Require a complete Welcome Guide before listing

I wish THS would require HO to complete a complete Welcome Guide before the listing is posted. I accepted a sit but the HO did not send the Welcome Guide right away. I asked for it, and finally received a Welcome Guide that only listed his email address. The sit starts in a few days and he has not added information to the Guide. What would others do?

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@Poppi

You just need to ask the host for their address . It should be obvious to them that if they donā€™t provide you with their address you canā€™t go ahead with the sit . However , If this is a new host they may not realise that THS do not share the address with the sitter .( Many hosts assume that THS provide this information to sitters )

Make a list of all the information that you need before you go ahead with the sit ( such an as emergency contact number / vets number / pets feeding and exercise regime etc ) You can then ask the questions via the inbox .

Have you already exchanged phone numbers ? If not I recommend that you do so asap. So that you can communicate via WhatsApp.

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Many homeowners donā€™t use the guide which is cumbersome and difficult to fill out because of the way it is divided into sections. Let the homeowner know that you need written instructions for feeding the pets, what goes where in the house, cleaning supplies, emergencies, etc. (You can pick any sections of the guide or all of them that youā€™ll need.) Tell the homeowner you really want to see the instructions before you arrive so you can prepare and this will make the handover (warm or cold) go more smoothly. If you have a non-THS way to communicate ā€“ text, Whatsapp, etc, use that as well as the email system.

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It can take a few hours to complete the Welcome Guide.

In your case, I would ask if the Owner could send a Word document or similar with the information that you need for the Sit. Today!

Some Sitters would cancel if this information is not provided!

In the future, during your initial chats with the Owner, you should ask about the Welcome Guide before agreeing to the Sit. The THS Welcome Guide does not become available to the Sitter until a Sit is confirmed, but you could ask if the Owner has completed it.

The Owner is doing you and the pets and his home a great disservice by not providing a WG (or similar document) in a timely manner.

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That is an easy assumption to make, as this is what THS says in the place where you put your exact address, not in the Welcomeguide but the Location section :woman_shrugging:

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I want the address so I can look around on maps and see whatā€™s around amenity wise well before the sit. If itā€™s not volunteered, Iā€™ll ask.

I also want the welcome guide well ahead of the sit, so I can see whether there are significant gaps, things I need to ask about or red flags/dealbreakers. I mention that to hosts at the outset if they donā€™t bring it up.

And if they turn out to be slow with the guide, Iā€™ll send a friendly nudge, like:

ā€œOur sit is drawing near and Iā€™d appreciate your sending the welcome guide. Iā€™d love to be able to do our sit as planned, but unfortunately I canā€™t go blind into a sit.ā€

The implication is that no one can force me to go through with any sit if hosts donā€™t share welcome guide info to help set me up for success.

To date, Iā€™ve not had trouble getting robust WG info. And I donā€™t care whether itā€™s done via THSā€™s template, Word doc, Google doc, PDF, video or whatever ā€” Iā€™ve received various forms and they all work.

To me, hosts who canā€™t get their act together to help make sure that their pets and homes get good care arenā€™t worth partnering with. Iā€™ll happily skip such sits. Fortunately, there are plenty of great hosts, Iā€™ve found.

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I have been sitting for 10 years and there have been many sits where I have not received any sort of guide until the day I got there. I canā€™t recall ever being presented with any information that made the sit drastically different than I anticipated it be or would have made me cancel or not apply in the first place had I known ahead of time.

So if I donā€™t get anything prior to the sit, I really donā€™t worry about it since thus far it hasnā€™t really been an issue. Perhaps if I encounter any problems in the future I would proceed differently.

But with that being said, wanting the requisite information ahead of time is understandable and it is totally reasonable to ask him to fill it out prior to your arrival. But I just wanted to share my experience.

And of course I am just talking about the guide in generalā€¦obviously something like the address would be necessary to share ahead of time in some form.

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Iā€™d been sitting for about 18 months when I received a WG that mentioned dealbreakers that led me to immediately cancel the sit. The host had withheld that info earlier. (I wonder whether they were counting on me to not read the guide till too late.)

Fortunately, I had quickly received the WG and I read it right off. It said that one dog needed to be let out overnight and the other was prone to diarrhea. Good thing that I didnā€™t have to experience a crummy sit to start asking for a WG.

