Absolutely agree with you, I find it very frustrating.
As a sitter, I don’t get too many invited on THS outside of when we are in the UK, but we get lots of invites on other sits we use that have a reply rating. You get five ‘dots’ to start, and for every message that you don’t respond to they remove a dot and everyone can see that. They also follow up in email with “A message you’ve received has no reply” which is helpful for me because sometimes I see it and forget.
I wish THS would put a system in like this to hold both sitters and HOs more accountable for replying.
I’ll also admit: now that they have a 5 sit limit, I don’t even bother withdrawing my application. If it sits there, they can’t get another applicant. That’s on them
Thanks Del! I’m happy to hear I’m not alone (even though I wish that weren’t the case)! I’ve been withdrawing applications after they’ve been read and have not responded to but now I think I’ll leave it there! Ugh so rude!
Haha !I definitely will be leaving the applications in the inbox moving forward, I didn’t realize there was a Cap on applications! Great to know thank u!!
Hello,
this is exactly what I do,
and currently I have several applications in progress which are in “reviewing”
and my unread messages for 3 out of 4 for sits in the summer and one in April.
I am owner and sitter and
I wonder if we should not have a deadline to respond for both cases
and after this deadline,
that it is canceled.
Catherine
@Catherine.L I would say if your messages are unread and the host is reviewing then the onus is on the host to respond to you one way or the other. If you end being their chosen one then great but if not then your application is blocking them receiving new applications…but that is their problem not yours! The application pause at 5 is supposed to speed up the decision making process for hosts. Whether it really does encourage a change of habits is debatable!
I respond to each applicant as soon as I see their application. I may not make a decision for a few days, but I try to do that as soon as I can. I don’t wait to see if there is a “better” choice. If the first person who applies works for us, then I invite them to take the sit. I have started to do video chats with folks so that Both they and us can get a feel for a potential fit.
I’m feeling pretty disheartened by homeowners who can’t be bothered to acknowledge an application. Perhaps I just have different ethics but I think it doesn’t take much time or effort to acknowledge someone’s application and thank them while explaining you’ve chosen someone else. It’s a matter of copying and pasting and showing respect. I already feel like homeowners/pet parents have the upper hand and that sitters are not really appreciate for everything they contribute, from skilled yet unpaid labor to getting themselves to a sit. It is nice to enjoy a sit in a lovely part of the world but it remains that sitters are performing a service that you’d have to pay for if, say, you boarded your pets. Thanks.
Hello, @DebraAT I would like to wish you a very warm welcome to the community forum. Thank you for your contribution and I hope that you can get some feedback from viewing this topic.
As a sitter myself I know how disheartening it can be when you have taken the time to write a thoughtful application and it is not read or replied to.
I do think that everyone including sitters and owners has had a strange couple of years and people are taking a while to get back into the flow of things. This applies to everything in the world and not just this site.
Plus it can be an equal oversight for owners and sitters to read and reply to messages.
It would be great if all members read and replied to their message in a timely manner to keep the spirit of the site and community alive.
There is an option to add the link to your TrustedHousesitters sitters profile to your forum profile and that way other members can give you helpful feedback and tips. Here is how:
Hi @DebraAT We experience that quite often- that our application is read and then not replied to. Sometimes we just wait and see- if we’re not in a hurry for a response -and they may or may not eventually reply- sometimes I think hosts forget sitters are also busy people and need to make travel plans! If we end up confirming another sit meanwhile we just cancel the application with a short note.
But sometimes we send follow up notes. E.g We are heading to the UK next week and are in process of booking a few sits for the coming weeks so its all much more short notice. We applied for 2 sits with similar dates for later in February and saw they were both read the same day but no response. Yesterday, after 2 days, I wrote friendly follow ups to both. Both then responded quickly with apologies- the first saying they definitely wanted us and the second (a 1st timer) saying she’d just found a local person who can pay a pre-visit but she’d love us in future! So sometimes a nudge helps speed up the process!
Following up can also help a procrastinating host make up their mind! A few years back (before the 5 app pause) we applied for a lovely sit in Kualu Lumpur. We were about no.4. A week or two later with no reply- and 25+ apps- we sent the host a winning follow up convincing them they’d be super happy with us (!) and they really liked that! They acknowledged they’d been overwhelmed and went ahead and confirmed us right away! You have nothing to lose by reaching out again- it will make you stand out! And you never know what may be going on in the hosts life at the time! Good luck!
I applied almost a month ago for a sit. Yes, they already had two prior applications. It aggravated me that they don’t have the curtesy to respond to me. It only takes a minute to tell someone they have accepted another sitter. The sit is still posted. They have prior decent reviews. How long should it take for a reply?
@Mastiffmom - Don’t wait for any replies. Keep applying for any sits that you want to do. If a home host misses out on you because they were too slow then that is their problem but you definitely do not want to be missing out on a good sit because you are hanging around waiting for the response of a home host that in all honesty may never respond at all.
@Mastiffmom those of us who sit full-time send out many applications. We get declined frequently, mostly without a reason. For those that don’t decline us, we mostly don’t hear back from anyone!
Yes, it doesn’t feel good, and yes, we’ve already discussed in other threads that it’s rude. Better get used to it, as it’s going to happen a lot, sorry to say.
@Mastiffmom It IS rude and discourteous. And it happens too often unfortunately. Don’t take it personally. Those who read, but don’t acknowledge, your application or those who don’t even read it at all are just not worth bothering about! Just move on. There are many very respectful and responsive hosts out there.
It is rude, and careless of them to do as such. We recently had a HO reach out and invite us to do a sit. They were struggling to find someone for their sit and it was fast approaching.
Problem was, we had applied with them previously and they never responded. It didn’t exactly leave us with a good first impression.
I wish HOs would realise that by not responding they are burning their bridges with really good potential housesitters. But hey, that’s their problem. I just keep applying to other sits!
I, as a HO, have had the same experience with sitters applying and then not responding back, like ever. So I think the rudeness can go both ways. We try to respond to all of our sitters, but sometimes if we’re close to confirming someone or already have two outstanding candidates, we may not respond right away or within 24-48 hours, but we have taken advantage of doing one kind reply to all response when we confirm someone and the others get automatically declined.
I agree that it is rude. Those HOs get flagged as 'Ignored me" in my Inbox, so I know not to apply for future sits.
I just told one HO who declined me with no messages, that it was considered to be good etiquette to acknowledge thoughtful applications and to drop a short note if declining that sitter. They were new to THS, so I explained that this was a norm they may not be aware of. Not surprisingly, they ignored that message also!
Hello,
