I recently renewed my membership. I was chosen for my first sit after doing so but the HO had to cancel due to unforeseen illness.
Now I find myself unable to apply for any sits due to my own illness. There will be some times where I could sit but I won’t be able to predict them in advance and there is potential for unpredictable changes in status so I essentially can’t apply for any sits at all. So the clock will be ticking on my membership until it lapses.
I wish we had the ability to pause our membership. In the end I will not get any value from the membership this year.
Some other platforms provide an extension if there is no value added in a given year, it would be nice if THS did that, that could help with member retention.
At the beginning of the pandemic I was told that we could not pause it. So it just stayed active until it was exhausted. Then the emails started that said my data was going to be purged if I didn’t renew. Now that’s going to happen again.
Hopefully THS can find a better way when life intervenes for long periods or time.
I let my membership expire during the pandemic, and kept getting emails to renew it. I renewed it after about 18 months, and all of my data, reviews etc, were still there.
Hi @anon42826925 the reason you were advised about the time limit on your data is due to TrustedHousesitters and the obligation under GDPR compliance rules. When a membership expires we are only allowed to hold the data for a limited period of time. The Membership Services Team can provide more details please contact them via support@trustedhousesitters.com
Hello Lulubelle. I understand your frustration. I have been a member of THS for years, but lately I’ve started to dislike the “coercive” tone of voice I feel in some of their messages. I’ve just received a message like that, saying that my membership will automatically renew in 30 days. I have’nt decided yet whether I do want to renew it. The message mentions checking my settings, but I can’t find those settings, my bank cards details etc anywhere. The only option I am offered is to upgrade my membership. I don’t like that either. Can anybody tell me how to cancel before THS takes more money out of my bank account ? Thank you for your information !
Hi @Cecilia48 please contact the Membership Services Team on support@trustedhousesitters.com and they will be able to help you with this and any other aspects of your membership.
Please can you clarify , is this pause with immediate effect - or do you mean that your membership expires on same date as before and will not auto renew - giving you a pause in membership?
Thank you Chrissie ! I just did that. It meant installing the app on my phone, finding my settings and stopping auto-renewal etc, and now have to uninstall the app because I keep them to a minimum. But at least I feel in control of my membership. Did not see how to pause. I might look into that too. Many thanks for all the tips !
It also works on the website. I never use the app and I have hovered with my finger above the stop autorenewal several times already. Last time I took the offer for 20% off instead.
Hi @anon42826925 and any other members who are on the old legacy basic membership. If you cancel auto renewal in order to pause, then you will probably lose your basic membership and have to upgrade to the standard.
Hello Itchyfeet, yes I am in the old legacy basic membership, but THS is no longer the same platform, though it used to be the best. If the new “ethos” is about tough business and new members, fair enough, but it’s a pity. I prefer to lose past privileges and keep my freedom of choice.
Hello, I too wish membership could be paused. My husband and I are enthusiastic THS members. We have used the service 7 times in just over a year and recently renewed our membership. My husband was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer 3 months ago, and we had our last THS petsitter from Sept 18-23rd, our last travel before he started treatment.
We cannot travel during at least the next year as he is receiving aggressive chemotherapy treatment and will undergo a Stem Cell Bone Marrow Transplant sometime in the next 4-6 months requiring a minimum of 30 days hospitalization and many months of close monitoring at our local Cancer Center thereafter.
Thanks to this forum post I found the THS support email address and asked this question: Would it be possible to suspend our membership for a time, with the understanding that THS would keep the membership fee paid in November this year, until such time as we are able to travel again?
As several have posted, I’d prefer to keep our profile and listing information active, even if we are not actively seeking sitters or offering to housesit for now. It is quite a bit of data input, if we were to cancel membership.
I’m hoping to hear back from support on this. Thanks for the post, and thanks for listening!