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Weā€™re the same as @KC1102 in that sometimes we get a WG and sometimes we donā€™t and sometimes there are notes on arrival. Weā€™ve yet to have a shock of any kind 4 years full time into this. Albeit you never know and itā€™s absolutely fair to ask. We almost always do a night before handover as most are dog sits or international so that changes things too and we donā€™t sit for hosts we donā€™t have a decent bond/comms system with. There are general advantages to being experienced, there being two of you & having funds to say ā€œsee ya, weā€™re off!ā€ But so far so good! #gowiththeflow

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@Cuttlefish
I find that most sits are pretty straightforward as far as the care of the pet and the house go, most animals behave ā€˜normallyā€™, etcā€¦

When things arenā€™t as straightforward or some aspects of the house/pet care may be more involved, I find this is something that is typically mentioned at some point prior to confirmation, whether in the listing or in our chat.

So far so good on our end as well!

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Wow! That needs to be fixed!

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We did a repeat Sit recently, so we were familiar with the dogs and the house. Our initial Sit with these dogs was on THS, but the repeat Sit was ā€œoff the platform,ā€ 2 years later.

Anyway, the Welcome Guide was printed out and on the kitchen counter on arrival. It was 29 pages long!!!

I would have much rather had the WG ahead of time, and read it at my leisure before the Sit started. There were no surprises, but I had to spend 30 minutes reading it on arrival. The Owners were on their flight.

THS doesnā€™t vet all listings properly before they go live, so itā€™s unlikely homeowners would be required to complete a welcome guide prior to posting.

Weā€™re sitters and homeowners. As sitters, we discuss the welcome guide during the video chat and stress its timely delivery. If we donā€™t receive a completed guide within a few days, then we reconsider the sit and let the HO know.

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I state in my application that if I confirm a sit, I need the welcome guide way ahead of the sit start date so that I can have time to review and ask further questions.

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How did it work out @Poppi did you get the address ? Are you in the sit ?

Hi, @Poppi

Iā€™m pretty upfront with asking for the completed Welcome Guide in our video call might we agree on the sit. I do like it when itā€™s completed (far) ahead of time.

Home Owners can send it to me within a few days once we agreed. I ask if they could check the information in it and update where necessary. They can fill out the gaps and I do ask them to please do so. :heart_eyes:

Like mentioned before, some HOs need to be kindly reminded of it. I do this when I havenā€™t received it on the agreed day. It would make it easier if the app would send reminders to fill out all the sections. :blush:

To me the Welcome Guide is a valuable document as it provides us both all the needed information. It helps the HO think through details they might forget about. It helps me to have all the information at hand and in one place.

I like clarity. I can only confirm a sit when I have an address and all the rest is clear as well! :smile:

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The sit started today. The HO left before I got there. It was a gated community that required a code to get through. Of course the HO had not provided a code. Fortunately there was a postal delivery coming in so he gave me the code. I got to the house and found a key under the mat that didnā€™t work. I walked around the house a bit looking for an unlocked window or door, while Rosie the dog barked her head off. I was lucky to find an unlocked screen door. The house was a disaster with food left out and dirty dishes. Bed unmade. Blah. Dog is sweet. Thanks for asking.

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@Poppi you donā€™t have to stay under those conditions-hosts are required to provide a clean comfortable and secure home for their sitter .
If you want to leave - take photos of the things you have mentioned.

Contact THS on Urgent Support Phone number which is on your dashboard. Itā€™s a 24/7 phone number where you will get support from a real human ( not a chat bot ) from member services .

Inform host via THS inbox - and text message - that due to the unhygienic ( and possible unsecured ? ) conditions at the property you are leaving in 24 hours and they will need to either return home or arrange alternative pet care. Tell THS that is what you have done and provide screenshots so they can see that you have given the host notice .

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@Poppi thatā€™s disgusting. Your first post already had red flags and your arrival at the sit has confirmed them and moreā€¦
That level of disrespect deserves an immediate cancellation. And reporting to THS. Please let us know what you decide to do. You DO NOT have to put up with this situation. I would absolutely follow @Silversitters advice.

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I am sorry that you are experiencing this nightmare!

Warning for all Sitters out there: If an Owner is not having proper communication with you before a Sit begins, you are NOT obligated to complete the Sit!!

There are all kinds of people in this world. To avoid this type of situation, read the red flags and get out before it is too late!

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