We put up a last minute sit due to sudden sitter cancellation and immediately received 5 applications. This was great, especially for a 2 month sit! We had to decline 2 due to zero reviews, but were very excited to speak with the remaining 3. Within less than 24 hours, all 3 had withdrawn. (We have lots of excellent reviews). Do sitters get annoyed when asked to do a Zoom call, rather than just approving? Very confused.
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An application isnât a commitment. They could have confirmed another sit, or re-read the listing and decided they werenât interested, or just made other plans that conflict with those dates.
Itâs definitely not an issue of asking for a zoom call. Most sitters wonât take a sit without meeting virtually.
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Zoom calls are a great idea -
There is an inevitable rush to apply as only five can apply before applications are paused . Itâs likely that some have rushed to apply and then read the listing in more detail later and realised itâs not a good fit for them. Or realised that transport to your location over the holiday period will be too costly last minute.
Is there anything in the new mandatory pet care category that was introduced this week that might have put sitters off when they read the listing ? E.g the Length of time pets can be left alone for ? Or the expected arrival and departure time ?
You will need to manually unpause your listing to get more applications.
Most experienced sitters are booked up over the holiday period so new sitters with references only ( no THS reviews) may be all that are available for a last minute sit at this time of year .
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Yes, it seems some people get a bit stroppy, with an attitude that âif you havenât responded to me within 24 hours, you donât respect meââ.
I understand that people are busy with full lives and unexpected turns, and have ended up with some wonderful sits that I would have missed out on had I withdrawn my application after a day.
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It is unusual that all three canceled. You are probably in a popular area and people who do this full time like a longer stay and wanted to get in before the five applications closed. They either then took a closer look at the listing and decided it wasnât a match or said yes to another sit that conflicted with your dates. Since itâs the holidays and there may be other last minute sits available, I think itâs the sitters market so to speak so as soon as you see a sitter that may be a fit just arrange the zoom call as soon as you can.
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Due to anxiety and not always having access to Wi-Fi and/or a computer, I personally do not like video calls. I prefer phone calls and would probably withdraw my app if I didnât find the sit as appealing after all.
Also, If I see that my message has been read and I donât receive a response in 3-7 days I will withdraw my application.
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Many sitters apply for several sits, some of which will have overlapping dates, so it could be that theyâve agreed another sit since making application. As has been said, an application is simply an expression of interest - and maybe should be named as such - and the only way of contacting a HO to find out more. Lots of things can happen between submitting an application and hearing back from the HO so itâs always a good idea to respond very promptly, especially after a cancellation or when the sit dates are imminent.
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In fact THS recommends this. When I hit the send button on an application, I get a pop-up from THS advising me to apply for even more sits.
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Had you reached out to them at all in those 24 hours?
Sitters donât have much choice but to apply immediately for a sit and then spend some time looking at the finer details and the logistics. If they work out how they will get there, costs for flights/travel etc the sit will be closed as it will have had 5 applications. So they apply and then withdraw if itâs not suitable. They will also have a number of other applications out and may have decided to go with one of those.
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On the opposite side, however, I have several applications still waiting for a response from HOs 2 of which were sent 1 month ago. With a limit of 5 applications, are HOs that overwhelmed or just lackadaisical? Now that I think about it, do I want to sit for persons who donât reply AT ALL for a length of time?
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I have withdrawn applications for several reasons but I always send a message advising of the reason for my withdrawal which is a polite thing to do.
So sorry that you have had 3 withdrawals without a message
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We typically get accepted without doing a video, but we also know-know the areas where we sit really well, and we love all pets so from our point of view, we donât feel the need to do a video chat unless the pet owner wants to, and most owners donât ask for a video chat with ourselves, they probably feel reassured by our reviews. That said, we would never get annoyed or back out of sit that wanted a video chat, as long as the video chat was organised within a day or two of applying.
If itâs a last minute sit and you didnât get back to them within 24 hours like you said, then I can understand them withdrawing. For ourselves (we sit as a couple), when we apply for last minute sits, we donât hold on for long, we expect the owner to get back to us really quickly if they like the sound of us. Some owners with last minute sits havenât quite firmed up on their plans, so I wouldnât hold on, if I didnât hear anything back really quickly, not necessarily to accept our application, just a message back.
Sitters can apply for multiple sits for the same dates, the same as owners can accept up to 5 applicants etc, so itâs highly likely that a different owner asked them to sit quicker than you got back to them.
I (like a lot of sitters) wonât put my life on hold for someone I donât know, not even for a few days, whereas if someone responds quickly I naturally think we are better suited, not necessarily accepting our application, just a simple message in response to our application, I naturally want to help them more, because theyâve probably said in a message that we sound perfect for one another, which is what I would have thought when I applied.
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I withdraw within 48 hours if hosts donât reply to schedule a video chat, so we can figure out whether thereâs a mutual fit.
