We are still getting private invites for booked dates. I thought we were told this is no longer possible.
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Kicks in when the new inbox is launched - so next year 
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Just had one as well - it wasnāt personalised. Probably the same one (June dates).
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- Yes, 4 nights in June x
14 for mine & no image of bedroom
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The image of the bedroom comment may seem small. I sat at a home that used the husbandās musical sound room as the guest room. The room had no windows. It was also nearest the kitchen. The only escape route would have been the door. I called THS and complained. The listing has been up twice since then with the same bedroom. Even after THS said they would tell them the room had to have Windows.
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I alerted THS to a listing with zero indoor rooms shownā¦. itās still the same with no changes made at all. The same HO declined me ābecauseā I asked to see inside the house apparently itās all about the dog and they didnāt want any sitters who cared about what the house was likeā¦. theyād also been sitters x27 ā¦. makes you wonder was state their home was in now theyāve switched to being homeowners? Huge red flagsā¦
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I also got a few and the HO told me they found me by searching who is available at the time they needed. I also received one by a saved housesit. Could that be a possibility why people are being approached?
So tell me. Was the listing full of dog pics? I had to ask for pics of that home. The homeowner said it was under construction. She said sheād have pics before I came. She sent pics. She just showed the bed. I NEVER even thought to look for a window. I was certain the window had to be there. Wasnāt until I arrived I discovered the room had no windows. No closet space except studio equipment of her husbandās. No dresser drawers. No room to move around. And the dogs two beds were added to the room because āthey have to sleep with their human.ā (Another topic)
Pets adjust to sleeping on their beds wherever you place them. If all dogs had the same needs we wouldnāt need guides. These types of needs are the owners habits and not the dogs needs.
I just canāt believe the missing window!!!And geeze was it stuffy in there.
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Not the same place, my one had lots of pictures of canals/dogs/kayaksā¦. none inside the house, a photo of the patio and half an image of the entranceā¦.I received a message that my request for internal photos was a red flag for them 
this is why I alerted THS.
Iāve had the same experience. I wasnāt told exactly what you were told. I was told they didnāt want the general public seeing there home. They didnāt want anyone knowing where they lived until they chose them.
Iāve called THS about a lot of thingsā¦ Iām going to leave that at that. Recently I was told that they are bombarded with complaints. If this small sampling of Sitters and HOs is any indication of what could go wrong.
Call it lemony Snicketās,Murphyās law or whatever you wish to call it; this platform has humans involved. We only need look around and see how many situations we have on the planet. And how much evolves man then humanity to man.
That being said THS is proof positive, by the sheer number of decent homeowners and sitters; it might be better than weāve determined.
Unfortunately, for people who look like me, there are fewer chances on this platform of doing well every time. Which is why many of us choose only certain countries to work in. I believed I am universal, and can work anywhere.
Iām beginning to wonder if I shouldnāt only consider those countries mentioned by the thousands of people worldwide in my āclickā who sit as nomadic boppers, and expats of the US . I say that because I see few of me on the community forum, and there appears to be somewhat of a āĀæwhat did you do wrong?ā atmosphere here as well.
Yet I keep seeing people making mistakes, being short-sighted, believing in possibilities, themselves disregarding what are probably red flagsā¦ After all this forum was invented to vent.
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An interesting perspective- Iād not thought about the exclusion aspect.
Hey Bonnie in Brighton.
Whilst I am not a homeowner anymore, and have been speaking for sitters, Iād like to turn my attention to an astute listing I just saw and applied to. Not all people think alike. This homeowner thinks like me. I donāt know if Iāll get to sit, but I am impressed with that listing. And it had nothing on it!!!
I just applied for the sit with nothing but the front of the house. There or no other photos. No photos of the pet, none of the home, or guest accommodations. However; the devil was in the details.
As it turned out the homeowner had numerous previous sitters. All five stars with raving reviews. I suppose the homeowner left out the name of the pet, a photo of the pet and the accommodations and left it up to the sitter to read everything there was to know about the sit before applying. It was clever, and I saw it immediately for what it was. Genius! Not even a picture of the cat!
The reviews talked about everything there could and would be to know about the sit; including the āsweetest cuddliestā catās name, type, who the parents were, and their generosity and incredible home. I guess HO homeowners are trying to find a way to bring in people who are purely compatible with their particular listing. And youād have to read the listing to know that.
Kudos to HOs of a particular sort!!! Most of my homeowners are now my friends. I send them Christmas cards and birthday cards and they do the same with me. Just wanted to let those types of homeowners know theyāre appreciated.
Well, if youāre a risk taker then go for it, for Iām pretty risk averse these days. Iām also not into game playing or being ātestedā at the outset. Not adding any photos goes against THS guidance, so Iām surprised the listing was allowed. Older listings can go under the radar until reported. Letās hope the indoors isnāt being renovated, theyāre not hoarders, or that thereās even any furniture. I donāt like stepping into the unknown, and thereās no way of knowing whatās changed since the last review was posted possibly a change in circumstances. I donāt find it mysterious/fun/quirky/avant garde/or interestingā¦. I find it lazy and disrespectful, thereās no excuse, and is exactly the sort of HO Iād avoid.
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They have all great reviews and plenty of them. All detailed and none the exact same.
I ALWAYS leave every sit cleaner than I found it. Much cleaner! I just got a review from a young new sitter who had good pictures and a nice guide. She said she gave me four stars for cleanliness because of āa few crumbs on her counter.ā
The place wasnāt super clean when I arrived but I made a quick snack just before I left and didnāt get a few crumbs.
She left dishes in the dishwasher, dirty sheets in the laundry, dirty rugs in her bathā¦ She claimed it was because she was rushed. Huh??? We planned this sit two months in advance. Maybe itās different in the US. Albeit, Iām seeing thatās probably not the case from this forum.
Even at itās best in terms of transparency; folks can be disingenuous. Iād rather sit for someone with a plethora of five star reviews and no pictures. The reviews of the "no pictures " sit describes the home, pet parents , city, amenitiesā¦in UTTER detail.
Weāre all ārisk takers.ā
After being let down by one HO who invited us, then canceled the sit as we were traveling to it we never accept sit invites. Over the years we have repeatedly asked THS to allow sitters to opt out of this feature. Although our profile is set to a very remove location and we donāt have any availability we are still receiving sit invites. We have a confirmed sit that starts on June 15th and ends on June 30th. We still were invited for a sit that
Start: 15 Jun 2024
End: 22 Jun 2024
We ignored the invitation ( we didnāt click Decline). This morning we still received a sit invitation cancelation email. I guess the functionality to block unsolicited invites during unavailable dates is still not working and we now have to click Decline if we donāt want the sit invitation cancelation emails.
