You make some great points. Perhaps if THS were willing to share the extent of the problem they have tried to solve with this new policy it might be easier to understand why they have adopted this measure. Otherwise I can only assume that the actual reason is they wanted to close what they saw as a loop-hole where couple sitters were able to take on a new sit whilst finishing the old one - with one of the couple at each sit for the overlap days.
Rather than this policy surely it would have been simpler (and treating sitters as responsible adults) to make it a condition that if there was an overlap this must be agreed with both hosts before accepting the overlap sit. Otherwise it seems a vast over-reaction to what I imagine (without access to any data to the contrary) is a very small problem overall.
Explaining, I will just quote THS new policy. If they want to check up they can contact them direct and they will be told exactly the same.
Because of the time constraint the “five application” rule imposes I would contact the already confirmed sit after my application. If they had any problems I would then withdraw my application for the new sit. By the time we have confirmed a sit we are on very friendly terms with the pet parents. There’s always a lot of communication before and after the confirmation making it easy to discuss any issues arising. Infact, no communication is a huge red flag for us and our application is quickly withdrawn if we get one word messages.
It’s a good idea to have the second profile to enable contact for future sits etc.
If a HO checks a sitter’s profile though, I would find it quite odd to see that they’re located in ‘my’ city while in reality they live a few countries away and plan to fly into the sit…
@Bluehorse That’s one of the reasons we change our country location regularly- to show where we actually are or where we would like to be next. It (usually!) deters hosts from inviting us for a sit when we are on the wrong side of the world!
Having said that we are currently in UK but have already changed our location to Spain. and yesterday we received an invitation to sit in Cyprus! So I guess hosts don’t always play close attention to location!
Hi Elsie,
Yes we now have 2 accounts and it is a huge pain. I’m constantly juggling between the 2. I have to have them up in different web browsers as if I open 2 windows in one browser THS gets mixed up, display the wrong one, signs me out and in and out - just a mess. One my phone I use one with the app and one with my phone’s browser.
Also I have yet to figure out what to do when someone wants to book a sit for a waze out. Say a month… how do I know which account to have them book with? It doesn’t always magically work to alternate one and then the other… I don’t know how long the sits in between then will be. If it’s not a sit right after the current one, I usually book with my older account (has more reviews) and then when it gets closer I ask to have them cancel and rebook with the new account. MASSIVE PAIN. Then they want to know why and I have to explain it all with a ton of detail so they won’t think I’m shady.
Yes both our profiles have URLs for the other account. I don’t see a way to add it as a link and THS doesn’t have a way to join the accounts either.
I think it depends where you are. Some places don’t have another popular option. We also travel with a pet and kids so a site that changes seems like it wouldn’t work for us.
If I were using two accounts, I’d just use the primary account with all the reviews to book sits and I’d use the secondary account only to communicate / do initial outreach when the primary account had an overlap with a booked sit. Then when you’re done coordinating with the new host, ask them to adjust dates for the listing so there’s no overlap. Otherwise, you’d leave yourself open to potential accusations that you misled a host about overlaps. By having them change dates on their listing, that seems much less likely.
To me, always keep things as simple as possible. And if it’s really a big hassle, then forget about two accounts and just do what sits are possible with one account. Or use only one account and also use another platform. I use Nomador, for instance. But of course, you’d still have to manage two accounts. I don’t find that an issue.
And BTW, you might also just use two browsers if you can’t keep things straight on one browser with multiple tabs. Like I always have two primary browsers on my devices, plus additional ones I use much less frequently.
Okay, this is really smart. Just using the supplementary account for communication rather than bookings means it will pretty much always be “open,” and then date adjustments can all take place in one calendar.
Now if they’d figure out a way to sync the THS calendars with email clients, it might actually be less faffing about in general.
