The sitters only had a video call with the OP and never cancelled the sit. The sitters withdrew their application and they were never confirmed as sitters.
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@sharondc Yes, I am aware of that. But I did want to speak to that suggestion in general and share my thoughts about it.
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Withdrawing an application is not a cancelation. It’s disappointing but it’s not a deliberate act to invoke harm nor distress upon the host. I have two personal examples of canceling sits I was approved for, because of a chain of events that were out of my control. I was housesitting in Alaska when a homeowner asked me to leave mid sit, which was a long sit. (awful people) This left me stuck in a remote place unable to afford accomodation until my next sit started, also in Alaska. Luckily for the next host she had a few weeks to look for someone else and the people after that in California also had plenty of time to find someone else. This was not at all my intention to let these people down but it happened. I would not like the thought of having my profile marred because I had to cancel these housesitting gigs because of a chain of events out of my control.
People can change their mind. I think it’s healthy to think and reflect on a housesitting opportunity before agreeing to it. Hopefully the OP had more than one application and can choose from that pool of people and all be well.
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I can think of no reason at all why a sitter would take the time to apply for a sit if they were not interested in actually doing it .
Additionally investing time to have a video call indicates that they were still interested in the sit at that stage.
Information that comes to light during a video call may sway either party to thinking it’s not such a good match -or that another sit/ sitter would be better . That is the purpose of the video call. There is no commitment by either party at this stage .
An application is not a commitment to sit it’s an expression of interest.
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@Myka as others have said, these sitters haven’t done anything wrong, they’ve followed protocols and - for whatever reason - have withdrawn their application. There’s no point in getting ‘unsettled and stressed out’ because the sitters have, after speaking with you and possibly viewing your home, simply decided in favour of another sit.
I agree with others, that it takes time and energy for both sitters and pet parents to invest in a video chat, so the sitters must have been pretty enthusiastic up until that point. Something has made them take another sit instead, and it may be simply that the other one suits them better in respect of area/pet/home/dates, or just feeling it’s a better overall fit.
It’s absolutely not the case that you’d be doing anyone a good turn by ‘warn others they may back out at last minute’ because , since the sit wasn’t actually offered and confirmed, there’s no wrongdoing, here.
Out of interest, how long after chatting did the sitters withdraw their application?
Wishing you good luck in finding an alternative sitter.
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It sounds like this was not a confirmed sit. If a sitter applies to multiple sits and is offered more than one, they absolutely should choose the one that they feel is the best fit for them. This is exactly the same as hosts getting multiple applicants and choosing the best sitter for them. Once you click on confirm it then goes to the sitter to either accept or decline. Until the sit has been accepted by the sitter it is not a confirmed sit and the sitter is free to take a different sit.
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Sorry you had the bad experience, especially in Alaska! My main point is since they had my phone number, I don’t understand why they couldn’t have informed me immediately about their choice to take another sit especially when I went for a week or more thinking everything was set up & confirmed - which is how we left our phone call. And this was after they made me verify I had good AC & they would be using probably more then normal, because they liked to ‘stay cool’ in the summer - OK… sure no problem!! I have good AC, and I use it, so if you need to keep it cooler, I have no issue with that!
It has left me in a bit of a lurch & it was ‘disappointing’ AND inconsiderate of them to NOT inform me immediately. I don’t get notifications from THS, so I have to manually check the app or my email when I need to go to my inbox. When you think all is set up, you’re not going to be constantly re-checking something. At a minimum they have poor communication skills. I get that it’s not practical to have cancellation stats - but I wish there was some recourse offered for situations like this, I guess I could block them, but not sure THS supports that option.
But once a HO confirms, the sit goes away, so it’s no longer listed for others to apply. That is the part that needs to change, once I confirmed a sit & it went off my dashboard & was blocked from others seeing the dates.
OMG!!! No heat in the UK in the dead of winter, ridiculous! I lived in Ipswich for 2 years & you absolutely need heating in winter. My point of them withdrawing their app is that they didn’t bother sending me a text, after we had a video call on the phone. They wanted to make sure I was OK with them using extra AC and all. I was fine, I liked them, I thought they were genuine, but not informing me immediately was just rude IMO. I didn’t realize for several days the sit fell thru & then my dates were still NOT showing up on my dashboard, so I had to relist my sit.
You wrote in a different thread that they had sent you a THS message.
When everything works as it should, that would then also generate an email to you and (if you have the THS app installed) a push notification on your phone.
