Hi I have spoken to 3 sitters & discussed transport options and offered to collect from the train station - 2 have declined (one was for the future) and 3 others are now not responding to messages at all. The 1 I wanted has not committed at all. I am now in panic mode.
It is difficult to tell with the info given, if your listing is still “active.”
The sitter that you want/like—give them 24 hours to commit, and if they don’t, move on. The sitter will understand.
The ones who are not responding, decline all of them.
Unpause or repost your listing asap.
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We need a few more details to help you. I can see you joined the forum at the end of May, so was this your first sit, or have you had THS sitters before?
Did they apply for a sit you had advertised, or did you invite them directly? It’s just if you invited them directly, then it could just be that they realised they can’t help you at this moment.
When you say you’ve spoke to 3 sitters, do you mean via messaging, or actually verbally spoken to them? It’s just if we knew someone had arranged 3 chats, it would put us off, over someone who just thinks we’re a perfect match for them.
It could be something really simple with what you’re saying or relaying that could be having an impact, so give us a few more details, because this forum is fantastic at helping owners with profiles etc.
Also, you can even add your THS profile link to your forum profile, and ask for feedback on your listing and mention when your dates are, because there’s sometimes sitters on this forum that may have been able to help, it just depends. But also, this forum has helped get loads of owners sitters, just by suggesting small tweaks in an owners profile.
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@Lynne05 are these sitters that applied to your listing ?
Or did you search for sitters and find these profiles and invite them ?
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Not sure what has happened, but just to be sure. All members are looking for a good match (for them) and communication before an agreement is made is just that. Before a sit is confirmed both parties can pull out for any reason. I would think the polite way would be to say clearly that one is moving forward, but even members who don’t - hosts or sitters - can pull out. Nothing is final before a host has sent an invitation to sit AND the sitter has accepted.
I understand that this can be stressful, in particular for a new member learning to navigate. All members should have a plan B if (even) a confirmed sit falls through. If you want to, you can get help with your listing, maybe a few tweaks to get the right applicants. If so, you can add your link to your forum profile:
How to add a listing or profile link to your Forum profile!
Best of luck!
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You said you spoke to them. Does that mean you had three separate phone conversations and they all three declined after the call? Are you discussing something to do that is not in your listing that turned them off. I would ask them. Email them and say, I am trying to learn, please let me know if something I said in our conversation changed your mind. Tell them thank you and promise not to respond. That the email is for learning information only.
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Yes they applied to me. And we had chats online and then they wanted to chat in real life. One has finally replied saying she is no longer interested and changed her travel. One promised to call me back yesterday morning whilst she checked travel and then sent a message last night that she would give me a response within the hour and still waiting. I think it is more complicated than I was expecting.
Most of our sits we have applied , the host has replied and we’ve had a chat or video call the same day and then confirmed the sit . Often within hours . Good prompt communication is important not just when arranging a sit but also very important during a sit .
If these sitters are not replying promptly (or at all ), you can decline their application.
Then unpause your listing and get some new applications. Unfortunately the first five to apply may be quick to put in application in but aren’t necessarily the best sitters for your sit . They may not have even read the listing properly at the time that they applied . If they are seriously interested in your sit they should have researched their travel plans ( flights etc ) to get to your destination .
When you decline an application you could add a message “ since I’ve not heard back from you I assume that you are no longer interested and I am declining your application “
Then unpause your listing so that more can apply …
This is how to unpause your listing …
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If people are really interested they will confirm a sit immediately. I always do. If there is a phone conversation (sometimes there isn’t and just messages) and I am offered the sit in the phone conversation. I imediately click confirn when recieving their offer. If they are messing you about with excuses etc. then just move on.
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Why are you in a panic-are your dates very close?
It sounds as though you had some initial interest and then for whatever reason it’s gone wrong at the initial comms phase of the process. This is always a good test of whether it’s a great ‘match’. Initial comms ‘feel out’ the other side prior to inviting them for a video chat, after that is concluded the HO invites a sitter to CONFIRM they’re still able to do the sit. Sometimes the sitter will decide it’s not for them and DECLINES the formal OFFER. These are important key words and phases….
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In your initial post, you mentioned that you talked to the applicants about transport and collecting them from the train station…was this information included in your listing? If this info is not in your listing, it should definitely be added so applicants know in advance what is required to get to your place if it isn’t super easy.
Also, when you say you chatted with them online, was that just messages or a video conference? Having a video/phone conference would save a lot of back and forth.
If your dates are super close, put up a last-minute post in the forum to help gain more applicants.
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It sounds a little strange that ALL of them were flakey. So did you perhaps say you speaking to others too? If so, don’t do that. The one you feel most connected to, is the one to correspond with fast to see if your initial impression is still the same, and then by being speedy with that, it means if you decide they aren’t for you, you can simply move on to the next favourite.
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Hi we have now a sitter reserved. The last one. As per the first persons comments I contacted them all via message to make sure they were aware of the location etc. We live in a fabulous place in the mountains. 1 was inviting nterest for any future sits, which was fine. The 2nd one who sounded great then changed her mind and the information on a video call. So those 2 were then declined. I had 1 other young lady that texted adhoc over a few days telling me she was finalising her travel. In fact I think she was playing us off against another possible sit. In the end we contacted a young lady from Milan who will arrive the day before so we can explain our home the area etc. All confirmed. But it was more complicated than I expected and know for next time that I need to see how serious the first people are and not feel bad if I decline immediately.
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