I would maybe regard a cancellation at 8 weeks notice as a bit of an inconvenience. Not as a horrible experience.
3 Likes
Whilst 8 weeks should be enough time for HO to find a replacement sitter , they have already been through this process and trusted that the sitter would keep to their agreement. Any cancellation that is not for an extraordinary circumstance is against the code of conduct which both HO and sitters agree to adhere to when signing up to THS . A sitter would also be very inconvenienced if a HO cancelled 8 weeks before and wouldnât be covered by the THS insurance.
If there is no repercussion for a sitter or HO who cancels ( when itâs not for an extraordinary circumstances) then what is the point of it being in the code of conduct ?
It would be better to be clear and honest and state in T& Cs
âHO and sitter can cancel at anytime for any reason â
Then everyone has the same expectations.
3 Likes
Yes many forum members agree with you as stated on the other thread -
A record of reliability would allow HOs to make an informed choice about which sitter to choose .
This transparency should apply to both HOs and sitters who cancel sits ( where itâs not for extraordinary circumstances)
3 Likes
I didnât say this cancelation was a horrible experience. However I have sitters cancel 2 weeks in advance without a good reason. Earlier this year, I had a sitter go ghost on me 2 days before and not show up to the sit without any communicationâŚ
I donât know about you, but I consider that a horrible experience. When I reported the sitter, I was told that they will âmonitorâ her account.
What good is that going to do? She is still active on the platform, but there is no way of telling how many times she pulled that foolishness
7 Likes
@Catin88 If a member is reported to cancel a sit outside of the Code of Conduct then THS will log this on internal notes, should it happen multiple times then a member can be removed from the platform and this has happened. I know it can be difficult when you do not see behind the scenes, but THS does log these and keep an eye on repeat offenders.
Thank you for reporting this when it happened to you. It is not great but cancellations can happen on both sides of the network and some reasons fall into the exceptional circumstances and some do not.
Please add suggestions on how it would work better for you on this thread as it is monitored by the product team
1 Like
I agree with your thoughts on the 5 applicant rule, particularly if not one of them has read the post. This is the case for us this year. The last 2 years were great. Sadly I thinks this year I do not think I will be renewing.
4 Likes
A suggestion for THS that could help eliminate sitters who cancel because they shop for better locations even after theyâve committed: Create functionality that blocks sitters from accepting a sit for the same days once they cancel a sit. Why: Presumably, if they canceled for legit reasons, they shouldnât be taking another sit anyway. And if you have such functionality, THS wonât need to monitor for such poor behavior.
Sitters who arenât reliable do a disservice to the ecosystem. Personally, once I accept a sit, itâs a bummer if I see a more appealing listing for the same time, but Iâve committed and wouldnât disrupt a HOâs travel plans unless I were incapacitated or such.
11 Likes
Hi @Maggie8K. Thatâs a great idea, but itâs a little more complicated to do that on the THS system than it might seem.
On the system as it stands, only Pet Parents can cancel. So whether the cancelation was due to a sitter issue or an owner issue, additional functionality would need to be added to verify and track who really initiated the cancelation (not just what the homeowner enters) and why. Then whichever party initiated the cancelation, be they owner or sitter, could potentially be blocked for those dates.
Unfortunately thereâs a lot of nuance involved in the myriad reasons for canceling, so this kind of thing can be very complex and therefore difficult to code.
Iâm 
in agreement with this. Iâve only been using THS for less than two years and for the most part had nothing but great experiences up until the beginning of this year. I do feel like some of the applicants I have received in the past six months have been more interested in using our place as a free Airbnb or hotel. I usually follow my gut and decline those quickly.
I also donât expect sitters to be home 24/7 but I am very direct and honest about how needy my dog is and his sensitive temperament of being left alone for more than 5 hours multiple times a day on multiple days. My city is a great place to visit and in the past I had local sitters which was perfect or sitters who had visited before so for them it was more about experiencing the local weather/neighborhood and spending cuddling/caring time with my pet OR they planned their long touristic explorations before or after the sit.
I didnât write a review for one person because it was either that or writing a complaint for leaving my dog alone overnight (for 11 hours) to attend a party we didnât even know about until we woke up the next day. But other than that instance, we thought the person did an excellent job, so Iâm still torn about writing a review to be honest.
2 Likes
@Catin88 agree with this again! I feel like we are both on the same page here. I have had conversations with friends who arenât THS members when I travel with them lately, they notice I seem to be more on edge/anxious, because of one previous bad experience I had. Some of the comments they say to me is that they would be afraid to have strangers in their homes with the potential of them becoming squatters or destroying their homes, not respecting their privacy (looking through things).
I do think that the terms and conditions here are pretty transparent, and trust is huge right? but itâs becoming more difficult to be trustful when people are ignoring your petâs needs or not leaving your place as they found it. Or not reading your profile entirely!
I make sure all my sitters find my home to be relaxing, comfortable and clean and can only expect to find it as I found it.
4 Likes
Absolutely, Iâve even interviewed sitters at my place so they can meet my dogs and so I can gauge their interest in my pets, and had them walk right past my dogs and straight out to the terrace which seemed to be more interesting to them.
