It would be great if TH would give homeowners a nudge to respond to sitters applications after a week or so. I have 2 sits that I applied for a month ago. They both received 5 applicants very quickly. I did reach out to one of them after a week, asking if they would be making a decision anytime soon. They read it, but they did not reply. The dates and location are perfect for me, so I still want to hang on. Has this been brought up before?
yes, this is a constant frustration. Would you really like to Sit for those people?
I would rather deal with people who are prompt.
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Greetings @Karilil
If I donât get a âSeenâ by in about 5-7 days, I withdraw my application. If I donât get some sort of response after 2 days after it has been âSeen,â I withdraw.
Communicating effectively takes no skill. If a HO (or anyone for that matter) canât communicate effectively, when I am doing them a favor by taking care of their home (most peoples most valuable asset) and pets (more valuable than a home or not???), I donât bother with them. Plain and simple. How someone communicates is important to me, it is too easy to be good at it so no one should be bad.
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I have had some nice sits for people who didnât respond for a while.
I remember a few saying that they didnât realize they would get so many (or now the 5) applicants so fast and werenât ready to interview or were holding off until they finalized flights etc.
However Iâve reached out to some slow- responders and discovered they already had someone but were waiting âto make sure they were committedââŚ
So, for me it depends on how much I want it / how far out the sit is. I definitely apply to others then withdraw if I get something secured.
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This seems to becoming a bit of a trend but fortunately itâs still the exception to the rule in our experience. We have one application thatâs still reviewing three months later! We usually pull our application after 72 hours but I left it up just to see what happens. To us this is a red flag and we just move along.
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They do send: âTime to choose a sitter reminders.â But I think like a email, people ignore it.
Iâve done our first round of applications and like you, pulled one after it had remained unread for 5 days. But likewise, if itâs a sit I was really hoping for, Iâd hang in there just in caseâŚthey might have had some time consuming matter or emergency their end and it would depend on their message back (eventually!)
In my area I spotted a new listing which was last minute. I applied as I thought it would be nice to help out someone who was very new to my area. Two other applicants have as well. I applied six days ago, the sit is due to start tomorrow for the weekend. My application has not been read, the listing is still âliveâ. I dont get itâŚ
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I have seen sits listings which are due to start today and tomorrow with applications but still are live so indicates owner hasnât officially confirmed anyone .
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Honestly, they donât deserve you nor any other sitter if this is how they treat people. It does happen occasionally and is really frustrating and rude
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Iâve seen this before too. I just wonder if something happened to the ownerâŚ.weâll never know
@Smiley
I know the house and they did just move in a touch over a week ago. Maybe they realised they were pushing themselves to move in, then instantly go away leaving the dog etc.
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@Louise7 Are the photos of the interior of the house since they moved in a week ago - or photos from estate agent ?
@Silversitters
They are the estate agents photos, an empty house, she did say why they were photos like that. They have definitely moved in as a friend has seen them and the little dog. I guess they have changed their minds.
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I just withdrew an application today as they have not responded in 5 days. I donât like timewasters.
she replied, had been away on a course with work. so what, she would still have had free time with access to her phone.
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Agree. Also, why post your dates if you donât believe that you will have time to respond to applicants for a week or so? Sheesh.
Please, Ownersâdo yourselves and everyone a favorâpost your dates only when you have time in the next day or two to respond to applicants and get the ball rolling rapidly on choosing a Sitter!
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Good to know.
We applied for a sit a couple of weeks ago, saw our application had been read but no response was forthcoming, so 48 hours later, we withdrew. We then received a message within minutes, stating theyâd been away for the weekend so had not viewed any messages (strange then, that it showed as read). We did not reapply and the listing is still showing.
I agree entirely with @PVGemini :