Hi there! My husband and I are newer to Trusted House Sitters and have a question regarding our first upcoming sit for our pet.
Initially we had 5 or 6 applications. Three of the applicants applied, I responded back within 20 minutes and no response back to my message at all. I even reached back out to the applicants to confirm if they received my response to their application and still received no response back to me at all. One couple that scheduled an appointment in person with us. It was my husband’s birthday and we adjusted our schedule to accommodate the time the couple was coming to our home and 5 minutes before they were arriving they called and cancelled. It was an 1 1/2 hour drive and they called 5 minutes before they were arriving to cancel.
I communicated with one of the applicants, we were scheduling a video chat and she never responded to confirm a time. It’s been extremely frustrating.
We finally confirmed a sit, I scheduled a video chat. It went well. I sent her the Welcome packet along with a quick message confirming she received it.
Today she let me know that she is driving an older vehicle and that her vehicle was sounding rough, but should be ok. She mentioned she is leaving her location two days prior to arriving. Being that the sit for her is a long drive and that her vehicle is sounding rough but should be ok, my husband and I are very concerned because we are flying out of the country and it’s a long sit.
Can you please give me feedback with what I should do as this message is unsettling and to my husband and myself and doesn’t sound like a 100% commitment.
I wish somehow I could be active with my listing. We are leaving in two weeks and it may be unlikely to confirm someone else due to it’s a long sit and in two weeks.
Any thoughts?? Thank you and I appreciate you taking the time to read and respond to me.
That would be unsettling. I would ask her point blank how she plans to get to your location if her car becomes inoperable. If she has a reasonable plan B, then you can relax. If she doesn’t (ie she would cancel), then you can start considering your options. Honestly, it sounds a bit hinky to me. As if she is planting the seeds for an exit strategy.
I agree. As a sitter she should have a plan B for how to get to a sit if something happens en route. The HO also needs to have a plan B and a plan C. Plan B should be: what happens if she’s delayed? who can help with the pets for a day or two until she arrives. Plan C should be: what happens if she cancels? All HOs should have this in place even if the sitter seems totally on board. But especially if they’re already hinting that there could be transport issues.
On top of that, does the location require a car? So what happens if hers dies during the sit?
Lots of communication that needs to happen here, IMO.
I agree with the others, we have a back up plan for things like that. For example, I sit with my partner and we have a backup plan for things like that, our plan is that if our car breaks down, one of us taxi’s to the place we are due to be at, while the other remains behind with car. Ask her outright, but in a nice, friendly, and respectful way.
If she only sits part time and is perhaps at home at the moment, then you could perhaps suggest the train/bus, and you could collect her from the station, even if she gets midway towards you, then collect her, ordinarily that isn’t something I would suggest, but you need a sitter quickly. Also, if there is a garage near to you that you could recommend, then perhaps ask if she has breakdown cover and get her to come a day early just incase the worst case scenario happens. You obviously chose her for good reason, so as long as you feel she is a good person, then perhaps try to help out on this occasion, and in doing so, you also help yourself out obviously.
It’s a little odd that so many sitters have let you down in one way or another, fair enough they aren’t confirmed sitters but it strikes me as a little odd. Maybe it’s the location that you’re in, I have no idea, but perhaps when you return from your break you attach your profile link to your forum profile and just create a fresh post to ask for feedback on your profile, because there maybe something in your profile that attracts not-so-great sitters (I’m not suggesting the one you have coming isn’t great, I mean the others that didn’t respond etc, I’m grasping at straws but it’s just a suggestion.
Welcome to forum, @Rabbitluv ! You’ve got good advice, and as HappyDeb says you can also get good advice on your listing later on, should you wish to. Would just like to line up to say that it sounds really odd and unusual to me. It seems most sitters, at least here on forum, goes to great lenghts to honor an agreement (although accidents, health issues etc can happen to anyone ofc). Hope it works out for your trip. Best of luck!
Either than or fishing for HO to pay for alternate transportation.
I’m very confused that you scheduled an in-person appointment for someone who lives 11.5 hours away?
When is this sit happening? Do you have time to cancel and look for new sitters?
@belluca: I think you misread the original post. The in-person meeting was with an entirely different person and it was a 1.5 hour drive (not 11.5 hour drive). The OP stated that the confirmed sitter had a ‘long’ drive and is set to depart her home 2 days prior to the start of the sit.
The OP stated they are leaving in 2 weeks.
Thank you so much for your reply. Your thoughts to me were my exact thoughts as well. Very unsettling. I asked her if she has a plan B, however, she does not. In the most recent message she responded back to me since I wrote here in the forum, was that she should be ok driving here, however if I want to get a back up that she would understand. She also said that she has a co worker that worked in a temporary job with her that is heading this way and maybe he can be a contact for us. ( I definitely would not be comfortable with that at all.
