I have a message from a sitter saying she’s not renewing but will still do my sit.
She has asked me to cancel the sit as she can’t?
I assume that I’ll lose all protections from THS if I cancel, she doesn’t renew and doesn’t turn up leaving me without a sitter and the option of claiming on my insurance?
Any advice greatly appreciated especially on the supposed inability for a sitter to cancel?
Thanks
Not understanding what you wrote.
The sitter isn’t renewing, but said she can still do your sit, yet she asked you to cancel the sit because she can’t (and obviously wants to).
In which case if you don’t cancel, you’ve got a reluctant sitter, and you may not have protection (unclear if the sit is within the active membership period or after the expiration).
Either way, you don’t want a sitter in your home who doesn’t want to be there.
Find someone else.
The sit is after her renewal date.
She says she isn’t renewing her membership but still has “every intention” of doing the sit?!
She is asking me to cancel the sit as sitters can’t actually cancel?
I find that hard to believe.
It’s still not clear what your sitter actually wants.
On one hand she’s more than willing to do the sit, yet she wants to cancel.
So which is it?
Either way, my original advice still stands. You don’t want a reluctant sitter in your house, especially one that doesn’t have an active THS membership which leaves you unprotected.
Given that she’s not renewing, it would appear she’s not all that into pet sitting anymore. Although there could be other reasons but when you look at the big picture, if you’ve got other options, you may want to pursue them.
Perhaps reach out to prior applicants and determine if you can get another sitter before you cancel this one which would probably be better than nothing but still questionable.
Although the sitter wants to cancel, there is no facility on a sitter’s dashboard to cancel. So she is correct, you would have to cancel on your dashboard. I recommend that you also write a message on the site giving the reasons why you have cancelled, i.e. the sitter has asked you to as she is not renewing.
As others have said, it is confusing
She wants you to cancel the sit on your end so no one else will apply and you are “stuck” with her. You will be losing any protection you have with THS. Isn’t that what you paid for? She knew she would not be renewing before she applied to you. I find that a deviant act. I hope you had other applicants.
I don’t understand. If the host cancels a sitter, why would they be stuck and unable to choose a replacement sitter? I haven’t been in this situation so I don’t know how it works but why couldn’t they just cancel the dates and relist?
Also how do you know the sitter knew she wouldn’t be renewing before she applied? Maybe there was a change in life plans, they have other unexpected responsibilities such as a relative to care for, or a job change, or they have to move, or they simply don’t want to pet sit anymore but at the time they were in a different place?
No, there is no mechanism for a sitter to cancel. The sitter has to reach out to the HO to have them cancel. She can’t turn off auto-renewal for her membership if there are sits scheduled past the renewal date. So, in order for her to not renew, you would have to cancel the sit.
You could go forward and do it as a private sit if you are comfortable with that, but you wouldn’t be covered by THS support or insurance.
I though she wanted you to cancel your sit posted on THS. I didn’t read it as she wanted you to just cancel her. You would still in essence be canceling your sit as if you go with her you now have to decline others and there will be no review left for you or protection from the insurance or help from THS if things do not go well. It just comes down to what you are comfortable with. No one can make that decision for you.
Didn’t know that one can’t turn off auto renewal with a sit confirmed. Makes sense. Thanks for posting, learned something new.
@Seniorsitter I found this out when I tried to turn off auto renewal once to get the discount. When you turn off auto renew it sometimes pops up with a 20% discount to keep it. So, I clicked to turn it off but got a notice saying that I would have to cancel all sits after the renewal date before I could turn off. I kept it on of course since I wasn’t actually planning to not renew.
She will be forced to renew unless you agree to cancel that sit for her, or she could ask THS to cancel it for her I guess. But as others have said, sitters can’t cancel.
It seems there are personal reason behind it now i delved further into it. But I’ve cancelled her as she requested because it’s true, a sitter can’t cancel a sit. It has to be the owner. seems a weird choice to have but that’s how it is.
Once i cancelled she still shows as having applied, but it’s not a confirmed sit any more. So if she still turns up I’ll not have any protections at all. Don’t think I’m willing to accept that. So am accepting new applications just in case.
Another reason that she might have asked you to cancel: it allows her to apply for more sits overlapping with your dates before her membership lapses.
You are smart to look for another sitter.
I think it’s best to make clear to the sitter that, having cancelled the sit as she requested, you do not want her to complete the sit outside THS so you will now look for new applicants.
Hi @Laurel227 I can understand your concerns, but a sit outside of THS isn’t always a bad thing. I currently find myself as a sitter on an ‘unauthorised’ sit, as the homeowner has not renewed their membership, which must have ended part way through a month long sit. The fact that the sit is no longer official has no bearing at all on the level of pet care that I provide, or how I will leave the home when I go, even though I know it’s unlikely that we will be able to review each other. THS simply offers a ‘matching’ service - the success (or failure) of each sit really is down to the individuals involved.
After experiences on another sitting site, I wonder if the sitter only asked you to “cancel” because otherwise the THS site would hound you - or her. Or show her as No Longer Available for already booked sits, or some such.. Even though she’s actually still fully intending to do the sits. It’s happened to me on other sitting sites - and been a real headache.
I’ve suspended my membership of a professional pet-sitting site, only to have panicked messages from HOs, asking why I’ve Cancelled their sits…….Or why they’re being asked to cancel. Thanks to automatic messages from the sites, presumably as part of the scheme to make it as stressful as possible for anyone to leave, or take a break.
Good call. I also don’t like grey areas. Do you still have a comfortable amount of time to find a suitable sitter?
It starts mid January 26 to early February. So hopefully I get some applicants soon!