So I sent a “yes” to a sitter on Thursday, and he said he’d let me know on Sunday. It’s now almost 10pm on Sunday, and so far…crickets (and yes, he’s in the same time zone). Even if he gets back to me tomorrow, I take that lack of response as a bad sign. I do have other potential sitters I can chat with.
So….give up on first guy? Hope one of the other folks works out? In which case, how do I withdraw that first confirmation?
ETA: yes, I did have a video chat with him, and sent him a “confirm” note later that same day
First of all when a sitter sends an application that’s simply an invitation to the HO to explore if they’re a match. Did you have a phone call or video chat? This is the next stage. The majority of HOs and sitters do this but not all. The final stage is the HO sending confirmation, usually confirmed quite quickly by a happy sitter. Many sitters apply for multiple listings so your applicant might be talking to a few HOs.
If you have their WhatsApp number send a message (many will have sent this in the initial application for messages and video chats). They might equally be waiting on another HO to respond to them this tells you they have other options…. If you’ve got equally good applicants you’re in a good position to pick one. Best wishes.
@Lisfnord, did you have many applicants? (attractiveness of listings varies a great deal). did you have positive video calls with other applicants? approx how far away is your listing start date? Did you ask the housesitter if they were exploring alternative listings for similar dates?
Housesitting requires a two-way confirmation. It sounds like you sent an “invitation-to-sit” to your preferred housesitter. They can choose to accept or decline the invitation. They may be exploring alternative listings - it’s possible that housesitter is waiting to hear back from another pet parent on a listing that, for whatever reason, they prefer over yours. You just don’t know. They’re only hours late, not even one full day, so hardly seems a dramatic lapse.
Personally, unless your listing dates are imminent then we’d encourage you to relax. Given preferred housesitter some reasonable latitude. Then followup with THS Message (or WhatsApp/… if you have details) and ask about their ongoing interest. Seems prudent to concurrently schedule video calls with any other applicants.
@Lisfnord I’m wondering if you had a video call with this sitter? It doesn’t sound like it, as if you had, it would have been clear by the end of the call if you were a match or not. In our experience the decision is usually made during the call and confirmation is sent directly after the call. Exceptions are if any practicalities need checking out before confirming. If there are doubts, on either side, during the call it usually leads to us withdrawing our App or the HO saying they have others to speak to.
If the sitter in question needs 3+ days to decide then it indicates to me their enthusiasm for your sit is low and they are waiting to hear from other preferred options. In your case I’d just move on to other potential sitters. Its the same the other way. If an HO told me they need 3+ days to confirm then I’m out. I want to be consciously, and enthusiastically, chosen. No messing around or time wasting. As the saying goes ‘If you snooze you lose.’
I would send him a note that says that since you haven’t heard from him that you are going to chat with some other applicants. This is fair and honestly you don’t want to wait and potentially lose an opportunity to connect with another sitter who may be looking at other sits.
As far as cancelling the other confirmation, I don’t really know, but since the sitter hasn’t confirmed, nothing is set in stone yet.
If there’s already a red flag and you have not yet heard from him today, I highly recommend you contact one of the other sitters. You shouldn’t have to chase a sitter.
Sometimes there can be bad communication, especially if it’s all on the app. So if you didn’t tell him over the phone or chat or in a text or message off site that you were offering him the sit, he might not know Assumming he knows, and knows you’re deadline was Sunday, he might be ambivalent or waiting to hear about something else. He could continue to ghost or let you know he’s not going to take the sit.
Therefore, I’d recommend getting in touch, texting him, and letting him know that you are withdrawing the offer for now so that you can talk to others because you haven’t heard anything. Let him know if he’s still interested in confirming the sit, to let you know and you would still offer it to him if he’s ready to confirm in real time and you haven’t found someone else who wants it before then.
The reason you want to withdraw your offer is because if he confirms it while you are talking to others, they’ll get the decline note. You also can’t unpause and get more applications until you withdraw the actual offer.
Probably he won’t care. Maybe he’ll reply in some gas lighty passive agressive way.
I would not give someone days to decide if you have other people interested who might not be so ambivalent.
Ditch him.’ He’s just not that into you. "Advice I should have followed since I was a teenager. Now I’m a senior citizen