Sitters can withdraw during application stage — before a sit has been confirmed. Otherwise, there is no feature that allows a sitter to cancel a confirmed sit, though of course, they could just tell you they’re not coming, which is effectively canceling. But if so, the sit would still show as planned, not cancelled. Only the host has the technical ability to cancel a sit. THS made that so, and your sitter wouldn’t have had such exceptional ability.
Absolutely agree with you! We’ve been on the receiving end of cancellations and it’s so stressful. We’ve had brilliant sitters, but 3 cancellations (2 for the same sit) over the last year. I completely get it that things go wrong and circumstances change, but it’s starting to feel like lightening keeps striking the same place.
I think that AirBnb does not have a specific place that shows the cancellation rate, so I apologize for that. I thought they did, but I guess, I just read the reviews before booking, and noted there if there were any cancellations. I did review a host who cancelled on me, and my review is still up there 5 years later showing the details. A more recent host told me that I should always book SuperHosts because AirBnb has stricter rules for those. So, that’s what I do now. But I’ve done AirBnb since 2017, and only been cancelled on twice where I had to scramble to get another place (Airbnb did help a bit), out of 15 stays. Hope that helps.
Did you arrange your own cover through THS or was it through something else?
My current sitter just canceled on me for no good reason with less than 48 hrs
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I was lucky enough that a friend offered in my hour of need but it was a very stressful time. I understand how distressed you will be feeling. I think THS need to give sitters a black mark against their name when they cancel. The more black marks the less reliable people can see they are!
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What about HOs when they cancel on sitters?
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Yes neither should be unreliable, its unfair. Although I don’t think the sitter will have as high a level of stress because they don’t have to worry about the care for their pets but they will have their time wasted. But still a less stressful experience.
@Jacqui It’s not just about wasting our time. Last time a HO canceled on me I was left with a 1000 dollar non refundable airfare. And 9 days of paid dog sitting for my own dog which was also non refundable.
Not less stressful.
I’m no longer applying for sits where I have to rent a car or fly. It’s no longer a reasonable exchange when a sitter is left with 1500 dollars of financial loss.
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I think you are sensible
People who cancel for other than legit reasons are essentially ruining things for other hosts and sitters. For instance, if more and more sitters stop flying or renting cars because of random cancellations, that means even fewer sitters to go around for hosts in general.
Trusted Housesitters is built on mutual trust and some people are just not trustworthy, whether they’re hosts or sitters. And whether you’re a host or sitter, or both, it helps to see things from all sides. Otherwise, trust is hard to establish or maintain.
Like hosts who think, oh well, if I cancel, it’s just a minor inconvenience to the sitter, that’s actually missing much of the picture and lacks empathy.
Personally, I can still afford to travel if I don’t sit and I wouldn’t sit at all if the only sits available were within easy distance of my driving. I also can afford paid care for my rescue dog, who has special needs. But there also are folks who use THS because they can’t afford hotel stays or professional pet sitting. And those folks would be hurt significantly if a site like THS were ruined by untrustworthy people.
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@Jacqui Not less stressful when you’ve already flown to another continent and have to scramble at the last minute to find accommodations in an expensive area.
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Maggie you’re making a lot of assumptions in this post and with this comment. I too can afford to travel if I’m not sitting and I can afford paid care for my rescue dog with special needs.
But my last sit was canceled two weeks in advance and there were no lodgings to be had on short notice.
This was not a matter of the HO being untrustworthy either. She had a new cancer diagnosis and was starting chemo instead of going on her trip. So she lost her trip and I was in the red for 2000 dollars worth of expenses that I couldn’t use at the time.
The solution is to insure for these losses.
Yes my last HO cancelation was in an area that is wildly popular and there were no rooms to be found
I wasn’t responding directly to your comment — was speaking generally, because this thread is about cancellations. I wouldn’t make judgments about your specific situation, because I don’t know anything about it. One cancellation by itself — especially with good reason — doesn’t matter in the grander scheme of things. But people who cancel without legit reasons — ones that are avoidable — add up. This is an ecosystem and many people contribute to it. And insurance might be your preference, but many folks would rather just have sits that go ahead without random cancellations.
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I agree if the cancellation is short-term. If one or even two months remain till the start of a sit and an unexpected reason turns up, a sitter should be allowed to cancel - just as HO are allowed to cancel ANYTIME seems to me. And especially as long as THS makes it more difficult for sitters to plan ahead due to the new “non overlapping” rule.
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Regarding a confirmed sitter cancelling, I’ve seen this statement many times and I know it is true. But recently I had a situation where the HO and I agreed to cancel a sit and I told the HO that they would have to do it because I couldn’t. They kept asking me to do it. When I tried to find the paragraph in the Terms and Conditions or in the FAQs that stated that a confirmed sitter can’t cancel I couldn’t find anything specific that I could quote. Cancellations are such a crucial topic. I think that a statement from THS would clarify the process and be very useful.
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@AnnieNai this is from
The Help section
“ If a sitter ever does cancel a sit, be sure to ‘unconfirm the sitter’ in your messages with them. ”
@AnnieNai I had a pet parent needing to cancel and I agreed and asked him to cancel the sit on his end. He didn’t so the next day I reached out to membership services and they wanted a screenshot proof that the pet parent needed to cancel. I gave it to them and they cancelled the sit for me right away
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Thanks for finding this, Silversitters. So, this information from THS says that a sitter can cancel and they must mean confirmed sitters, so what is the process? Perhaps going to membership services as iHeartAnimals suggests in her post.