I’ve just read this. I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been let down this time.
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That’s out of order and not allowed! You can overlap a sit, if there’s two of you but only by two days. Asking to reduce the sit by a week to start another sit is unfair. Definitely contact customer support. Rather than cancelling the whole sit you could try advertising the last week but that would involve the HS doing a handover. However, you may not feel comfortable continuing to use the sitter. If they are asking if it’s ok to leave early, say no and explain why but if it’s them saying I’m changing the dates, that’s different and you may have to find a last minute sitter for the whole time. So sorry you are experiencing this, most sitters are lovely, generous people and this kind of behaviour does not reflect the rest of the community.
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Life happens. The THS sitter is able to complete a majority of the sit. Surely, she can drop the pets off for you at a kennel for a week should you decide to go down that route. Having an in-home sitter for part of the time is better than kenneling your pets for a month. There is a great possibility that another sitter can finish the sit. Again, life happens. Experienced, caring sitters have home owners cancel last minute on them, too. There may be a few out there happy to fill your dates. You can mention in your posting that your dates are flexible. The original sitter can depart when it’s convenient for your replacement sitter.
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Whilst all you write is plainly true I don’t think it is very trustworthy to pull the plug on an agreed period of an arranged sit without having an exceptional emergency to make this necessary. I have had Home Owners return earlier but they have allowed me to complete the duration of the agreed sit.
Surely the booking system is to take some of the angst away when planning to leave one’s home and pet (s) in the care of trusted others?
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The issue is trust. I wouldn’t trust a sitter who cavalierly informed me weeks before a long planned Christmas sit that they wouldn’t be staying for Christmas – unless they came up with a heluva good excuse! The matching nature of the site means we have to be able to trust each other and if either party suddenly changes the terms– especially with something they might have known would happen –why would you trust them not to do something else? IMO the homeowner made the right call.
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Although that can happen if you plan very well in advance a split sit can work….
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Good decision
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Hi, non she was not able to do this, she just had to.leave at the latest on xmas eve and needed me to get a new sitter to arrive xmas eve morning or lunchtime
Thanks All, its interesting to hear different view points.
In this case the sitter told me 72 hours before I had to be at the airport she was not able to cover the xmas week and I decided it wasnt enough time for me to relist and find a new sitter to arrive either xmas eve or earlier.
No comfortable with a split sit either , so rightly or wrongly it worked best for me to go outside THS and make other plans for my pets, I didnt want to be worrying abiut them whilst i was away!.
im unsure if i will use THS again at peak times like xmas again, arranging well in advance obviously doesnt stop last min cancellatuons by sitters if they decide to do something different at xmas.
main priority for me is peace of mind my pets are ok, and im away now and they are being well looked after.
thanks again for all opinions given, been very helpful
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Yes that was a big factor too!
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So sorry this happened to you. I get the impression that it’s the exception rather than the rule, but that doesn’t make it any the less stressful or disconcerting.
Not to suggest there’s anything you neglected to do, but this is one reason I personally check in with my Hosts about 2 weeks before a sit if I haven’t heard from them, particularly if it was arranged much in advance. I want their mind to be at ease that everything is a “go,” and it reassures me that they’re also still on track for the sit before I travel.
Best of luck, & safe travels. I hope future experiences are better for you, if you give it another shot. 
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treat yourself and pay a sitter for that last week. Try to remember it’s a free service so the motivation to be committed is low sadly. In this day and age people are incredibly irresponsible. I’m sorry it’s happening.
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