I’m curious if many others are experiencing slow responses to your application to a sit?
And, what do you feel is a respectful amount of time to receive a reply (especially when you can see your message has been ‘read’)?
I’ve been a member for a few years now, and I’m noticing it’s becoming a ‘thing’.
In the last few weeks I’ve had a few unresponsive or very slow to reply owners. One even booked someone outside the site but didn’t remove the listing until after I suggested they do so other applicants know.
I understand a couple of days…but I feel an acknowledgment (even a copy/paste will do!) asap is thoughtful. ‘Hey, thanks for your application, we’ll let everyone know within a week’ seems easy enough. If I receive a sit invite or a message, I reply as soon as I see it. It’s the respectful thing to do, in my opinion.
Interesting that in the past I’ve found owners who communicate fairly quick are the best sits. It just doesn’t feel like the TH experience I’m used to. Like there’s a bunch of new owners coming on board who don’t see it as a mutual benefit exchange?
(I’m sure it goes both ways too, with some sitters being unresponsive, but I’m on this end).
Owners reading this: please let us know what’s going on and/or your estimated time frame for a response/decision.
I have two on my dashboard now that I applied to a month ago. Both in ‘reviewing’ status. I’ve taken to just leaving them on my dashboard out of curiosity. I’ve had some just sit there until the listed sit dates, never confirming a sitter. They disappear after the dates pass. It would be great if THS would add a response time measure.
I make sure to let the host know in my first message that it would be great to hear back in a timely manner.
If they don’t respond, I:
book a different sit
decline the sit on principle and because poor comms is a deal breaker (i declined a sit last week bc they took too long…left me on read for 6 days…to get back to me and within 24 hours the host sent a reply of interest…i turned them down)
send a follow up if I need to know quickly or the dates are approaching/I’m really interested in the sit (i actually booked my next upcoming sit via this method)
leave it open for sh!ts and giggles to see what happens.
At the end of the day, do what you’re comfortable with is kind of my point but I wouldn’t hold my breath for anyone.
Yes I’ve been experiencing it more often lately with new ths members usually. They read my application and don’t respond for up to a week or longer I find it very rude to be left on read. At least some acknowledgement would be nice.
That must be very frustrating for sitters who are trying to get their plans lined up! Sorry you are experiencing this. I am a HO offering a nice sit but in a not particularly high-demand area so I am constantly hoping for the “you have a new application” notification, and you can be sure as soon as I get it I will be back to you straight away! Obviously time differences can create a bit of a lag but I certainly can’t imagine ever not replying to a sitter’s initial contact within at most 24 hours. It generally becomes clear fairly quickly whether we’re a fit or not and I would always decline or ask sitter to withdraw as soon as that’s apparent so we have clarity and nobody is kept hanging. Usually what happens with us is after a couple of initial contacts where it turns out pretty quickly sitter doesn’t have a car/ transport can’t be worked out, the right person pops up and I grab them as quick as I can! I haven’t so far been in a position of trying to choose between two or more good applicants simultaneously but in that situation I would think it’s even more important to set expectations around when a decision will be made and communicated in order to be fair to everyone.
Obviously it may be a bit different for HOs who get tons of applications but honestly, especially with the 5 application limit, I can’t imagine not getting back with an initial response to 5 applicants in 24 hours.
I’ve had this several times in the last week and it’s really frustrating. I cancelled about five or six applications that hadn’t responded to me in nearly a week because I considered them lost causes and they were clogging up my inbox, and within a few hours I had responses from four of them that it was a shame I cancelled because they really liked my profile. I don’t know what’s happening on their end, but it feels disrespectful of my time.
Four HO’s liked your application, but none of them had the decency of letting you know in a timely manner?! Some people really believe you just sit there and wait for their reply, instead of being proactive and looking for other opportunities.
As a HO member since 2017 I greatly value timely communication on both ends. After receiving an application (almost immediately) I respond with a Thank You and my review timeline. Then when I do reach out to an applicant for further review I expect a response within 24 hours. Taking into account work schedules and timezones. I’m sorry sitters are having bad experiences with this.
In the same vein. I have a sit in my favourites that has been reviewing for weeks. I wasn’t able to apply as it was in review when I got the notification.
The start date is 28th March. Not great if anyone needs to be looking at flights etc.
It would be good if THS could create a time limit function for replying. Nothing unreasonable, but something to curb this issue. I’ve had this the last couple of days with the weekend approaching. HO not responding all week, then messaging a day or two before the sit would be due to begin, asking if I can do it.
Very frustrating, as had they been handled in a timely manner I would have liked to do them, but you can’t just keep your calendar clear on the off chance someone will eventually reply.
I just now sent a very polite message to a host that I’d seen "read’ my application, and I applied 4 day’s ago. I mentioned I was still interested, but i needed to set forth my plans. I Also stated it would be courteous to update even if they’d chosen someone else ( I like being direct) she immediately wrote back and apologized, and mentioned she’d gone another direction. If i hadn’t bothered to send a messge i bet I would of never heard back. Anyway, it was obviously a red flag to me when people cannot bother to communicate in a timely manner after you’ve sent a lovely application. From now on I’ll mention timeliness in my application.
Also sitters now get a reminder alert three days into every sit saying “Have you told Bob how your sit is going?” so THS could just set the same prompt for open listings surely @RR12345#copythetechguys
Funny story: my partner and I applied for two sittings in North Carolina in November—one in the mountains out west, and one on the beach down south.
I love both cities, but I was leaning toward the one in the mountains.
We had a Zoom call with the HO from the mountains on a Friday and really hit it off. We were her only applicants.
Surprisingly, at the end of the call, she said she’d let us know by Sunday. The conversation went so well, and we were the only candidates, so we expected her to confirm us on the spot.
I mentioned we had another call the next morning, and she said she’d let us know tomorrow instead.
The next day, we hit it off really well with the other HOs too, and they told us on the spot they wanted us, so we agreed.
I canceled my application with the first HO, leaving a note explaining why, but because she got the notice on her phone, not in the app, she didn’t see it.
A few seconds later, I got a text: “What happened??? I see you canceled your application.”
I explained politely because she was lovely and I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
But still , I don’t get why she left us hanging when we were her only option.
Owners reading this: please let us know what’s going on and/or your estimated time frame for a response/decision.
