Owners approach to reading applications

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
1

We have discussed many times on the forum Pet Owners procrastinating, hedging their bets, seemingly waiting for a better sitter to come along, before responding to applicants, every person does it their own way.

Sitters then get frustrated as we need to know when to cut our losses, and accept other less appealing sits around same dates, and when to persevere if there is a sit that we do really really want.

Well, last week I had applied for what seemed to be a pretty perfect sit for me, within 40 miles of home, 2 dogs of a breed that I like, Cocker Spaniels, and over Easter holidays, a busy time.

I waited, and waited, to even see that my application had been read, far less replied to, and 4 days later, still nothing. I continued looking for my Easter Sit.

Then on day 4 , I saw another sit, similar distance from home, with 3 lovely English Setters. No applicants. I applied, heard back from owner same day, I did video call with him at teatime, was offered and accepted the sit, We are both very happy, Thank You very much. I then withdrew my application on the other sit, as dates now clashed.

Next day, day 5, the original woman replied, Oh I see you you have withdrawn your application, are you no longer interested, perhaps you have accepted another sit?

Correct.

Turned out she did not have Notifications on, and didn’t know she had an application. I am flabbergasted. Why would she wait for an e mail to tell her she had an application?

I am on the site every day, diligently looking at possible sits with a sense of urgency, you snooze you lose, early bird catches the worm, etc, but I cannot fathom why someone who is in need of a sitter, especially over a busy holiday period, would not check their listing, for 5 days?

Or…. why they would rely solely on technology to remind them to look. A bit like people who post on Facebook with spelling errors then when caught out and embarrassed publicly, blame Autocorrect. It wasn’t me!

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2

HO here - I generally post my listings on Thursdays or Fridays, when I know I have the time to be attentive to applications, and to check for messages frequently. Unfortunately, I can’t control when sitters apply, and for my last sit, I had several applications trickle in over 2-3 days, but:

  • the first application responded right away, but could not set a video call until an evening during the next work week
  • a VERY promising looking sitter applied, I responded within 15 minutes of receiving the application and didn’t hear back for over 24 hours.
  • out of others, only one sitter replied quickly, and was able to have a call that weekend. That’s who I went with.
  • I sent a message to sitter #2 saying I’d been able to meet with someone right away and selected them, but that I was very interested in them if they wanted to apply again (per their profile they are based in a city near mine). When they responded, they said they were on a sit on a different continent and the time shift caused their delay. Had they mentioned this in their application, I would have waited for them, but I thought I was being ghosted.

This was a holiday sit that I was posting a bit later than ideal (6-8 weeks out), so I was very keen to get someone confirmed. But I’ve had sits where the applications don’t start rolling in until Monday, and I usually can’t look at my messages much during work, let alone answer questions, schedule video calls etc, so it becomes an evening activity in my time zone, which doesn’t always coincide with the sitter’s time zone.

I do shake my head any anyone who posts a sit and then isn’t watching the site, though. Are those waiting for emails new HOs? Because anyone who’s completed a sit in either role should understand that email notifications from THS are not timely :laughing:

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3

I applied to a sit two weeks ago and my application hasn’t even been read yet. I was the first applicant and two weeks later, it hasn’t gone to reviewing (not in a popular area). I wouldn’t consider the sit at this point, but I’m leaving it open out of curiosity. I don’t know why HOs post listings if they aren’t serious about getting a sitter.

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4

I applied for a sit recently- and was immediately declined. The reason: the HO hadn’t realised they’d made the listing public and ‘thought’ they’d only invited a previous sitter to do it. They sent a pleasant note and favourited me for future reference. People get stuff wrong, not everyone understands how the processes work.

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5

Can someone please clarify, a host will only be aware of applications to a listing if they have notifications turned on, so if they don’t have that function enabled they won’t know unless they log in and then what? Do they see messages in their Inbox?

