You might want to add to any weekend listings that you’re happy to pay the sitters booking fee of £9 as that’s an allowed incentive and should help considerably. It’s a lot of organisation required for a two night sit. Totally understandable to report the THS sitter asking for payment as not allowed in the platform. Romsey is my old stomping ground and a lovely town. Hope you find someone soon! #lastminuteluck
@IzziDog . The poster says that they posted their sit in the last minute section of this forum, they wouldn’t have been able to do that if they were not members, and the sitters wouldn’t have been able to apply if they weren’t members.
The potential sitter could have just direct-messaged the HO regarding their last-minute sit within this forum and that would not require THS membership of the sitter.
Before reporting, I would think about how the sitter contacted you. If they sent an official application through the THS system in response to your listing, then report. If they just contacted you through the forum based on you posting it in the last minute sits thread, they didn’t really do anything wrong.
I contacted the sitter directly through a search of local sitters, they replied to my contact.
Hi OP here.
There are some comments asking how the contact was made.
I found them via a search for local sitters, I contacted her to ask her if she could sit. She contacted me requesting payment. So the contact was through the system and not through the forums.
I had posted in the sitters needed section, but that is not how they contacted me.
Hope that clarifies things
@SymonandPamela
Thanks for clarifying that this wasn’t an application but a reply to a private invitation that you sent a local sitter .
With this context I would not say that they are trying to take advantage of your situation, since it’s you that reached out to them .
I see their reply as simply an explanation of why they don’t do local unpaid sits on THS .
There are many professional house/pet sitters who are also THS members . They use THS for ( unpaid ) travel experiences and not for local sits .
The THS search function is not fit for purpose since it brings up local sitters and there s no way to identify those who are interested in visiting your location . For a long time now members have been asking THS to fix /improve this function to make it more useful.
Asking for money was not something a sitter on THS should do. Saying that, you reached out to a local sitter. Most people do this to travel. The only insensitive most locals would do this is for payment. I sit locally in my over 55 community for payment. I would not use THS to sit in my own community. Maybe a newbie that needs reviews but that’s the only other reason I can think of. Someone on THS from my community did reach out to me to sit on THS. She may not of known I also live in the same retirement community as it covers three counties with 160,000 residents. I don’t have the name of it on my profile. I was a little taken back that she would think I would do this as a free service with no benefits to me. I told her I sit on THS to travel. I did not mention I was a paid sitter as they are only gigs to me, don’t look at it as a business nor trying to grow it. Like having a retired life and do mostly cat drop ins with a few sits per year that is enjoyable.
That does change things. It’s not uncommon for people to only do local sits off site from THS and for pay. If the person was upfront about that AND you don’t find someone else, I’d consider it but not through THS with a THS review.
I think not fair to report them in this circumstance. Host reached out to sitter, and sitter responded I charge for local sits. Clear and not trying to take advantage of anyone. Personally for me to bother with a two night sit it would need to be amazing. Too much trouble for too short a time.
It’s interesting how opinions change (me included) when more and more facts come out about the original post.
Same. If the HO reached out in the platform and sitter replied with I charge x per night for local sits that is completely reasonable. HO can go with that (I assume they can book it privately) or find another local paid sitter.
OK, in this scenario, I would probably not report her. You reached out, she replied to an unsolicited ask that she would only do it for pay. That is different than applying to a sit and asking for money.
Have to agree with recent posts after my initial negative one. As the scenario has changed, I wouldn’t report either.
We need more information - If they have contacted you via this forum, then they are almost certainly not a THS member, but are a ‘professional’ sitter who hangs around the last-minute section looking for prospective clients, which is a bit cheeky, but since anyone can join this forum, THS member or not, you can’t knock their initiative!.
Since this forum is completely separate from the THS website, I don’t think contacting anyone directly via this forum is breaking any rules, so your only options are to agree to their offer or to decline it.
@Colin
OP has provided this additional information
Oh - I missed that!
I agree with others. This changes everything. A sitter in THS can’t apply on the platform and ask to be paid but being in the platform doesn’t mean we’re fully available. This is not a job, people have to make a living. For some, a source of income is petsitting outside the platform.
In this situation, you can’t report them. You can hire them or someone else if you have a choice but if you do hire them, it should be outside THS.
I read the new information to read the following. They could not find a sitter. On the THS platform they contacted sitters in their area. The sitter told them when sitting in her same area she is a paid sitter and doesn’t use THS. I don’t see that as her soliciting her services. She is just letting him know that she doesn’t use THS for local sits. The host can either say, OK and thanks for responding or decide to then discuss having her as a paid sitter outside of THS.
You can report them, but that won’t help you get a sitter. You contacted them, they got back to you and made an offer, you can simply say no.