I assume that the HO places an advertisement and hopes for a quick response.
If the HO does not have time to read and respond to this within a certain time frame, the HO should not place the advertisement at that moment.
I don’t think it shows mutual respect to make someone wait a very long time for an answer.
It also doesn’t give me a good feeling about an upcoming collaboration to provide the best care of per and house while the HO himself is away.
I just apply for one sit for that specific period. I than usually wait for a reaction from the houseowners for maximum three days. If they haven’t read and react by then, I assume they aren’t serious looking for someone at the moment and/ or they don’t see me as their ideal house- and petsitter. I than decline, and so doing, I give others the opportunity to react and the HO gets the opportunity to find a good match.
If I wouldn’t decline, I would do exactly the same what I don’t appreciate (see my first and second paragraph) and that’s letting the HO hanging with an applicant (me) that is not interested anymore. And I don’t think that’s fair.
But this happened to me just once now.
All the other times I did get a reply within a day or right after they read my application (whether they wanted to go on and we planned a video-call or whether they nicely turned me down).
So I am very satisfied with the way everything goes.
I tend to assume that the HO is talking to another applicant. Part of the delay may then be due to the preferred sitter looking into travel options, alternative offers, etc. It is not always that the HO is to blame.
For us, if the comms aren’t prompt, respectful and connected at the beginning of this relationship then it’s unlikely to be like that during the sit. People have to commit to finding a sitter or looking for a sit. If you’re not ready to commit to your half, then don’t post. Generally 48 hours and we withdraw our application, for the same reason as @KC1102
Hi @Silversitters
I have had confirmation that the HO does have to unpause their listing after declining applicants. As @Crookie says, it is not automatic.
The wording in the FAQ article is a little ambiguous, and the team will be editing this shortly.
You are totally right. I also think that could be the reason. And I don’t blame them for that. They have to choose the one which they have a good feeling of. I think it is good to go with your preferred choice. After all, they leave pets and house in hands of a relatively stranger. I do prefer this more than “just picking someone” without any videochat or something.
That’s why I also wrote “and/ or they don’t see me as their ideal house- and petsitter” to complete the sentence.
If they have a lot of good applicants, and they don’t know who to pick, they can also choose to send a short reply to all of the applicants and tell them this. Then you can schedule a interview and you know that it will take longer than three days. But then you have at least a reply. And aren’t hanging on and waiting anymore.
But people are different in handeling things. So it is okay that everyone has it’s one way of doing and terms.
I think that a first requirement for a good housesit is when you have HS en HO with a bit the same of doing/ terms/ rules/ thinking.
That’s why I think at least one videochat is also important, to see eachother, to tell more about the expectations of the sit, but surely also to chitchat about what they and you as a person like.
A month with no response is just insane. My suspicion is that they set up the dates and have subsequently forgotten about them and responded to no-one for any of the dates.
Personally I wouldn’t bother with the sit even if they came back to me as I don’t want to deal with people who value my time so little to ignore me for a month but that’s just me. You may be different.
I also see they have no internal picture of the house or the bedroom, bathroom etc which they should have according to THS. I don’t generally apply to sits that hide the interior of the house as my experience has shown it is for a reason although they do have a lot of reviews so it may be ok.
Carry on applying for sits as if this one doesn’t exist and if they get back to you you could re-assess if you were still interested but don’t leave your calendar free for them.
@Cuttlefish Yes you are right that it can leave a bad first impression. And in many cases, they may be perfectly lovely people who would communicate great during the sit. But I guess we will never know since we move on to different opportunities! And I agree that it is a good idea to not post a listing until you are ready to seriously start the process of choosing someone. Again, I think it comes down to HO’s and sitters being in really different head spaces about various aspects of this arrangement.
I was talking about this with my husband the other day. While we don’t expect a HO to reply to us within minutes of contacting them, even waiting a couple of days to check messages and reach out seems like a long time in this context. HOs are getting a really valuable service that can save them hundreds or even thousands of dollars–for longer trips–and you would think that as soon as people started contacting them with the offer to provide it, they would want to secure someone as quickly as possible. I know I would if I were a HO.
I guess it also depends on where the home owners live and when they will be traveling.
Here in a small town in Germany, even if it’s just 40km from Frankfurt, not too many sitters apply so you need to secure good sitters right away. I actually received most applications before Christmas last year….German Christmas markets seem to be pretty popular
I recently applied on a local sit and waited two weeks to hear back. I don’t usually wait that length of time but after two weeks, I withdraw my application. I have over 40- 5 star reviews and offered to meet the homeowners beforehand. Just this morning, I noticed the sit has been reposted again so they spent two weeks “reviewing” applicants, only to repost the listing.
We consider a lot of variables. If it’s a new HO and they don’t have a lot of applicants and we are flexible, we’ll wait until something comes up that we can’t wait on like another sit that is better for us. We may reach out to the HO before withdrawing so they have a chance to respond.
If it’s a sit that we really want and it’s still at least 2 months out and at least a 2 week to 1 month sit, we’ll wait a couple weeks. We had this happen and reached out to the HO and they told us their dates might be changing which was why there was a delay. I’m glad we reached out because the sit was being shortened and another sit was posted since our application that was better for us. So it all worked out.
