Our sit (Alicante Spain) has been cancelled (we don’t know the reason) by the HO.
We already booked our flights : 28/2/24 - 10/3/24 because we wanted to be shure that we could thake our lovely dog whit us (wich HO agreed on). There are only 2 dogs allowed in 1 plane.
TH says the insurance does not cover the claim (only 14 days before start sit) . They suggested that we start looking for another sit. Problem is : short notice, periode 28/2-10/3, we bring our dog.
STRANGE RULE : we can only start looking (do a post on the forum) 1 week before the date of the start petsit ? What will be the possibility that we find a sit ? = 0,0.
We can even re-book our flights (februari/march, more or less days) but only in 1 week before start date finding a sit seems impossible, not ?
Please your advice …
Thank you
Sarah, Frank and (lovable dog King Charles) Fleur
(title of post edited to make the purpose of the post more clear)
We thougt so to (both have to agree), we don’t agree but insurance is saying only cancellation 14 days before sit is insured .
Who can find a suitable sit for HO ans SITTER in 1 week ?
Sorry, I think things have got a bit confused, so I’ll try to clear things up! I initially thought you were looking for a sitter, rather than being a sitter, so apologies for that.
The Forum and Last Minute Sits isn’t a place to advertise for potential sits, as that’s what the Trusted Housesitters website is for. You would need to look on the website or app to find another sit that would suit your needs. You do not have to wait until the week before your travel dates, you can search for sits any time, the timescale only relates to owners looking for a sit using the Last Minute Sits category.
Just so you know, I had to update your post as the Community Guidelines state that you can’t advertise to look for sits on the Forum, and I removed your phone number as it’s not safe to share your phone number on a public Forum.
Our Forum members could possibly give you some advice around using the website or app to find another appropriate sit, but you’re not able to use this space to find a sitting opportunity.
Apologies again for my misunderstanding, I hope this clears things up
@Flor3jaar, why not join as a homeowner too, and get a sitter for your dog. It should be easier for you to find a new sit location without bringing your own pet along.
As the HO has cancelled the sit with no reasons given, this is against the Rules of THS.
I recommend that you report them to Membership Services.
Did the HO state anything on the messaging system so that you have proof that they have cancelled?
Has the HO now removed the dates so that you can apply for others? If not, contact Membership Services to remove the dates otherwise you will not be able to apply for any others.
Hello @mam1996t This is a great observation and has been asked a few times before.
I’m happy to help explain how things work a bit more to help. The platform model is that owners post a listing and sitters apply, there is no feature on the platform for sitters to post looking for a sit for specific dates/locations so the forum last minute sit category for owners mimics how the platform functions.
Feel free to add a suggestion for the platform to offer a space for sitters to post sits on this topic
Sitters also have the option of setting up saved searches on the platform to be notified of new listings that match their dates/locations.
It’s also worth mentioning that with only a fraction of the platform members on the forum, the best place to find a sit or sitter is always via the platform. The forum is the place to come and find peer-to-peer advice and support. Sitters can always post looking for advice on what to do if they need to find a sit.
I hope that helps clarify things a bit better
@pietkuip I agree that TrustedHousesitters does not want to share those details as it takes the privacy and safety of its members seriously. Part of the terms of using the forum is not to share phone numbers, addresses, emails etc as it is a public space and anyone can then access those details and potentially misuse them.
@Flor3jaar I’m sorry to take your post-off-topic slightly, but hopefully, that helps explain more about posting on the forum to find a last-minute sit. It sounds like such a stressful situation for you. Have you set up any saved searches for your dates and location?
Here is the how-to link to do that if you need help setting them up.
@Itchyfeet gave you some good advice and click here to contact Membership Services.
Good luck with everything! Please let us know how everything goes and also post back here if you have any more questions.
It seems to me that if a HO cancels without a reason and the sitter does not agree to the cancelation, the HO should be liable for the airfare of the sitter.
I had a sit canceled two weeks before my start date. I did agree to the cancelation and used my 800 dollars of airfare towards a different trip. But it’s really not fair for the sitter to be left losing this airfare for an unexplained cancelation.
Are you positive that the Owner cancelled? Maybe they did not renew their membership, and the future Sit was automatically cancelled by THS? Are you still able to communicate with the Owners via the THS mail?
Are you in contact with the Owner via email or cell phone? You might want to double check that they meant to cancel.
I agree in that it’s really unsettling that anyone would be able to cancel with no reasoning provided or explanation. Even as an HO, there should be an understanding that there are consequences to cancelling, not to mention it’s just plain rude and really not in spirit with the values of the platform…at least not my understanding of them.
So sorry to hear that. I’ve had three pet parents cancel on me and it’s really annoying each and every time. Now I just assume the risk and have some backup plans. Good luck
Happening far too often lately, three for me in as many months. Very, very annoying and difficult to navigate the next move But on the bright side, the ones I pick up after the cancellations have been fantastic. I always look upon it as “positive fate”.
If you can’t contact the member anymore through THS platform it means that their membership has lapsed they may not even realise this and be expecting the sit to go ahead .
Is the sit still on your dashboard ? If the HO’s membership has expired you may need to ask member services to cancel it on the dashboard so that you can start applying for other sits.
Even if the HO cancelled the sit you should still be able to message them using the THS messaging system.
If you are unable to send them a message it is likely that their membership expired and was not set to auto-renew or the payment failed. This may have triggered an automatic cancellation.
So if you got no message from the HO and cannot message them now it is possible their membership expired and they may not be aware. they may still be expecting you to arrive. Do you have any other means of contacting them? Email? Telephone? WhatsApp? Contact them and find out what is going on.
. They suggested that we start looking for another sit. Problem is : short notice, periode 28/2-10/3, we bring our dog.
?
But on the bright side, the ones I pick up after the cancellations have been fantastic. I always look upon it as “positive fate”.