@pietkuip you misinterpreted my words. What I was saying was, send the Welcome Guide on initial acceptance, but not including the address etc in the WG The written meaning was the address would be given obviously before arrival but not included in the WG. It has been misinterpreted as can happen between people from different countries so I see why you have thought differently to what I actually wrote. All good?
@Ziggy No problem, but I really do not understand why full address would not be included in the Welcome Guide. For a sitter, it is the most essential piece of information.
No need for handwritten notes that one is supposed to chew up 
@pietkuip I understand, but sooo many cancellations lately it would appear, I just don’t think it is a great idea giving out personal information like this straight after agreeing to a sit. If, after sending the WG and after a little more interaction/communication between HO and sitter, I think that’s when it is appropriate to pass on address. This is normally how it works for my sits personally and I’m happy with that. I get everything I need as in address, phone number and email address through direct communication with the HO. That’s just how I roll and it works for me. Thanks for your point of view.
I quite agree @pietkuip the address is so important in the Welcome Guide. The sit is confirmed, the HO has chosen their sitter so needs to provide where they will be doing the sit. At the end of each phone chat, video call, written questions answered that progresses to the confirmation, I have asked for their address immediately to be sent via the Inbox and have received it. Welcome Guides can take longer to receive (or not be sent!) so I have the address but I’ve never received one without the address.
It is also in listings. I now applied to something “in the north of Berlin, walking distance to a subway station”.
Well: what U-Bahn station? Why cannot they tell this? It is a mystery.
Yes, I find it bizarre that such info isn’t shared. I skip all such listings.
Exactly, and then you have to wonder, are they being dodgy, or just zero common sense?
Not dodgy, I think. But I did not get it, so I won’t find out
(Although it was the S-Bahn, not the underground that the listing mentioned.)
I have a confirmed sit coming up in 2 weeks and despite several reminders still no welcome guide so I dont even have the address. It is worrying.
@Wildcolonialgirl , do you have their cell phone number? Text them and if no response, call them to, at least, get the address.
When you confirm a Sit, immediately get the Owner’s address, email address, and cell phone number. Every. Time.
Many Owners do not complete a Welcome Guide.
2 Likes
This is what we do now ,it took a couple of sits to realise that THS don’t provide this information to the sitter at any stage - it’s only disclosed to sitter by HO .
Fortunately for our first couple of sits we had either a phone call or video call before agreeing to sit so we had the HOs number and could contact them . HOs were also new and didn’t know that we didn’t get their contact information from THS.
Now we always ask to exchange phone numbers immediately a sit has been confirmed ( if we haven’t already had a phone/ video call ) even if the sit is for 6+ months ahead .
It would be helpful ( especially for new members) if THS sent an e-mail to both sitter and HO as soon as a sit is confirmed to say -
“Congratulations you are going to xxxx on ( dates ) We recommend that you exchange contact infomation ( telephone number ) with the HO (xxxx name ) immediately as THS do not share this information .”
and
“Congratulations you have confirmed xx as a sitter for ( dates ) .We recommend that you exchange contact infomation ( telephone number and address )with your sitter xxxx immediately as THS do not share this information .”
2 Likes
I have the phone number but nothing else. She’s been saying for weeks she’ll upload it but keeps making excuses not to. All rather worrying.
@Wildcolonialgirl some HOs find the THS welcome guide difficult to get on with - have you asked for the address and told her you’ll be happy with the welcome guide in a different format that she can e-mail you ?
If someone withheld their address until it got close to the sit, I’d want to cancel.
If people are that suspicious, I would not trust them either - what is there to hide about a simple address?
1 Like
I would CALL the Owner. A conversation might allay all of your fears. During the call, get the address and of course, confirm your travel plans and arrival time; Owner’s departure time.
Also, try sending a Whatsapp message with the phone number that you have. Maybe they are abroad and not checking messages much.
All sorted, thanks.
Absolutely agree. There are a few pieces in the full Welcome Guide that I wouldn’t be comfortable sharing: full address, emergency contacts, and internet codes. But I jut said somewhere else that the responsibilities and tasks on a sit – the complete list, should be sent IN WRITING to sitters before they accept. I would include all the home and pet care instructions and RESTRICTIONS, the details about the garden, and plant watering, all of that. I could foresee a system where homeowner presses “accept sitter” and sitter gets a document. Sitter then has 24 hours to confirm the sit. During that time sitter cannot accept another sit without declining the offered sit and homeowner cannot accept another sitter or withdraw/cancel the application. Sitter can contact the homeowner to try to negotiate if something is too much.
As an owner I would be very reluctant to immediately give out my full postal address if the sit was months away. A general, “we live on this street” or near a well known landmark would be sufficient for my needs then. Some of the houses we sit in are secluded and could be easy targets for thieves. It’s a terrible thing to say but not everyone, even on here, is trustworthy. They could get the details, cancel then strike when they know the house is empty or has a sitter in it. There has been many discussions on here that sitters are very reluctant to give copies of their personal documents so I’m supposing some owners feel the same.
We ask for the sit guide about a week before we are due to arrive. It’s talked about at our initial video call. Asking them to fill it in and how useful we find all the information about the property and pets. We even tell a few stories where the information in it helped us divert disasters (water shut off valve, fuse box).
1 Like