Which part specifically, because I only see this:
5.3. The following applies only to Sitters. You will:
5.3.1. not require or demand any form of payment for carrying out a Sit;
Hi @LizBCN
I can absolutely pass this over to Membership Services as feedback, but I’d recommend that @Southernsitter reaches out to them explaining what they said in their post too, if they’d like to hear back from THS as you mentioned. Membership Services would be best placed to give them a proper response.
I can see that @HelloOutThere has highlighted the reply with a new post, so I’ll be sure to mention that, and explain that this is something that the Forum are very passionate about.
Jenny
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I cannot find it now. Did they change the terms?
This is from 2021.
And no way that utilities would be $500 per month. Or it would be for an enormous house. A sitter should not be required to pay for wings that they do not use.
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Gorgeous place but…during the wet and humid hurricane season!!! The other sitters were there when it the weather was at its prime. A six month sit that you have to pay $3,000 up front for while keeping an eye on a major property and a guard dog (according to one reviewer) and no car available? Just doesn’t sit quite right despite being a lovely place.
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Possibly even $3500 up-front. Probably in cash as well. Definitely seems high for utilities but all you need to say is “it’s for utilities” for it to be allowed.
House-sitting during hurricane season seems to be popular in that part of the world. Nice that they can get someone to look after their property and pets while they go and live in one of their other properties and get their running costs covered. Likely need to have someone living there for their insurance against storm damage.
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I really think HOs like the one in Grenada prey on naive sitters who think ‘oh wow Grenada’ and don’t really understand what it’s like to petsit on a tropical island and they don’t do enough research.
There was a really similar one on another carribean island who wanted sitters to pay utility costs to live in basically a converted shed.
$500 per month for WiFi? Let’s be for real 
A simple google search would tell you maximum utilities for a huge house in the most expensive area would be about $100 per month and WiFi maybe $20 max.
For some perspective minimum wage for a domestic worker is $3!! It’s not an expensive island.
They also live in the middle of nowhere and you’d need a car which seems like you’d have to rent at your own cost. All the Island sits we have done have offered us their car to use and all of them have been one month minimum!
It’s also hurricane season hence the need for them to dash off for such a long time and leave someone else in charge of the house.
If it was all so easy peasy then wouldn’t his live in staff offer to mind the dog too? Do you think his cleaner and gardener pay him for the privilege of being at his vacant home?
You could rent your own house for that much without all the responsibility of petsitting.
It’s a blatant double standard on THS. We would never ever take a sit where a HO wants money otherwise I’ll be asking them to cover our transport flight and visa costs too
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It has always been like that. The only thing that is prohibited is for sitters to ask for money and that is strictly enforced. Homeowners could ask money as long as it posted in the listing and labeled as utilities.
It is our choice though @worldjason to apply for these sits, knowing there will be travel costs involved. We have not been privately invited by the owner to do these sits which then could raise a discussion re contribution towards transport costs.
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This approach seems very reasonable, but what if it was lower when you were there? Would the HO compensate you for being more economical?
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I never asked that lol, but 7 weeks in Cyprus was no hardship. I always try to be careful with power usage when on a sit, but not all sitters do that.
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@worldjason . Sitters have never been able to ask for travel expenses. Nobody makes them apply for a sit, if they can’t afford the travel costs, then they shouldn’t really be applying.
@Enjaybee Hear hear!!!
I’ve just seen the Grenada sit mentioned above & I think its outrageous! This is not an appropriate listing for THS imho. The hosts are absolutely abusing the system and going against the concept of THS.
7 months commitment with a fee of $500 per month- all payable upfront i.e $3500 on arrival!!
I’m sure the gardeners, caretakers and cleaners all get paid properly for their service but they want their FULLTIME live in housesitter to PAY for the priviledge of taking care of the dog and safeguarding their home for such an extended period!! I mean what are they thinking??!!
I would only do such a sit if I was PAID properly for the assignment.
This should be advertised on a paid job platform.
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100% @Lokstar - we thought the same as you guys & @Enjaybee - it’s a great location but you have to pay to get there too. Grenada & the property is nice but that’s a whopping amount of money. We can comfortably live in Turkey for $500 a month so it seems exorbitant to us! Also think it’s on the wrong platform. Did smile wryly that they have “low applications” #quellesurprise
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I can understand why this is becoming an issue with rising fuel costs, but honestly - can you imagine anyone accepting a sit via a paid site, such as Rover, and then being asked to pay some of that money back for using electricity/heating/water during that sit? I can’t.
Or, take it out of the context of house-sitting, and consider it in the context of whatever you do to earn a living. As a self-employed person, I certainly wouldn’t agree to cover my own travel costs to go and do a day’s unpaid work in someone’s office, and then foot the bill for utilities used on top!
The fact that we are offering a service for free unfortunately seems to be completely de-valuing that service.
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I agree 100%. Sadly THS are contributing to this trend by permitting hosts to ask for a contribution. I was attracted to THS because I thought it was based on a fair exchange (without cash) between sitters and hosts. This fundamental concept is now being undermined and reading the Forum it seems that this is a growing issue and is leading towards some sitters expecting that they should also be able to ask for a contribution towards travel costs.
I appreciate that energy costs have risen but I imagine that costs of a kennel or cattery have also risen as have the costs for paid pet sitters. If hosts feel that offering their home for free is too much to expect in return for 24 hour pet and home care then perhaps they should be considering the paid options.
In return of course sitters should be mindful of energy costs and be careful in their usage whilst hosts should recognise that peoples levels of comfort do vary and usage may be higher or indeed lower than usual.
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I definitely would not sit if I had to pay.
I am paying a lot of money for my flight and other expenses to stay and be a very attentive and caring sitter.
I put pets first on my sits and in turn the pet/home owner is getting a bespoke service they would otherwise pay for.
Personally I think it’s pretty rude to ask for payment for utilities on a pet/house sitting site that doesn’t allow payment for the service itself.
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On Rover I’d be like, “My rate is $75 a day.”
“We expect you to pay utilities.”
“My rate is $100 a day.”
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If it gets to a point where many hosts ask for utilities money, I’ll quit THS. That’s because it would stick in my craw to pay to take care of anyone’s pets or homes.
For me, sitting with THS has been rewarding, but there’s no logical reason to continue if hosts ruin the balance of exchanges. Sitting is entirely optional for me. I can travel without it.
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I see a LOT of these asks lately, and while I appreciate that not everyone is as mindful as they could be, the price still pales in comparison to paid services.
I don’t foresee all these people asking for deposits and whatnot working out well. What if they don’t give the money back? Who settles that dispute?
It’s a bad road to go down, IMO.
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Legit question here.
Your business acumen would seem to imply that you would be able to extrapolate possible outcomes for THS if the majority of home hosts say were to require/implement sitter contributions; a significant change to the platform…
What say you?