On request I am adding here a post by @keysfun that provides another good lesson and subsequent advice for new owners:
I feel absolutely awful. I made a decision on a sitter and confirmed with her. I had intended to write to a couple of others I was considering to let them know, but before I could do that, I received a sort of ‘not so nice’ response from someone. It was then that I realized once you confirm a sitter, apparently any others you are considering are automatically declined.
Lesson learned. I want to write to the others and apologize, and explain that I didn’t know how the system worked and how awful I feel, which is true. My gut feeling is to do that, even if they are angry, or, what I’m asking is - would any of you suggest I just move on because they probably won’t ever respond to future posts anyway. I feel so bad. Any insight is appreciated - what would you do? Thanks. I prefer to do the “right” thing and just apologize. Just looking for feedback please.
The full thread on this topic can be found here:
Accepting a sitter & confirming