@sitter23 thank you for the update .
Are you covered by the sit cancellation plan ?
Have you been able to leave a review of the sitter?
Just want to confirm this part are you saying that when you ring the 24/7 Urgent Support phone line is not actually able to take calls and provide support 24 hours a day ?
Hi there. I also had some difficulty in accepting this, but yes:
the cancellation plan does not apply if the sitter does not cancel officially. My sitter only threatened to cancel and leave (In writting, reviewed by THS), but this (the threat) is not enough for THS to proceed to cancel the sitter on the sitterās fault, not even to cancel him at my fault.
Also no cancellation plan if you cancel on your end (letās say because you are afraid by such threats that the sitter is irresponsible), again you will not be eligible for any cancellation plan.
The cancellation plan applies only if your sitter cancels officially before the sit, and you find no-one to sit your home.
Also you cannot ask a family member to help you in this urgent situation, or the cancellation plan again will not apply.
If the sitter cancels after the sit has started, you cannot cancel easily. The sitter is required to agree even if you wish to cancel on your end (accepting this as your fault). THS still requires him to agree before accepting the cancellation. As I said before, if the sitter stalls/travels back home/is angry/etc, then no cancellation will be forwarded.
Yes, during night time the phone line (the UK option for europe) is not receiving immediately the call and after many minutes (20+) of waiting, it invites you to write a message. They informed there were only 1-2 agents per night shift that when on another call cannot answer new calls.
And again in my case it may not considered an absolute emergency (no fire) so after receiving my message they probably would try to contact the sitter ( the morning shift), and when an update was given by the sitter, then they would offer some advice to meā¦
So all this would never work in my case that I needed to travel back immediately.
Thatās very poor service if a 24/7 urgent helpline is not that at all! @Jenny is that true? Sorry to hear it was so stressful @sitter23 & hope itās a one off. #supersittersnextttime
@sitter23 Thank you for sharing your experience and insights which will be helpful information for other owners to bear in mind .
If a similar situation happened again , the only workaround that I can think of is to have an emergency plan /contact who can drop in - in the case of any emergency .
(Such as a neighbour/ friend / family member or paid sitter ) Just short- term interim cover , someone who can step in on your behalf until the situation is clear and can be resolved one way or another .
This would be a good idea in any case . A sitter could suffer an accident/ be taken seriously ill and be rushed to hospital and you would need emergency cover until you got back .
Can I ask please @sitter23 , did the sitter have a legitimate reason for contacting you in the middle of the night? What were his grounds for cancellation?
You say by morning he had agreed to stay, but that you had lost confidence in him and feared for the safety of your animals? Were you afraid they would be abandoned?
Itās not easy to understand the context without more details.
Thanks for updating.
Sorry you had such an stressful time during your holiday.
I believe the flipflopping is easy to understand, and that just undercuts any amount of trust that might have been built up.
Hello, what is the difference of a legitimate or notlegit reason? In my opinion the sitter can and should contact me anytime about anything that worries him about the house or pets.
As I said before the communication did not include all the details you and I may have liked, but this is what I got.
Plus a key point was that in my case he then changed his mind about cancelling in the morning. Yes it may be difficult to follow, but this is the situation I came up with, and also impossible for me to fully evaluate while away for vacation.
@elmi4711 pretty much describes it perfectly.
Youāre making this way too easy 
Let me give you examples:
(Remember, this is all after the sitter has been invited and accepted)
Sitter, nonlegit: āIāve found a better sitā
Sitter, nonlegit: āI donāt want to go to your area in winter, itās too coldā
Sitter, nonlegit: āI want to be home for my birthday, so I need to curtail. Please agree or Iāll have to cancel.ā
HO, nonlegit: āIām not going anymore.ā
HO, nonlegit: āFriends are coming over and will take the sit, youāre out.ā
HO, nonlegit: āThe guest house has burned down, you canāt stay.ā (Yes, this is NONLEGIT folks, you stay there, so thereās certainly a way the sitter can.)
I believe the only legitimate reasons to cancel or change an agreed-upon sit are medical emergencies, or family emergencies.
Oh,. and btw - there is, short of being transported to the hospital, just no legit reason to cancel in the middle of a sit.
At the beginning I could understand (like undisclosed things), but not way in.
@elmi4711
Sitter, non legit. Itās my mates 40th birthday party, and itās free drinks all night .
Bring your mate and donāt mind if I drop in!
Iāve passed feedback from this over to the team @Cuttlefish - Iāll come back with a response as soon as I have one.
Your question was: āCan I visit and terminate immediately?ā
The context supplied was:
and you asked:
If the sitterās reasons for wanting to leave were legitimate (i.e. detrimental to his health / dangerous / facts not declared in the listing / contravening the T&Cs), he could give notice of his intention to leave due to the āhygiene reasonsā and you would have to make alternative pet care provision. Or, both you and the sitter could agree to terminate the sit by contacting Membership Services.
If there was no legitimate reason, and the sitter was simply being difficult or reacting badly to a non-problematic situation youād have every right to return home and terminate the sit, to protect the wellbeing of your pets.
With you not stating the reasons the sitter gave for wishing to leave / you wishing to terminate the sit, itās impossible for anyone to give considered advice according the the facts.
Since the situation has now apparently been resolved, it seems that allās well. You can both highlight any concerns in your reviews.
@elmi4711 Your examples are relating to cancellations by sitter, this situation concerns a sitter who is already at the sit.
@sitter23 Iāve popped you a DM to ask for some more info to pass over to the team - please reply when youāve got a moment and we can review things for you 
Em, sorry I disagree. We had a sit cancel because their home was hit by an earthquake and it became unstable. I think that was a very legitimate reason. We had already paid for flights but being seasoned sitters we always make sure everything is refundable. No money was lost, only time with one of the cutest doggies we had ever seen.
Sure, if the house isnāt safe, or unsuitable, even for the owners, sure. I was talking about the guest house.
Please read the message I sent right after that thenā¦
Did you pick up the phone at that point and try to negotiate a way through any problems, or simply book a return flight home?
Good communications are vital to good sits. Itās a shame you felt compelled to journey home immediately when you ultimately were able to sort things out after talking to the sitter in person. Without knowing the facts, I still think itās impossible for anyone on here to offer anything but general advice and subjective opinion relating to your predicament.