I will preface this by saying that I know that each of us has different needs, wants, etc.
From my perspective , all of the recent changes in minutiae (extra written policies re: pets, guests, etc., animal alone time, arr/dep times, …..and don’t get me started on “previously contacted”) are the easy way out. THS can say, “Oh look at all of these great changes we’ve recently made in response to your requests”. Never mind that 1) some of these requests have been hanging for ages and 2) the changes are a drop in the bucket , don’t address any of the truly important needs and required very, very, very little work on THS’ part.
I find the changes listed absolutely useless as they reflect questions I’ve asked every single HO since I began ……and I will continue to ask because things change, people aren’t always truthful and I want to hear the requirements from the HO themselves.
They’re tossing us crumbs here……and the shoddy effort is noted.
I have been using THS for over ten years, and I am ready to quit. The last couple of years have been very very hard finding good sitters because I can only get five applications at a time. Usually those are from young people seeking fun and adventure and they get first dibs because they are on their phones all the time. I have to keep going through and declining the first three or four rounds of responses (and unpausing applications) before I finally get people who actually respond to my needs and who are serious about caring for the house and the aging dog. THS just doesn’t care about their clients like they used to.
That’s why I’m going to wrap my last THS sit in February and then stop using the platform, even though I have quite a stretch left in membership, between paying for it and getting free months for referrals.
Oh come on now y’all… From the latest “gathering feedback” post about improving search function, they are “learning directly from members” and “our input helps guide their thinking.”
Hasn’t everyone noticed?
Within the last few days I listed 4 sets of dates on THS, and also tried a few of the other sites that have been suggested.
In all 4 cases we filled our applicant que within the hour, mostly with established multiple 5 star sitters and every sitter we confirmed for those 4 days was via THS.
The platform works well for connecting hides with a large pool of qualified sitters. If you’re looking for more than that, as in responsive and caring customer service and bug-free software without high fees than it might be worthwhile to look elsewhere but I suspect many will find the alternatives fall way short.
@BethMe, we’ve been housesitting for three years. This is our take on your questions
Over the last three years, we do not believe that a housesitter could cancel a sit - only Pet Parent or THS Member Services. That said, we personally do not deem this an important feature - as we haven’t cancelled sits. That said, we’d love THS to enhance its Sit Cancellation Insurance coverage - as two Pet Parents have cancelled sits at last minute.
We rely a great deal on search functionality. We get frustrated at poor location accuracy and poor geographic areas (Schengen area?) but we have a flexible mindset and apply workarounds.
We absolutely face this. But cause is unclear. Our sits are international across North America, UK and Schengen area. We find it very difficult to secure housesits in Schengen area when we are based in North America, due to time difference. This is a consequence of 5-application limit rather than platform functionality. We have learned, from experience, that applications to attractive listings must be actioned in a very timely manner - as you rightly note, they quickly receive 5 applicants.
While we have frustrations then we have also explored three other housesitting platforms. Each may have some geographic scope or functional benefit over THS, but they also all had major feature weaknesses versus THS (negligible listing content, very few listings, etc). In our view then THS, warts and all, is the best available platform for our needs.
