Yup - community rules are here if you need them 
I am at loss: do we have a problem with ScoutLab because they have been proven to be a problem, or because we can assume so?
I deleted the survey, as well.
Not sure anyone has suggested a “problem” with them, just a degree of scepticism that our well-earned fees are being given to an expensive external comms agency to spend on promoting a business that actually needs those funds spent on the nuts & bolts instead. Or that’s how I read the thread. #scoutingforgirls
yup and we can be happy that they work in the ‘human and planetrary health Sectors’ rather than Mars? oops that’s a planet too….. so maybe that’s what it means…….
There’s a 6 secs delay between their menu and the page loading using my iPhone….
Well, whatever “creative storytelling" this communications company will come up with, we don’t have much faith it will enhance our experience as sitters and homeowners.
So, we are joining other house sit platforms while still hanging on with THS.
Over time, these other platforms will gather steam and will begin providing true competition, especially if many of us join them and start having positive experiences there.
Just a bit sceptical because hiring a NYC communications agency is not cheap and will pull resources away trom the platform development and fixing the things that need fixing. I am guessing Scout Lab have created the latest THS promotional video and are going to be working (based on the survey) on another promotional video for solo travelers.
Really don’t like this phrasing. Lucky sitters get to stay in someone’s house for free. That really devalues the contribution of sitters. It’s not free, we are exchanging something of value for those accommodations. This is the issue I’ve had with THS for awhile now. The advertising emphasizes low-cost pet care and that sitters do it for love of pets (implying we are volunteers which is very different from participating in an exchange or barter system). These ads have led to low quality listings with lists of HO requirements and photos of cluttered homes. There is no longer an emphasis on an exchange, it’s as if HOs are doing sitters a favor. I withdrew 3 applications just in the last week, one after a very condescending and very structured interview where the HO kept piling on additional responsibilities that she ‘forgot’ to mention in the listing.
I really hope this new company takes the time to really understand the exchange model before starting their ‘creative storytelling.’ THS may have a hard time staying in business in the long run if they don’t remember that sitters are a core part of this exchange and it would be best to keep long-term, experienced sitters. I think there will be a viable alternative to THS in the future.
@systaran This was the line that also jumped out at me. I had planned to respond - but you got there first. 
. . . So fed up with this whole “free” impression. So disrespectful.
I also saw someone posted a THS advertising video recently. Something along the lines of how sitters will be at the beck and call of pets, the HOs’ little “kings and queens”, or words to that effect. For any HO who did not know any better, the video would give the impression that sitters work for - and get paid by - THS.
It has all stopped being fun for me - the whole vibe I am feeling these days is of sitters being treated like second-class citizens, with a lack of appreciation for the responsibility we take on, in this “mutual exchange”. It probably all still works for those who are nomadic travellers, but that isn’t why I have been doing it. I am due to complete one more sit and I’m struggling with enthusiasm for it, even though the owners sound lovely. I’m then calling it a day - I won’t be renewing my membership with THS.
Is it the video with the poodle sitting in a foam bath and the whippet doing yoga? The cat playing chess?
Strange, I’ve never done any of these things with pets in my care, I’m clearly an inadequate pet sitter 
More like “We build brands to maximise shareholder profit while minimising our responsibility and minimising user value, support and benefits. The MAGIC of math !”
It’s rare when I get to feel so prescient:
I was going to ask if anyone had gotten that survey. I filled it out. They asked a lot of questions that seemed like the responses could be used in future marketing materials targeting prospective sitters; a few questions related to what type of support THS could provide to solo travelers (not software-related, more like new dedicated Forum Topics/Channels.) Everything was multiple choice; no real room for free-form answers or elaboration.
I’ve had a suspicion THS plans to cross over into the Travel/Tourism vertical; this survey didn’t dissuade me from that idea. Recent travel/tourism studies show Solo Travel to be the fastest growing tourism segment (and primarily among women of a “certain age range.”)
@andrealovesanimals Yes. Wondered if I had maybe just dreamt it (as in nightmared it) - but clearly you saw it too.