I probably wouldn’t send you a text either. i would assume that you were getting THS notifications and/or were checking the site frequently since you were waiting for my confirmation. I prefer that important communications like sit confirmations/withdrawals happen on the THS platform.
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I suggest that you contact member services to resolve the issue of not getting these important notification e-mails .
It seems the root cause of the problems you have experienced is an issue with the platform ( not notifying you about sitters declining your sit invitation ) rather than these specific sitters not accepting the sit .
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You have a topic that has generated 34 reviews so far in one day…obviously this is worth it.
HO AND Sitters are encouraged to engage with multiple parties…if you and I were to each speak with five different parties, that means I have five homes to choose between if things went well in the interview and each home owner had five sitters with to choose from if things went well. It ends up being a numbers game…It is sort of like buying a new car or a new bicycle. You have to get your hands on multiple units, and even if you like ALL five…you still have to choose one. In this case…your interview with the sitter went well, but their interview with someone else…it went better!
As @Silversitters has alluded to…perhaps your settings aren’t set to email you right away or THS did have a technical glitch, it took me a while to adjust the settings to the way I want them. But the fact the sitters DID notify you, even if it was just THS…they did everything right!!! It is actually BETTER to notify HO of a rejection via THS so it is on a recorded platform. Sending a text or making a call should be secondary…but it seems around the world…people don’t like saying NO to each other for some reason and that seems to be the case with the sitter that emailed you instead of calling or texting. They didn’t want to be bothered with potential hassle and asked why.
But as @Lassie stated…this site should be checked CONSTANTLY when you are engaging with someone on here…even if just twice a day.
Good luck moving forward…whether you choose THS, paid help or kennels!!! But IF you are struggling with THS sitters, paid sitters AND kennels…something else might be up…
Thank you for posting such a topic for us all!!!
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I would love cancellation stats. As a sitter, I have not cancelled a sit even when “better” sits came along later but I’ve had several pet parents cancel on me. You’re right, it is very stressful. But yes, unless both parties confirm the sit, it’s not a done deal. I’ve had a couple video chats where the pet parents say our family is perfect and that they will send over a confirmation and then I receive a rejection. So the same thing happens in reverse. Then a message saying how their old sitter suddenly became available or a more suitable applicant applied. It’s not a done deal until both parties click the “Confirm” button.
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Like @Lassie, we’ve never sent a text or made a call advising we’ve withdrawn our application, it’s always done via the THS ‘withdraw application’ link, to make it official. However, we do also send a personal message via the platform, advising we’ve withdrawn. I think not adding a message to the withdrawal is rude, the same as when a sitter’s application is declined without a short personal message. It takes just minutes and is simply courteous.
I think the burning question here @Myka is, how long a period of time between your sending the official THS sit offer and the sitter responding with a decline? Even then, there’s no set time limit, but sitters are encouraged to respond in a timely manner.
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@Myka On reading your further posts on this matter in the thread linked to by Pietkuip, I think you’re possibly misunderstanding how the system works. When you made the sit offer, it automatically paused your listing. The sitters decided not to take you up on the offer but you state they did actually message via the platform to let you know why, before withdrawing their application. This is standard, and acceptable, practice.
With respect, I feel you should accept some responsibility for this situation. It sounds as if, after your chat with this sitter, you didn’t check whether the sit had been officially accepted via the platform. You give no indication of how long it was after the chat that you actually logged back in to check your account, then subsequently realised their application had been withdrawn, but that’s on you I’m afraid.
The onus of responsibility for effective communication lies with both sitter and pet parent, and that does include checking the sit status on the website following a chat. A firm agreement is only made once a sit has been offered and accepted, via the platform.
Sorry if this sounds harsh but, you’re berating a sitter who’s done nothing wrong. You’re clearly peeved that, in assuming the sit was covered, you haven’t checked or realised it hadn’t been accepted so your listing was still on pause. That’s your responsibility, and going forwards it’s worth taking a more active part in the dynamics of the process.
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The correct way for a sitter to confirm or decline a sit is through the official THS platform otherwise there is no sit at all. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work in real time and there’s a delay in their messaging. As many members have said, if the sitters hadn’t accepted the sit officially then they are well within their rights to say thanks but no thanks. Telling you that on a text and not the platform would have caused you more issues not less. You need to tackle the delay issues with tech HQ at THS and not the sitters as they behaved correctly (even if you were disappointed). #sameforbothsides
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I don’t think there was a technical delay. The owner had not checked the site for a few days, if I understand correctly.
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Well if that’s true then no wonder they don’t know what’s going on with their sits 
#speechless
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