I had my first house sitter ask for payment. I thought this was against the rules and now I am uncomfortable having her sit. What should I do? Any advice?
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It is against the rules, you should contact Member Services. If she’s already booked as your sitter but now you’re not comfortable you may have to cancel and find someone new. If you don’t want to do that you can just tell her it’s against T&C’s and keep her as your sitter, but it doesn’t sound like you want to do that, which is totally understandable. Sorry, so awkward and frustrating.
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It is against the rules. This is an exchange. You don’t have to confirm any sitter you are uncomfortable with. Did you actually confirm the sitter? Normally, you are not supposed to unconfirm (cancel) a sitter if you have already confirmed. But under the circumstances, you shoud unconfirm the sitter. Let the sitter know you do not need their services. Look for another sitter. Do NOT confirm someone just because they apply. Ask questions. Have a video chat. Look for a sitter with reviews and on you feel 100% comfortable caring for your pets.
Report the sitter to member services and let them know why you unconfirmed the sitter.
If you did not already confirm the sitter, then it’s simple. Decline the sitter’s application and report this to member services.
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@ignagnid If this is a brand new sitter, they may just be confused as to how the exchange works, so I would have a conversation with them and not rush to report them to member services or cancel the sit, if confirmed. The marketing for THS is now referencing, “housesitting jobs”, so this has caused some confusion about pay. That said, if they have been sitting for even a short time through THS, they should know how things work and that asking for pay is against the terms. Good luck!
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Then membership services can set her straight.
@Marion has it right - if this sit is not yet confirmed, I’d set them straight about no payment and decline. If this request came AFTER confirmation, I’d go right to reporting them so that THS would know why I’m cancelling.
It’s really hard for me to understand how someone could sign up for a membership and go through an application process without understanding that payment is not part of THS - but even on the off chance this happens, do I want someone who doesn’t pay attention staying at my house and taking care of my pet? Not really.
Unfortunately I already confirmed. This is my first time using the site - newbie mistake. I questioned her so I’ll see what she says. I think she may be new as well and maybe didn’t know? Seems like its a pretty basic thing for applying sitters to know this though. I am feeling uncomfortable with her coming at this point though now that I told her it was against the rules for her to ask for payment.
Thank you! I appreciate the feedback. Exactly what I’m doing for now @southernsitter.
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It would be better to either cancel her now @ignagnid and look for a replacement asap, or make it super clear there is no payment taking place and have that conversation verbally and also write it in the THS messaging system so there’s a record. You don’t want her arriving, refusing to sit without money and leaving you and your pet stranded. She needs reporting too.
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Welcome @ignagnid
The very first clause in the T&Cs for sitters is that they do not require payment for the sit.
5.3. The following applies only to Sitters. You will:
5.3.1. not require or demand any form of payment for carrying out a Sit;
If the sitter was under the mistaken impression that they would be paid when they applied they may no longer want the sit. The worst thing that could happen is that they cancel on you at the very last minute. So it would be good to arrange a video / phone call with them to have a chat discuss the responsibilities for the sit and see if they still want to go ahead with the sit .
You can also report this to member services who will contact the sitter to remind them of the rules . Or you can cancel this sit and notify Member services and the sitter that the sit was cancelled because the sitter requested payment- with screenshots of their message.
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Name and shame - report them to THS. They probably won’t do anything, maybe they’ll get a tap on their wrist and told not to do it again.
This is becoming more and more frequent. I wonder how many pet parents pay up and don’t report these sitters. There are plenty of sites for them to join and get paid.
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We do hear about sitters asking for pay far more than home owners asking for utilities/deposit/other these days, and there are plenty of home owners asking for pay to sit for them.
One has to wonder if we are only hearing a select few of potential sits and every home owner, or home owners are simply fabricating what is being asked.
Personally, I would still cancel them and let them take the learning moment to use for their next sit.
Coming into yours with that mindset wouldn’t sit right with me if that were my sit.
You can give them the feedback first but I’d still report to TH so that they have a data point on how their marketing is misleading, etc.
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I wouldn’t risk having this sitter, once they realise there is no money changing hands, there is a very strong possibility they will let you down. Plenty of sitters to choose from, don’t take the risk, it’s your sit your requirements.
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Not always, not everywhere. Now with the holidays, quite a few listings seem to be expiring without applicants.
It is not clear whether the OP had listed their dates or whether they had sent an invitation. In the latter case, the question by the sitter is not so strange (but not allowed on THS if frased this way).
There are far more threads about terrible sit conditions from sitters’ POV (which makes sense, as I think there are far more sitters than HOs active on the forum), especially about internal cameras, which I find more comparable in terms of being against the terms of service. Do you also wonder if sitters are simply fabricating these situations?
Back OT:
I referred a friend, and she had a hard time getting a sitter. She had an applicant send their rates and fortunately complained to me about it before confirming. She was about to accept because she thought she had to, but I convinced her to report the sitter.
I’m surprised that any folks are willing to pay via THS when it’s supposed to not involve money to sitters. If I were a host and someone asked me that, I’d tell them to drop dead, because it’s nervy and creepy to essentially trap or con people into paying. If they’re willing to pay, why not just use Rover or other sit businesses, which are aboveboard with charging? Doing that with a sitter with sketchy ethics seems completely illogical to me.
And if hosts are paying because they don’t know how THS works, shame on them. If you’re going to turn over your beloved pets and home to a stranger, maybe spend a little time understanding what you’re signing up for first.
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Agree. To me it’s an automatic breaking of trust. If I’m going to pay a sitter, I’ll pay the sitter who didn’t sign up to do sits in exchange for accomodations. It’s not what I signed up for either.
The sitter finally wrote back and said she was new to this site/app and wasn’t aware. Said she gets paid $100/day via other sites.
I canceled the sit and will try and find someone else or use my regular sitter who we pay but not $100/day. She’s a young adult living with her parents and is mostly just happy to have her own space lol…
I’ll dig around, but how do you report someone?
Email membership services and give them her details and ask them to speak to her and flag her for asking for payment @ignagnid - support@trustedhouseitters.com
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