Hi, I have been offered a sit starting tomorrow morning. The owner has been communicating with me via messages and is expecting me tomorrow. I have asked her twice to offer me the dates through the website so that I can officially accept and confirm the sit, but she still hasn’t done so.
I have nowhere to go tomorrow night and have been relying on this sit since it was offered to me. However, I’m reluctant to turn up without confirmation through the website. I still don’t even have the address, and I’m getting anxious about leaving everything until this evening.
I also feel awkward asking for a third time to have the dates officially offered to me. Is it really that difficult for a homeowner to confirm a sitter through the website? I don’t understand why she hasn’t done it, particularly when she is clearly expecting me tomorrow.
Well, you can’t exactly go without an address. Are you communicating via the website or have you the owner’s mobile number/WhatsApp, which you should have. If the latter then ring her, one final opportunity. If she still doesn’t confirm then give her a wide berth and quickly look for something else
Be assertive @Pavlina. Write or phone the owner saying, “I will not be sitting for you tomorrow unless it is confirmed by you and then me on the THS site. You have also not provided your address which is another reason why I will not be arriving”.
Without it being officially confirmed, you will not be able to review each other.
You will not have access to the Welcome Guide but I’m doubting this owner would have one anyway. Will they provide any information for you??
How long is this sit for as it could be a disaster, I’m thinking??
Starting tomorrow with no address? How far away is the town where the sit is? I’m assuming pretty close. I guess you could always drive around and yell the pets name until the HO hears you.
The HO probably wouldn’t even be able to enter a sit that starts same day so she absolutely must do it today (by midnight UK time). I agree with the others that this is a bad start.
Is she acknowledging your request at all?
Be firm that you need the sit officially on THS, immediately followed by the Welcome Guide.
If you do the sit, review accordingly.
Thank you all for your advice. Yes, this didn’t feel right. I asked her twice to offer me the dates through the website and also provided her with my phone number, but she continued communicating only through the website and never texted or called me.
Just as I was about to tell her that I needed to sort out my accommodation and start applying for other sits, she messaged to say they had cancelled their trip.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced this kind of behaviour. I’ve had homeowners leave me waiting for a week to arrange a call, with various reasons such as being on holiday or their children being ill, and then suddenly message, “Can we call now?” If I don’t happen to see the message in time, my application is declined.
I have raised this with THS before because I find this kind of communication disrespectful, particularly when sitters are making travel and accommodation arrangements around a proposed sit. What frustrates me most is that when a sit never gets formally confirmed, there is no opportunity to leave feedback about the experience, so other sitters have no way of knowing that this has happened before.
I really wish THS provided some way of addressing or recording this sort of behaviour, rather than leaving sitters with no recourse when homeowners handle arrangements irresponsibly.
Explain to her that you don’t get any details about their pets or their place until she clicks to accept you as her sitter, and then shares her Welcome Guide.
We’ve sat for a lot of new to THS owners, where we’ve had to guide them as to what to do. They think once they’ve said yes to you, then that’s it.
Be firm about needing this info by the end of today, but keep it friendly.