I am looking to other members to help me get things in perspective.
I have a confirmed pet sit with a new Home Owner starting in 2 weeks time.
I asked about the guide when we spoke on a telephone call, prior to the sit being confirmed.
HO assured me that a Guide would be available 4 weeks prior to sit.
After not receiving the Guide I have subsequently messaged the HO on two occasions. Their response on each occasion was that it would be completed & shared within the next week.
Thankfully, I was eventually provided with their address.
Is this a red flag?
I think that THS could nip this sort of problem / uncertainty in the bud if the procedure changed so that Sits are confirmed by agreement between HO & PS & ultimately upon receipt of the HO Guide.
I don’t know if it is necessarily a serious red flag–it may just be one of those things they mean to get around to and it slips their mind–I think many hosts may not think it is something that sitters need well ahead of time and I don’t think it is automatically indicates they must be hiding something.
But I can understand being annoyed if you were directly asking for it more than once and they hadn’t sent it.
I have done many sits where I did not receive any sort of guide until a couple of days ahead of time or not even until I arrived at the house. This is not an issue for me.
None has ever contained any information that would have made me cancel if I had received it earlier or not taken the sit in the first place if it has been revealed in the listing–it is usually pretty basic information and nothing that would have been important for me to know well ahead of time.
So this is not something I feel the need to ask for at any point prior to the sit. But if I were to encounter any serious issues in the future in this respect, that could change.
But that people may want that information well ahead of time is understandable–sitters are different in their preference and how they operate–and asking to have it well ahead of the start of the sit is not an unreasonable request.
There is merit to the idea of the sit not being able to be officially confirmed until a host completes the guide and allows the sitter to review it, but I doubt that THS would put such a requirement in place.
If this is something that is very important to you, you could let hosts know prior to confirming that you require they send the guide by X point or you cannot proceed with the sit.
While there are certain things THS could be better about communicating to hosts as far as the guide, important information to provide upfront,etc… sitters can’t look to them to make the process perfect in every respect.
It is up to us to communicate with hosts about what we need or prefer, to get clarity on things not included in the listing by asking the necessary questions and such.
I agree completely. I’ve done lots of sits with no welcome guide until I arrived. I find the guide particularly helpful for details like garbage collection dates or emergency numbers or feeding instructions, but I don’t need any of that in advance.
I would consider it a red flag. It was discussed during the call, promised 4 weeks ahead, and now you are at two weeks, have requested it twice, and they still haven’t provided it. It doesn’t take months to prepare a welcome guide.
Edit to add a little more perspective. I did a few sits early on where I didn’t insist on the welcome guide and showed up to no guide at all, or a quickly handwritten note about the pets feeding routine (no vet info, no emergency contact). I’ve also had a couple of instances with welcome guides that differed quite a bit from what was discussed. Now, I always request it at soon as I confirm, if they are still working on it or updating, I ask them to send it within a week. I tell them I like to read it right away to prepare for the sit, to see if I have any questions, or if any information I might need is missing. I’ve not had any issues with getting it quickly with this approach.
I’ve had no problems getting welcome guides well ahead of sits. I set expectations during the video chat and let hosts know that I won’t book travel without their travel departure and return details or the WG.
That’s because I want to know they’ve set up a vet account, have emergency contacts, consider emergency access to the home if I’m shut out, etc. If not, it tells me that they’re not interested enough in setting up a sitter for success to my standards for partnership.
If not, I have no need to sit for such hosts. I could pick other hosts, travel otherwise or stay comfortably home.
It might or might not be a problem. Statistically speaking probably more often not a problem. It is however also so that sitters get very nasty surprises at arrival, with extra pets, extra chores, extra expectations etc. A Welcome guide give you the opportunity to both ask questions to prepare for the sit, which should be in the interest of both parties and it gives you an opportunity to pull out ahead of sit if something important there which hasn’t been disclosed in listing/ videocall. That is also in the interest of both of you, as it gives the host the possibility of finding a new sitter.
Not getting the Welcome guide could be a red flag, not only of poor communication skills and the disregard of the needs of the sitter. For some that could be grounds for pulling out alone. It could sometimes be a red flag for more serious things that are wrong with the sit.
If you choose to go ahead with the sit, it could be a good idea to make up your mind on what would make you pull out at arrival, if something is sprung on you. What things would that be? What plan do you have on how to pull out and what to do if met with something that is not ok? That could be many things. Host treating you as free labor, filthy house, more pets than expected, pet behavior, pet health, tasks etc.
I think that is a good exercise for anyone. I think it is easy to «freeze» in a situation like that, as sitters want to be nice, having paid for travel, tired after travel. If one has such plans, it is also easier if you chose to do the sit - because then you chose it. It wasn’t forced over your head.
I like the welcome guide as soon as possible so that I can ask any necessary questions in order to clarify things. I would become stressed if it wasn’t forthcoming.
I think home owners need to realise the importance of having a detailed and accurate welcome guide. Without it their home and their pets are not as safe as t by eye could be, sitters need the information.
I am considering telling owners that I will not book travel until I receive it because I don’t want to pay out a lot of money and then discover a deal breaker in the quide.
I wouldn’t see it as a red flag. It takes time to complete, and life gets in the way sometimes.
How are you feeling about this confirmed sit @dma if the owner does not come forth with a Welcome Guide? Will you be doing an in person handover? How long is the sit for?
Providing a Welcome Guide or similar document is listed in the Code of Conduct which owners agree to when they join. Therefore, you could raise this with them, giving them a final, firm date to receive it otherwise you will not be completing the sit by going into it blind.
A prepared & comprehensive guide is a sign of a good host. I like to understand detailed requirements in advance - it makes handover much easier as I can ask for any clarifications. Often it prompts the HO of something they forgot to update since initially writing. New HOs may need a bit of a prompt but if they understand how important it is for sitters to be prepared being asked shouldn’t be an issue.
Thank you all for your feedback.
The pet sit is with one dog for a period of two weeks.
It has been arranged that there will be an in person handover.
I intend to fulfil my commitment & complete the situation.
I feel more irritated & let down by the HO that they have not adhered to their own time line, on three occasions in not producing a HO Guide, or indeed a similar document providing informative & helpful information about their pet & home.
In the future, I will make it absolutely clear when accepting & confirming a pet sit that it is subject to my receiving the HO Guide within five days if already produced, within fourteen days if yet to be drawn up..
Apologies, should read - complete the sit.
In your circumstance, having asked for it 3 times and it still hasn’t been sent, it seems like a bright red flag to me because it seems evasive, or worse, that the HO can’t be trusted. If you go ahead with the sit, I hope I’m wrong.
I took a sit this year that i also did not receive a welcome guide. But i did a lot of messaging back and forth with homeowner. After several texts, and phone calls I went with my gut feelings and i loved the sit. I try to give the benefit of the doubt with most. Once i got to the sit she had everything written down in a notebook and it was very clear on what to expect. If you can’t actually get a guide don’t panic, politely as if they can send you even something in some form of writing, tell them you really would feel better knowing what their expectations are. Good luck.
If you had known she had that in advance she could have sent you photos. Although she might have only written it the night before.
It is a red flag most likely. In my experience this typically means there is stuff in the guide they have not mentioned and you probably won’t like. Or at best they make agreements they do not keep to.