It was interesting to read this thread. My husband and I joined the site in 2014. For the most part, our experience seems to be exactly the same as it has been. We have done close to 70 sits on this site during this time, and our experience has been overwhelmingly positive.
Sure there were some times when we encountered unexpected challenges or a sit ended up being different than we thought for one reason or another. But it was usually smaller things that didn’t have a huge impact.
There was only one sit–one of our earlier ones–where we had some more serious issues due the HO misrepresenting a lot about the location, which was in the Costa Rican jungle. He definitely had some issues and was ‘off’ in a lot of ways. My intuition was telling me there was probably going to be issues so it didn’t sting as much when they actually occurred since I didn’t feel blindsided. I took responsibility for the fact I took the sit even though I had reservations. But other than that, we have always dealt with lovely homeowners.
It wasn’t until recently I had any idea about the ‘terms and conditions’ and the various other rules we are supposedly supposed to be following, and being unaware of any of this information has had zero impact on me.
I have just been applying to sits that intuitively felt like a good fit, and for the most part, I have been pretty spot on. Great hosts, great homes, no major problems. Just using the site as it is intended–a platform to connect with people who need a service I am offering.
In all this time I have never had any issue where we needed to involve THS so I can’t speak to that issue of the level of support, but essentially they are platform to connect people, and their involvement is limited–I think some people expect way too much from them in this regard. Many of the most common issues–a HO misrepresenting their home, a sitter or HO cancelling,etc.-- are things they can’t really do much about.
No one is obligated to house sit nor use house sitters. THS isn’t personally vouching for anyone who offers their services here–essentially anyone can sign up so long as they can provide an ID or if in the US pass a basic background check, Neither of those things means anything in terms of whether this person will be a good house sitter.
Taking personal responsibility for using the service and understanding that like many other aspects of life, there is risk involved, is really important.
The only change that truly stands out to me is the 5 application rule, and in all honesty, while I don’t agree with it, I can’t say I have been that personally affected by it. We just finished a 8.5 month stint abroad full of really awesome sits from a huge riverside apartment in Prague to a centrally located apartment in London to a villa in the Turkish Mediterranean along with some other awesome places.
Most of the sits I have seen that are ‘in review’ are ones I couldn’t have done anyway so being annoyed about it was more about the ‘principle’ of the whole thing than actually being affected by it. I may have missed some sits that I could have done, but I figure if I was meant to do any of them, I would have been able to apply.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience that while the site has undergone a lot of changes, I don’t feel very affected by much of it, and my experience has been pretty good this whole time. I may not agree with some of the changes, or believe they are that useful, but they don’t actually have a material impact on me so I don’t get too bent out of shape about them.
I think it is important to remember that people are more compelled to post about their negative experiences on places like forums, review site,etc. And the THS forum in particular is only used by a very small percentage of people who use the site in either capacity.
This reminder isn’t meant to invalidate the negative experiences of others; some of the issues presented are certainly worth taking a look at to see if solutions can be found, like the overlapping dates and sitters leaving pets alone. But I think a lot of the negative experiences are much rarer than they may seem if you read a forum like this.
If you just focus in on what the site is at its core–a platform to introduce people looking for a service with those willing to provide it–I think it is fulfilling that function just fine. The more you want it to be beyond that, the more you will constantly find it ‘lacking’ or doing something ‘wrong’ no matter what changes they make.
!) so we aren’t old timers at all, yet I really feel as though I am. The THS that I joined was amazing and so full of promise. I was so excited about getting started with the local sits to build our reputation (I actually worked it out for myself to do that and thought I was a genius 
).
