@Debbie-L - In the THS material you pasted into your post, THS states, “Both pet parents and sitters cannot cut a sit short, unless agreed by both members.”
Can you explain how this rule works when it comes to cancellation insurance for a premium sitter? The terms and conditions for sitter cancellation insurance say:
"The policy will not reimburse sitters for any of the following:
…“The sit cancellation is mutually agreed between the pet parent and the sitter.”
These two rules seem to contradict each other. If a sitter is forced to agree to an owner’s cancellation, then how can the sitter collect from an insurance policy that explicitly states that it will not cover a cancellation that the sitter agrees to?
Hello, @Betsy Debbie is currently offline so I am more than happy to help answer. It is a great question and good to know how to separate the two different scenarios.
“Both pet parents and sitters cannot cut a sit short, unless agreed by both members.”
This refers more to the member’s Code of Conduct. If there is a mutual agreement from both members that a sit can end early or be cancelled then that is fine and there are no potential breaches to the agreed terms or the need to use sit cancellation insurance as both members agree and are happy with the decision and outcome.
If a sit is cancelled by either member and the other member does not agree/had planned to continue the sit, then the cancellation can be investigated as per the Code of Conduct and the member that did not cancel can use the sit cancellation insurance subject to any other T&Cs.
So it is referring to two different scenarios and members should never feel pressured to mutually agree with any cancellation unless it works for both parties.
Membership Service is always on hand to help with any cancellations or sits that end early and can provide members with more information based on their specific circumstances.
I hope that helps and please always do reach out to Membership Services at support@trustedhousesitters.com for further information.
I am looking for a saved home in my “list” for which I received an alert. It would be helpful and efficient if this list could be in alpha order by location… unless that setting already exists…?
Thx!
@HelloOutThere I don’t think that feature exists. It’s such a no-brainer: be able to search your Favorites based on location, for example. But I don’t think we can.
Does THS give tips advice best practices to HOs when they first sign up? I get really excited when I see family friendly listings but then get bummed when the post says it offers 1 bed. Isn’t that for a single or couple? I wish it would show how many people the home owner will accommodate on the front screenshot
hI, @IHeartAnimals - I think if the listing is tagged as family-friendly then I would apply anyway asking if more beds are available. We are currently looking for a sit where my mother-in-law can join us. Just last night we spotted a large house listed that said 1 bed but also that it was family-friendly. I explained that there were 3 of us so we would need two beds and they accepted us! If you don’t ask, you don’t get
So as a sitter, if the homeowner decides to cancel and I tell them I don’t want to cancel because I have nowhere to go… I mean, they’re just going to come home, right? And live in their house, with me still there? Hopefully without animosity, but maybe?
My husband and I are on a sit right now, hundreds of miles from home. If the homeowner just decides that they’re done with whatever they were doing and said “we’ll be home tomorrow”… Well, I’m screwed aren’t I?
There’s definitely not enough room for us to sleep here while they are here. And we both work remotely, so we would really be stuck.
So if I don’t agree to ending the sit and they just come home, what then?
@MissChef Thank you for your question about this. I think you may have taken an excerpt of what was said, but in the full context of my post, that part was in reference to being able to claim using sit cancellation insurance.
It was never a reference to being able to stay in the property should the sit get cancelled but rather if you do not mutually agree to the sit ending (eg you leave because the owner cancelled the sit, not because you both agreed for the sit to get cancelled) then you can put a claim in if you have sit cancellation insurance. So my reference was regarding the terms of the insurance.
I hope that clarifies things for you, feel free to DM me with any more questions or reach out to the Membership Services department at support@trustedhousesitters.com
Regrets if this has already been suggested…
One of the aspects of the sit notification process that has displeased many people is that they cannot apply due to the 5 application limit being reached. This feature suggestion relates to providing a remedy for that. I suggest that a sitter be permitted to apply, despite the “under review” status if: the sitter has received a notice of the sit due to either having favorited it or due to a saved search or due to a homeowner invitation … unless the homeowner has manually paused or closed out the listing. Please keep this here rather than moving it to the closed topic as it relates to an improvement rather than undoing the autopause feature, and folks ought to be able to comment on the idea. Thanks!
What a good idea. This morning I checked my sit notifications at 7 am all were already reviewing applications so I was unable to apply. By 9 I received two more notifications of saved searches both were under review as I opened them upon arrival.
This is becoming more and more ridiculous .0 out of 9.
As a homeowner, I would like sitters to know when I mark them as favorites so they can view my profile. And I’d like my favorites to get a push notification when I post new dates.
I would really like it if there were consistency between seeing “reviewing” and “not looking for a sitter” sits between mobile, app, and desktop.
If I put in dates for a location on the app and no one shows up, then I can’t see anything else, whether they are reviewing or don’t have a current posting.
When I do the same search on desktop sometimes I can see active dates and sometimes I can only see “reviewing.” Sometimes active sits “under review” are way down on page 7, 8, 9, 10 even if the posting itself is quite new.
What I’d like:
To be able to see all sits in a geographic area in the same way on mobile, app, and desktop, and to use my own filters on these.
To have all active or “reviewing” dates visible on all three platforms. Not just “currently reviewing applications.”
To have recent postings ranked near the top, whether or not they are currently “reviewing applicants.” Again, consistent across all platforms.
A straightforward way homeowners to mass-invite sitters they’ve favorited or who have favorited them; possibly as posting goes live?
A way to “hide this posting/person forever” or mute a listing.
I’d like to propose a change to the rating/review system to allow petsitters to rate home/pet owners with the same/similar standards by which they rate us. I believe part of the reason why so many petsitters do not feel comfortable leaving a less-than-five-thumbs-up rating is that we don’t have the ability to rate individual line items like home/pet owners have the ability to rate us. For example, I have sat for a couple of home/pet owners who had marvelous pets and lived in nice neighborhoods but whose current state of the home’s cleanliness and clutter level did not at all match the photos they posted. That made me feel like I got hoodwinked into accepting a sit opportunity expecting one level of cleanliness and organization and then arriving to a very different (and occasionally downright horrible) reality.
Since home/pet owners get to not only rate us on a star scale, they also get to rate us for these areas:
Organised
Reliable
Self-sufficient
Tidy
Pet care
I would like to see that a similar rating system would be quickly implemented for petsitters too. I’d like for us to be able to rate home/pet owners by overall rating as well as:
Home Condition (up to the petsitter to determine what this means to them, but basically, is the home kept up and well-maintained, is it free of clutter, etc.)
Communication (was the pet/home owner easy to get in touch with before and during the sit for any questions or concerns, is there a detailed Welcome Guide or comparable care document provided for reference)
Cleanliness (was the home cleaned before your arrival, bed linens and towels freshly washed and ready for you, etc.)
Alignment with Listing (did the photos posted and the overall general instructions in the listing align with the current condition of the house and the current expectations for the sitters’ sit)
Pets (where the pets easy or difficult to care for)
THS, please seriously consider this request. I would be much more likely to post honest reviews when the situation is less than ideal and help future petsitters make an educated choice about the opportunity if we could be more specific about our experience in a fair and gentle way.
Hi @edoraseowyn thank you for your feedback, this will be most helpful for the team as work on Review System is under way as CEO Mathew Prior mentioned in his update.
I’ve included the reference in his updated pasted here on the forum today.
