Sitters applying when not available for dates

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
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I am a homeowner here with a perplexing issue, which I hope sitters could offer insight into.
Here is our most recent experience:

We have had two sitters apply for our sit and we set up zoom calls only to learn that neither of them were available for the dates.

The first, sitter A, told us during our Zoom call that she was on her way to look at an apartment that afternoon and, if she decided to move in, would not be available for our sit but would let us know later that day. She didn’t bother to communicate again, and after I asked her the next day, she said, " oh yeah, I can’t do it. Since she applied the day before going to see the apartment, she knew she very well might not be available, so it was not very responsible to apply until she knew her availability.

Then we went on to our second applicant, sitter B, who, during our Zoom meeting, told us that she had already committed to another sit with conflicting dates and wanted to know if we could shorten our sit. Again, she did not state any of this in her application letter. Instead, she wasted our time and spring that in us at the end of an hour-long zoom. She then had the nerve to text me that she would love to sit for us in the future and we should contact her directly and not through THS.
I told her that I felt her behavior was not in good faith. Her response was akin to saying, “Hey, everyone has to do whatever is best for them.” What happened to common decency and respect for others?

We have always respected sitters trying to secure dates, which is why we interview sitters (who meet the qualifications stated in our post) in the order in which we receive their applications. We then decide based on their interviews. We do not feel it is fair to interview several and compare them to one another because if they meet our qualifications, they shouldn’t be subjected to comparison. Also, we don’t want to waste their time if we are unwilling to accept them if the interview goes well.

Our issue is that we have received too many applications from sitters who

  1. Do not meet our stated qualifications (which are having a minimum # of positive reviews and not traveling with
    children)
  2. Are not available for the dates posted!

Sometimes, sitters apply and tell us in their application that they aren’t available for our dates but love our posting and want to be considered in the future. What is worse is when they don’t put that in their application and spring it on us either during the interview or even afterward! This irritates me beyond measure, and I flag those so any future applications from those sitters will be immediately declined.

Finally, I get to my question for sitters: Why do some sitters find this sort of behavior acceptable?

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Sorry to hear that, what a waste of time! Not sure why @CAadventurer other than some people are missing basic manners And/or chancing their arm. Suggestion would be, if you’re not already doing it then right up the top of the listing write “Please only apply if you are available for the full sit dates” to try & combat it for the future. Hope you find someone properly available soon. #mannersmakethman

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You don’t say where you’re located, but are you in a highly desirable area that sitters want to be located?
I’ve read here on the forum that for sits in areas that are highly sought after (and with the limit on 5 applications before the window closes to apply) some sitters apply right away so they don’t miss out.

No matter, sorry that your recent applicants seem to be flakes or can’t read your post properly.

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Our home is located in one of the most desirable communities in California and is known to be a popular resort town of multimillion-dollar homes and hotels charging well over $500 per night plus 12% hotel tax. Our home is spacious, modern with a pool/spa and bicycles avail for a quick ride to the beach.

I imagine that our inbox fills up quickly because sitters want to get their applications in to avoid being shut out by the 5-application limit before THS pauses the post. That said, it is not an excuse for sitters not to read the post before applying or apply when they have no reviews (a requirement stated in the post) or are not available.
Because it seems only 1 out of every 5 applications I receive have sufficient positive reviews and are available for the complete sit, I have to constantly decline applications to keep it visible.
Sitters who do this only block the sit from other qualified sitters which is not only disrespectful to homeowners but also disrespectful of other sitters and hurt the reputation of the house-sitter community.

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I think Instead of posting future sits, I will search for and reach out to sitters nearby with great reviews and avoid posting it for anyone to apply.

I just did this and the sitter enthusiastically accepted!

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I think a new wave of sitters and HOs are joining that don’t really understand the ethos of the site (or what it used to be) due to misleading advertising. There seems to be increasing issues with inconsiderate behavior on both sides of the equation. I think it’s exacerbated by being in a highly attractive area as people are more like to apply just to get a spot and then they actually read the listing afterwards and discover the dates don’t really work. Maybe since this is a recurring issue when you respond ask them to confirm that they’re available for the stated dates?

I think your method of interviewing one at a time in order of application has good intentions, but I feel like you’re probably cutting your nose off to spite your face. You are dragging the process out if you insist on doing calls in application order and many HOs make decisions quickly, which could result in sitters who would have been a great fit for you withdrawing because they got another offer. As a sitter, I am first come, first served with the offer I accept unless there is an extraordinary circumstance. So if I apply for 6 overlapping sits in a day and application 6 makes an offer first, that’s who I’m going with, even if I’ve also had calls with applications 1-5. I expect HOs have/will talk to others and so they should.

I’m glad you found someone who fits your needs locally and hopefully things will be better with future sits.

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Maybe so, but a sitter’s availability may change. For example by getting accepted at a different sit. Or because of life in general.

An application is not a commitment, and the longer the HO’s decision making process the larger the chances that an applicant may get something else to do on those dates.

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We have had that happen and understand how it feels. Your best bet is to be specific in your listing. As @Cuttlefish said, adding a disclaimer on top will help weed out sitters who do not fit the required criteria. Something like:

“We can only host sitters who can sit for the total stay and we cannot host families with children. Thank you.”

