Product Update - June 2022

@Ben-ProductManager @Kelownagurl @Lassie we were thinking exactly the same, a cut off at 10 would be much better.

7 Likes

I also really like the /24 hours as well.

4 Likes

Hi @Lassie

In the case you have highlighted, the Owner could have 5 mediocre applicants and can still unpause and request another 5. The desired behaviour would be for the owner to check-in, respond and to not leave Sitters waiting.

This is the first version and we will take the learnings and feedback and iterate on the pausing.

7 Likes

Just to make this clear - BOTH conditions would have to be met simultaneously. Playing around the margins - for example 10 sits in 48 hours would be fine, The key point is that EVERYONE gets a chance to apply and be seen by the homeowner. Otherwise you are turning THS into a series of primarily national sites for desirable sits.

3 Likes

Ben, thank you for the update but please, please do not pause applications at 5! Can you increase it to 10? We might not apply to our perfect sit on that first day, and if you shut us out right away, that hurts many sitters who might be busy with life for a day before we can look at new sits. Please raise the application limit!

12 Likes

@Ben-ProductManager - i shouldn’t need to actively do anything to increase the applicant number. I do respond to all applicants quickly, but unless I decline or confirm, I will be limited to 5 until I specifically request an increase.

I am a sitter and HO here, and I dislike when my applications are not acknowledged. I don’t take it personally, however, and can withdraw my application or follow up with the HO if I want to prompt a response.

Making it even more difficult for a HO to get an acceptable sitter seems like a misguided product improvement when sitters are already in short supply.

9 Likes

Totally opposed to pausing applications both as a sitter and as a Homeowner. As a Homeowner, even though my profile is pretty specific to what I’m looking for in a sitter, and living in Florida; I get a ton of applicants who DO NOT fit my parimeter AND also ones who apply just to send me a note that they aren’t really interested in my summer (Florida) dates, but would like to be kept in mind for winter dates. So now I won’t be getting the true number of application and as that I’m choosy, thats it, I get the five who do not fit, or just one out of 5. This is just terrible. We are paying a lot of money, let me see all the applicants, I want to find the best one. Then as a sitter, you have to be staying right on top of this in order to apply fast, again, I’m a great sitter, 5 star, I just think all around this is little concern for your homeowners looking for the best fit.

14 Likes

The problem is when the first 5 candidates are just “suitable”. but not “great.” I don’t live in a very popular city, so I can’t afford to decline all 5 and assume that someone better will apply next. I also don’t want to accept any of the first 5 without seeing who else might apply.

11 Likes

KenandMary1998,
Exactly. Many of us do work, and can only look at sits at the end of the day (and not just the moment that work ends).
Also, if the number of applications is shut off, does the sit become invisible? Then if applications are turned back on, does it then reappear? At the top of the listings, or somewhere else?

6 Likes

Totally agree with Meow and Expat6. We are home owners and sitters, and I don’t want to see my home applications limited right away, or my sit applications limited because I had to work and couldn’t get to the site. Unless of course the desire is to have this site just for people that don’t work during the day, and can manage to check sits in other time zones at inconvenient hours. Please reconsider this.

6 Likes

I agree with the comments above, pausing at five applications is very little. I’ll have to constantly monitor sits in other time zones to see if I can - check with my spouse, check airfares, make sure our home can be looked after…and then apply, hoping to be in the top five. That’s hard enough to do in a day, much less with now a new added time crunch for many sit locations of being in the top 5.

Many, many times we’ve been selected from pools of 10 or more applications, after interviews. Please reconsider this.

4 Likes

How on earth did you have time to research various statistics referenced in the reasoning for the new auto-pause system, but the team has been unable to implement a blind review system identical to the existing one at Airbnb for well over a year now, based on the apparent history of forum conversations begging for that feature?

I would much rather see your limited resources spent on something like this - or anything that a high number of members have posted requests for - than something that literally no one has asked for, and just about everyone who has reacted here has expressed concerns with. Respectfully, that makes no sense.

7 Likes

Hi @Lassie in this instance the owner could look at all 5 and if they wanted more applicants can put the listing back live.

Thanks, Ben

1 Like

@Breezylake we will be monitoring this and will be looking at international applicants.

I also must stress that this will be a test and the criteria and the parameters we use will be adjusted with the feedback we receive. Thank you for all the initial concerns raised.

3 Likes

Hi @Ben-ProductManager
So, if I get a new sit notification but for whatever reason (having a life, being in a different continent) am not within the first five applicants will I get another new sit notification each time the HO reduces the number of applicants below 5?

7 Likes

I took part in a survey this week on what I thought was the calendar function. I actually had to bring the conversation to the calendar and it became apparent that this was not the main theme of the survey. I was being asked about invites and how I searched for a sitting.
Pausing applications was not mentioned.
I told @Ben and @Arjuna that they needed to be focusing on the Review and Calendar system rather than other projects which are not important or unwanted. I was advised that the Review system is not priority and they intimated that the Calendar function won’t be altered in the way many of us have asked.

5 Likes

This is very disappointing and, it sounds to me, as if you haven’t even made a start on it. Customer service should always come first……

Admin Notice: Post Moderated

3 Likes

Ben, you ARE now receiving feedback. The 5 limit is not in our best interests. We are HO’S and sitters. The auto pause at 5 is too low!

8 Likes

Question?
Is it only the members on the forum who are aware of this. ?
Its 3 weeks until July. Are HO just going to have this dropped on them quickly with no real time period to access the new function .?

5 Likes

This poor guy can’t win.
There are so many threads and posts about pet owners not reading applications before rejecting or choosing a pet sitter. The team has reacted and come up with a working solution. Now we are all screaming it’s not fair and giving him alternative solutions.
Let’s look at this logically. This solution makes the pet owner far more proactive. They have to react after 24 hours or 5 applications to either reject or choose someone for the sit to move forward. As I read it, if the first five are ok but they want to see who else is going to apply they can unpause and get another five.
Different time zones has always been a problem. Who knows what sits are being posted and filled when we sleep? How many times has a sitter started their application only to find by the end the sit has been filled and is no longer there? I know that has happened to me on numerous occasions. In fact, for honey pot sits, once or twice I’ve actually sent a one line message saying I want to apply please read my profile and I will send my application in half hour.

For me, this is a step forward. It might need more work but it is definitely an improvement. Anything that makes pet owners more proactive on choosing their sitters quicker is good in my book.

14 Likes