We live in San Diego. On May 10, we confirmed a sitter for a sit from August 13-20. The sitter lives in Tennessee. But, apparently has family in the San Diego area and chooses to do back to back sits in the San Diego area to be close her grandkids without having to stay with them. That part was cool with us. The video chat went well and we felt at ease with the sitter. She has a couple questionable reviews. But overall her reviews are good.
On July 4, I got a text on my mobile phone from the sitter telling me that she needed to cancel the sit due to issues with her elderly mother in Tennessee. Of course, we were disappointed. But, what were we to do but unconfirm her from the sit so we could look for someone else? Great news is that we found another sitter who seems great.
Fast forward to today. I was bored and was looking at old correspondence in THS. I was looking at the canceled sitters profile and recent reviews. I scrolled to the bottom of the page and see that she is almost completely (but not totally) booked up through August including the dates she cancelled with us.
We are trying to keep an open mind. Perhaps she has booked sits closer to her mother? But, it just feels off. Wondering if she might have got a personal invite from someone and dumped us?
In the end, maybe we dodged a bullet as she has a very bad review for June. Not sure what to do with the observation on her calendar being nearly full. Just venting I suppose.
Why does this matter? You have stated that you were able to secure sitters that are great.
You mention her bad reviews, yet they weren’t that bad for you to offer her to sit for you. Why bring that up now?
This sounds like a story where the boyfriend has broken up with the girlfriend and the girlfriend is going through a million scenarios in her head of why the boyfriend chose another girl over her. Yet the girlfriend is stalking the boyfriend on social media, looking at his photos, sending him text messages, etc.
To keep your sanity, don’t dwell on the behavior of others, move on—she obviously has.
Life is too short to worry about what other people do.
Yep, I think I would feel the same way you do. If she did cancel because she found something better that says something about her character as well. Maybe it was a blessing in the end for that reason? ! But totally understand where you might feel “slighted” by this person. Glad you found a new sitter that seems great!
I would feel the same way, but it is best to move on. With that said, how do you know she is booked with other sits on the dates she ditched with you? Could she have just marked her calendar as unavailable because she is staying in Tennessee? I am not sure how the calendar looks. I stopped using it because it is such a PIA to keep up to date with non-THS black out dates.
I had a sit that was cancelled by the HO. It was still on my favourites, I got a notification for new dates. Then it seems to me that the reason they gave me was some white lie.
(It did not really matter, it was they day after they sit was confirmed. But one notices these things.)
You dodged a bullet. Be grateful and don’t give this another thought. And maybe mom got better so another sit was booked. You’ll never know and it doesn’t really matter does it?
You have a sitter that is to your liking and now you can focus on having a wonderful holiday knowing your home and pets will be well cared for.
In future, questionable reviews, concerns are red flags.
Upwards and onwards!
@Savuti94 I think you’re reading too much into this. It could be that the sitter’s calendar is blanked out because she’s marked it as ‘unavailable’, or that she’s found a sit closer to where she needs to be to care for her mother, or perhaps that she’s found a ‘no pets’ sit, or one where the pet responsibilities are reduced. It could also be that the sitter contacted you with her request to cancel on 4th July - six weeks before your sit date - to ensure you had plenty of time to find another sitter (which you state you have done), knowing her mother’s predicament was precarious.
You’ve suffered no harm here, so maybe give people the benefit of the doubt a little more. Things happen, and things change. Sitters have lives, too!
I don’t understand why people immediately jump to negative conclusions. There are lots of reasons why the sitter may have scheduled another sit. Maybe the sit is near family. When I go visit family, my options are to either sleep on my sister’s couch or get a hotel. If there was a sit in the area I would certainly apply. Or possibly, the issue that led to the cancellation passed. Maybe it looked like the elderly mother was going downhill quickly, but then she improved and the sitter decided she could continue with her trip. There are many reasons why things could have changed.
@systaran Exactly! We cancelled a lovely sit this year when we heard my OH’s elderly father was dying. The sit was some weeks away but, not knowing how things would happen or when, it seemed best to cancel immediately and not risk a late cancellation.
The PPs were very understanding and actually asked us for updates, after cancelling the sit. It was touch and go for a while but, utimately, he began to make a recovery. We kept in touch with the PPs and they have recently contacted us to offer us other dates.
For info, the cancelled sit was in another country and we did indeed have to defer our departure date.
My point is, we were already quite stressed about the situation that was unfolding, so it would have been further complicated by a PP who suspected we were not being truthful and was checking up on us. Sometimes, people do need a bit of time and space to sort out things in their own lives.
Enjoy your time away with your family, @Savuti94 , and keep moving forwards.
Its not possible to block out the dates you are unavailable for on the THS calendar, one of the reasons most sitters do not use it as without this feature it is pretty useless.
THS sits are automatically crossed off and a sitter can mark their availability but not their unavailability.
@pietkuip Okay.
When I manage my calendar I can put the dates when I am available on. And then it turns green.
Didn’t know that the white ones aren’t really blocked out then from applying/ inviting or something.
But if there is a booking through THS, the dates are striped…
So if the OP sees all dates striped, then she knows that there is a booking through TH. So if that is the case on the dates originally set for the OP, that would at least rise questions by me…if I would do something with it, I don’t think so. Just to be sure it would not happen twice, I would never choose her again to sit for me.
And yes, you are right about the availability in a specific country. That’s something you also cannot see on this calendar. And you can change the countries you want to sit in, but that also is difficult and takes a lot of time.
But off course isn’t important in this post, which is about cancelling due to “issues with her mother” and afterwards seeing the calendar “fully booked”.
The question is: did she see blank or crossed dates?
Because only if they are crossed, the original topic/ headline is a fact. Otherwise just assumptions.
I agree. And it could be that the sitter rebooked with sits in Tennessee instead. Maybe that part of the truth will come out with the reviews in August.
As far as I’m concerned, you have a right to vent on this forum and I can understand your concerns but, as others have mentioned, there may be more than legitimate reasons even if they’re not so legitimate it would not make a difference or it could make a difference for the better because you would have dodged a bullet What matters is the fact that you seem to have got a good replacement.
I feel this comparison is a bit far fetched @Savuti94 may be brooding a bit over this but there is no indication at all that she has contacted the sitter, let alone stalk her. And yes, I know it was just a comparison but comparisons are supposed to help clarification.
As I mentioned, I did not state that the HO was stalking the sitter. I gave a hypothetical situation and if you grasp the concept fine—if you don’t fine. A HO spending time looking through the sitter’s profile and then reach a conclusion that the sitter is possibly lying is not fair to the sitter.
What is helpful is that no one reach unfounded conclusions about the integrity of other people.
