Hello, I have recently listed a sit for my home and pets next month and had a couple of applicants. When I messaged to arrange a call, one of the sitters advised that they had found another listing for the same time so no longer were available This seems somewhat disingenuous to me - or am I being naive?
Why disingenuous when the success rate is low?
You should have been faster.
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@MargotW Homeowners take forever to respond, or in some cases they donât respond at all. Most users apply for more than one sit at the time, rather than just sitting and waiting for a response.
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@MargotW All petsitters will be applying for multiple sits at once. Thatâs how it works. You need to be quicker to secure people.
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I think most of us apply for multiple sits if we have dates we want to fill. I just had a homeowner lose out on me because they took too long to confirm the sit. I went with another HO that answered immediately and we set everything up within a couple of hours.
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Hello @MargotW
You bring up a reality that is important for Home and pet guardians to understand. Many experienced sitters will and should apply to multiple listings in order to increase likelihood of acquiring a sit on the desired date.
When you post your listing you open it to everyone therefore as sitters we need to apply to as many as match what we are looking for.
As others have said, many homeowners are taking too long to respond, not responding at all or are responding but then taking too long to choose and confirm.
I think itâs extremely important that homeowners understand that an application is not a commitment to sit and sitters need to withdraw their applications from all pending once a sit has been confirmed.
A note to homeowners as well as to all applicants is appreciated by all when declining.
Thanks for asking.
Hope it helps.
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@Ashleynov - not ALL - I certainly donât, but I understand why some/most do. I am very particular about the sits I apply for.
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Itâs not realistic to expect sitters to block their time for you when youâve not made a commitment to them. What have you done for them that would warrant that? They should miss out on a better sit or a homeowner who can decide more quickly simply at your convenience?
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@Maggie8K - I think that is rather harsh.
No homeowner should feel pressured into making an immediate decision when a sitter applies.
If that means losing out on a sitter then so be it but I am sure that is preferable to accepting the first offer that comes along. It is their treasured home and pets involved here.
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I wasnât trying to be harsh â thatâs just reality. The OP asked whether they were being naive. They can take all the time they want, but theyâll lose some sitters. Everyone on THS gets to make their own choices.
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This is like asking a job applicant to only apply for one job at a time. I have a combined membership. I say this with both roles in mind. It can be annoying when a sitter youâve been trying to pin down for a video messages you the night before that they are taking another sit and are no longer available, but it is understandable. What Iâve learned to do as a homeowner, is to move quickly if I think Iâve found the perfect sitter, and to move on quickly if that sitter declines. Itâs also one of those things in terms of the equity of roles in this community â just as you get to be selective as a pet parent, sitters get to be selective as well.
I really wish we just used âhostâ and âguestâ to describe these roles!
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Hi @MargotW , I can understand your disappointment.
This is my (a sitterâs ) perspective ⌠we know that if a home owner gets 5 applications even if they are all great experienced sitters with fabulous reviews you can only confirm one of us to sit .
Therefore we only have a 1 in 5 chance that weâre going to be chosen for your sit .
So if we have specific dates when we can travel and we see other sits advertised for those same dates weâll apply to several sits .
Once weâve had a video chat and homeowner has confirmed weâll withdraw any other applications.
Some homeowners are prompt in confirming sits and some take weeks to even arrange a video call . When we apply for your sit we wonât know what kind of host you are and whether you are going to get back to us promptly.
I say this from experience, where we started by applying one at a time but weâre kept waiting weeks by the homeowner, meanwhile we missed out on applying for other sits that would have been great for us âŚ
Until a sit is confirmed a sitter can apply for as many sits as they want and itâs prudent for them to do so .
I hope this explains a sitters POV .
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Hi @MargotW - I am speaking as a sitter (over 10 years on this site). I do not think you are being naive and also I do not think the sitter(s) disingenuous.
I have come to realise that there are many different types of homeowners as there are sitters and the most important thing is to find a good match.