I often apply for sits that overlap, then see how things unfold. Thereâs no obligation till mutual acceptance of a sit. Plus, when Iâm thinking about traveling, sitting is only one option. I might end up using that stretch of time to do nonsit travel, instead, for instance. Or maybe something else comes up fun wise or obligation wise.
Thatâs the case with many sitters, because many of us donât sit full time and we have nice homes and various options for entertainment and/or travel. And during the holiday season, there are many, many sits and sitters often are spoiled for choice, especially if they have good reviews.
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BTW, if the sit is soon, applicants might have checked travel costs in the interim and discovered that theyâre too expensive. That can happen anytime, but especially during the holiday season. Of course, it can depend on where theyâre coming from. On profiles, they might look close, but actually might be traveling from elsewhere farther away.
Plus, if sitters apply for multiple sits, even getting one that doesnât overlap with yours might be problematic, say if they end up in a different part of the world or country and end up trying to try to stay in that region for a stretch.
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In these circumstances my guess is that the sitters loved the idea of a two month sit, applied quickly to secure a spot, and then read the details. I have never had a sitter refuse a video chat so I doubt thatâs the reason.
As suggested, maybe itâs cost of travel or timing that deterred them. There is always a chance the sitters see something in your profile that doesnât work for them - 6am feedings or strict limits they can be out of the house. I also keep hearing that listings have new requirements for photos and other boxes to tick. Maybe the listing changed/updated automatically when your sitter cancelled and things (esp photos) donât look right? If I were you, Iâd check my listing to make sure itâs still showing correctly and all the required info there. yo can also attach it here for review (if you havenât already).
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It could just be that they applied and then got other sits they had applied to previously, or realized that the sit wouldnât work for them. I wouldnât take it personally. You can still write to a sitter who has withdrawn and they can write to you, so you could always ask them.
I think itâs conceivable (and Iâm speculating) that some local sitters might apply, but then withdraw as a way of letting you know they might be available but then taking it off site as they may prefer to get paid for local last minute sits and not do them through the platform.
Some sitters will apply to sits in desirable locations even if they canât do the dates as once they apply, they will be able to write again, so if next time the dates work but they donât make it to the first 5 application slots, they could still apply by letting you know that they are available and interested.
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Because 5 pending applications disables further applications, experienced THS sitters know to âapply now then look laterâ. If your location is popular and a browsing sitter is interested, they know that not applying at the moment of discovery means theyâre likely not going to get a chance to apply. Once they get an application in, they can take a breath, look through your profile, check their schedule and check on travel costs. If the stars donât line up, they withdraw. Makes total sense as a reasonable adaption to the 5 application limit.
I think the switch from unlimited to the 5 applications limit has had some serious downside knock on effects. Itâs not really clear to me why THS went with that change unless there were hosts complaining about deluges of applications. I recall being deluged until I discovered the âpause applicationsâ button that proved plenty adequate for taking care of that problem. Since the 5 applications rule, lots of other things have changed in the THS world and I wonder if the limit isnât more harm than good now and needs to be reconsidered. Then again, if THS actually cared what I or anyone on this forum thinks, theyâd be launching more than zero polls on this forum. AlasâŚ
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In my experience, I typically withdraw applications before I have had any sort of contact with the host. If they havenât read my application yet, I will message and say we are no longer available. If they have read my application, and it has been at least a day since doing so and they still havenât responded, I usually donât say anything.
If a host actually reached out and expressed interest in us as a potential pickâlike you seemed to have done hereâ and we decided to withdraw for any reason, I would definitely send a message along with it.
Like many have said, it is unlikely the video call request was the culprit in all three instances. While it is possible some may not like to do that, most sitters in this camp will tend to do them anyway. I also think a good deal of sitters find them as important as the hosts does.
In housesitting world, a lot can happen in 24 hours, and like others have said, it is possible that they had already applied to other sits by time they applied to yours. With the number of sits that THS lists, it is possible that even within a couple of hours of submitting to you, they could have potentially seen other opportunities they liked as well. So even hosts that reply relatively quickly can find themselves losing applicants for this reason, as while sitters may not have had any open applications for other sits at the time of applying, that can change quickly.
That you seem to be in a popular location bodes well and I am sure you will find a great fit. Good luck!
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@JSCS1, that seems odd. We believe that Video calls are required by most housesitters.
A niche group within housesitter community actively seeks longer duration housesits. Weâve completed severals housesits of one to three month duration.
Suggest either you got unlucky or thereâs some aspect of your listing that is unattractive and deterred applicants as they reviewed listing in detail.
Regardless, suggest relist and forget about initial batch.
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Please give new sitter a chance and at least a video call. If no one would have accepted me when I started, I wouldnât have almost 70 reviews now. Since you know about the 5 application rule you could have assumed what the reason is for quick applications and withdraws in 24 hours 
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