I haven’t seen anyone on this forum complain about a video call, in fact as far as I can tell it’s widely appreciated and even expected, to make sure the partnership is a good match. It’s very possible that those five applicants had applied to multiple sits, which as you know are in last-minute needy mode before the holidays. So in a nutshell, it’s very likely that out of that pool of applicants you got you were unlucky in that the applicants got sits that were either more convenient to their location or easily reached, better lengths of time for them, easier pets with more flexibility to spend time with family and friends, or any number of factors.
I’m so sorry your sitter canceled so close to the holidays! I hope there were truly extraordinary circumstances. And best of luck. You may need to break the sit up as an alternative if an interested sitter is not free for the holidays but could start right after. If you’re open to that, it would be a good idea to put FLEXIBLE DATES right under your heading. Personally, as a sitter I would be hesitant to do that, but I know it can and does work on this site.
I am a sitter - and I recently withdrew interest from a ‘last minute’ sit after the HO did not respond, with a holding response or otherwise, within 10 hours of having read my application. I would normally leave it a bit longer than that, but the sit started in a few days, and time was of the essence. I had to move on - because I was offered a similar last minute sit, and asked to confirm straight away. Of course, as often happens to sitters, once I withdrew from the earlier sit, I received a message from that HO saying they were just about to respond. I sent a polite cheery message back, explaining why I had to move on, and wishing them all the best in finding a sitter. But I didn’t receive anything back - it left me with the impression they were in a bit of a huff.
I would not even give them that long, 3 - 4 days is probably my limit. With just 5 applicants at a time, and if I can see they have read my application, but chose not to even reply, that tells me they are not my type of people. Not organised. Not committed. Showing a lack of respect towards potential sitters.
That’s exactly how I started almost 2 years ago to the day, and now I am about to do my 3rd Christmas sit, (and have next year’s Christmas sit, as a non member, booked) with 50 review behind me, We all have to start somewhere.
There is quite some detail missing in your story, so I am guessing a bit. A last minute sit today means the very busy Christmas period. If I would apply to your urgent last minute sit, I would expect some form of reply to acknowledge my application within 24 hours. I always, always check flights and carhire (if needed) costs before applying. And I will explain that I have done that in my application, so that you know I will not back out because I am surprised after applying by the travel costs. But not everyone does that. I will always indicate in my application that I would like a video call. Most people do, but there are exceptions.
And then of course we all apply to multiple sits at for the same period. First come first serve logic for me. I an only petsit on one location in popular periods. So the first HO that confirms gets me. Some are very quick.
It might be the wording of your invitation to have a zoom meeting? Can you share what you said please? Often tone matters….
Recently I had a reply from a HO to let us know that they’d had lots of excellent applications and would be taking their time very soon to sift through them. I cancelled my application. The reply felt impersonal and like an HR department reply….
Why did you ‘have to’ decline them? Everyone has to start somewhere. You may have missed out on an enthusiastic, competent new sitter by not at least being open to further contact. Now, when opening up for more applicants, I’d suggest responding politely to each person and if they sound nice, however inexperienced, why not set up a chat to get to know them? You never know- they might be a perfect fit!
Our very first sit was in Australia- applying from overseas- a one month Christmas sit. First time hosts. We had a great phone call and took a chance on each other and it worked out perfectly! 130+ sits later and we’re still grateful to those first hosts!
Have never used Zoom for this, but do you go straight to suggesting a call? Cause some people may have a few questions or prefer to have certain things confirmed by text..in writing, before even considering a video call, especially after the recent changes. (They may be more selective now due to these).
It’s also considerably easier to do things in that order, instead of after. Calls are usually the last step in the selection process for both.
I personally don’t do calls straight away, and there are some generations who generally prefer texts over normal phone calls even with people they already know, so I can imagine they don’t either.
It seems that there are two ideas being presented throughout this thread. One is to realize that there are many reasons a sitter may withdraw, and not take it personally, or to realize that sitters withdraw because they take a lack of timely response personally.
