I was rather taken aback that someone applied to our sit but only hit the “apply” button, no intro text as is the norm. The person had applied years ago and hadn’t followed up to fix a time to talk about the sit, so maybe they thought that was enough. I really feel that, given there are a maximum of five applications, that really is a waste of time from a HO point of view (why would I want to follow up with someone who cannot be bothered to write something) and unfair to other more serious sitters. Anyway, there were four other lovely sitters who contacted us, but I don’t think that this a good approach on THS. (Also, I was amazed that the five sitters applied in not more than ten minutes - it makes it difficult to get a sit when places go so fast! - I know, I see this is covered elsewhere).
I would just decline the sitter with no message. That is disrespectful. No need to say anything. Jusy hit decline & free up the space!
Wonder whether they might’ve accidentally hit the apply button.
Yep, that’s happened to me. I just decline them. At first I used to wait and even asked them why they had applied but now, it’s just a waste of my time. If they didn’t bother to put on the time to write an introductory message, why should I bother initiating the conversation?
The person I declined last time with no intro memo ended up messaging me a couple of days later as if they didn’t realize I had already declined. Maybe they were new and just didn’t know how it worked.
Hi @nikki - I am not condoning their actions but some sitters now feel that is the only option available to them to get an application in within the first five. It holds a place so they can hopefully get a more personalised message through to the homeowner.
It is not something I would ever do no matter how tempting the listing was, but I only sit occasionally these days. I would still rather study the responsibilities, location, dates etc. to see if it could be a good fit before applying.
Odd, @wendy_chicago. I’m surprised by how challenging some folks find THS. But we all have different strengths and weaknesses.
Beats me! 
That’s exactly what I was thinking and what has been suggested in the past, although at least a short message such as “I’m composing my application and will return shortly” would be nice
I know there are sitters who apply with one word or even just one letter (so as to get into the first five), but then they follow up asap with a real message once the time crunch has been beat…
I didn’t know that now people were resorting to sending no message at all… wow! 
As a sitter, I’m often shocked and dismayed by the behavior of other sitters when I learn about it from HOs, or here in the forum. (or in other forums)
Sorry HOs, I promise there’s a lot of really good sitters out here! 
I do it both ways (we also house sit) although outside of London so less “competition”. I gave her some respectful (I hope!) feedback.
We had one of these “applications” with no message. It got declined. At least send a few words like “full application coming”
As a sitter I sometimes receive invitations with no message so it works both ways.
For example a couple of weeks ago I received an invitation to sit from a HO who obviously hadn’t read my profile so I declined with a polite message. A week later they send another invitation with no message. Again I decline and mention she already invited me previously and respectfully pointed out they may get a more favourable response if they send a message with their invitation.
Again not a word.
This could be the result of people using some form of automation to search and apply for sits. There’s other posts here about similar behavior, and also about multiple applications from the same sitter, that can only be explained by automation.
THS chose to create a competition for applications with the 5 app limit. This is the one of the results.
Regardless of whether someone likes the five-applicant rule or not, sitters are still responsible for their own decisions. Applying by just hitting a button or using an annoying automated script sounds like a bad approach. If I were a host, I’d automatically delete such applications and I’d imagine that most homeowners would as well. Such applicants are just a nuisance.
Hi - I posted the original post, and agree with you. But one thing that rather worried me, was that I was looking for a sit (I both sit and get sitters) and may have looked at that sit before…when I pressed the “check date” button on my phone, to my horror it said I had already applied to the sit. Which I hadn’t (certainly not intentionally)- but it did make me wonder if there was a glitch in the system. I never got declined either, so it was rather bizarre.
In general, tech is messy and things often go wrong. Knowing that, I tend to not worry about glitches unless they’re blocking me from doing something significant.
If there’s a glitch that happens often enough, somebody will report it or has already done that. Most bugs don’t get fixed — companies pick what they think is most important, because no one has time or resources to fix everything. That’s typical on various platforms, agnostic of THS.
Coincidentally, today I got a THS pop-up msg that was a glitch — I knew it didn’t apply to my situation. It said I couldn’t apply for a sit, because I had a conflicting sit, which was absolutely untrue. I don’t have any sits ANYTIME close, so I ignored the msg and applied anyway. And my application went through fine. The host and I’ve since connected and we’re set to do a video chat soon.
But maybe the HO also had some other dates that overlapped? It has been reported on this forum that that kind of thing can trigger the pop-up.
And yes, there are more glitches like that. For example, the email alert sometimes has dates in the past. It seems to happen when a listing has more than one sitting period.
Good question, but no. The homeowner has only one listing and their last one happened months ago, according to a sitter review.
I have seen what you described, though, when I applied with a homeowner with multiple sits posted. In that case, I just ignored the pop-up and applied for a sit without any date conflicts for me.