A clear No-No and good you reported her. It’s up to the sitter to figure out where the airport is in response to an HO’s home. And you don’t do that 48 hours before a sit, you do that when exchanging with the HO about whether you want to do the sit!
I totally agree on all points you have laid out.
We go to great lengths and expense honor our agreements. I would appreciate the “management” providing top-cover for those of us who do an exceptional job every time. Glean out the unreliables.
Not a trick. The way the system works you would need to unconfirm the sitter – whether you believe the reason or not. But if you don’t feel the reason was legit, you can then dispute the sit. I’m not sure what the procedure is to prove your side of the story if you do so, so you might want to check with member services if you’re ever in that situation again.
It has been my experience as a sitter for close to 3 years now that THS isn’t really interested in the repercussions that we as sitters have to deal with when a house owner cancels last min.
When a pet owner gets cancelled on they are in the position of paying for a sitter or boarding that they would have had to do anyway if THS were not an option. Which btw costs over $100 a day and that doesn’t include the full time care we offer pets and the care of their homes.
I just had this happen to me. The pet owner claimed their dog was in the ER. They sent me a txt 1 day prior to sit, not in the interface but via text.
Aside from the common decency of calling to explain and apologize it was a 2 line text. “Sorry but my dog is in the ER and we have to cancel.” I requested they post that statement in the app so I could get THS involved. Her reply was “You are the least of my worries”.
I drove by their house and witnessed their dog happily playing in the front yard. What did THS have to say? "You are discouraged from going to the pet owners house after sit has been cancelled.
Meanwhile I had to advance $1000 in Airbnb fees to secure a place to sleep for that week. Who knows if I’ll get reimbursed.
I love animals but at what point to you put your animals before human decency, and the respect, safety and care of the people out there offering to help you as pet owners!
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We are HO and was let down , not just before the sit , on the day … sitters arrived the day before we were leaving , showed them around , sat and had a cuppa . I was cooking a full roast chricken supper … They came into the kitchen and said they were going to a local village to charge their electic car… They appeared again over an hour later and she was pretend coughing and they said they could not do the sit because our house was too duaty and had set off her asthma … my house was clean . They left and we had to cancel visiting an uncle with cancer …
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Looks like my original reply was flagged and removed for some reason. Most sitters are like you… retired, with free time and money. That is obviously the stereotypical Housesitter, the majority just like you.
I’m just pointing out there there are some people who do these trusted house sitter gigs simply as a means to get free rent.
Not sure why you were so upset by that.
There are definitely a lot of sitters on this app who use this as a means to get free rent. A tiny minority for sure, but there are thousands of members, so a lot of people, even though it’s a tiny percentage. Not sure why you take a offense to that point. A small percentage for sure, but what’s a lot? I have no idea the total.
$150 a year for rent, one can get creative how they bounce around housesitting gigs. That doesn’t make it ludicrous.
Even better if they find a housesitting gig that pays, so they would definitely cancel a confirmed ths unpaid gig for a paid gig elsewhere obviously.
Edited in line with forum guidelines.
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As a part time sitter, I can’t imagine someone being able to just use this site as you describe. There’s really not sits that just line up next to each other, that fall right into place so you can go from one place to the next and pay only $150 a year. Unless you are living out of a van, which is not free with the costs associated with it, when one sit ends, you don’t just drive around the corner and have a free place to stay. You need to book an airbnb or a hotel until your next sit begins. If they are not living out of a van, then there’s transportation costs as well. These costs all add up quickly. To me, being a full time sitter without a fixed address is probably more costly than the person who lives out of an apartment full time.
@anon10466095 been sitting since 2012 full-time and never been without a place to sit. The cost of travel to and between sits and the occasional hotel is far less than renting a permanent place to live. Last year after full-time sitting in UK and Europe, my bank account was higher than what it was before I started. A person who has an apartment still pays transport costs to get from A to B and all the other costs associated with renting e.g. electricity etc I know that personally, I am far better off financially since starting sitting. I’ve actually saved money 
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That’s great. I guess the ability to do this would depend on the location where each of us lives. Although I live in an expensive area, we no longer need to own a car and can walk everywhere, including to work. I have lived where housing costs are higher, and where a car was required, so it depends on our choices.
My point in replying to @Mr.T is that it’s not just $150 a year. Perhaps you’ll agree with that statement.
Note: edited personal details for privacy.
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I take offence because we are one of the ‘homeless’ sitters that you are referring to.
