Late March. Going on a sit. Have a sitter. Sorry.
I’ve been sitting for almost 5 years with over 40 5 star reviews. Until this winter I had never cancelled a sit. I had 2 sits booked, many months in advance, that were a 2 days drive from home. I ended up canceling them and rebooking the dates with sits closer to home when my 94 year old mother’s health started failing. The sits were canceled well over a month before they were do to start leaving the HO time to find another sitter. Do you really think I should be banished for wanting to care for an elderly parent??? Would you like to be treated that way? Also bear in mind that the sitters are not a “work force”. If I were working I’d be getting paid. I chose THS because it is an exchange. I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience but that everyone who cancels should be punished for the transgressions of others.
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I suppose we could all compare this issue with the overlapping issue. That rule was introduced because a very small minority were doing the wrong thing and apparently leaving sits early (figures or facts never disclosed). So because of that, every member was penalised and the overlapping rule was brought in, much to the disdain of many. I guess by penalising sitters who cancel, we are then penalising those who cancel for legitimate reasons as well, of which I am sure is the majority. We are again putting everyone in the same basket because it would be too difficult to say and to prove who is legitimate and who isn’t.
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Absolutely. I’m new on THS, but I’ve done Airbnb a lot, and when I’m looking there at a potential place to stay, I look at the host’s cancellation rate. That’s a red flag to me. I think THS should have the same kind of thing. Not a punishment, just letting others know the stats.
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I agree, I wish there were a place on the member’s profile to let other people be aware. As a HO, I had a sitter cancel whom I had had lined up for months, about 6 weeks before I was heading to Europe for nearly 3 weeks. He did NOT have a legitimate reason. I contacted THS about it (mainly to see how I could report it, as I didn’t want him at this point anyway) but they never replied. I think this would be a great feature to make both sides accountable.
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I put my dates down as to what I needed. The sitter actually asked if I could be flexible. I’m sorry but no. She stated that she would arrive as soon as possible but would be about a day and half late.
Is this a sitter who had accepted your sit? If so that is totally unacceptable and they should be reported to THS. If it was in the course of your pre-acceptance chat then I presume you would just move on to another potential sitter and delete this application.
Welcome @VeronicaD to the forum .
It’s not unusual for a sitter to ask questions around flexibility of dates at the application stage as some homeowners add dates either side of the beginning and end date for a handover .
If this was a confirmed sit where the sitter had accepted and it was showing on your dashboard as a confirmed sit then you can report the sitter to support@trustedhousesitters.com. You will also need to un-confirm the sitter so that more can apply.
I hope you find a sitter that is available for the dates you need .
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@VeronicaD hello and welcome!
@Silversitters offers a post that is comprehensive.
I also underscore that asking for flexibility is not unusual or a violation of THS T & C’s or the member code of conduct, nor is your choice to decline the flexibility request.
Seems all good to me…
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If your dates are firm and you have strict requirements about arrival times, then by all means state that clearly in your listing.
You’ll see loads of posts on here about flexible dates, hosts not having travel booked/finalized yet, posted dates having built-in buffers (or just the opposite!), or supplementary coverage. Applicants have no other way of knowing your specific situation unless it’s clearly spelled out in the listing; being dismissive of someone who’s merely inquiring for more information seems unnecessary.
I totally agree with Joe even though it hasn’t happened to me yet. I realize there may be some valid reasons for cancelling a sit (I read a review by a couple that I wanted to pet sit for me; when they got to their sit destination, the conditions were definitely not as the HO had presented). Jpe, thank you for your standing by your commitments even when it wasn’t convenient for you. Because of your openness and standard of honoring commitments, I would definitely consider you for a sit. Thanks for posting. Hopefully THS will consider some kind of action.
Just got a second email asking me to sit, from a homeowner whose sitter just cancelled on them. This is their THIRD attempt after the previous two bailed! A really highly desirable area which I would have jumped at had I not just confirmed another sit. Crazy reason the last one cancelled, just crazy.
Don’t know what the answer is anymore rather the HO’s qualifying applicants REALLY really carefully and having to ask a lot more questions than normal. I believe this five application rule has to end, it always has been and always will be, my belief that this has caused the problem to escalate massively.
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I’m probably going to regret jumping back into this thread, but anyway. I have to say that I don’t understand your anger directed at people you don’t know, for reasons you don’t know. Let’s assume that what you have been told by the owners is true. That for no good reason, these sitters have bailed on them. But how to do you know? What if the owner changed the dates a few times? That happened to me recently. What if they made demands that you didn’t know about? What if they were rude to them during their discussions and it gave the sitter pause? Every day, we read about sits that are into review before anyone can even apply. If these sits are as good as you say, without potential issues none of us know about, then they will have no trouble finding someone.