Whether sitters should only wait 24 hours (ish) or not has probably been skewed here as it’s a last minute sit. If the host wants someone quickly then they need to respond asap as in within a couple of hours or the sitters may think they’re not serious or just fishing. Agree with @Lokstar that dismissing new sitters without a chat could be a mistake, they might be a great fit and you need someone keen! Post again & hopefully it will work its magic for you. #christmascheer
Unfortunately due to the ‘5 application cut off’ rule that THS introduced many sitters feel they have to ‘apply’ immediately in an area they’re interested in when a sit crops up, especially if it’s in a part of the world that doesn’t get many sits advertised.
I know this sounds crazy but I’ve done it myself - I get an alert on my phone, I’m out and about and can’t look through the sit or even dates in great detail because I don’t have my glasses or my phone only had 1% charge (for eg). Then when I get back to base and can look in detail I realise it’s not going to work for me (needs a car/dates don’t align/house spec just won’t suit me).
As a sitter I won’t accept a sit without doing a video call so I think/hope it’s unlikely to be that.
It’s funny how sitters complain if hosts don’t respond in a timely fashion to their applications yet many freely admit they apply to sits they can’t even do, and withdraw their applications without any notice which is rude and unfair to a host who has to field all these applications and maybe contend with pauses in applications due to all the invalid sitter-applicants.
It could be the listing itself, especially if it is altered after appying, it could be that the sitter got other offers (sits or invitations from family/ friends for Christmas events, or work obligations) or it could be that they checked transport and found out that the planes/ trains were full, the price had skyrocketed or :other:
If you would like to know, there is no harm done in reaching out and asking. Input from the community forum would be speculations only.
That being said - many sitters will want and expect a video-call before deciding anything, as many of us sitters would like to meet the host and have a chat before we decide whether we would like to go forward or not. Only after a video-chat will we make a decision on a sit or not (as the hosts often do). I have been declined after a videocall and I have also withdrawn after a video-call. It doesn’t have to be anything “wrong” as such, it is all about a good match. So I wouldn’t think that was the reason (depending somewhat on how it was worded - the wording can sometimes come across as a “employer”-style message that some sitters dislike).
I joined after the 5 appication was a thing. I didn’t know until I just saw this that prior to that applications could be paused. That seems like the perfect solution in and of itself for the problem of deluge which would be an issue for popular locations.
I think the reason why the five application limit was imposed, was because even though a homeowner can still delete unsuitable applicants and see more, just having the system automatically stop with five means most homeowners will start by considering those five. This means that while a sitter might not get into the “lottery” for one of these sits, if they do get an application in, they’ve got a better shot at getting the sit then if they were initially “competing” with 20 applications. It means the sits don’t all go to the same sitters.
I also think that because it’s difficult to even apply for those sits, sitters are engaged in looking at sits more and considering other sits outside of their most preferred areas. That engagement is a feature that helps the site succeed.
Author here. Wow! What an outpouring of information! I really appreciate all of these comments. I have a much better understanding of why sitters apply for many sits, likely without having the time to research them. So much insight passed on and appreciated. I think when i originally posted, I’d had the perfect storm of many, many reasons someone would apply, then dump us, even after only about 15 minutes. Just had never experienced that before. This time, sitters were “flying off the shelf” just like good Christmas gifts🤣
I think some of it does have to do with the new 5 applicant rule really pushing things for sitters. It is so unreasonable. I was vehemently opposed to that new “experiment”. I wrote many comments, and even quit TH for a year over it. But we’re back.
We had a wonderful, almost 2 hour Zoom last night with a potential sitter and confirmed him. Yay!
Just for some quick info: the sit was for mid January to mid March in California. We’d had sitters all squared away since October and they suddenly canceled.
Again, thank you all for this tremendous input, and Merry Christmas to all.
I sent a polite cheery message back, explaining why I had to move on, and wishing them all the best in finding a sitter. But I didn’t receive anything back - it left me with the impression they were in a bit of a huff. 