I wanted to ask your advice, we are struggling to get a sitter after a previously booked sitter pulled out. We posted on the “last minute” section here, and no sitter so far (hint, hint, if anyone wants to look after Baxter this weekend for us)
We got one reply saying that they were a DBS checked professional house sitter and they would charge us £70 per night if we wanted them to sit.
Do I report them? It seems like they are taking advantage of our bad situation.
Let it go. 1. People are really suffering right now; be kind. 2. Maybe you should consider paying someone, especially given these are 2-3 night sits and you have two dogs (both of which need to be walked), a cat, and some fish. I’d bet the price for a paid sitter would be a fair bit higher than that. 3. THS seems A-OK with HOs asking for payment, for keeping the lights on and comfort levels reasonable for their PETS.
The sitting “landscape” has changed. For starters, THS is charging PER SIT fees on both sides (for those without “Premium”) making shorter sits less desirable. Sitters are now less likely to be able to absorb sit-related costs (i.e., petrol/diesel, other transportation costs; food that would cost them less at home; the effort and time involved with setting up, cleaning up etc.). Meanwhile, many HOs have become more rigid, demanding, and disdainful of people willing to sit their pets and homes for free.
TBH I think you’ve been lucky to this point. Your most recent sit was for a longer period, making it more realistically appealing. Your shorter sits in the past–were they largely locals?
You can report them if you want. Although it’s true that HOs can charge for utilities if they disclose that in their listings, sitters are not allowed to ask for payment. THS is an exchange platform.
I’m so sorry to hear about this - I really hope that you’re able to find someone to look after Baxter.
The Trusted Housesitters ethos means that there’s a mutual exchange between both sitters and pet parents. Sitters sit in exchange for accommodation and the chance to spend time with wonderful pets, and pet parents can go away with peace of mind knowing their pets and home are being looked after. Money doesn’t change hands.
Im kind of torn on this one - on the one hand, that’s incredibly rude of them and I’d be inclined to report them.
On the other, you need a sitter, that’s a reasonable price for two nights. If you dont have any other options I’d be tempted to take it. And then make it clear in the review that although the arrangement was made thru THS, it was actually a paid for sit [that lets other home-owners know the sitter might charge them. Forewarned is forearmed, and all that.]
this is the worst take and completely against what THS is.
What does being kind have to do with people going against the TOS?
I do think shorter sits will become untenable for most on THS and pet owners will be better off hiring local sitters NOT through THS for those. Doing so [ETA for clarity - paying THS sitters] will normalize sitters asking for payment and from there it will just become Rover-lite.
@SymonandPamela
It’s against THS terms of service for sitters to request payment . If this is a THS sitter who applied you could choose to report them / raise a member dispute .
As this is a last minute cancellation if you are Premium members you will have some cover with the sit cancellation plan . Have you spoken with THS about this ? The Urgent Support 24/7 Phone Line number is shown on your dashboard .
Although you haven’t asked for feedback on why no one has applied for this particular set of dates - here are my thoughts.
You’re currently offering only short sits (around three nights), which may suit some sitters but are generally are becoming less popular with sitters for several reasons . Firstly Sitters must cover their own travel expenses with fuel costs rising—and last-minute train tickets often being expensive—this makes short last minute sits less appealing overall. Added to that sitters now also face a £9 booking fee, per sit!!
THS is about mutual exchange . Hosts are allowed to offer to reimburse a sitter’s travel expenses.
So in recognition of this being a last minute short stay only - you could state in your listing that for these specific last minute dates you’re willing to contribute £X towards travel costs. You could also offer to cover the £9 booking fee for sitters who are not Premium members. That may make your listing seem like more of an equal exchange for these short sits .
I suggest that you could tweak your listing with more focus on why it would be a great sit for someone .
For example Are there any special events in your location this weekend that a sitter might want to attend ? If so you could make that your title and maybe add a relevant photo .
It’s good to have a backup Plan so you don’t feel cornered or pressured into agreeing to the sitter’s payment demands.
While kindness is a lovely thing and should be a part of our daily behaviours whenever possible and appropriate, being so to clear miscreants who abuse a system (THS) and possibly abuse your desperate situation is NOT a time for kindness.
Or perhaps it is. Except, in this case, kindness is better addressed to the rules abiding community and not to people breaking the rules and damaging the community.