I feel experienced homeowners and sitters tend to move quickly. They know what they want and go with their well honed instincts to get things firmed up.
I feel for the newer members who tend to proceed with more caution and take a bit more time to feel comfortable with the arrangements.
In those circumstances both homeowners and sitters can âlose outâ but no-one should feel pressured.
I hope this helps and you find some wonderful sitters.
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Itâs not being disingenuous. Itâs being realistic. I wonât get all of the sits I apply for. I will only get a portion of the sits I apply for so by not applying for multiple sits, Iâm losing out. As someone else pointed out, you have 5 to choose from so 4 will be told no. In addition, these things can drag out for a while causing the sitter to miss out on other opportunities in the hopes to be the 20% that make it.
Iâm currently waiting to hear back on two sits. The first one I applied for almost 3 weeks ago and received a very quick response asking if we could talk in the next 2 weeks. Itâs far enough out that I was ok with that. Then I prompted them at 10 days and still heard nothing for another 6 days, They then asked if we could talk sometime this week. That was almost 2 days ago and havenât heard anything. The other sit we applied for 3 days ago. Havenât had any reply yet. The only reason I havenât applied for any others for that time is that it would be a real good fit with our other sits and the other is that itâs in an area that I shouldnât have any problem finding another sit should this one not pan out.
Others might not do this but personally I will wait 48 hours after an application before I apply for another sit. This gives the HO time to respond quickly if they are going to. If not, I have to look out for myself rather than hoping for a positive response on a 20% chance.
Iâm in no way suggesting you rush your self or your decision, but the longer it takes, the greater the chance the sitter will find another place.
Dan
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Hi Margot,
Itâs a good question. I agree with others, youâre not being naive, and sitters arenât being disingenuous. Others have mentioned why multiple applications are important for many sitters, and thereâs one other thing to consider: sitters canât message to simply express interest, or ask a question. The only way we can contact home owners is to hit âapplyâ, which might understandably look like more commitment than it is. I do hope TH are looking at changing this, as it can clearly be misleading.
I hope you find a great sitter, and enjoy your trip.
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I recently applied to two sits that would have coordinated back to back. I didnât hear back from either one after several days. I then applied to another that would have negated the other two. I didnât hear back from that homeowner either.
I finally heard from one of the first two, 10 days later, apologizing for the delay and saying they were canceling the sit. The other replied with a form message after 3 weeks that she had chosen a sitter and thanked me (us, really) for applying. I withdrew my application for the third one when I didnât hear after a reasonable amount of time (I canât tell from my in-box because she never messaged me back.)
From other sittersâ posts in the forums, it would appear this is not uncommon. So, itâs unreasonable to expect us to apply to one sit at a time and wait an undetermined length of time for a reply. I believe all homeowners should reply in a timely fashion, if even just to thank the sitter for the application and let them know when they will hear back about a potential video chat.
Also, FWIW I sometimes have a couple of video chats Iâm doing for a single block of time, and I tell that to the homeowner when I speak to them. I am transparent and say I have one more person to talk to and let them know which way Iâm leaning if I am leaning strongly. I have experienced the same with homeowners who tell me they are speaking to another sitter at x time, and they will get back to me to let me know their decision. This seems fair, honest, and up-front. Normally, these chats are set up in quick succession so as to not leave anyoneâhomeowner or sitter-- hanging too long.
I hope thatâs helpful.
Gillian
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OP, Iâm an experienced THSitter (not guest) with multiple 5-star reviews and regularly get invited to sit.
I currently have two applied-for sits for which I have heard nothingâno acknowledgement of the application, no dates/listing removed, no âsorry weâre not interested.â Nothing. How would you characterize that?
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as rude? Oh I have to say more not enough characters so âas very rudeâ? 
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@Katie maybe the pet parents were busy with their fur babies, or screening applicants and preparing to conduct interviews? 
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