No guests, when they’d like to invite a local friend for lunch, and scrolls on. When infact the HO might be perfectly happy to accomodate that simple request.
I also agree that having the Fanilies Welcome category so close to the guest options can also create confusing of who might/might not be welcome to join the sit or pay a visit…
Same with the timings. If they are strange or restrictive timings it can put a sitter off applying. E.g we recently confirm a sit where the timings were- arrival 7-9am and leaving 4-6pm. Both these times were uncomfortable for us regarding our pre & onward plans- but we applied anyway (as it was a perfect fit) and we easily negotiated better/different timings. The same for another sit we confirmed last week’ timings were in fact very flexible and have already been changed again since confirming. So there was no point in specifying timings.
So imho both these policies- arrival timings & guest policy are completely unnecessary. These things should just be discussed beforehand- like they have always been!!!
However what I would very much like to see is a category about BEDS! E.g What is the mattress size (not just the bed frame size as it might be larger than the mattress!) Size should be given in centimetres to avoid any confusion! King/queen/double sizes all vary between countries. Also mattress quality- firm/soft/memory foam/Sprung etc & How many beds are available for sitter use? All very important things to know especially for couples.
Re- the last one - we confirmed a sit where the listing described 3 bedrooms and shows all three in the pics. Therefore we did not ask but assumed (wrongly!) that all 3 would be available. But after confirming and getting the WG we read that the guest room would be prepared for us. But please don’t use the attic bedroom and preferably not the 3rd (her) bedroom either! When we questioned her she said actually we could use any room but to let her know.. So a bed category would be great info for sitters and would give HOs the opportunity to think about what exactly they want to offer!
So you’re expecting more information about beds than you’ll find in room descriptions for a Ritz-Carlton. Good luck with that.
In THS’s largest market, cm are atypical units of measure.