We have two accounts with a tiny url linking the secondary to the primary. I’ve used the second account once when there was a one-day overlap in locations close to one another. Both Homeowners were informed of the overlap and had no concerns. As it turned out, one HO’s travel changed and they cancelled so we never went through with the sit and review process, but there were no early complications.
So far, the only downside to having two accounts (other than membership cost) is coordinating saved searches and location between the two.
I have said my two cents before, but I’ll add again that THS is punishing the wrong people.
I don’t know how often the overlapping was a problem, but as a couple who did occasional overlaps, we were responsible, let everyone know, and overlaps made things better for ourselves, homeowners appreciated our honesty and willing to help everyone. It’s not like we were making money on the side, we are doing people favors by Housesitting for free.
As full time nomads, the amount of time it takes to manage our Housesitting duties, messaging, watch the app constantly for sits, and also book accommodation for our time in between….its a full time job! Neither of us work, so we can handle it.
In the past we had the rare occasion where one of us traveled to a different country and did separate sits. It was not a problem for the homeowner, they knew it was one of us, and they could choose accordingly. Now we can no longer do that, and it’s a shame.
I can advise other sitters to branch out to other websites. We recently did 3 months in Australia and joined AussieHousesitters. It was so cheap, had lots of sits, so we used both sites in the 3 months. We’ve told our Aussie friends to forget THS because the cost is so much higher for them.
@tlubkin interesting you should say about the cost. When I was comparing what US vs UK vs AU pay, it seemed to come out Waaaayyy less for Aussies. I thought it was the exchange rate at first but I don’t think it is.
Hi folks. Have been with TH 3 years & done 40+ sits. We have a profile as a couple, and often do separate sits at the same time. (We live in a big city and have a fair few regular sits, or one or the other of us is often traveling). It suddenly seems that once we’re booked on one sit, we cannot apply for another sit over the same dates. Is this correct? Or am I missing something somewhere? Thanks.
I’ve moved your post to our discussion about overlapping sits.
If you start with my post at the top of this discussion, you’ll find more information, as it explains a bit about what’s happened and where we are now. It also links to our previous discussion post which has over 1000 posts on the topic, so you may need a bit of time if you want to go through them all!
I’m so frustrated with the busy dates blockout and wonder if Home Owners are too? There is a sit I would love to apply for but the dates overlap my next by one day. It is flagged as “Low Applications” but I can’t tell if it has any applications at all because, with my date overlap, the system just tells me I’m busy and blocks me from applying. This poor woman is looking for a sitter, her dates are getting ever closer and yet I can’t even message to see if her dates are flexible. We might be a great fit for each other but, with the current system, we’ll never know. Potentially two frustrated customers. Perhaps trusted could introduce a check box for “Flexible dates” and allow the HO and HS applicant access to each other to figure this out together? What are your thoughts - is this useful?
I think some sitters have included a URL to their primary account, whilst others include a link in their initial email contact.
Despite huge opposition by sitters to the THS decision to negate potential communication with pet parents if sit dates overlap by even one day - thereby also removing potential for negotiation on flexibility- THS must be aware that second accounts are being opened to counteract this restriction. It makes you wonder why they are quietly accepting of this workaround, if their motive for imposing this communications restriction is genuinely to prevent overlapping sits.
Wouldn’t it be more honest - and transparent - for THS still to allow communication between sitters and pet parents, but not to allow for sit confirmations where there’s an overlap of dates?
It’s the inability to communicate which we find most restrictive and frustrating.
Petwubble makes an excellent point. it is definitely about overlapping sits, however, it is actually about communication. It feels like there has to be an ongoing push to get equal rights for sitters and homeowners. The five stars rating where homeowners could rate sitters, but only recently could sitters now rate homeowners.
Homeowners can approach a sitter, however, a sitter cannot approach a homeowner, this is an imbalance And should not be allowed and be rectified. If it’s an equal exchange, should it not be an equal balance? Both sitter and homeowner pay equally. We should be able to contact each other equally.