Hi THS sitter friends. Does anyone find it a bit odd/disturbing that people can search out, read about me AND reach out to me when I haven’t asked them to, NOR have I said I’m available….and I can’t do the same when I’m looking for a sit?
Also…now having had the worst sit ever last week, I wish I could see the pet parents personal profiles. Do they have one like us? Some people hardly post about themselves or their homes and it feels a little strange to have to ask to see a video of them home etc.
Well, this has been discussed here before but, I guess, as sitters we are an unknown quantity and going to be trusted with someone’s home and pets who they don’t know from Adam (or Eve ). Usually home owners write a little about themselves in their listings and, if they’ve had sitters before, you can get an idea what they’re like from previous sitters.
It doesn’t bother me as in a video call I can get an idea what they’re like and ask questions. It wouldn’t be appropriate for sitters to contact home owners when they haven’t got dates for sits.
@denellostravel We we’re surprised when we first found out that hosts don’t have an ID check . We had assumed all THS members needed to be verified .
If a sit listing is lacking in information and there are no reviews from previous sitters , we ask specific questions that we need the answer to or skip the sit entirely.
We also have a video call with hosts before committing to a sit . This way naturally through our conversation, we get to know more about each other . If something seemed off we would withdraw our application.
How much personal information you include and chose to reveal in your sitter profile is a personal choice .
I sort of agree about the unbalanced protection regarding who can message who. Maybe some sitters benefit from having HO messaging them so maybe the best solution is to let people set if they can be messaged or not.
Regarding what people write about themselves - you can always choose to skip HO profiles you don’t like. I can imaging that in places with high demand, HO can afford having profiles without enough information and still get applications. I think a low-quality profile probably tells something about the person who wrote it so it’s up to you to avoid it
I think there are a few things speaking for or against the imbalance.
On the surface, this seems very unfair - one group can message the other, while the other can’t message the one.
Question: What’s your reality check on this, how often (say, per month) are you being contacted by a host out of the blue?
From the HO’s perspective - I feel like if anybody could message me, my inbox would overflow. Apparently, I live in an attractive location, my listing (though not very old) has been favorited multiple hundred times.
I like your approach - let everybody decide for themselves (and 80% of HOs will turn that off after the first five minutes).
That said - if it’s a realy problem, it should be taken up with THS. But let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth first - sitters, friends, how often are you being contacted via THS out of the blue?
Elmar.
PS: Not speaking about the profiles or the ID check. HOs have an address, I thought that had been verified in the past, but don’t remember. Anyway, you know where to find them. Sitters are someone coming from somewhere for sometime and then disappearing somewhere.
@elmi4711 it goes in waves, but sometimes (during peak seasons) we get contacted up to 3 times a day. Over the years its over 100 (or maybe it just feels like that) Its never been a match.
You see the listing, with the photos. Those should be real-life photos (not the ones from the realtor when they bought the place), and should give a reasonable impression of what the place looks like when they prepared for having house guests.
What information about themselves are you looking for? Usually I see enough to have an impression of who is living there: one person, or a couple, or a family. And whether they are retired etc or working away from home, whether there is someone at home most of the day or whether the pets are used to being home alone for many hours. That is the kind of “personal” information that I am looking for.
Bro - how? I have roughly a month 'til my first house guests, and I’m fixing, adding, moving, doing things as fast as I can, but if I waited with the photos 'til the house is in the state I want it in for my guests… whoaaaaa… time machine! (Well, luckily they have the guest cottage, which only needs some touching up and broomdusting…)
I think it goes without saying that nobody should use catalog photos - it’s also often very easy to identify…
I concur then - you need a shut-off switch. even better would be a better filter giving you the option to allow messages from previous sits or a whitelist. But they will never implement this.
The OP wanted a video at the time of deciding the sit, but then you would get to see the place without that preparation: stuff on tables, maybe clothes hanging somewhere, maybe worse.
And some photo’s in listings are that way. It makes a really poor impression to see underwear in the kitchen etc… If the HO did not “see” that when taking the pictures for the public listing, there is a high probability that they won’t do much cleaning before sitters arrive.
I’m sorry you had your worst sit ever last week. I’ve had a few of those and it’s awful. If there was more to the sit that you feel concerned about, or you feel the sit would put other sitters at risk, I’d contact THS right away and discuss with them.
Since the hosts don’t have personal profiles except what they include in their listing, sometimes it’s easier to get an idea of what they are like during the video call. If there are not enough photos, especially areas where you’ll be staying, ask for them. If they refuse, I wouldn’t move forward.
If you decide to accept the sit, ask for the welcome guide right away. The majority of the guides I have received contain the hosts names and addresses. You should then be able to find out a little more about them by doing an online search.
Regarding your profile, I’d take a look at other sitters profiles and see what they contain. Some don’t tell much at all and they still have many sits. That part is up to you. I’d modify it if you feel there’s too much personal information about you.
I hope it becomes a distant memory soon. Please leave a review sharing your experience.
Hi @elmi4711
I can get 10-20 a week blind ‘accept sit’ requests around summer holidays and especially over Christmas. I never mind receiving messages asking if I can sit and if it’s agreeable to both I will accept but blind ‘accept’ a sit are difficult as I like to have a relationship before accepting a sit with at least a video call.
It’s also difficult as the THS calendar isn’t the best so often by the time people reach out at last minute I’m either booked elsewhere on a sit or can’t do the sit for personal commitments.
I didn’t think it’d be so much. Like once a week is to be expected (and a lot less than the usual spam anyway).
@richten1 - well, firstly, you’re a good communicator, so people will like to talk to you - say, what do you mean by a “blind accept”? I thought us HO could only send invites (and I learned you can send a message), not confirm you for a sit you never applied for?
Sorry @elmi4711 I meant basically some HO’s will just send an accept/decline for a sit with no message or prior interaction. Which I find a bit odd. At least add a message so I know a little bit about your pet(s), you and your home over and above your listing.
As a sitter, I skip listings that offer no autobiographical info. And if I want more, I ask via msgs or during our video chat.
I get unsolicited sitting invites and wondered why folks found them to be such an ordeal. I eventually realized that my careers have desensitized me. When I used to work in news, I received on average 400 emails a day. Now in my second career, I get msgs all day as well, though much less so. Among them, a good number of unsolicited ones, because there are always vendors trying to sell my company stuff, job candidates reaching out even though the roles they want have nothing to do with my domain, etc. So for me, unsolicited sitting invites are small potatoes to deal with.
Since they bother a good number of THS users, it would be helpful if they’d create a feature so members could opt in or out of receiving unsolicited msgs. But given their record, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Yup. It’s a trade-off for folks, though, because some want to set their location according to where they’re applying / where they currently are as nomads, in hope of boosting their chances.
). Usually home owners write a little about themselves in their listings and, if they’ve had sitters before, you can get an idea what they’re like from previous sitters.
- say, what do you mean by a “blind accept”? I thought us HO could only send invites (and I learned you can send a message), not confirm you for a sit you never applied for?