@Carla if our 1st sit ends on November 26 in the morning at 5 am and our other sits starts on the November 26 in the evening, is that considered overlapping and will our application for the 2nd sit get blocked?
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That’s still allowed. She made that clear in her initial post.
We know that many members confirm back-to-back sits, and so to ensure these members are not negatively impacted, sitters will still be able to apply/confirm sits that end and start on the same day.
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So if a sit I’m booked for ends on November 26th, and I want to apply to a sit where the owner has said the dates are adjustable but their listed date starts on the 25th, I’m blocked from even applying to ask them about the variable dates??? Like I have to reach out to member services to connect with them???
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I just want to point out one more issue. When an HO changes the dates or cancels the sit sitters won’t be able to apply to replacement sits until the HO formally unconfirms or officially changes the dates. Given the need to apply to sits quickly due to the 5 app limit, sitters could miss out on applying to many, many sits while waiting possibly days for the HO to make the update.
I feel like my membership just keeps getting more and more limited.
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Hello @NorthWoods Thank you for adding to the discussion, I will make sure your helpful insights and proposed solutions are feedback to the team and will let you know any replies around these.
@systaran This is a great question and one which was raised previously when the original emails about doublebooking sits came out. I copied the reply from the previous thread:
As a pet-centric platform and a community of animal lovers, we have to make sure that the pets welfare is at the forefront of all that we do, anything that could risk this we have to take very seriously.
@systaran Thank you, I will pass this additional feedback on for you.
We really appreciate everyone participating in this discussion and providing valuable feedback. I have collected any questions that I do not currently have the answers for and will post back here when I know more.
I just got an email from an HO shortening a sit for next month by 4 days. I guess I can look for a replacement right now, but in a few hours I won’t be able to apply for anything for those dates. So much for my holiday plans.
Well, there is nothing in the area for me to apply to now, so I’ll have to keep checking, but if something shows up tomorrow I’ll be blocked from applying. This is the second date change for this sit. It started out as two weeks and is now down to one. It’s almost not worth the 2 day drive there now, especially if it’s not going to be possible for me to look for other sits in the area to fill the open days.
Also, just want to point out the new policy will also be an issue with the insurance. It’s required that the sitter look for other sits. If the HO doesn’t do the formal cancellation or amend the dates right away and there are other sits available in the area, the sitter will not be able to make an insurance claim if they did not apply to those sits.
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@Carla I think one of the issues is how convoluted the process is to change dates on a confirmed sit.
I’ve sat for experienced owners who have needed to change sits by a day or two either side of the start/finish, well in advance, with no issue from me. Usually we just leave things as is as it’s such a burden to go through the process. I realize there may be implications from doing that but realistically I have no doubt I’m not the only member who takes that approach.
If there was a simpler way to edit confirmed dates then it’s likely more owners would update their records. Taking time to fix that process seems like a logical step to me.
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So THS has not listened to all the feedback after the warning pop-up had been introduced. That had lots of problems. And they still go ahead.
In the meantime, THS cannot even add a legend/key to the availibility calendar.
This change is very one-sided. Making things worse for sitters. Couples may need two accounts. Maybe that is what THS wanted?
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We’re also reading about owners coming back earlier than the arranged date when the sit is already happening @Carla1 so that makes it difficult now for sitters to apply for sits to cover these extra days. Changing dates by owners as @Snowbird says is not a simple process.
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Almost every single one of the HO I’ve worked with has changed their sit dates. Some of them changed the dates twice, three times, four times.
It’s really rare that they update the sit dates on TH.
They tell me it’s too convoluted a process, to change the sit dates on the site.
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I find it really tedious, as a legacy user, to walk new HOs through the process of connecting/speaking/confirming the sit. When we were traveling fulltime this was no small task.
Truthfully I will probably avoid new HOs because of this change. I’ve had a few where their dates changed and we both got so annoyed at all the requisite steps (cancel the sit, repost a [private] sit with amended dates, invite us to it, me to agree to sit, THEN them to confirm) that we simply ignored the process entirely.
Please please listen to @Snowbird on this. If HOs could easily modify dates on already confirmed sits, this would alleviate at least 70% of the inevitable problem.
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Hi @Carla, has the issue been sorted where owners post multiple dates and one of those dates coincides with a sitter already confirmed but that’s not the dates they wish to apply for? Will the sitter now be right to apply and not receive the message saying it overlaps as we had been receiving?
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We’ve just applied for two sits with those overlapping dates as we’re a couple and it’s 24 hours to manage @KC1102 - it flashes up as a note. You acknowledge you know what you’re doing and that you’re booked already, then proceed with the application as normal 
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Yes please. Agree with @NorthWoods and @Alice, - my husband and I have been planning to take sits in the same area that overlap by a few days to continue our trip. Now this won’t be possible? For goodness sake. If there are two sitters, then we need to find a solution to this please!
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@Snowbird - this has happened to us MANY TIMES. As careful as we are to ask on our video calls about when a home owner is actually departing and actually returning, so many make changes after we accept. We also don’t bug the home owner about going in and trying to figure out how to change the dates. We’re all adults, so we agree on the revised dates and carry on.
Couldn’t a proposal come to this forum, so we could discuss the changes before they’re made and then we are left scrambling (again)? Looks like my husband and I won’t be able to accept any overlapping dates by a few days to stay in the area longer.
@support - how about flagging the sitters with multiple people so we still get the reminder pop-up (which is handy), but will allow those of flagged to go ahead and overlap some dates? Please??
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@Carla Does this now mean that sitters have to contact member services as soon as they find out that a sit is not aligned with the dates listed on THS? And if so, will member services be able to immediately adjust the dates of the sit on THS?
As many have pointed out here, I also have had my fair share of sits whereby the THS dates were not correct. I arrived earlier, or I stayed much longer (owners asking if I can stay), or I arrived several days late or left several days early by covering only part of a sit for an owner having difficulty filling that sit but being able to make it work by using a combination of me + e.g. a friend/the neighbours for the first or last few days.
HOs can almost never be bothered updating the dates on THS to the actual ones across which the sit took or will place, but that now suddenly becomes critically important if it means you can’t apply for other sits since you’re still ‘supposed’ to be on the confirmed sit even though you’re not…
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As others have mentioned it is common for sit dates to change especially with new HO’s. With the system being so convoluted to change a sit most don’t bother.
How unfortunate that everyone who is responsible and often part of a couple that overlaps sits with consent from all involved is getting penalized due to a few unscrupulous sitters.
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You can still apply it’s just a pop up comes on screen to warn you if overlap and you proceed. It also notifies homeowner that your booked on those dates. You CAN still apply.
You can still apply. All that pops up is a warning to alert you that’s all. The. You confirm if you still wish to message owner of days overlapping dates.
so if THS was able to do this why haven’t they banned HO from posting day sits yet??
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