I saw in the forum where a couple of people had the same problem, but I have not seen any resolution to this problem.
Our trip is in 2 days, and we listed our sit for ~2weeks. Our first sitter canceled ~16 days before our sit. We found another one. We have been in regular contact with this new sitter. I went to send the Welcome Guide to the sitter yesterday, and saw the notification that the sitter’s membership had not been renewed and it would be considered a private sit, without THS coverage. I have a premium membership, so I value the liability coverage, but I am starting to think it’s fake liability coverage anyway.
I contacted THS and was told “There is typically a function that stops sitter from being able to book sits past their expiry date, however, it seems that they somehow accepted the sit but then were able to turn off their auto-renewal after. I am sorry for how you’ve been impacted by this.” I was told that this employee would ask if the claims team if I would be able to file for sit cancellation plan, but I would not hear back until tomorrow.
This is so ridiculous to me because as a host, I am unable to post a sit beyond my renewal date without auto-renewing, but a sitter was able to confirm our sit. We’ve asked the sitter to renew, but they stated no future travel plans as the reason for not renewing and low funds. This also concerns me because if the sitter cannot afford a ~$120 plan, it seems odd to travel somewhere for 2 weeks. I feel bad to cancel their sit, but I also feel weary to host them without a sitter plan but THS support has not provided any reassurance.
Any advice?
(Specifically, the notification on the sitter’s account stated: This sitter’s membership has lapsed. Don’t put your pets and home at risk. The sitter must renew their membership before the sit can go ahead. Any sit taking place outside of either the pet parent or sitters membership is not covered by our terms and conditions.)
You’ve only got 2 options really. Cancel the sitter and hope you will get another one, but with only 2 days notice, thats quite unlikely, or go ahead with your chosen sitter as a private sit, with no input from THS, for what it’s worth. Has your sitter got good reviews? If you trust her, that would probably be my choice, but up to you. Just be aware you don’t get an awful lot of support from THS if things go wrong. This should never have happened in the first place.
If you are happy with this sitter , and you don’t want it to be a private arrangement because you want some coverage from THS ( which is limited ) -
Option 3 ( perhaps controversial) you could pay for the sitters membership.
Regarding the issue of if you are covered by the Sit Cancellation Plan - have you called the Urgent Support Phone Line ? With only 2 days to go - you need to know where you stand and if you are covered for alternative pet care.
It is concerning that this happened without you being notified - if we try to turn off auto renew , we get a message that we can’t turn off auto renew as we have confirmed sits .
This is a tough one. The excuse of low funds would worry me as a PP. Are they driving or flying to you. What if they get a flat tire. Do they have the funds to take care of it and make it to your sit on time. Now all PP have to ask sitters when their membership expires and if they plan on renewing. I don’t know if your trip is one that can easily be rescheduled. You need to have peace of mind when traveling. Either make peace with the fact that you won’t have recourse from THS if things don’t work out or cancel these sitters. How many sits they have and how many years they have used this platform would help me decide. If they have been on this platform for years and have numerous sits behind them with satisfactory reviews, I would go ahead with them. I would have just felt more comfortable if they said, we are taking a break from traveling so not renewing opposed to we can’t afford the $120.
THS really needs to invest in a function that automatically cancels any existing sits when a membership expires. This is ridiculous! Or, if any members confirms a sit beyond their membership period, their needs to be a pop up to say “by accepting this sit, you agree to pay $x to extend your membership to this date” or something like that and either charge the person or make it impossible to disable the autopay.
Have to agree with @Twitcher . If word got out about a HO paying for a sitters membership, and it would, on social media, then you could have hundreds of other members playing the same trick.
That’s the first thing I thought of when I read that. Now a lot of sitters will read that this method has worked and do the same. It bothers me that they mentioned that as an excuse to the PP. Were they fishing to have them pay. Something to think about.
As others have said, if this sitter does have an established history of exceptional reviews, given the short timeline I’d probably take the risk of moving forward. I’d put some extra cautions in place, like requiring copies of their identification cards. Of course if you do have a “Plan B”, like a neighbor, family member, or even a paid service nearby, that would be my first choice.
I’ve occasionally been referred to friends of homeowners who’ve arranged unpaid sits with me and they’ve always asked if I want them to join THS to formalize the sit, or if we can just do it casually. (I’m fine either way but recommend to them that it is to their benefit to join THS and formalize it and start a review history) I’ve also thought about gifting a membership to friends and family members who want to sit but for whom $120 is a bit of a stretch. But I’d never pay for the membership of someone who had negotiated with me on the understanding that they were already a member. That is a slippery slope and the next thing you know she’ll be asking for gas and grocery money. I’ve learned the hard way that humans are a lot like the cats - you give the ONE “treat” and they’ll always come back and ask for more!
I would find it risky to have a sitter with no membership and no funds. Also because this could lead to similar issues during sit, when you have already left. There have been incidents where hosts have been «asked» to cover this and that during (and after) sit. It can be quite uncomfortable when you are away and a non-member with no real interest in a good review is in your home.
No way to tell, because there are loads of members who don’t participate in the forum.
Gauging from the couple of years that I’ve been on the forum, many forum participants seem affluent or at least have enough resources to not sweat the membership fee.
Have you told the sitter that you are considering cancelling. I would think that it would worth the $120 to them to not have the sit cancelled - especially if they have prepaid for transportation to your place.