1 Like
@BCNGriffs I find that really sad. We could never walk past the dogs, weâd want to meet them straight away and start getting to know them and give them a fuss. A total lack of interest in the pets is a huge red flag and it is really worrying that there are sitters like that on THS
1 Like
@wendy_chicago My goodness, I cannot imagine leaving a dog for 5 hours. Whenever my family is doing a housesit and decide to go out to eat dinner or workout at Planet Fitness, at the 2 hour mark we want to head back to the house to see what the dog is doing. Even with the doggy door, we donât want the dogs to be lonely.
1 Like
@IHeartAnimals Yes, dogs get super lonely, especially now, after the pandemic. Many of them arenât used to being alone for so long! Ours does pretty well with 5 hrs max for one very seldom day. He mostly naps from what weâve seen in our indoor camera (which we remove when we have sitters).
The times weâve left him for 5 hrs is if we see a Broadway show or concert; if itâs more than that, we hire our dog walker/sitter to come in and check on him or take him for walks, feed him, and hangout with him for an hour.
I have a feeling the last sitters we had over, left him alone for more than 5+ multiple times a day (my neighbors downstairs told me they were barely here) and we noticed his mood was restless/annoyed when I got back. It could also be that he was annoyed I wasnât here. I also noticed he wasnât as friendly to new people anymore after the overnight alone incident. This was me taking a chance on people with 1 or less than one review, or only reviews with cats HOâs. Which Iâm still not opposed to doing but I make sure they understand he canât be left alone that long all the time.
2 Likes
When we arrive at a sit the first to get our attention is the dog or doggies who are running up to greet us! We say hello first to them and then greet the hosts! I canât imagine ignoring a dog who is trying to say hello!
If that action does not come naturally to a sitter then its not a good sign of their intentions for the sit!
I can understand you wanting to meet the sitters at your place- if they are local enough for that to happen- but I object to the word âinterviewâ sounds too job like! I see it as a meet & greet and its also a chance for the sitter to check out if the sit is right for them too- it works both ways!
4 Likes
Meeting them locally is a great idea. I try to do this as well. Also great to see if thereâs a connection between the sitter and our dog.
Mine typically loves everyone, but heâs pickier now when we bring someone new to our home, but if theyâre nice and mostly about him, he usually warms up to them pretty quickly. I think animals are pretty intuitive about that. I understand there are instances where dogs rescued as adults have traumas that affect their character, but for the most part, animals know whatâs up.
2 Likes
This isnât a slight to people who have only watched cats, but personally - I want a sitter that has owned a dog or has longtime experience with a dog. I decline sitters who donât have this experience now. âWalking a dogâ for me doesnât count as true experience.
For the 2 bad sits that I have had in the past 3 years, the sitters were only familiar really with cats. They did say how they âwatched a neighborâs dogâ or walked a dog a few times. They were seemingly niceâŚbut that has nothing to do with actual pet care
I really do think there is a difference between cat and dog people. Dog people really understand that the dog has its own bathroom schedule and must be stuck to. They also know that the dog shouldnât be left alone for long periods of time.
The last bad sit that I had, I came home to find the wee-wee pad absolutely soaked. I mean if you picked it up, it would drip urine. That means more poor senior Pixie was left in the house for a loooonnnnggg time. When I questioned the sitter about this, she was defensive. The wee-wee pad is just in case of emergencies, but itâs never to replace an actual walk.
So now, to eliminate headaches, current or past dog ownership is something I require.
4 Likes
100% agree with you. Iâve learned my lesson for sure. One of the most recent new sitters I had, told me they had owned a toy breed dog in their home country, which is why I took a chance on them, but they had their own agenda to explore the city.
After they agreed to do the sit they asked me for a travel bag so they could take him around the city with them (to not leave him home alone), which would be fine if CTA (public transportation) allowed non-service dogs or if he didnât freak out to be around big crowds downtown, but thatâs not the case. He likes being outdoors but not around tons of tourists that could easily step on him (heâs only 6.5 lbs).
When I questioned them about it, they were a bit defensive but in a sweet way, âYour city is so beautiful, and we only had such a short stay. 
â
Which I have nothing against, but perhaps they should only apply for cat sits.
From now on, I have a code word in my listing to ensure theyâve read our entire profile and understand the responsibilities, and I will also make sure they can speak/understand English well, as I feel like there were a few things that got lost in translation with people that donât speak or understand the language well.
3 Likes
@Shasta @wendy_chicago You two are right. Cat caretaking and dog caretaking are really different. My family had 2 dogs for 16 years so it was natural when we starting THS watching dogs. They require alot of attention and we love giving it. The first time we watched a cat, we the humans were the ones wanting more attention from the cat. My youngest son was in distress because he wanted the cat to play/cuddle/snuggle with him and the cat gave him the cold shoulder 
Weâve done several catsits since then and realized that some cats donât want attention or to be petted or played with all day.
1 Like
@IHeartAnimals yeah, cats want to be left alone⌠or they only want you around from a distance; they like their own space, for sure. I grew up with cats too, and I only remember one cat wanting attention, and we always say there was a dog trapped in her body 