There have been many questions from existing sitter members around the new membership plans, many members are wondering what the introduction of these new plans will mean to their memberships. So here’s a guide with everything you need to know about TrustedHousesitters’ new sitter memberships.
We’re excited to introduce these new plans which have brand-new features and even more choice, they’re here to help you get more from your TrustedHousesitters membership. We would like to sincerely apologise if the lack of information to date has caused anyone confusion or concern.
The owner guide is posted in the Forum Owner category and both are also available on the website blog
If you have any further questions or queries on the new sitter membership plans, then please ask your questions below or you can of course contact our friendly Membership Services team either way we don’t want anyone to be confused about how the plans, your plan, works.
Thank you for this, @Angela_L Angela. The info says that existing members will stay on their plan until they switch or upgrade. Will these existing memberships retain instant notifications for search (max 10 on app and max 3 on website)? I would definitely hate to see the grandfathered members “downgraded” to some of the basic features!
It is probably the way forward to develop the business but there are a few things I’m not sure about.
The biggest one is the badges. Are they going to appear on each sitters banner? If so, someone who has not read anything on the topic may interpret the badges as an indication of level of sitter they are looking at. For example, someone with 30+ five star reviews may chose basic membership. Their banner would show them basic. A pet owner may look at that and think they have only basic experience and move on to the next applicant without reading any further.
I know businesses have to develop and find ways of complicating a very good idea and business plan but I do not think this visual badge is the way forward. Of course we could all pay more for our membership and have a premium badge displayed and there would be no problem. But of course Trusted House Sitters haven’t thought of that … or have they?
Although I’ve never used it my understanding was that in the past membership included some form of insurance. Does this no longer apply unless one upgrades?
Members who opt in to the Premium Tier will have a badge on their profile/listing, it doesn’t mean that the listing or the sitter is “Premium” only that their membership level is.
The badge will be activated and live to for the viewer, should they choose to have more information.
What happens to the background check badges already existing. We paid for enhanced and it allready seems to be outdated. Surely perks such as airport lounges and negligence insurance are not as important as a background check?
As said above, I can see premium being sorely mistaken for experience. Why do these need to be badges? Why not private?
I love THS and advocate for it when ever possible, but this does not seem right and I am shocked THS wants to display perk badges rather than background check ones which is way more important to a homeowner!
I believe that the badges are discriminatory and are breaching privacy @RoseC and @Angela_L. Much as we would like to think an owner (or sitter) will realise the Premium badge displayed is for the membership level, many will not and will interpret it as experience. After all, a badge looks like a reward being given. For many members, Premium membership is beyond their means or they already have the types of insurance covered and therefore do not need extra. Is it anybody’s business which membership tier a person has? If an owner or sitter wants to know about relevant insurance for the sit then maybe that should be discussed in the lead-up before confirming a sit. Background check would be far more relevant to include than airport lounge passes!
I agree with everything that @RoseC and @temba have said.
I don’t understand why this was trialled with just new members who will have had no experience of using the site.
Surely it would have been better to have trialled it with a range of existing members.
Hello everyone and thank you for all the feedback and comments on this topic. We can see it is causing concern for some members so we want to reassure you that all of your posts will be seen by the team, who will respond to questions and queries after the long weekend. In the meantime, thank you for your patience and we will update you as soon as we can.
Yikes, I don’t like that. It feels like being coerced into paying for a more expensive plan than I would prefer just so my profile gets “boosted” with a premium badge.
Our Home and Contents Protection is available to our classic Owner members. Should there be an issue during a house sit where there is damage to the home or contents while the sitter is staying the owner can use our protection should their own home insurance claim be denied.
We did use a company that allowed us to have background checks, unfortunately, they removed the functionality and with background checks needing to be re-run each year this is no longer an option.
We are hoping to bring this back for our sitter members, however, we are a worldwide company and are finding it difficult to find a company to provide worldwide background checks for affordable prices, to avoid having to charge sitters for these extra options.
You can of course get your own background checks each year and provide potential owner’s with it if you prefer.
We have made these changes based on feedback from current and prospective members on what they would like to see as part of their membership. Like with most companies we are trying to provide different price points for each individual’s needs.
As Angela has stated we currently will only have a Premium account showing the badge. But we appreciate your feedback on this and will be discussing your concerns with the product team.
I have a few questions re the new plans/pricing which I can’t find on THS site and the bot didn’t answer. We currently are sitters with the basic plan. How much is a sitter only membership with the standard and premium upgrades? I only see “combined memberships” rates on the site with these plans.
Re the insurance offered if anything gets damaged while you are doing a sit. Does this only include damage to the homeowner’s property? If something is damaged that belongs to the sitter it does not cover damage to that - am I correct?
Re the homeowner cancelling the sit and the insurance covers the cost of hotel accommodation - is that all it covers? There is no coverage for cancelled plane flights - is that correct? Thank you.
I have raised a question about THS insurance to @Katie_Mc twice now and still waiting a response.
I understand that a new HO with Basic membership will not have the Ins. Will the listing state that the HO is a basic member? I may not want to apply for a sitting without this cover.
Also @Angela_L has stated that existing members will not change. It will change as the sitter will lose out if he/she causes accidental damage to a HO property and the new HO is a basic member with no sitter ins cover
