Are there any guidelines regarding HO response times? I have now experienced several times that there is no response from HO to an application, no feedback and also no rejection.
My expectations regarding feedback on an application are actually that I get an answer within 1 - 2 days, either a direct rejection or a request for a video call - or, as I have already experienced, a direct acceptance. I find no response at all simply rude. Am I being too demanding?
I’m familiar with the ‘Reply Quote’ rating option from other platforms - perhaps this would also be an option at THS?
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THS policy asks owners to respond within 72 hours (though they can do nothing much to control this). It can be frustrating when HOs don’t respond in a timely manner and it often indicates a lack of interest or good comms. Many sitters withdraw their application if there’s been no response and keep applying to other sits. Sometimes it works to send a follow up message and state that you will withdraw your application if there’s no response within the next 24 - 48hrs (sometimes it makes HO’s rush to respond). Besides that, there’s nothing much you can do, just keep applying to sits that interest you.
Reply rating has been suggested many times, but THS has not taken it on board so far.
Yet another desirable feature in the interface. Maybe 2035…
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@MJS I’ve just spoken about this elsewhere on the forum, recently I applied for 3 different sits and 2 of the three were painfully slow with communications. It’s not worth my time to chase the hosts, it’s more of an indication of their inconsideration to my time and my worth. Move on and apply for other sits. Good Luck 
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If we see the home owners have read the message, but no response…we will give it . maybe two days. If we find another sit during that time frame that we want, then we would go ahead and apply for it. We have found that 95% of the applications we send out, if we get a response within a day, we have it. The other 5% is vetting others, going with a repeat sitter, etc. We do understand a home owner taking more time to go through applicants if they are a NEW sitter. If we really want it, might give them 2-3 days.
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It is astonishing that THS receives so many new ideas and feature requests essentially for free, yet does nothing to improve its platform. Other platforms invest heavily in UX research teams and put in significant effort to deliver an exceptional service. THS could truly benefit from having a competent UX team.
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In my experience people either reply immediately or not at all.
It’s very rare someone gets back after a few days, so I tend to just move on if I’ve heard nothing after a day or so.
That said, I just had someone respond after 5 days but we had to refuse as we confirmed a different sit.
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It happens, but that is when the sit is quite far in the future. I got a very nice and very easy sit in Bath that way.
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This has been raised many times @MJS as it is one of the most common issues that can apply to both owners and sitters. Just move on, especially if it has been read and there’s been no word in a couple of days after that.
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We applied for a sit over a week ago. We were the first applicants. After a couple of days it reached 5 and went to ‘reviewing’. We then received a decline without a message but the listing remained ‘reviewing’ After a day I wrote saying (something like) an acknowledgement of our app and a decline message would have been appreciated. Just today- another 4 days later we finally received a message thanking us for applying, apologising for declining us by mistake!, and thanking us for the suggestions. No indication of further interest. She also said they had ‘only just got around to reading the applications’!! Since they are STILL reviewing we replied that we are still available if they DO want further contact.
But tbh this is really sloppy comms and normally we’d gave already withdrawn our app days ago. We’re only keeping our options open because it looks nice and could be a very convenient sit for that time slot!!
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I think you should keep them in mind. Going through the applications can get confusing and many people are trying to develop a fair way rubric. It’s not personal. It’s not a science. It’s not something with an easy roadmap or where people always know what to expect.
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@Marion We are still open to them as I said.
But ‘only just getting around to’ looking at the apps is lazy comms when they’ve been in ‘reviewing’ status for over a week! If an HO posts dates they should make sure they have time to monitor their listing for applications and respond promptly! In our case those other 4 + applicants have also been kept waiting for a response. It just does not bode well for good comms during the sit!
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I agree that it is a lack of comms.
But hosts only have a pet. They might not have competences in recruiting, marketing, management and so on. For new hosts maybe the additional «what is this really? Is this for us? Letting in a stranger?»
So I try to not think about it and do what works better for me. It could be to cancel my application, putting the message in archive so I don’t need to see it, but being open for it, should they reach out - and either way just keep applying for sits I want.
That being said - sits I’ve confirmed have usually had a message from host within 24 hours-ish and often video-call and confirmation within 48 hours. So in my experience longer time rarely get you anywhere. That is why I stopped caring about applications that takes longer - they lose relevance.
I’ve had an application in for a sit for “about 4 months” now. (Seriously THS, you can’t work out how to put exact dates on messages?). My application was read by HO within 24 hours, they never acknowledged it and the sit is still in the “reviewing” stage. Maybe they died? Probably not, so I’m just leaving it hanging, to see what will happen.
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