Hi @SymonandPamela Lots of THS sitters also do paid sits, either through word of mouth, or via other sites such as rover dot com. But it’s a bit cheeky of someone to use the THS platform as a means of offering you their paid services, since the ethos of THS is one of mutual exchange. £70 per night sounds a bit steep, although I’m not sure how many animals you have - I’m assuming one dog as you only mention Baxter,
If you decide to go ahead and use the sitter, I would be absolutely clear whether you are hiring them as a paid individual (ie. NOT via THS), or whether they are sitting for you via THS (in which case they should not be charging, but you could offer reimbursement of travel expenses, groceries etc. as payment in kind), as this could have a bearing on the situation if anything goes wrong.
Unfortunately money is already changing hands on the site.
Hosts can charge for utilities.
There have been instances of hosts paying travel expenses for sitters.
Add in the possibility of members paying each other’s booking fees and it is the thin end of the wedge in my opinion.
No need to pass it back to the team.
Oh, Im retracting my own response. I thought the £70 was for both nights (not per night). I’d tell them to jog on for that And take my chances elsewhere for a paid sitter.
@SymonandPamela Looking at your listing, it appears as though you do these weekend trips once a month. Given the negatives of TrustedHousesitters now (booking fee, increased travel costs) I’d be inclined to focus on trying to get a regular local sitter to lower the stress and get some consistency for you and the pets. If you could offer a monthly invite, perhaps the fee would be reasonable (non-THS sitter).
If you opt to agree to paying the THS sitter, I think the suggestion of mentioning it in the review (that they requested payment & you were in a bind as you were close to the sit date) should certainly put other decent owners on alert. If I were a THS owner, I’d likely then decline any application they submitted.
THS does not publish data on the number of housesitters, or what proportion of them (non-premium members) will be subject to new booking fee.
But, given booking fee, irrespective of attractiveness of listing then seems credible that short duration housesits may be significantly less attractive to housesitters.
What proportion of such housesitters would accept a short housesit with above-average number/complexity of pets seems smaller still.
@SymonandPamela, you are totally right that THS housesitter requiring payment is against THS Terms of Service. But, putting aside any marketing, THS does not guarantee that any housesitters will submit applications or complete all sits. The underlying premise of THS requires a fair trade.
As sitters, we’ve faced two last-minute cancellations by pet parents. Ultimately, like you, we had to move forwards pragmatically and determined the best bad option in an unfortunate situation. How the noted paid housesitter compares to other options is something only you can determine. As is the relative importance of cost versus pet care. No right answers here.
This is a moral principle and if anyone thinks that charging such a fee ON the site is right, under any circumstances, then, well, I throw in the towel. It’s wrong on every level. Despite the urgency of the sit, asking for a fee such as this is not only exhorbitant, borders on extortion for want of a better word, it’s just plain wrong, morally.
We all know it’s wrong to ask for money and despite the new booking fee or anything else we don’t agree with, to use the site to take advantage of a homeowner’s plight is just.plain.wrong! Yes, @SymonandPamela just may have to find an alternative somewhere else and pay for it OFF site, but if we really want to argue against the introduction of booking fees, then agree that asking for payment is acceptable, under any circumstances, well there’s something just not quite right with that way of thinking. I agree the OP needs to find an alternative BUT not on this site, one where each and every one of us understands it’s wrong, against every rule known to the site - no matter what. Such a bad precedent to even think of setting it we start to agree it’s okay.
It is against the rules and I suggest you report them. I am a sitter. I think what they are doing is underhanded. You are in a pinch and now they are asking for money. I am a sitter who loves long weekend sits is my retirement state that is new to me. I think there will be others who want short stays as well for many different reasons. The measly $12.00 booking fee does not bother me. It’s the term booking fee that bothers me. If you read the threads, recently posted was a PP who paid for a sitter’s international flight because she told him she couldn’t afford the plane after she was confirmed for weeks and had only a few more days till the sit. You would think she would be more than grateful but she left the sit after 10 days with two weeks to go because of a barking dog leaving them scrambling. The point is doing things when you are in a panic doesn’t work out. For a weekend sit you may want to put in your profile you will pay their booking fee and a $50.00 grocery gift card. If they ask for more decline them.
Charging is not acceptable on the site, but I think it will be difficult to get anyone for short sits with the fee. I am doing a 4 night in Toronto, need to be in the area for stuff, and the street parking permit is $51 CAD, then the fee of 16 CAD, it is annoying. Luckily it is an older dog, minimal walks required. I was looking for a sit mid April, see a bunch of short sits. I would rather drive to NYC than do short sits and all the fees.
And take my chances elsewhere for a paid sitter.