My husband and I are not happy with Trusted House Sitters thus far with being our first experience. I’m a positive person, however, am now trying to figure something out.
Do I cancel her and place our listing active again? Thank you so much!
Thank you for your response. We did specify that a car is needed for our location as I’m a very communicative person and have been with her. What I’m wondering here on THS, do I have to cancel the sit in order to place it active again or is it possible to find a back up with THS when I already have a sit confirmed. This site is new for us and am not 100% if there’s a way to do that.
In the meantime, it’s going to be a challenge, although I’m going to work on a plan B and C today! Thank you again for your response!
Thank you for your feedback. I wasn’t sure if this is common with THS with having several applications come in and some didn’t respond back to me at all.
We do have a scheduled sit that’s in February 2025 and secured the sit quickly. We’ve been communicating with the husband and wife team on a regular basis and they are very active on here with a lot of sits. We are located in an area that many people come to visit, in a newer home, have one small pet and lots to do for the right person who loves what our area has to offer.
I kept thinking that maybe I didn’t do something correctly as well, however, we have an experienced couple that travels all over coming in February and they are excited!
I’m also thinking could it be the holidays?
That’s a great idea you have is when we get back to refresh the listing and copy the link here for feedback. Thank you so much!
Thank you Garfield!! I appreciate you responding with your feedback.
We found it very odd as well and being new to THS we were becoming frustrated as we initially were very excited to be a part of THS!
We’ve actually met another experienced couple who is a confirmed sit in February 2025 for us and we’ve developed such a wonderful relationship with the couple, therefore, we didn’t know if this sort of thing was common with what we are experiencing currently with this upcoming sit.
Thank you Garfield and have a wonderful weekend!
@Rabbitluv, welcome to Trusted House Sitters!
I’d agree with earlier comments. Not comforting.
If you’re confident that your listing will attract more housesitters, and there’s sufficient time until your trip, then I’d consider cancelling housesitter and restarting process.
If not, ask them to arrive sufficiently early for the housesit that it provides comfort. Maybe a couple of days? This is above-average but perhaps appropriate given your concerns. We have completed a bunch of housesits (including current one) where Pet Parent is travelling internationally. We often get asked, and typically agree, to arrive one day (or more if requested and works out) prior to the start date of the housesit. This can provide handover time (for any complexities of pets or property) but it also gives Pet Parent comfort that we, as housesitters, will turn up.
If you decide that you do not want the confirmed sitter, you would need to cancel her before you could relist your dates. I would certainly expect you to advise her before you hit the cancel button.
As to your query to @CreatureCuddler,
Absolutely NOT! I doubt it is even possible from a tech standpoint but how on earth would that be fair to your proposed backup THS sitter?
That was a different applicant that wanted to come to our home that were one hour 1/2 away from us that cancelled 5 minute before they were suppose to be here.
Thank you for your response.
We shall see what happens. I’m a positive person and am trying to have a plan B in the event I have to. It’s not easy, however, I’m trying.
Yes, you would have to cancel the sit and go through the process again. You cannot have a backup from THS while you have an active sitter scheduled and it wouldn’t be quite fair for that person. ‘oh, just sit and twiddle your thumbs just in case we might need you if the person we really wanted falls through’.
BUT you SHOULD have a non THS backup. Friend, family, neighbor, paid service, whatever. You always need to have a plan for what you’d do in the worst case scenario.
I think the holidays can cause a lot of difficulty. It’s a REALLY high demand time with far more sits than sitters and then people have their own families, friends, and issues that are compounded by general worldly travel issues.
IMO HOs should generally avoid a holiday sit for their first sit as it just seems to be more difficult and complicated. Better to dip your toes in with a non-peak sit to see how things work without the extra layer of chaos. But I realize that isn’t always possible.
If you stick around the forum you’ll find that many people on both sides of the equation are being frustrated by new members who have potentially been drawn in by misleading advertisements and as a result don’t provide as positive experience as one would like. I expect that your Februrary sit will show you more of what you can anticipate from sitters during non-peak times.
@Rabbitluv before cancelling your sitter I suggest that you contact member services.
I understand your concerns especially as this is your first time having a THS sitter. However the T&Cs and code of conduct that all members agree when joining states that you can’t cancel a sit unless there are exceptional circumstances . Member Services (MS ) can advise you if they consider your concerns about your sitter to be a valid reason for cancelling the sit .
You can have a live online chat 
if you go to the help section and ask to speak to a human .
I did misread! I saw 1 1/2 and my brain thought 11-1/2 
Anyway, it does sound as though relisting might be the best option. The booked sitter does not sound like a sure thing at all.
Personally I agree with you. I’m new with THS and am learning many things here. In the first place, one would think that when a sitter puts an application for a sit that they would have reliable transportation to get to the sit including being able to have reliable transportation during the sitting before they even put there application in to be confirmed.
Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you so much for your feedback! I appreciate you taking the time responding!