We put a disclaimer similar to that for medications and when people don’t respond in acknowledgement/don’t know, don’t want to learn how to administer, etc., we decline the application fairly quickly.

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Of course, unexpected things do happen. That was not the case with the two recent sitters. Both sitters knew before they submitted their applications that they would likely not be available before applying. Doing so blocked other sitters the opportunity to apply before the 5 spots were filled up, and the sit was paused.

Also, I responded to the application within hours, and the interview was the very next day, so no homeowner delay here.

How would you feel if I took your time for an interview (and the time of many others) and decided to throw you over if someone “better” came along? Would you appreciate it if I just told you, “Oh, well, an interview is not a commitment.” as a justification?

Far too many people find it acceptable to be disrespectful and do not consider others. Despite this, I choose not to lower my standard of behavior and hope only to deal with those who respect others and always act in good faith. I think the best way to avoid this is to no longer open my sits for random applicants but instead invite sitters with stellar reviews and give the selected sitters the right to accept or decline.

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Ahh ckone 2541, if it were only so easy! Sadly, the two specific deal breakers in my listing have been consistently ignored.

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This is 100% what I expect should be done. HOs should speak to everyone and choose the person who is the best fit. It doesn’t say anything about me except that I wasn’t the best fit for that particular HO.

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@CAadventurer It seems very odd to me that a sitter would spend their time on a zoom call if they were not available for the dates of a sit .

The THS platform blocks a sitter from applying for a sit if the dates overlap a confirmed sit .

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I don’t know about others but to me an interview is NOT a commitment. It’s where we meet to discuss the potential sit, go over deal breakers, and other details.

We can then individually decide if it will be a good fit and either go ahead with the sit or decline it. Just like the HO can decide after the interview whether or not they want to go ahead with the sit.

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It’s usually obvious at the conclusion I’d the interview whether its a good fit or not. I don’t leave people hanging.

But that isn’t the main point of the initial forum post, which was that sitters shouldn’t waste the time if homeowners when they aren’t certain of their availability by doing so they block other sitters who are available rom being able to apply.

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Their other commitment may not have been on his specific site (many sitters are on several sites- paid and unpaid). Unfortunately when offered a paid sit, often enough sitters just drop the unpaid ones.

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RE OP: There are tens of thousands of sitters. I sit and I also host, but I don’t know why people find some behavoir that I would consider unacceptable, acceptable. I’ve lived a long while. I’ve had jobs dealing with difficult people and people i crisis. People still surprise me. So I can’t tell you why people do what they do. But I can tell you some things I’ve learned to do as a host:

I usually add a paragraph to the beginning of my listing before I publish it. The paragraph not only gives the start and end date of the sit, but the time range for sitter arrival and departure. Before I set up a chat I usually manage to also ask and check on an understanding of the date. I have sometimes been in a situation where a sitter to whom I’ve offered a sit has kept me waiting more than a day waiting to find out if they got a different sit. This has taught me to (1) never wait for a sitter who is delaying a video chat if there are other good sitters I can speak with (2) ask straight out if a sitter is waiting to hear back from another sit and/or would be ready to confirm my sit if offered or how long that would take if they need to check on airfares, etc. I also don’t take anyone if my gut is telling me not to or if there is some obvious red flag.

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Your profile of “many sitters” doesn’t sound like any of the 12 sitters, I’ve hosted in the 2 years I’ve been a members. I don’t have stats from THS, but most sitters who’ve accepted sits at my apartment have either been occassional sitters, or sitters who’ve been traveling/nomadic for some amount of time. A few of them have had paid petsitting experience at some point in their lives. I don’t think any of them were currently doing paid petcare. All of them had non-petcare employment.

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Sounds like you’ve just had bad luck. I’d consider what they did a rude waste of time, but it seems unusual. Rude people exist in the world, so I’m not surprised by them being on THS. Unfortunate, but such is life.

As a sitter, I’ve applied once when I couldn’t make the sit window, but I did that with a sit that had low applications and said right off in application that I couldn’t make the dates, but would like to sit in the future if they liked. And I mentioned that I’d promptly delete my application for the current sit, to avoid blocking a spot for another applicant. The hosts replied happily and offered me other sits they hadn’t listed yet and I ended up doing a sit for them recently.

If a listing were popular, I wouldn’t bother the hosts with such a message, because I’d figure that they could easily get sitters and wouldn’t value such applications.

And I have no interest in sitting for money. I have a great job that allows me to telecommute.

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We’ve been sitting for 3.5 years full time & have never dropped an unpaid sit for a paid one or any sit for that matter, we have great jobs that fund our travels and a commitment is a commitment paid or unpaid. Like @Maggie8K & @Marion said we’ve never come across sitters that operate in that way, it will hurt your reputation pretty fast! As @CreatureCuddler mentions, THS advertising has a lot to answer for in how new members are being presented the “THS deal”. If you can get good sitters via invites then wonderful, it has a low success rate (as the THS calendar is also notoriously unreliable) but hopefully it will work for you #whatatangledwebthsweave

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It is possible that they applied for multiple sits at once and accepted another one.

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