(I should add, we’d only ever consider a short overlap with the consent of both pet parents. This is not to deny opportunities to single sitters, since pet parents make the choice that’s right for them and those who agree an overlap must particularly want that couple or would simply reject the proposal.)
Transparency and positive communications have been negated by this THS change.
Workarounds are quite complicated. A joint membership option seems to make the most sense to me.
This is lengthy, so apologies in advance. Scroll on by if it makes your eyes bleed.
This is regarding the new, immediately implemented, suddenly urgently necessary, blocking of overlapping dates on house sits.
@Carla states that overlapping of sits is against THS Code of Conduct. It clearly is not.
" I will ensure I am able to travel to the sit and am available for all required dates before applying to a sit. Once the sit has been confirmed, I will not cancel my sit unless there are extraordinary circumstances. Once on a sit, I will never arrive later or leave earlier than the agreed dates".
The key here is “agreed dates”. Carla stated that she will pass my feedback about “wording” back to the team. So now they are going to re-write this to fit this new agenda? THS, please think things through before implementing rediculous policies and all of the cascading effects. And please don’t site rules that don’t exist.
It is absurd to do this right before Christmas! There are far more sits that sitters during this time. I booked a short house sit for myself, during our 16 day house sit in London. It is literally around the corner from our longer sit, where my husband will stay. It had no applicants for a 3 day sit with a young kitten. I thought I would help them out as we were very close by. All HOs agreed and it’s fine. What about people helping people??
What about house sits with no pets? We had a 5 month house sit with no pets last year in Brisbane, Australia. It was a repeat sit and she reached out to us. I couldn’t imagine 5 months without the company of pets. We asked the HO if she minded if we did some house sits with pets during our stay. No problem for her at all. We did 9 sits over this time frame. We checked in on her house, pool and garden daily, while on other sits. Conveniently, our gym was located right across the street from her house so no problem at all.
It’s all about communication, transparency and trust! It’s a shame that THS now feels the need to police this behavior because of the misbehavior of a few. Why not kick offenders off the platform instead of punishing the rest of us? Come on THS, use some common sense!
This will fall on deaf ears but I feel that it needs to be said. I feel better now. This too shall pass. Namaste.
Edited to stay on original topic please use the spyglass to discuss other issues thank you 
I agree… Perhaps they (THS) should have done a 1 week trial. Then ditch these terrible changes as they realise its causing so many problems for sitters now.
They don’t care! I am quite sure that they found another way of making more money. It’s not about sitters leaving pets alone, it’s about two people currently only paying for one membership. Why let them do this without them paying more?
I am also sure that they have hired a company to dig out possible loopholes with which they can make more money. Which larger company doesn’t? The ones that have to live with it are usually the employees or the members.
We ended up doing an overlap at the last minute. We were on the final days of one sit when the owner of the next sit contacted me as her flights had been brought forward due to expected bad weather and she needed a sitter earlier than planned. We spoke to the owner of the sit we were on and they were totally agreeable to one of us going a couple of days before the end of the sit.
Result - two home owners and their pets were happy, we got a 5 star review specifically referencing our flexibility and all was well.
I realise this isn’t the same as a pre-planned cross-over sit but does show that if THS accepts that the majority of its sitters are mature adults who can manage situations responsibly there should be no reason to impose this type of ‘rule’ across the board.
Another hammer to crack a nut? Or perhaps it is simply down to the revenue issue - if that is the case then just say so and implement a charge for couple sitters if they do overlap sits. As with the five application rule I’d really like to see the data to back up the need for this change - how many sitters have left sits irresponsibly? How many owners have complained? etc etc…
when will this start? I see that on the website, I cannot apply for sits when I have already confirmed a sit for those dates
but on the phone app (same listing) it would still allow me to apply for sits where I have confirmed dates.
fyi I’m not appyling for this listing - I just wanted to see if this new system has already started
@cat.tails shhhh 
. Great discovery!
