Many HOs are less familiar with how the site works. As a regular sitter, one has more experience than someone who uses THS once a year for their vacation.
I remember my sit in Bath. The HO had been slow already, it took twelve days between my application and the video chat on Whatsapp. That was on Friday afternoon, and it was my understanding that they would accept my application immediately afterwards.
I don’t know how often I checked my Dashboard that evening and on Saturday! Then on Sunday morning I sent them a reminder, which triggered them to send the acceptance, and I confirmed. It was a very nice and very easy sit, worth the exercise in patience.
It would be worthwhile in this thread for THS admin to review the exact steps (with the correct words/nomenclature) that Owners and Sitters can expect to happen during the process. Until ALL the steps are completed, there is no agreement. Sitters can take advantage of Owners’ ignorance to drag their feet while they look for “better” Sits.
I can understand how @Myka thought that it was a “done deal” and that she did not need to be double checking the THS website dashboard or inbox.
@Myka has had 5 previous sitters so should definitely know the process in having a sit confirmed on the site by not only herself but also by the sitter.
I’m not sure how it works on the HO’s end but I had assumed that if the sitter actually presses the option “decline” instead of “accept” the offer made by the owner, the listing would automatically get active again without the intervention of the owner. So I wonder if this sitter just messaged the owner and ignored the offer or if the system does not work the way I thought. Can any owner enlighten me on this, please?
@Newpetlover I would also like to know exactly what happened.
It seems that the Sitters TOLD @Myka that they would do the Sit, and so she confirmed them in the THS system, and then the Sitters left it hanging there. They did not decline nor accept the Sit, since they were hoping to find something better.
Meanwhile @Myka TRUSTED the Sitters’ word! She did not think that she had to double check that the Sitters accepted. Fine, you can blame both of them if you want, but seriously, the Sitters were dishonest in their verbal communication. They lied.
Owners beware! Make sure the Sitters that you confirm actually click on the “Accept” button promptly!!!
I don’t think that is true. What I gather from the HO’s postings on this forum is that the sitters withdrew their application AND that they sent a THS message.
The HO’s complaint seems to be that the sitter had not sent a message by SMS or Whatsapp.
Technically, I think they “declined” her invitation, which does effectively “withdraw” their application, but it is a bit different than other times when Sitters withdraw their application, for example, before they are even contacted by the Owner.
But, and importantly, I THINK that they let the invitation sit there for several days. This is where @Myka might be able to enlighten us. Eventually they may have clicked on “decline” and sent a message through THS platform, but it is the several days of doing nothing that is the crux of the issue here. The listing was in “limbo” during this time.
Exactly my point!! My sit was not available for others to apply… I did check the app every day after our video call, for several days and it just sat waiting for them to confirm…. I just thought they didn’t get around to accepting which has happened before for me and the sitter needed a reminder. I went into the app on my computer specifically to remind them but they had cancelled.
They confirmed verbally on the video call… so I immediately sent them a confirmation which blocked my sit for anyone else interested. Even after they cancelled I could not see the sit on my dashboard, I had to create new dates. This isn’t how THS says it works.
A sitter declining your invitation should not result in your listing disappearing - unless you sent them a private invitation rather than made a public listing .
I think the solution is to give a sitter 24 hrs to confirm their part of the sit & if they don’t then it should be released from the pause feature. Next time I will be more diligent & get in touch on THS & let them know they haven’t accepted the sit, so I’m going to relist it.
If I were a host who was diligent about checking my msgs on THS and didn’t see a sitter accepting quickly, I sure wouldn’t assume that they would. And I sure wouldn’t give them more than 24 hours and even then that would be long unless we’d mutually agreed that there was something they needed to check before confirming.
Personally, when I’ve discussed with a host and agreed to take a sit, I accept as soon as I see the invitation cross, often within a minute or two. The only reason for a delay would be if the host was slow to send the invite and I fell asleep because of a time difference. And even then after I woke, I’d be accepting. Otherwise, I’d consider it reasonable that the host would wonder whether I was serious or shopping for another sit. (And personally, I wouldn’t accept and shop.)
Note: Even in professional life, many companies extend job offers with an expiration date for the candidate to accept or not. That’s because otherwise you’re holding up others.
Thanks for the feedback. Totally agree, I will be more diligent in the future, because once you say confirm a sitter, your listing goes away, so continuing to shop is not an option if you’ve offered it to them.
Unfortunately, thoughtlessness can crop up among sitters and hosts. On the forum, for instance, there have been sitters who’ve had hosts cancel on them because a previous sitter or someone else suddenly became available. Or they just randomly changed their plans and left the sitter holding the bag after buying tickets or such.
For people who act in good faith and have consideration for others, such behaviors aren’t cool, either. Unfortunately, there are humans who think the world revolves around them — including some hosts and sitters — and they don’t care whether they create needless problems for others. Ultimately, that’s why we all need backup plans when it comes to THS. And of course, legit emergencies can crop up in life.
I have a college age kid whose in town, she doesn’t live with me, but if worse comes to worse I’ll make her move in for the week & sit the dogs, it was just a gut punch & I’m over it.
Edit: Well, it will be more like I’ll beg, plead & cajole her…
