We listed this sit several months ago to give us plenty of time to get a sitter in time for us to be able to book and pay for our holiday. Our selected sitter did a face time with us and all was great. She was asking us to hurry and book our flights so she can then book hers. We’ve done all that and let her know and now she has said that due to her mental state she can not book the flights and so has pulled out. Now we are left trying to find someone else to take on this sit. This is so stressful for us now. Is this common on this site as we joined here to get people who are committed.
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This happens from time to time - also to sitters when hosts cancel sits. I don’t know how it is in frequency between sitters and hosts, but as only the host has the possibility of cancelling one-sided I would assume that hosts do this more than sitters.
As it is a voluntary matching site - and in addition - life happens to all of us - both sitters and hosts should always have a plan B. Even with the most reliable persons things can happen.
That being said I don’t think it happens often and I wouldn’t think that it should normally be a concern. All my sits have gone approx. according to plan. But for two times the host wanted to prolong but I declined because my tickets were unrefundable and I had other plans.
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We listed a few months ago for our trip in April next year. Accepted a sitter some months ago and they cancelled a week ago. This still gives us time to find another but it’s stressful so I know how you’re feeling, although I’ve only booked Eurostar and can cancel if ness. Good luck finding another sitter quickly.
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No it is not common at all, the majority of sitters on this site, are dependable and reliable, but there’s always the odd case, the same with owners that let down their sitter after they’ve booked their flights.
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@Kimbullad I can understand your stress but also both sides of this situation.
It sounds like this wasn’t a confirmed sit .
Most often a sitter doesn’t want to commit to a sit if the host hasn’t got firm plans and locked in dates . So it was reasonable for them to ask that you do this first before they committed to anything .
It seems that you waited a few months to confirm your arrangements, and the sitter is no longer available.
Now that you have booked your flights and have firm dates you can re-list and sitters who are available for those dates will apply .
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If several months have passed before you booked your travel, that sounds like a large window to have left a sitter waiting. That’s not normally how things work.
Most hosts book their travel, then list their sits, so sitters can apply, knowing the sit dates. Many sitters wouldn’t even apply if they knew you hadn’t booked your travel. And few would wait on you for months.
Depending on how close your travel is now, you can post last-minute sits on this forum. When are you traveling?
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The key action to take here is be proactive! Write a nice short text in Notepad, find sitters locally, read their profile, paste in your standard text and add a sentence showing you have read their profile, and click on the invite button! Rather than waiting for a sitter to apply 
It worked for me
This is confusing, as it suggests there was some kind of gap of several months between your speaking with the sitter and booking your holiday. Do you mean you arranged a video chat with the applicant sitter some months ago but have only just recently confirmed your holiday plans? And now she will not confirm the sit?
As sitters, if a sit is not very quickly confirmed we withdraw our application. I believe that very few sitters will accept a sit in principle then wait for weeks - or even months - for official confirmation. It’s in everyone’s best interest to confirm plans and sits ASAP and very unusual for hosts to list a sit some months before they are ready to finalise their plans.
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It’s hard to tell what’s going on here - by ‘holiday’, I thought OP meant either this week’s US holiday or the end of year holidays, but I realize it could be any time.
As an HO, I always book my trip prior to listing dates on THS. I don’t really understand why HOs leave those details until later. What if the fates change due to availability or extreme cost differences?
Anyway, I’m sorry this happened - that is stressful. If the trip isn’t until 2025 you probably have enough time to find another sitter. If it’s for the end of year holidays - maybe try a new, local sitter? I just read a thread about a new sitter trying to find sits, and this could me a good match depending on where you are. Good luck!
In some countries, like the U.K., “holiday” = vacation. Probably what the OP was referring to.
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Lots of great advice, and a few questions to clarify a couple of points, which should especially help for next time.
My input is: depending on when your trip is, you can re-post your listing as a “last minute” one; reach out to local sitters on Facebook pages.
That’s what I thought they meant. Is “holiday” in US English similar to “bank holiday” in British English?
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In U.S. English, “holiday” is a catch-all for many special-occasion days, often when people get the day off, but not necessarily.
In the U.K., my understanding is that a “bank holiday” is when banks, government offices and such close (what’s often described as a “federal” holiday in the U.S., because government offices close). In both cases, many people get those days off.
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Thanks. I wasn’t aware of that difference.
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For instance, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day is considered a holiday, but there’s usually not time off for that. (They fall on Sundays and employers don’t usually give people the day off — or a makeup day off if they normally work on those Sundays — even if they’re parents.)
So such holidays aren’t bank holidays or federal holidays, even though many people celebrate them.
When traveling abroad, I usually check their holidays ahead of time. That can help you avoid crowds, closures or limited services, say for transportation, tourist sights and such. It also can help you avoid increased holiday pricing.
If your trip isn’t in less than a week I wouldn’t worry too much about not finding a replacement, just post Urgent/Last Minute regardless of how far off it is and see what kind of response you get. I’ve taken on last minute sits no problem. Booking a sitter too far off isn’t generally a good idea, as a sitter even two months is too far ahead for me to think about. Most sitters don’t cancel, homeowners cancel far more often as they’ve nothing to lose by doing so. Where are you located and when is your trip?
In the future I wouldn’t book a sitter that far out, you don’t even need more than 4 to 6 weeks depending on where you are. Booking 3 or 4 months out leaves a lot of room for a lot of life to happen, and life does happen. As a sitter I would never book a sit that far out unless it was a very highly desirable location and it was a pretty straightforward sit. Sorry but telling this person “good luck finding another sitter” isn’t really helping them.
@Kimbullad - No, it is not common and although I understand your frustration, I think you have dodged a bullet.
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@marshmish
Firstly, you wouldn’t book a sitter that far out, but I would especially as I’m situated in the NE (UK)and not really in a holiday destination, not USA and people from overseas book long trips that far off. We all make choices. Would you advise me to cancel my trip if I’ve not found a sitter because I left it 4/6 weeks beforehand because I can’t put one of our cats into cattery. And in fact, for our holiday this year we had a couple from Australia who were booking their holiday sits 9 months in advance. As for wishing someone good luck….would you advise me to hope they don’t get a sitter?
You know, it doesn’t hurt to be nice and if you’ve nothing constructive to say, don’t!
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@Kimbullad, really sorry to hear of your unexpected situation.
But I don’t understand your intent to wait several months to book your flights, quite likely to increase commitment risk and travel cost to the housesitter. I suspect that the situation may well have been so stressful for the housesitter too.
Substantially all listings that we have accepted have involved Pet Parents that have booked flights prior to listing the housesit. No committed travel plans is a red flag to us, not a dealbreaker but elevated concern that we’d monitor for a brief period.
Suspect that there’s frustration but also a lesson here.
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