We house & petsit full time to get the most cost-effective accommodation whilst we live the nomadic lifestyle that we have CHOSEN to live.
We have lived our life of having no permanent address of our own for over three years and so have enough experience to be able to tell you, without doubt, that it would be impossible for anyone that is ‘broke and desperate’ to use housesitting as an alternative to living in permanent accommodation.
You are right to say, “There are definitely a lot of sitters on this app who use this as a means to get free rent.” - but you are 100% wrong to presume that they do this because they are ‘desperate and broke’ - They do it because they have CHOSEN this way of life.
Just for the record, we are neither desperate nor broke. On our travels, we have met many other sitters who have made the CHOICE to give up the shackles of home ownership.
Some are working remotely, others have other means to fund their lifestyle. None have been ‘desperate or broke’.
The one thing they all have had in common is that they all have been loving the nomadic ‘homeless’ lifestyle that they have CHOSEN to live.
Finally, your final comment
…is also incorrect. We find our petsitting opportunities through THS precisely because we neither need nor want to be paid in cash, our income comes from other sources. If we wanted to get paid in cash then we would find our opportunities on sites that promote cash payment -many do so!
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As a HO who had 4 cancellations from the 3 sits I posted last year, I cannot agree more. What it leads homeowners to do is create a trusted team of housesitters close to them that they turn to rather than open up the sit more widely.
We live in a ‘desirable’ location, and this is not in the spirit of what I believed TH to be about - creating great travel opportunities whilst having the peace of mind that your pets are safe in their homes with caring people who will love them like we do. But for my pets’ sake and my peace of mind, this is what it has come to.
Last year was particularly bad. Before that, we had great sitters from many different parts of the world. It would be nice to return to the true values of what THS is all about.
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I live in a college town. There are quite a few students (often from abroad) living in cramped conditions, sharing the rent with as many as possible. They would love to take a break from that and live in a real home for a few weeks. I think it is quite likely that students in eg London would pay for a THS membership for that. They could keep their place in the dorm.
There are other people that are “between homes”. Couples that split up. Adult children that still live at their parents’ place. People that found a job but no suitable place to live yet. People having a long commute. And there was the sit that went wrong by sitters that resided in army barracks.
Not really homeless as in sleeping under bridges, not really desperate, not really broke, but not able to afford good permanent housing in a good location.
Those people might of course care very well for the pets and for the home.
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All good options to use THS for short term accomodation but as you say none of those can be described as ‘homeless, desperate and broke bouncing around housesitting gigs as a means to get free rent’
Other costs associated with house/petsitting include eating out more often, having to buy basic goods (e.g., spices) that would be on hand in one’s home, lack of continuity related to services, etc.
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I agree with everything you posted! I haven’t been a member for a year and I’ve had three cancellations. I chatted with a rep and nothing was done about it. There has to be penalties
At what point is the review? All cancelled sits? What about a sit made and canceled months in advance where both parties are okay with it? What about sits cancelled on either side for true “extraordinary” reasons: Turned back at a border, pet died, sick child, serious health issue, unforeseen travel delay?
I have no problem keeping private information private, but the current system only registers complaints about “disputed” cancellations. This requires both sitters and HOs who feel “let down” by a cancellation to formally report it. If the other party can offer any reason, the most that will happen is THS will “watch” the account, and apparently it will take another dispute for them to even notice. The policy of what it would actually take to boot a member for cancellation doesn’t seem public.
The new product update which many dislike for other reasons, is at least an attempt to get at a few of the cancelations. IMO more can be done, but to me it has to start with data. The company needs to know how often cancelations actually happen, whether both parties have the same understanding, what are the reasons. If they have the information than they can formulate policies to help reduce those numbers.
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In 2019 I did 10 sits on THS - that was the highest number in a year that I’ve done. There was also a very clear reason: I was living in a ~12 m2 garden/tiny house in the garden of my aunt’s house. I wasn’t homeless, nor desperate, but I did appreciate a regular ‘upgrade’ to something larger and more comfortable.
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My spouse and I are tied down to our beloved feline overlords, and his job has been pushing for more “in office/hybrid” work over the past year. We’re thankful when we can get away for a weekend, or a week, or more. We are thankful for the savings we get during a sitcation both in not having to find accomodations and having someone care for our cats in return for a home stay. And no doubt about it, we are envious of those who can be full time nomads.
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Any mid-March plans to be away?