Perhaps this would explain a recent long wait for an application to be read, the host hadn’t logged in and was simply unaware.

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6

Yep, that’s exactly how it works.

7

This happened to me earlier today. My intent was to list private dates but I accidentally made it public and didn’t realize it until I had an inbox full of applicants and then the listing paused.

I subsequently created a second private listing the right way for another set of dates, and invited a sitter I had previously communicated with and realized there’s a very subtle difference in how it’s done. The issue is with the rather convoluted user interface that gives the user the impression they’re creating a private listing to invite one or more specific people when in fact they’re creating a public listing.

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8

I was also literally immediately declined, like a couple of minutes after I submitted my application. I was so taken by surprise that I immediately answered “fastest decline ever. Thanks for the speedy reaction.”
I didn’t take offense, of course. Everyone is entitled to their own choices and I wouldn’t want to accept a sit if HOs aren’t fully confident that I am the right person.
Still, I was really curious to know what made them decline my application without even reading it or checking my profile. Reading your post now I think perhaps it was some kind of mistake.

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9

Yes mine was similar, it was a sit in Jersey so possibly they had other applications that ‘surprised’ them :smiling_face:

10

Is it still so that emails from THS are all or nothing? There are HO’s that turn off the notifications because of the rather meaningless favourite alerts that they are getting.

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11

This is why I always include my WhatsApp mob in my application and invite them to switch to that more reliable messaging system asap if interested to explore if we’re a match.

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12

I don’t know, sorry.

13

It happens all the time. I applied on Friday for a week’s sit starting on 26 February in an extremely desirable home not far from where I live. To date the owners haven’t read my application. It could well be that they have made other arrangements and not bothered to take down their listing…..
Some years ago I applied for a sit and my application went unread for weeks right up to the date of the sit.
I agree @RedLassie that owners shouldn’t be waiting for a notification but be checking the website/app regularly, if they’re really keen on finding a sitter that is

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14

Yes but if they don’t read it in the first place they won’t get your WhatsApp

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15

Owners have to have the THS app installed to get notifications which are pretty instant when a sit application is received. The email notifying of the appliction is more delyed. If an owner only uses the THS website they will only receive emails notifying of applications received, who knows when.

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16

I’m a sitter and I never rely on the email notifications for anything. If I’ve got an application out, or I’m actively searching for a sit, I’ll be checking the site multiple times a day. Especially with saved searches: very often I’ll have already seen a particular listing, or its already gone to reviewing, before the notification even comes through!

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17

@Crookie correct. Also for sitters using saved searches and favourites. If only using the app, you will get push notifications far quicker but also emails if you have both options switched on.

If you only use the web version, you don’t have the option to get push notifications, only emails. So be sure to have the app activated for both push notifications and emails, this will mean you will then receive push notifications on both app and web version. Push comes through quicker. (Not referring this to you personally by the way, just for general interest).

18

After 48-72 hours I cancel my application.
48 hours if unread.
72 hours of read but not replied

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19

If you discover THS while using a computer, you tend to sign up using the site and don’t necessarily think about the app. Especially true for people who started out their internet lives on the web. Using an app is getting less optional now and my phone is stuffed with apps of all kinds. It drove me bonkers getting notifications all day from everywhere so I turn off most of them. The THS site and app should show HOs a pop-up window whenever they post dates reminding them to turn on notifications so they don’t miss out on sitters.

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20

I think it should not be an optional whether one gets notifications on messages or not. Be in in the emails, or on the app. Sure THS can not force those little red circles with numbers to appear, but at least there could be a big arrow pointing to the messages as soon as you open the app. And email notifications about messages should be very hard to turn off.

Though I have heard the wildest reasons why hosts dont answer (“I did not want to choose anyone during the holidays, so that the other applications, who I then would need to reject, would not get sad during the holidays”) so I guess there is just no way to make the communication smooth. Good for me: when host takes their time, I have time to reach for a better sit.

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