So one of the owners was new to the site and extremely nervous. We only had one review at that stage and she wanted to actually talk to that HO, which he extremely kindly agreed to. Then she wanted links to all our social media sites. We also waited quite a while for her replies every time and for confirmation, but she was always apologising and citing various family emergencies, so we sympathised. Then she cancelled last minute because her husband decided not to travel with them. You live and learn.
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I’m so sorry to hear about people cancelling. My husband and I have so far only done one sit last April and we’ve got another one lined up in August. We’d never consider cancelling unless it was a life or death situation! I hope you have better experiences in the future.
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While that may be true, if you look through threads here you’ll see that it’s definitely not an easy feat to get to get reimbursed
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Hi Mdillard15,
There is also a $1500 maximum for the insurance. I’m currently waiting on a claim for a 10 day cancelled sit which will max out my insurance for the year. Hopefully, I won’t have any more cancellations this year.
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Hi Laweeze,
You’ve just been very unlucky. I have done 40 sits and never had anyone cancel, I have had one couple come back early and change plans, and for me that was OK because it was local and I could just go home.
I would suggest that you look at the people who cancelled and see if you, yourself can see a pattern or a hint, something to look out for in the future.
I’d chalk it up to bad luck.
Happy Travels.
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Hi all,
Any advice for fab HS (me!) who arranged and accepted an overseas housesit, booked flights, car hire, hotels around the sit, and then the HO cancelled?
We’d had a long video call before confirming the booking and then I get a message on website today to say they have cancelled. There doesn’t seem to be a mechanism on the site to cancel the sit (so it’ll appear as a black mark on my profile) nor leave feedback that the HO should not be trusted.
Any guidance gratefully received
Jane
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Welcome to the forum @Janegerrard .
Sorry to hear about this cancellation by the HO . Whatever the reason, it is a stressful situation to find yourself in .
So if I understand you correctly, this was a sit confirmed on the dashboard and now the host has sent a message that the sit is cancelled but they have not actually cancelled the dates on the dashboard ?
Did the HO give you a reason why they are cancelling the sit ? You can ask for a reason and if it’s not for an unavoidable or exceptional reason then they are breaking the code of conduct. However there is no way to force them to honour the agreed sit and it would likely be awkward to try given the circumstances.
You should report this to member services and ask for their advice- provide screenshots of the messages received from HO .
If this a late notice cancellation ( less than 14 days before the sit starts ) and are you a premium member? If the answer is yes to both you may able to claim some of your non refundable expenses back through the THS insurance. Again member services are best placed to advise you and help you to make a claim if you are eligible.
@Janegerrard that is a horrible situation to find yourself in. From the way you write it sounds like the HO has not even contacted you directly? They just cancelled the sit on the site without discussion with you? Is that correct? If so that sounds pretty unreasonable and unfair. Have you asked them why?
You should not get any black mark on your profile as it is the host who is cancelling. This means there will also be no review possible either way. You should definitely contact THS Support and explain what is going on. If they don’t have a good reason to cancel there should be consequences for them.
What a stress- I really feel for you. I hope you’ll be able to recover some of your costs. 
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Hello @Janegerrard we’ve had this happen and it was thoughtless & expensive! We did the following. Reported the HO and followed up on that report. Managed to get two flights (of four) refunded. Started to save sits in the same region/dates that we could fill the gaps with. It mostly worked but was stressful and a lot more logistics. That said, the HO turned out to be a bullet dodged! Ask for a reason. It sounds as if they didn’t even send a personal message as @Lokstar says, that’s beyond rude. Ours was the same. Report them to THS support, you won’t get a black mark as the sit never happened. Look at both your cancellation and new sit options and see if you can fill the time in other ways. What part of the world is it in? How soon is it? (If less than 14 days the premium insurance applies) I’d be tempted to also tell the HOs how many things you’ve booked and paid for to do their sit to see if they offer any help. Best of luck 
Again, this is another proof of concept for some kind of escrow.
There is no consequence right now. If one party cancels, the other one is screwed. Flights, trains, car rentals, whatever type of transport… If it’s not refundable, it’s gone. And who has the energy to fight each company for a refund? Especially when the situation is not even your fault.
I don’t believe it should be such a high amount that it would cover everything, but at least it would be some amount of money that could be recovered, because the host canceled.
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Thank you so much for such an exstensive and helpful response! The sit is in Spain (we are UK based) thankfully have found another sit, albeit a very long way from the airport we will be landing at!
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@Janegerrard so glad that you have found a replacement sit and thanks for reporting back to the forum.
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Hi, thank you so much for your support! Good to know I can ‘chat’ with other HS. They have now responded to my WhatsApp Dodged a bullet I think! 
Edited to remove personal information
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@Janegerrard that is really too bad especially when such high travel costs are involved. I booked plane tickets and 1 night hotel for an international sit this Christmas for my family of 5 and cross my fingers it doesn’t get cancelled
I just had another sit cancelled. 
I had one cancelled last minute in June. As least I have more notice on this one since it wasn’t until November. Hopefully I can find a replacement sit.
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I am relatively new to this forum but not sitting. I just had a sit cancelled on me - it was a one day sit and local to me (we are hoping to get a bit of dog walking time plus build our reviews) but I only found out when I got a THS notice! It was bizarre that the HO didn’t reach out first to me to explain - I’m a HO and would never fail to communicate with a chosen sitter. I find it odd, as due to this I would never apply for a sit with them again. I think sometimes HO’s forget this goes two ways!
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@Chortlepuss As one day sits are not allowed on THS (there has to be a minimum of one night’s accommodation as it is an equal exchange - free accommodation for free pet care), it may be that THS has actually removed this listing. Both you and the owner seem to be unaware of this requirement.
@Chortlepuss, have you reached out to the HO and asked about it?
It was a one night sit - but I wasn’t aware of the day requirement, so thanks. It’s no biggie, people do need to cancel and I was only doing the sit as it was local to where I live & I fancied walking the dogs. I wouldn’t normally consider a one night sit. My issue was with the lack of communication- I would have appreciated a ‘sorry we have to cancel’ message before withdrawing the listing. I thought it was a bit rude and hope it’s not typical of behaviour on this site. Not an approach that I as a HO would take.
It’s rude and fortunately the world and THS are mostly made up of folks who aren’t rude.
In this case, you dodged a bullet.
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