We also will apply to more than one sit if the dates are further out. If the dates are last minute and less than a month away, we will only wait a day before applying to other sits but we do wait a whole day because we want to give the HOs a chance to respond.
I wondered what other people do when they apply for a sit and don’t hear back? Do you have a specific timeframe for withdrawing an application?
I have applied for a sit next year and my application was read almost immediately. However, over a week later, I have not had a response. I understand it hasn’t been long, but it’s frustrating. I feel it would be a good match - I am familiar with the area having lived locally, am able to visit in advance of the sit, and have relevant experience. Part of me thinks that, as it is a while away, I should just leave it and see if/ when they respond. Another part thinks if they don’t have the courtesy to even acknowledge a kind and well-considered application, why should I stick around? I don’t want to cut off my nose to spite my face, but I also think communication is such a pivotal part of house sitting and currently, it’s not looking good.
Would love to hear what others do in this situation! Thank you x
The guidelines of THS states that one should answer a member within 72 hours. Don’t know how many have actually read that. In theory I think one should give some feedback within 48 hours. In reality I withdraw after a little longer than that. It is primarily because I think it says something of the communication-style that one can expect also during a sit. I think I have seen that connection - timeframe for answering - in the sits I’ve done. I find it also a little disrespectful not to answer when they have posted dates, but of course sometimes it could be an emergency that has occured. Often, however, it could also read «entitled».
I press «cancel» and choose option «drop a line». I write something like «As I haven’t heard back from you, I assume you have moved forward with another sitter and withdraw my application. Have a Nice day!»
I withdrew an application earlier today that was read immediately a week ago with no reaction. That message was also read immediately with no reaction.
Thank you! Your response came at the perfect time as I have withdrawn my application, with pretty much exactly what you suggested I write before I even read your words! (i.e. As I’ve not heard from you in over a week, I’m assuming I’m not what you are looking for and will withdraw my application).
I had no idea there were even recommended timeframes with THS, and I agree that a little longer than can accommodate different situations. However, there comes a point where it’s just plain rude not to acknowledge someone’s well-considered application, and that’s how I was feeling. As with yours, my withdrawal was read almost straight away and, again, tumbleweed. Regardless of why they haven’t responded, the fact they haven’t is all I need to know to be sure this sit isn’t for me. Good to know we’re not alone in this!
Thank you! I did consider that, but wasn’t sure how to word it, and my intuition was telling me not to bother. As it turns out, I have withdrawn my application which was read very quickly and again received no response.
Just want to mention that when I post a sit, I get a tone of reminders from THS including emails to my “outside” email reminding me to move on it. So this isn’t on THS! I do think that sometimes hosts have good reason for delays: uncertainty about trip dates, uncertainty about pet medical conditions or treatment, waiting for more applicants because of concerns (this last may not be practical). However, I think it’s a good idea to let sitters know what’s going on.
We applied for a sit a while back for a time period when we’d like to be away – American Thanksgiving. I heard back initially that the plans weren’t certain, but it’s now been several weeks. I haven’t declined myself because the sit would check a lot of boxes in terms of date and location if it happens. I probably will decline unless I find another sit or it gets to be less than 5 weeks away as I’ll have to find a sit for our cats.
Thank you, it’s always good to know how things work from a HO’s perspective. I had no idea that HOs get reminder e-mails too. Regardless of the reasoning for delays/ unanswered applications, I think it is the bare minimum courtesy to write something in acknowledgement of an application, when someone has put the time and effort in. I also don’t know why they’d post dates and then not bother responding. Surely the mere posting of a sit indicates their intention to travel around that time, whether or not the dates are finalised.
I understand how you’re feeling with regards to the thanksgiving sit you’ve applied for. The one I applied for suited me well in terms of location and timing, so I guess there was an element of cutting off my nose to spite my face but, additionally, I’m just fed up of the non-responses and don’t want to be strung along, hoping I’ll get a sit that I never hear from. I want to take it off the table completely. I hope you hear soon!
Personally, immediately after applying to a sit I archive the conversation and move on. I don’t generally track time for response or even if I get a response (though in my latest round of applications, I have noticed response times are a lot longer than they used to be). If I think about it, when I accept another sit I’ll go and withdraw my application to any that might overlap but usually I don’t bother. I figure if they can’t bother to reply, it’s not worth my time to find the application for their sit and withdraw. Sometimes I will hear from people months later asking if I’m still interested. If I’m available and it still sounds interesting, I’m not averse to talking. Sometimes things happen. I can also be a procrastinator and have had it bite me in the butt so I try to be a little lenient. But most time the dates no longer work for me and I let them know. It would be nice if there was some automated system for withdrawing applications. Like once you’ve officially accepted a sit, automatically withdraw any overlapping applications to the HO with a message along the lines of “Creature Cuddler has accepted another sit during this time period and is no longer available. Reminder to reach out to other applicants soon so you don’t miss out on a great match.” or something like that. Or be able to set it up to auto-withdraw after x days if you don’t hear anything with a “Creature Cuddler hasn’t heard from you so they have chosen to withdraw their application. Reminder to reach out…”
