The one that ignored me wasn’t new. New or not there are rude people out there. BUT there are also nice people out there.
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I get quite a few requests for me to sit locally but I have clients local that pay me to sit so usually looking for sits away from home area.
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That’s a good example of perfect karma @CoolCatAunt …
I am curious…when the HO’s reached out to you after you had already applied… what did you say in response to that?
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I didn’t say anything. They didn’t have the courtesy to reply to me so I didn’t feel the urge to reply to them. They can clearly see that the last message sent was from us and that no reply was sent. It’s not my job to teach people how to act, you know 
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Ours wasn’t local. We applied a few months ago when we were traveling to this location in the winter and got no response. Now we are back in the same area so they reached out to us. We might have done it if we thought they were a good fit, as it would’ve slotted nicely into our plans. Ah well, plenty of fish in the sea, erm, pets in the world.
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Couldn’t agree more, we seem to have had a run of applications lately that have been unread or not responded too. We just move on and apply to the next, currently have three out for the same time frame.
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So true, I’m ‘talking’ with a HO at the moment who keeps leaving my messages on read. For context we are trying to arrange a video call, she suggested two dates then said she was too busy, and hasn’t replied to my latest suggestion. Very frustrating and has put me off what otherwise looked like a great sit. We have got another offer in the same timeframe so will probably go with that 
Yes, those are red flags. I’ve been pet/house sitting for nearly 20 years and I’ve learned to go with my instincts. Sometimes people will still surprise you very unpleasantly, but for the most part, early on they will reveal who they are. I suppose this applies to life on the whole, but… I’ve been left high and dry by some Homeowners/Pet “Parents” from this site, so I’m feeling pretty reticent about taking more sits. I don’t have the pricier membership so I have no protections. Homeowners definitely have the upper hand. Protect yourself.
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I think HOs and sitters are operating in really different head spaces, and I don’t think many of them realize a lot of sitters are always in ‘planning’ mode lining up their next sits for X amount of time. Many of them don’t feel the same sense of urgency, especially if the trip is months off.
I withdrew an application for a ‘popular’ sit that quickly got its 5 applicants after 6 days of no response–thought the application was read in minutes. I am also withdrawing from another ‘popular’ one this morning after 4 days of no response-still unread.
Both were for dates that were several months out and I wasn’t in a rush to book something nor did I see other opportunities. But perception is everything, and while I ultimately know nothing about these people, it doesn’t give a good first impression.
And no matter how desirable a sit, if it feels off in any way, I will not move forward–this means either not applying at all or in this case, withdrawing. Generally I am pretty good about not getting too attached to any one opportunity so this sort of behavior doesn’t bother me that much and I definitely don’t take it personally.
While I understand that people get busy,etc…I have never understood this way of operating. If I was a HO and posted a listing, I would actively be on the lookout for messages and want to start communicating with people who were interested pretty much straight away.
If securing a sitter didn’t feel like a top priority at the moment, I wouldn’t post the listing until it was. Again, I imagine a lot of owners don’t realize that this more ‘relaxed’ approach to the process is not going to work for most sitters, and they risk losing good applicants who will move on to other opportunities.
The real key here is not getting too attached to assignments, and not operating from that fear based space of worrying you won’t find a place to stay. In my experience it always works out. A more relaxed attitude will serve us well in this space.
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Exactly, when we post a listing, for anything, it’s because we are actively looking for a response. I don’t get it either
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So very well expressed @KC1102 and I agree totally with you.
I absolutely agree with everything you said here . Even a “Thanks for applying” would be nice .
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Hi @Lassie
I recently did the same- wrote to an HO telling them how discourteous a decline without a message is. This was for a particularly attractive sit where we’d put a fair bit of energy into researching it and had sent a well thought through application. All the feedback & reviews were great & this cold decline just did not seem to fit…
The host wrote back the next day- mortified that this had happened! She’d actually loved our profile & had not actively declined us- she’d just chosen someone closer. So we both discovered that when a host confirms a sit all other applicants get an auto decline from THS. So to avoid offence the host would need to send a private message before, or at the same time, as the auto decline message will go out!
Anyway to cut a long story short- my ‘complaint’ led to a lively interaction with a promise to connect for future dates. Just one week later she invited us for a 3 week sit in June/July which we confirmed right away! Yay!
So sometimes it does pay to speak your mind- we both learned something (about how this site works!) and created a very positive outcome!
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Glad that worked out so well for you—hope you enjoy that summer sit!
It’d be nice if the phrasing for an auto-decline was distinct from the message that gets sent when a homeowner actively declines an application; the former would leave the door open for me to apply again next time, while the latter seems to insinuate the homeowner doesn’t think I’d be the right fit for their sit (unless they send a message explaining otherwise) and I would not re-apply in the future. Instead of a brusque “Application declined,” could the auto-decline message say something like, “This listing has been filled and is now closed”? It would help soften the blow of rejection 
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I eventually did get a reply from the HO that I contacted. They apologized for their non-responsiveness and encouraged me to apply for future sits!
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I am new to this site and also finding the lack of response from Owners very frustrating. I am also on another house-sitting site which has a great response rate, even if they do not select you for the sit.
I know there may be a number of legitimate reasons for a lack of response; I do find it disappointing and somewhat rude though. It’s not difficult to shoot a message to say, we’re reviewing applications and will get back to you, or we’re no longer accepting applications.
I agree with you @MsCindy. In fact, I wrote back to two HO I applied to that never acknowledged receipt and got a reply from both of them. There have also been some who didn’t even reply to my follow up and to those i will never again submit an application.
This would be a great suggestion for the features thread.
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Hi all, we have recently joined THS as sitters for the first time, having previously been members as home owners. We have applied for lots of sits for May, 6 to be exact, most have been read but no reply after about 5 or 6 days. Is this normal? As home owners, we were always quick to respond to queries and ask follow up questions to get a sit sorted as soon a possible and sort out the finer details.
What experience does everyone else have?
Thanks in advance!