Thanks @Angela_L - it was raised at the time. Two sit cancellations by one host in two countries! All we received was a “they’ve been told it’s unacceptable” and that was that, zero repercussion for the behaviour
Hi @Cuttlefish I have DM’d you …
OH WOW. I’ve been active for over a year on here, and I had no idea that I had to “narc” on every single sit that deviated from what was agreed upon.
I just had a month-long sit cancel, that was part of a series of sits that kept me on the West Coast for a long stretch. The HO gave no reason other than “change of plans”, and removed me from the sit. It was “confirmed” and had been settled for weeks.
I thought THS monitored cancellations like that!
After all, if there are so few cancellations, then certainly it should be easy to keep track and read through the correspondence for that “handful” of sits that were confirmed but didn’t happen.
It goes both ways – homeowners are doing this too. Any additional ratings or score needs to be implemented on both sides of the equation.
@misschef - totally agree that this needs to be addressed for everyone on both sides.
although not great, it is enlightening to hear that this is not an isolated case in terms of my own experience. obviously with all of the responses from HOs and sitters, that it would benefit the TH community and improve the platform if it were addressed. i hope the issue can be elevated to the people that can… this is such a great idea and platform if it can be counted on to be more reliable. my first experience (we both were new), was a good one!
I woke up to a message that my sit was unconfirmed too. Luckily I found a different petsit to replace it. But there was another petsit that was also cancelled and I still haven’t been able to fully replace that one yet. THS needs to show publicly how many times each sitter and HO has cancelled a sit. If I was interested in a listing and saw that the HO has cancelled 2 or more times, I wouldn’t even apply
From what I have experienced as a homeowner/petsitter and am hearing from other home owners, I do not believe this statement. Should every homeowner expect at least one cancellation a year? I had one. Is two still acceptable? What about three? We bailed out a couple who had 3 cancellations for one posted sit in Spain.
When we decline a repeat pet sit because we want to be home, we always tell the home owners we can be back up if the sitter cancels. It gives them a peace of mind and makes us feel less guilty for declining the invitation.
@Chrissie I’m a new member and I have no intention of cancelling, unless I’m dying😊. My word is my bond and I don’t think it’s accurate or helpful to point the finger at anyone…especially new members who want to do well.
@MarieHuggins @Chrissie does have a valid point. Recent THS advertising does seem to be attracting some new less scrupulous members. You are clearly not in that category but more longer term members like us are seeing a slow change and hopefully THS is going to be monitoring this change carefully.
@Chrissie there was a thread regarding this. I have attached a link (I hope)!
@Lokstar @Chrissie that’s really sad to hear. My motivation is purely to be with animals. I feel upset for HOs and animals
if that is not universal among sitters.
Thanks for that Twitcher, not seen that before. That certainly explains why some sitters are less than dedicated.
Marie, glad to hear you are dedicated, and obviously all new sitters aren’t unreliable, but you only have to read through this thread, to see that some definitely are, one cancelled because she thought she was getting paid .
I imagine there are dedicated and undedicated in both new and old sitters🩷
I prefer a meet and greet or interview if you will. Applicants are usually not local so it’s done virtually with a series of questions for personal suitability, habits and to ensure the sitter is as interested as the home owner. It’s a two way street.
I’ve had numerous owners tell me about sitter cancellations they’ve experienced and I’ve had owners reach out to me directly asking if I could fill in for the person who was their first choice that bailed out last minute. I suspect my experience is not unique.
I find myself in a situation this summer where I will be flying from a sit in Madrid to LAX to get my car, then drive to Arizona for another sit. I didn’t think this through very well but it is what it is. I would prefer to cancel but I will not do that. Our TOS says only under extraordinary circumstances and my inconvenience or a better offer does not qualify.
@jcvbva Thank you for confirming that and the product team confirmed it today also, so I wasn’t dreaming - phew!
I believe that the majority of THS members (HOs and sitters) follow THS policy and do not cancel unless there are extraordinary circumstances
However any cancellation , causes stress and anxiety and there are a concerning number of cancellations reported on this forum - both by sitters and HOs where it has not been due to extraordinary circumstances or it has been repeated.
I agree with @MarieHuggins that we cannot assume that this is down to new members only . There is no way to know if this is new members or members who have been doing this for years as this information is not available publicly.
From what I can gather about the process by member services a cancellation on the system doesn’t automatically raise a red flag / trigger as it’s assumed that it has been mutually agreed .
Cancellations are only monitored by member services when it is reported to them . Most members HO and sitters are not aware of this and so don’t necessarily report a cancellation (which is not due to extraordinary circumstances) to THS.
An idea would be that when a HO goes to “unconfirm”= cancel a sit it links to this FAQ as a reminder of the policy and process . If a sit is unconfirmed it could also automatically send this article to the sitter so that they know how to report it if they have concerns .
This would reinforce the existing THS policy that some members ( a minority ) appear to be ignoring or not aware of .
Hi @Sally1mustang , and welcome to the forum! Yes, it’s important to have all the info before committing to a sit. Many people like video calls, some prefer voice calls. Here are a couple of earlier discussions on the subject.
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/what-questions-do-you-ask-on-a-video-call
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/yall-get-interviews/
Are you a sitter or a pet/home owner?
I have just had a HO cancel 2 days before the sit