I recently received an invitation for a sit I had applied for and had been declined without any message from the HO. In the invitation they said the sitter had canceled. It had been a while since the application and I was no longer available but I kept wondering if, had I been available, I should have taken the lack of reply to my application as a red flag.
I searched different threads related to this topic and would like to check that there is a significant difference in the communication process for HOs and sitters. So here are the points I would like to verify:
1- While sitters are encouraged to write a personalized message when withdrawing an application, HOs are not to do the same when declining an application.
2- By default, if the HOs confirm a sit, all the applications are automatically declined and thereās no prompt from THS to acknowledge other applications.
3- If the HOs want to be nice and write a message to the applicants they declined, they are asked if they are sure they want communication with no listing dates.
4- I have also noticed that, as a sitter, if I withdraw an application, I get the same commiserate message as I get when my application has been declined by the HO. Does it always work like that?
I would really appreciate your feedback and thoughts.
I think I would have taken the lack of a reply to your initial application as a red flag, it was very discourteous and, unfortunately, there are a few discourteous owners and sitters. Iām a bit confused by all your questions however itās a personal thing. Some owners will respond to sitters who theyāve declined. There are also owners who take forever to reply to applications, sometimes not at all. Everyone is different.
Although I always reply to messages, even to people who have previously ignored mine and, in general terms, I consider poor communication a red flag, I tend to analyze situations and context in order to have a broader understanding. Hence my questions.
Is there anything I can clarify? More than happy to do so.
In fact, itās just one question, split in different points: Does THS actually encourage and facilitate more communication from sitters to owners than the other way around?
The 4 points are just examples of that different treatment. I am sure about the sitters side but I would like HOs to confirm or clarify their side.
It seems to me that if an invitation to sit is ignored not only is it rude but a signal that the sitters ability to communicate is lacking. After 2 years of having no problems finding great sitters this year I have sent many invites with about 40% not responding.
Personally, itās unlikely Iād accept a sit from a host who hasnāt shown good manners or comms in the past. To me, no matter how great a sit is otherwise, my No. 1 criteria are hosts who I think would be great partners, especially if things went sideways, because so many things can go wrong when sitting pets and homes.
Of course, maybe theyād turn out to be great hosts. But to me, sitters have limited info to make decisions with, so better to risk a false negative costing me a good sit than to risk a bad sit. And from my POV, there are countless sits and hosts to consider otherwise. My experience is, there are great hosts out there, so I wonāt settle.
I usually reply to unsolicited invitations as a courtesy, but I donāt see why anyone is obligated to. And it might have nothing to do with their communications, etc. Most sitters sit only sporadically and rarely (versus frequent sitters / full-time nomads who sit all the time). If you look at sittersā profiles, youāll see that many actually rarely sit. I bet most of them donāt even check THS comms or unsolicited messages from hosts ā they probably only engage with THS when theyāre actively looking for sits, as suits their timing.
Hi @Janet2, welcome to the forum and thanks for your contribution.
I agree. Good communication is essential and not only in THS. But, trying to connect your post a bit more with my original one, hereās a couple of questions I would like to ask you. Your information as a HO would be really appreciated.
Would you respond to one of those sitters who have ignored your invitations if they later got in touch?
Do you always answer the application messages you get? Are you prompted to do so by THS?
I recently posted a sit as HO and this is how I remember it:
First, Iāll say we do receive prompts to communicate quickly and kindly.
When I receive an application I am prompted to respond
When I decline a sitter individually before confirming someone else, am prompted to write a message.
I think when I do hit the Invite button for someone else Iām prompted to send a message to the sitters Iām not inviting, but I usually send a message beforehand, so Iām not 100% on that
So to your question, I think HOs and sitters are prompted about equally. Iād agree itās a red flag if you never even get a message thanking you for applying. Thatās just common courtesy, prompts or not.
No is the answer. THS leaves it to the owners & sitters to communicate. Owners are asked to respond to applications with 72 hours but I doubt owners know that, THS do nothing if they donāt respond (unlike some other platforms which dock stars for communication) & a fair few owners donāt respond in a timely fashion. At their peril sometimes because sitters can apply to as many sits as they like until theyāve been accepted & confirm
Upon declining, HOs are prompted/encouraged to write a message (write a note or decline and respond later are the choices)
itās not upon the HO confirming, but upon an HS accepting/validating an extended confirmation/offer from the HO that the auto-decline is sent out to all other applicants.
I do not recall getting this message if I or system has declined someone who appliedā¦maybe after a significant amount of time has passed?
also donāt recall/remember this.
Regardless though, the HO youāve describedās behaviour is rude/inconsiderate and feels a bit deflectiveā¦bullet dodged imho.
As a HO and a sitter I always write a personalized message back.
I think you have to accept or decline each one.
I dont recall that message
I dont recall this message either
For me, if the HO accepted someone elses app without a response to me and declined me, when they came back to request I would decline. Lack of communication is a red flag for me.
@Newpetlover
My take, as a fellow sitter, on your questions.
