I have long wished sitters could opt in or out of being able to be contacted by other sitters. If you didn’t wish this, you opt out. Simple.
It is very frustrating to see listings that have had a few or more sitters and several don’t leave reviews. Many of us see this as a red flag but perhaps just an oversight?
It’s very frustrating that we can’t reach out to one another and ask these questions.
I saw a listing for a 6 month sit in France - very interesting! I noticed there are 3 past sitters, all of them for 3 months or more and TWO of these left no review! The one other left a 5 star review but…two with NO review at all for a 4 or 6 month sit?? Why would this be…? That’s a huge chunk of time to sit and have no opinion on how it went.
I would love to know.
I would have no issue with being contacted by sitters.
I wish THS would pay attention to some of the requests their members have about the platform.
Maybe those of us who would like this should all join the unofficial FB THS page so we can communicate on there…?
All good thoughts!
It would be nice to be able to “opt in or out” of being contacted by other Sitters.
Are Owners able to contact each other? That might also be a desire, to ask about past Sitters.
I think to serve the purpose of the community one need to leave a review. I would not like more sitters not writing reviews and more hidden communication as could be the result. Or sitters sugarcoating reviews more and saving the truth for dm’s.
Hidden info like that is also one-sided and other party can not give input - it would also perhaps be more difficult for THS to monitor for «private communication» what is slander and ill will. I wouldn’t necessarily trust something «said in private» by a person that don’t take the risk and effort of writing a review.
Many of us are on Facebook, but there are issues with that page. My opinion is that there are more entitled hosts there and the group is more host-oriented - it could be more difficult for sitters to tell the truth and speak their mind as they are there with their true identity and it could be a risk for retaliation.
No. No members can contact one another except for owners reaching out to sitters to sit for them or past sitters who sat for them previously.
Yeah, I don’t disagree with you but I do think sitters (and HO’s I’m sure) are reluctant to leave anything negative in their reviews but would likely be more honest with another sitter, or at least describe their experience more in-depth.
In the example you gave, ie 1 out of 3 leaving a review in France, that speaks volumes, I wouldn’t bother going out of my way and contact previous sitters, I’d just quickly move on to the next ad.
The way the review system is NOW makes it much more likely for both sides to leave honest reviews. Whereas the way things used to be was very different, so I don’t think it’s needed nowadays.
Even if I could message a sitter that potentially had a less-than-perfect experience and so didn’t leave a review, I would still only hearing half the story, and not the full picture. So it’s pointless.
Personally I don’t like the THS unofficial FB group/s, I think there are far better pet sitting facebook sites in the specific countries I want. Plus I wouldn’t want other random pet sitters contacting me via facebook, owners yes, but not sitters.
Personally I trust my gut when it comes to sits, and we’ve met some amazing owners that way, so that’s the way I’m sticking to. If it feels right, it is right.
As a side point , it would not be legal for a sitter who doesn’t have a passport/ residency in a Schengen country to stay in France for a six months sit as a visitor.
The maximum for visitors without a visa to Schengen countries is a total of 90 days in an 180 day period .
True. But there are many sitters with EU passports (including myself). This particular listing also mentioned that one of the sitters must speak French.
If you’re interested in sits in France, maybe check out Nomador. It has a concentration of French sits.
I joined Nomador to check it out as a THS alternative. I didn’t want to sit in France and yet got multiple unsolicited offers to sit. Like this French couple wanted to go off for months in their RV and asked whether I’d sit for them. They had two or three cats, from what I can recall.
You can get the host to apply for a Visa for you and then you can stay longer than the 90 days if from the US. Do we know if this person is from the US.
@Maggie8K
We joined Nomador a few years ago but didn’t renew. The site (at that time) was severely lacking. We were not impressed and didn’t see it worth staying on there as we want to sit in many countries.
What person?
I was just mentioning a sit I saw in France as an example. We didn’t apply.
We sit in many countries. (We are US and EU citizens so we have fewer limitations.)
Interesting about hosts applying for a visa though I wonder if that would set off flags about someone trying to “work” abroad which is a whole other type of visit.
Yup, unfortunately, there isn’t one platform that covers many countries well. Like THS is strong primarily in the U.K. and U.S.
Is it likely that those long term sits may have experienced a lapsed membership during the long sit and couldn’t leave a review? This may be more likely than with short sits.
Has the Host left reviews for the sitters ?
@carpediem16 I know that sit in France you are talking about. There is another similar one that also pops up occasionally. Both large country homes with a guard/guest house for sitters. (I.e you see all these amazing rooms in the main house- but you will not be staying there!) We considered both when we first saw them but decided against. Both are very wealthy families living elsewhere and basically using housesitters to maintain their homes and gardens in their absence rather than employing proper caretakers. From memory either/or/both have duties like communicating with the other onsite staff/workers/deliveries and supporting ongoing projects on the property. Etc. I don’t think its in the spirit of a THS exchange but those who left reviews seemed to love it. Personally I feel the hosts are ‘entitled’ and just want free labour. I would feel treated like staff. Maybe that IS how they treat sitters and hence why some sitters have not left reviews. I cross referenced and not all sitters received a review either.
I did actually informally ‘apply with questions’ to one of those above sits. As it was several months over summer we wanted to know if it might be possible to have visitors e.g our daughter & grandkids. They replied that ‘should we apply and be chosen for the sit they would give the ussue of guests their consideration’! Or words to that effect. The tone was so arrogant! We did not apply!
If it’s the 6+ month sit in France that is currently listed , the sitter who did leave a review says enough .
They say that they were expected to be the project manager for the ongoing extensive renovation projects ….( installation of a kitchen and swimming pool ) including making decisions on the spot … as well as supervising contractors… many sitters will pass this up as a project manager with that responsibility for 6 months should be a paid job and is not in the spirit of equal exchange on THS.
That combined with two missing reviews from sitters who are still active THS members and that no reviews have been left by HO for their last sitter - would be more than enough information for me to make a decision.
But if it still appeals to you - apply and ask lots of questions about your responsibilities v how much free time you will have .
@Silversitters
What’s interesting about THS is on the website I can ONLY see the sitters who left a review so it looks like they have one review but on the app on my phone I can see there were 3 past sitters but only one who left a review. Isn’t that odd?! That almost seems deceptive to me. If I am only browsing on my laptop I think these people have only had one sitter in the past, not 3!
The hosts left a review for one of those sitters but not the other.
Anyway, my post wasn’t about this particular sit as much as the idea of wishing we could reach out to one another (those who would be willing).
Right - we weren’t going to apply this time. I was just thinking it was odd for such long sits that a sitter wouldn’t leave a review at all and wondered if any sitters would chime in and explain why they might not leave a review for such a long sit and help me understand.
Personally, it feels like a disservice to fellow sitters, though I understand perfect strangers don’t owe me anything, I feel like in the spirit of the community it’s the mature thing to do. IMHO
@Maggie8K
How do you like the Nomador site compared to THS (the layout, the ease of use, the communication, the amount of photos and info etc)? We were members for 6 months about 5 years ago and found it sorely lacking. MANY listings had NO photos or only one photo. We won’t apply to any sits without photos of all the spaces sitters will be using.
We travel to France (from the US) quite often and would like to cast a wider net in the EU than what THS has as we aren’t interested in sitting in the UK, but we didn’t apply for a single sit via Nomador back then as it just wasn’t a good platform at the time and I had read that hosts can delete any negative reviews…not sure if that’s true either…?