My question to the community is do you think voicing our opinions will have any impact on the operations (not pr fluff and marketing) at THS? There has been a robust denunciation from members, but I have my doubts that those in positions of power really care. Source: Me and ChatGPT
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No, they won’t.
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Only if current members leave in droves and potential members hear of the issues and decide not to join. The business model is based on income from homeowners and sitters and provided the income keeps flowing senior management won’t care.
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Did you do this analysis???
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Agree!
The line is drawn in the sand. Best for all regardless of how they feel is to accept this is the new THS with its fees and Terms and either stay or go.
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Thank you for catching this the source is me (@SitFeesDestroyCommunity) and ChatGPT. I will edit and cite my source in previous posts. Again, thank you. Embarrassed that I didn’t include the source originally and always grateful for an eagle eyed editor (@andrealovesanimals) 
Definitely no. They let us vent when the 5 application limit came in to play and the overlapping sits fiasco but then it was business as usual.
I think this time it is different, they have crossed a line and trust has been lost. It takes a long time to acquire and can be gone in an instant.
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Not a chance. The 5 applications limit was extremely unpopular, and widely condemned. What did THS do? Nothing. This is much worse though.
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No they are going to go ahead, come what may and don’t care. I assume this thread is going to be deleted!
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As far as I know, for the past four years (cannot speak about earlier) community’s opinion, cries, and suggestions had no impact on the operations
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Suck it up or move on says the management. For new people joining it will just be part of the structure.
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Sadly, no.
I think they care about money, not member satisfaction.
My view is based on how the management have previously operated, and the complete lack of direct response from senior leadership.
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I’m not sure actually as they have dropped to 3.7 on Trustpilot which is pretty dire. maybe they will revisit and even if they don’t completely ditch the booking fee they might have some sense and do some type of sliding scale or some damage limitation. Who knows……
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No. I think WE, the community, are of no monetary value to them, and they’re actually trying to weed out and discourage people who’ve made a lifestyle of this. Specifically full time sitters and longer sits. They will push for shorter sits and more of them, now that they are taking the nickel and diming approach with fees. People who are using the sit for an occasional weekend trip, as opposed to a two month jaunt. Now that we have built the community for them, through referrals and word of mouth, they have quantity and can flip the script. Private equity is interested in running a matching service/database as seamlessly as possible, to make a profit, not to uphold the values of what the company once was. It’s a tough pill to swallow, since we’ve done a lot of their advertising for them, and have also believed in what felt like a philosophy for a while…They see this as altering their business model, not betraying the community that built their company. So, sadly, I think the heartfelt messages are lost on them. More or less the uproar they expected. But they care about the drop in rating and if enough people leave or are deterred from membership, they will feel it (at least while it lasts) Most likely the community will change, quality will decrease, Issues around trust, privacy, security will amplify and continue to be ignored. I think if their was a great alternative platform, and they didn’t have a monopoly (or as Mayfair called it “a premiumisation of the pet sector” we’d see a mass exodus. Fingers crossed, that’s coming.
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I do not think anything will make a difference. They are trying to switch as many as they can to premium, or get the extra revenue so they can resell the company or do an IPO, public offering. So it doesn’t matter what they say. The only thing that counts is if half the subcriptions quit. Then they will scramble for members. But until then, they will try and pump up the revenue.
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Well the amount of last minute sits popping up here continually shows how many are going unmet. If many HO’s can’t get a sitter when they need one they may decide it’s not worth it and drop out.
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Sadly, no.
My primary reason for this belief is that the company is run by rich vc’s (I’m not fully clear on recent history but believe that it was bought not long ago ? I may be wong on this point). These people have a lot of money and are rich enough to gamble chunks of it without care or consequence (and possibly with a tax write-off if it is a losing bet). They’re willing to roll the dice with the risk of losing it knowing that they’ll ultimately win (= ^ $$$, etc.) either here with THS or elsewhere.
Therefore, our input and opinions mean nothing; and, the inverse relationships that they have relative to economic intelligence (high) and levels of humanity/care about people (low)drive their decisions.
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