I’ve been declined for 3 sits and 2 others have not responded
I’d like to activate the refund of membership if you have not secured a sit after 5 applications
Can anyone advise an email or phone number to contact please - I’m going round in circles with a Bott!!
Many thanks
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Anytime I want to talk to a human, I activate the chat and tell Frankie the bot that I want to chat with a human. It’s worked every time.
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Hi @stellafiona and a warm welcome to the Community Forum. I am sorry to hear that you have not yet managed to secure a sit. The best way to get in touch is to email support@trustedhousesitters.com
If you are willing to give it another try, I would suggest that you also add your TrustedHousesitters profile on to your Forum profile on here by following the attached link. This will then enable others to offer you helpful advice and feedback to help you secure your first sit.
If you are unsure how to do this, or if you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to ask, we are all more than happy to help.
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Hi @stellafiona
I’m sorry you were under the impression you’d get a sit out the gate. It took me 23 applications to get my first local sit. Now done 15 sits since with further sits booked.
HO’s naturally choose sitters with reviews. To get reviews may I suggest you look at local sits and last minute sits. Even then you won’t get all sits you want. I’ve just been rejected 3 times in a row but got a great sit. That’s just the way things are on THS.
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I didn’t know there was such a refund policy! To be honest, getting your first sit is always the most difficult. It took us over 20 applications before we nabbed our first sit and we only got that because his first choice let him down 
you need reviews and the best way to get your first is to apply for a sit that does not have muh interest, ideally a last-minute, short sit in your locality.
Once you have a handful of reviews to show potential home hosts, you can then start to apply, and will have a much better success rate, for the sits that you really want to do.
After our initial difficult start, we are currently on our 46th sit
My advice is not to give up trying, it is well worth the wait when you eventually get your first acceptance!
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Saw this on 12 August so maybe it is a new policy.
Seems very generous in the current circumstances, especially if new sitters are only applying for very desirable opportunities.
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There is a refund policy for homeowners as well but it only applies to certain levels of membership.
Yes, this creates unrealistic expectations.
I got my first sit confirmed after my sixth application, and that was a Christmas sit. And it was just good luck that I did not need more, or apply for very local sits or for difficult sits. I had practically no experience with pets.
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Personally, I don’t find the refund policy overly generous at all. I’ve been a member for almost a year and haven’t secured a sit. I won’t be able to claim a refund though because I’ve only made one application. When I joined (just as the 5 application rule was being tested, so not affecting all sits), viewing the site as a non-member showed sits available in my preferred area (Ile-de-France, where I lived for 9 years before returning to the UK). With the introduction of the 5 application limit, there are virtually no sits that I can apply for. They disappear from the website before I have the chance to apply.
I understand that many of you are full-time sitters, but for those of us who are tied to jobs or other commitments that require us to be physically present for part of the year, it’s simply not possible to make the number of applications being suggested here to obtain their first sit. And I’m a mature student and my husband is retired so we have more flexibility than many people. I also have a pet-sitting business so lots of experience with pets, and reviews from there that I can show when I do make an application. Even if I did a local or difficult sit to get the coveted THS review, it wouldn’t help my chances of getting a sit in the area I want because I’m not fast enough to apply to the very few sits available, or the dates are not convenient because I’m booked locally through my business or presenting at a conference. THS needs to make it mch clearer that unless you want to sit in the UK, there’s no point in sitters joining. (At least, as far as Europe goes).
By contrast, I joined Nomador in May this year and almost immediately secured a fantastic month-long sit outside Paris for four adorable, easy outdoor cats with my second application. The owners were lovely, the house clean and comfortable. I can’t imagine I’ll ever find something like this through THS.
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You can make several applications in parallel.
I am on my seventh sit in continental Europe, the first one was in December. Nice home owners in all of them, pets without issues, the present one is especially amazing.
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Sure, but only if you can find suitable sits to apply to in the first place.
Several posters have mentioned making over 20 applications to secure their first sit. I haven’t been able to make 20 applications because either I don’t find sits in the area that I want or they disappear before I have a chance to apply. In any case, 20+ applications to secure a sit is a lot and sitters should be aware of this before they join.
I’m glad you’ve had some lovely sits in continental Europe. I’m looking forward to doing more but I’ll probably not renew my THS membership and will stick with Nomador instead.
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@Twitcher - I knew about the host money back guarantee but didnt know a sitters option existed , it seems really generous to me, im sure many new sitters take more than 5 applications to get their first sit
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It should be flagged how difficult it is to get on the first rung of the ladder. I’ve not applied for particularly glamorous sits or coveted times. I’ve applied locally as I wanted to see how I got on initially. I feel disappointed and quite honestly, judged for not having any success - my applications have to fit within my commitments and timeframes therefore I am not prepared to apply for sits for the sake of it - that would be unfair to the homeowners, pets and myself. I am not a digital nomad or looking to go from one sit to the next. It seems these are the people who have successful applications. Someone has even commented I should have more photos of animals- I could fill my application with photos but what is choose to share in the public domain is my choice!
I cannot apply for last minute sits and will not apply for sits for the sake of getting reviews - that would not be beneficial for the homeowner, pets or myself if the sit wasn’t what I was looking for.
@stellafiona have you been able to get a reply from member services about your refund ?
The home host would get a great sitter, as would the pet and you would get your first very-important-to-have review - it’s a win-win-win
When hosts add their property listing to the site they will get multiple applications. You have to make yours as appealing as possible. Unfortunately, if yours is the only one with no previous reviews then you are far less likely to be chosen - we have all been there so understand how frustrating it can be but you have to put yourself in the shoes of the home host. Which applicant would you choose?
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It might be a bit tortuous @stellafiona but if you want to, then add your profile on the forum and experienced members will give you feedback on what might help to win a sit. As @Colin and others have said everyone has to start somewhere. It’s like being the intern or apprentice until you’ve done a bit more work experience and earnt your stripes 
I don’t know if you will get to see my reply as I’ve literally just received my refund and they have de activated my profile
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@stellafiona Yes we can see your reply as you can still be a member of the forum even if you are not a trusted house sitter member - sorry that you didn’t get the sits that you wanted but that is good that you got the refund so quickly.
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Seems the sitter refund policy only applies to sitters based in the U.K.