If I am withdrawing my application because the host has not read my application for many days I probably wonāt write a personal message as they probably wonāt read that either.
-If I am withdrawing my application because the host HAS read my message but not responded in any way for several days I also would not feel the need to address them further.
If I withdraw my application because, on further research, I have changed my mind or confirmed another sit for those dates I will write a personal message explaining why.
-If there has been any contact at all with the host I will write a message out of courtesy.
From the host side (which I am not) i do know that if the host confirms a sitter the other applicants will get an instant auto decline. Not all hosts know this. The only way to soften the blow for those sitters is if the host writes a personal note of decline to each sitter before they hit confirm for their chosen one. However even if they miss that possibility and try to write afterwards they still can. That message from THS - asking if they want to communicate without dates-should not deter them from writing anyway.
If I receive an entirely unsolicited invitation to sit I may or may not respond. It depends.
If the host writes a nice personal message using our names and referencing our profile and saying how perfect we sound for them I would reciprocate a friendly message back.
If they send an invitation with no message or with a generic message which indicates a mass send out of invitations I will reply if I feel like it e.g Thanks for your invitation to sit but Iām not available for your dates.
Once I received an invitation to sit somewhere in the US for 5 days over Christmas when my profile at the time listed us in the UK!! I just hit decline for obvious reasons!
We too have received that annoying message from THS saying weāve been declined even when we were the ones to withdraw! Sometimes that message comes even several days after withdrawing our application!
@Newpetlover, perhaps old-fashioned values but simple courtesy speaks volumes about about Pet Parent and housesitter. Breaches to that, probably on each side, may be a red flag. If a Pet Parent canāt be bother to write a simple sentence in a decline message then they this may signal broader disrespect for housesitter (volunteer trade, not paid staff).
Were we in your shoes, weād assess the quality of the housesit opportunity and strength of our related interest. Poor comms may not be a dealbreaker ā¦ could be tested in a video call. But discourtesy creates a negative aspect, so progression would require a contra-compelling reason.
Thanks for this. In answer to your questions 1) yes, I would respond and always do. Life happens. 2) I always respond- no double standards. Just a thank you for applying is all thatās necessary .
I do, as most of you have mentioned, really appreciate good communication skills. I even go as far as replying to people who previously did not respond to me, I canāt lose my manners even if they donāt show any. Thatās just me.
I also take poor communication as a red flag and I have withdrawn my application when, after being contacted by HOs, they donāt follow in a timely manner.
The main reason why I opened this thread is that after searching other threads I saw that there were two factors I should weigh:
1- cultural differences.
I canāt find the post now but I remember @pietkuip saying the automatic message from THS would be normal for a Swedish person as thereās no informational added value in a personalized message.
Plus digital culture. Iām not a digital native and I have observed that I tend to treat digital communication in a very similar way to traditional means, while natives seem to be more comfortable with messages being ignored.
2- It seems THS encourages more communication on the sitters side, despite the fact that itās a category which only owners are reviewed on. This is just one example of that imbalance.
So, I still wonder if I should/would in future occasions, keep further contact with those owners and have a video chat to have a broader picture rather than make a decision based on a small sign that could have no real implications on the sit and/or could be explained by cultural differences or even somehow encouraged by THS.
That being said, I also believe that answering a message
Perhaps HOs are encouraged to write a message when declining but not when a sit is confirmed and THS sends the automated message and considers all communication with the other applicants finished.
Yes. This is correct. All other apps are auto-declined the moment an HS does the final confirm, so as HO, youād have to go back later and write a follow up message.
Thanks a lot for your feedback.
It seems, according to @Zeblan on the other thread, that this step of writing the follow up message is not really encouraged by THS. Itās then when you get (or used to, itās an old thread) a message to confirm that you really want to connect with that sitter without offering new dates.
I think this should be changed. It seems to me that the logical procedure would be, after declining applications that are not suitable, first have the sit confirmed by the sitter of your choice and, only after having āsecuredā the sit, go back to other suitable applicants and write them a nice message.
I canāt read everyoneās response but if I summarise this is about mutual respect. Iād also argue, a misunderstanding of the platform and brand! So, if you stick by that, if you apply and write a āpick meā statement, I imagine youād want a response if declined. My personal opinion is irrelevant. However, you do see the applicants submission size. This owner asking you as second choice, I feel there is more to the story. However, if just requesting you but no hello!? No way! Thatās incredulous. Back to my second point, understanding of the app; part of that is caring for animals. Yea, not just a house. Pets! Your family?
You felt disrespected. Of course. Trust me saying this needs a rebrand. Ironic huh? Trust? Sorry, dad jokes. But gut versus a rebrand, mmmm
ā¦
Thanks for your contribution.
I am not sure you are addressing my post, as I never said I felt disrespected.
I never meant to imply there was no hello. It was a personalized message of invitation making reference to my application. They had not acknowledged my application or sent a declining message other than THS automated response. I donāt feel disrespected, I just wanted to have all the facts of how the system works for owners and how other sitters and owners feel about this. I did say