We’ve just been offered and accepted a sit that overlaps with another one by one day! 10 mins ago and it went through. We have of course, made provisons and arrangements with HOs to make this work….
So switch off that automatic update of the THS app!
Maybe you should remove the word “trusted” from Trusted Housesitters as there seems to be a lack of trust.
Well said.
Dear @Carla, As per the post from @123ForumUser, this change probably appears to have been implemented as a result of the flood of new, inexperienced sitters joining THS.
" As our platform grows, we have seen a small number of instances where the ability to overlap a house sit has been mis-used and resulted in pets being left unattended for an unacceptable period of time."
I’m not sure the solution is making the use of the platform more and more restricted for all users - as these changes have done. Rather I think the solution sits in
Because as a long-term member I can notice the general mood amongst sitters having changed quite a bit in the past 1.5 years: we’re no longer an overwhelmingly friendly and relaxed bunch, increasingly we’re becoming somewhat of a fuming, frustrated bunch.
THS has never been perfect, and that’s also no expected, but the general mood has become a lot more negative as one can read & feel from all the comments that many experienced sitters feel repeatedly ignored, stonewalled, and not taken seriously, while their usability of the platform is degrading.
As a freelance consultant I know it’s much more important (and easier) to retain existing clients than constantly trying to chase new ones, but this seems to be a bit what’s happening: insufficient attention to retaining the existing sitter base by keeping them involved, heard, and content with the experience. Just my (long) 2 cents.
Edited to keep on topic.
I’ve found that when owners change their dates they don’t want to formally amend on the site as it restarts the entire process, so we just come to a verbal.agreement. I’m also finding that lots of owners asking me to do repeat sits want to do it off the site, and the over-regulation is undoubtedly the reason.
Exactly this! How can the company continue to call itself “Trusted Housesitters” if they clearly don’t trust their own users!!!
@Carla Hi, our flights changed after confirming a sit next year. It’s slightly ridiculous for me to cancel the sit then rearrange. Can you let me have an email for membership services so I can I ask them to alter the date please.
THIS. My holiday dates changed, after I was in talks with a sitter but before confirmation. I am a stickler for accuracy, so I of course went to correct the dates in the system (after getting the ok from the sitter of course) so the sitter’s dates would reflect the true sit.
It was such a PITA!! I totally understand why hosts don’t do it if they’ve got verbal agreement with their sitter.
@Buns it sounds like youre a solo sitter wanting to do overlaps? If that’s true I’m genuinely curious about how it works! We’ve not yet had a pet sit where I’d have felt comfortable leaving overnight.
I still would like to know how big of a problem THS thinks overlapping is and how they made that decision? It seems to be based a few anecdotes and/or a few people complaining that their sitter left early for another sit. Of course, THS should deal with those rare occurrences, but there is no need to punish everyone else. Most sitters are extremely responsible and conscientious and put the care of the pets first.
THS does not have data on overlaps. I’m stating this as a fact, there is no way they could have this data. As we all know, about half of the dates in the THS system are not accurate and don’t align with the actual dates of the sits. So, most ‘overlaps’ don’t actually overlap, they are date changes, and other overlaps are couples who are overlapping by a day or two with the agreement of the homeowners. As I mentioned in another thread, I’m a statistician, and I just can’t fathom making business decisions that affect the entire membership based on a few anecdotes. That approach makes no sense at all. I don’t think THS understands that this means there will be sits that go unfilled. It’s not just sitters that should be upset about this, it’s HOs too.
I’m just really disappointed in THS, it’s really gone downhill over the last year or so and just continues to get worse.
Another “big fix” for a few bad apples! Instead of confronting a sitter who has misused the system, punish EVERYONE. You really could investigate and take action against those people rather than ruin it for the rest of us. As a couple, we has split a few times. Everyone was aware and gladly agreed. A way over reaction IMO!
