Need some advice from the community. I have a sit happening in 12 days and I have not spoken to the homeowner. I messaged them about 4 days ago to ask about setting up a meeting as we previously discussed when I first confirmed and they have not read it or responded. I sent a follow up message this morning. Still no response.
I am wondering how long I should wait to hear back before I pursue a cancellation? I am nervous because right now there is a listing I can pursue that would fit the dates in my area but I am sure that will not be the case for long. I can salvage the situation if I act now but I am unsure if that is reasonable. But I feel uncomfortable with this lack of communication as it feels like one of those red flags that if I ignore more problems will continue to pop up. Any advice on how I should proceed would be much appreciated! Am I overreacting?
I guess you mean you’ve simply messaged the pet parents via the website? Do you have no other means of contact, such as WhatsApp or email? It’s not possible to simply picking up the phone to confirm plans are still on track? If that’s the case, I unerstand your dilemma. I’d contact MS and ask them to make contact.
You’re not overreacting. You’ve made plans and are trying to do the reasonable thing, with no response from the other end.
It sounds, from your message, that you don’t have details for the HO to be able to call or text them, which is obviously limiting, as maybe they do not check this site or their e-mails very often. I would contact customer services, they might be able to reach out to the HO and find out what is going on. Otherwise, I think it is reasonable to pursue other plans if you don’t hear within the next few days. Surely, if the sit was going ahead, they would also want to firm up plans from their end?
@BfromtheSea . . . From my recollection, there is a THS code of conduct where parties should respond to communications within 3 days (ammended). You’re well within your rights to seek a cancellation, and start looking elsewhere.
Yes that is the case. If I had any other means of contacting them I would naturally use those means to follow up. But they have not sent a welcome guide and I accepted the sit with the understanding that we would arrange a meeting in September as I do not do sits without speaking to the homeowner anymore. The sit was confirmed 29 days ago. It is now September 12th so we are well into September and I have not had a phone call, video call, or met this homeowner in any way. They have only messaged me through the app.
Then you’re within your rights to request a cancellation, so you can pursue the other sit. The T&Cs state:
5.1.13. respond to communications from other Members in a timely manner, but in any event, within 72 hours;
If you go into chat and state" 'speak to agent please" (you’ll need to do this, twice) then explain to the agent and send a screenshot of your email of 4 days ago (or they will be able to look at your messaging, since it’s been exclusively through the THS platform), you can ask them to cancel immediately so you can apply for other sits which coincide with these dates.
Agree that this is a great red flag given the circumstances, and a good idea to contact member service either to get in touch with them or help to cancel. I think the lack of communication could well be a reason to go directly to ask for help to cancel, unless there are reasons that it is important to try again to contact them to ensure this particular sit for you.
No, you’re not overreacting. Good communications are essential. I’ve today contacted a pet parent regarding a confirmed sit which commences in 5 weeks (2 sits away, for us) to confirm plans are still as agreed. She responded within minutes (though it was via WhatsApp, since we exchanged numbers and did a video call before confirming).
Things can happen but ease of contact just helps put everyone’s mind at rest, so I’d recommend that you always exchange phone numbers - and perhaps insist on a video chat before confirming - in respect of future sits.
Think so too. I never accept sits before having met them live or online, otherwise there is always a bit of uncertainty that is not welcome in my live.
@BfromtheSea No, you are not overreacting. No response for several days could mean anything- including the possibility the HO has cancelled their trip and forgotten to mention it to you and is no longer active on the site checking messages etc!
If I were in your shoes I’d contact THS, explain the situation and request immediate cancellation so you can pursue other sits. Don’t waste time asking them to contact the HO on your behalf- they sound like a lost cause already & very unreliable. Just cancel & move on.
Next time make sure to swap phone numbers/WhatsApp straight away, preferably before confirming the sit, so you always have a way to contact them outside of THS.
Personally we always swap WhatsApp numbers with our hosts immediately and usually have a video call, or at least WA messages, before confirming the sit. Once a sit is confirm we only connect with the HO directly. Never rely on the THS messaging system. You always need a phone number.
Good luck!
I ended up contacting THS to help facilitate contact. I did say I think we should cancel. They encouraged me to wait. The HO eventually did get back to me and I was able to meet the HO and get the welcome guide. But the conversation during the meeting revealed inconsistencies that, had it not been so close to the sit, would have resulted in me withdrawing. In the future I will not be confirming any sit prior to a video call and I will require a walk through earlier in the process unless the sit is not in my primary location. I do think the communication challenges were indicative of some of the other issues that bubbled up so I do think sitters should take poor communication as a big red flag from my experience.
Although close to the sit it is your choice to proceed - or not proceed - with the sit. This is a matching service, not a prison .
This will give you power. When you choose to go forward, you choose to do so until you make another decision. So if you find it necessary you can set boundaries or even end a sit. Knowing this can give you strength and empowerment to take care of yourself during the sit.
Hope everything works out fine and that you will have a good experience. Best of luck.
Thank you for the update, it’s always nice when people come back to provide this!
I agree with @Garfield, though I understand it might cause more problems than it’s worth to have to change plans at this late stage. It really depends on the extent of the inconsistencies and if there can be some meeting in the middle. I think your intuition about the lack of communication was right in that it indicated other issues with the sit. Hopefully it will be better than you expected when it comes around though!
Correct. I have been busy so I hadn’t had time to update. The sit ends tomorrow. I am more resilient than I may appear based on my posts haha. If the challenges were truly terrible I would have cancelled regardless of how close. They were bad but I moved the situation from a nope to I can bare it by setting some boundaries and saying no to certain things. It would have been more trouble to cancel at that point. In the end I managed. It hasn’t been my best sit and I will be fair when rating the various categories. I am looking forward to moving to my next one because I am uncomfortable but it has been manageable for the period I have been here and know how to avoid this in the future.
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