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@anon10466095 I have built up a pretty good speaking relationship with these people and have spoken and discussed things on numerous occasions with them, they are lovely. I DO know why the second lot cancelled, it was NOT a valid reason. None of what you have said happened. I don’t judge people but am a pretty good judge OF people. They have simply been unlucky, chosen the wrong sitters. But anyway, I feel sorry for these folk, I passed an opinion, and that’s all I have to say. The thread is too long anyway lol
I don’t envy an owner trying to make a decision with a limited pool of applicants but from my experience they don’t always cover themselves in glory when it comes to dealing with the applicants they do get.
Latest application day unread for days, then days go by after that with no response. No acknowledgement, no message, nothing. Then after a week from posting automated message ‘these dates have been cancelled’
Glad they decided to cancel their trip before getting a sitter to spend money and only watered their time but am I to believe there won’t be a bigger than normal chance this owner will arbitrarily cancel in future even if they had selected a sitter?
On this forum, we’ve heard from people who have been faced with cancellations by both the pet sitters and from the pet owners. For my part, I have no desire to bash either side because I know that I have no way to know what the actual circumstances are behind why someone cancels. It’s impressive you feel you can judge others and their situations so quickly after speaking with them.
Have you ever been faced with a situation and you had to cancel something really important, make up a socially acceptable excuse so you could navigate the situation privately? I hope not, but I have. Did I deserve to be bashed? No. But a few did. To me, that told me more about them than about me.
Having said that, I’m happy to give others the benefit of the doubt for awhile. But, if there is a pattern of negative behavior, then that’s it.
I’ve said on this thread that as sitters and as owners, we need the cancellation history on the profile. People have protested this because they say it violates their privacy, that THEY did it for a good reason. They do have their reviews posted though, which anyone who’s a member can read, some post their Airbnb link and links to professional accounts. I removed my Airbnb link and said in my profile that I’d share it separately because I had one owner ask me why I traveled to a certain area, which was really not appropriate. It had no bearing on my sit for them.
If someone gets dinged on their reviews for something they felt was unfair, they have an opportunity to explain during their introductory letter when applying. It can be the same for anyone who says they had a valid excuse for cancelling a sit. For those who say they should remove sitters who cancel, what about the owners? Should they only be removed for cancellations? What about owners who have left their homes in an awful state? What about owners who don’t disclose issues with their pets? I’ve faced both of those things. Should those owners get kicked off? If no, why not? Who gets to decide the reasons people stay on here or not? To me, people should stay on as long as it’s not something egregious like putting people or pets at risk, criminal activity or similar. It’s probably likely that they do this already.
If there is history of who cancels sits and there are people who do this all the time, then we will know. Then, if someone choses them, it’s on them.
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I probably sound horribly ignorant but I didn’t even realise this was a feature of Airbnb profile listings. I have an Airbnb trip planned for next week so I’m going to now check this out. Didn’t even know to look for this. Thank you for this valuable information and I agree, this would factor into my decision to book if I was aware of this. I have been literally going off reviews and reviews alone up until now!
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Ooh. PM me.
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The entire thread is one big virtue signaling and self promotion opportunity. Amazing how judgmental some are willing to be without any context.
If this thread were really about cancelations it would have included HOs canceling instead of specifically excluding them. Not just sitters. It’s about promoting oneself.
The vast majority of members take their commitments very seriously and yes there is room for more effective policies and insurance options for these situations.
Should I have been left holding an 800 dollar flight when my last sit was canceled by the HO two weeks in advance? No. Should a full time sitter who is diagnosed with cancer and has to cancel multiple sits at once be penalized with a flag on their account? No. To promote the idea that someone be penalized for cancelation (even those due to a personal tragedy or illness) is disgusting. Try promoting better policies for vetting cancelations and better insurance options to balance losses incurred.
Stop acting like it could never happen to you. That you, sitter or HO, would never do it. Just because you take your commitments seriously doesn’t mean misfortune can’t find you and force you to cancel at some point.
Instead of excoriating sitters, advocate for better THS policies and procedures to address the problem and to compensate for losses incurred.
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Hi @anon42826925. Thank you for taking the time to comment. I’m not a religious person, but one saying always comes to mind when I read that someone wants to punish others for what they deem to be something they would never do: There but for the grace of god go I.
I hope we can all be a little kinder to those around us. It costs nothing, and we ourselves may need it someday.
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