Withdrawing applications after no communication from HO

THIS! I have stuck around too many times for home owners to reach the 5 application limit, just to be kept on ‘read’ indefinitely. I think it’s necessary to have a cut off point, regardless of what process the home owners are going through. If they aren’t enthusiastic about my application, don’t have the courtesy to acknowledge it and are waiting to see what else they get, why should I hang around?

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My cancellation message:

Hi. I am cancelling my application as I haven’t heard back within 72 hours of submission as per THS terms.

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This is perfect.

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No, I don’t say that I am not interested anymore.
I give a message similar to @MaggieUU

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That’s great! Lots of members are not aware of that.

Do members of the forum (sitters and HOs) think it would be helpful to quote that clause?

Perhaps a combination of @MaggieUU and @Globetrotter’s approach to allow for justified delays.

I thought about that @Newpetlover. However, I opted to not quote the clause. If the HO queried where I got that 72 hour timeframe, I would direct them to it (5.1.13 btw).

Really, really wish I had sent this to a HO that hadn’t responded in 4 days when I initially saw your message. A couple of hours later, I received an automated decline message on the system. I’m in the process of writing them a note making them aware that in selecting one sitter, the others are automatically declined, which is particularly disheartening. I feel it’s not really my place to do so, but has happened to me too many times this year to not mention it. HOs really have the upper hand.

I hope a bigger, better sit comes your way @anon6309382

Thank you, love. I have no doubt!

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The most notable time when I withdrew and the host replied, he messaged: “Thank you for your lovely application! Sorry to see you’ve had to withdraw.”

I replied: Thanks, XX. I figured that you wanted to take your time with choosing a sitter, so I withdrew.

Then two weeks later, he messaged to ask whether I’d sit, because their sitter had canceled. Bummer for him, because I always show up as agreed on. And it probably was too late for him to find a THS sitter.

I appreciate this thread so much! I struggle with trying to decide if we should withdraw our application after 72 hours, especially if it is a sit we would like to do. We had a situation recently where the HO messaged and said they were already speaking with 2 other applicants (we were the 5th for a highly desirable area - I responded minutes after receiving notification with a full app) and they declined our application, but were on “reviewing” for 2 weeks! They also said they would reach out if the others didn’t work out…but I am not a fan of that so I just told them that I hope they find someone awesome to take care of their fur babies.

We had another situation where we applied for a sit next year near my husband’s family, but it took so long to hear from HOs that we went with another plan. When I let them know we were withdrawing our application, they were sad and said they hope we keep them in mind for the future. Um, if they wanted us to sit, they should have accepted our application.

We have done 19 sits - all 5 star - several repeats. We love this site and any opportunity we are given. But I do have a tendency to feel a little hurt when we aren’t selected…my hubby always tells me not to take it so seriously :slight_smile: That is why I like this forum so much - it helps me feel better - lol :slight_smile: .

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Yes, home owners seem to be pretty fickle much of the time, and THS enables this. Being told they will contact you if the others don’t work out leaves a bad taste for me. Why would anyone accept being Plan B (unless, of course, their options were very limited). I withdrew from one a while back after a non-response. Seeing it on ‘reviewing applications’ about two months later assures me I did the right thing. I’ve been on this site for years now, but this year is the first time I’ve really noticed this being a problem.

As an HO, I agree about seeing what the applicants are like before deciding, but I always send an acknowledgement of receiving the application right away. Leaving the applications hanging for days is just bad form, especially not even reading them.

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We could hug :hugs: you @belluca #lessonsfromamaster

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Don’t feel hurt @cheezymanders
HOs may decline you for all sorts of reasons - they want someone who lives closer, someone of their age etc etc.
I once asked for feedback after I was declined for a particular sitting. They replied that they had chosen someone who lived close by.
I made a note of the dates and when the sitting had passed I looked at the reviews. It turned out that the sitters chosen instead of us lived the other side of the world! So you never know.
Your hubby is right

@anon6309382

Last year we got an auto decline for a sit in Spain that we had really wanted. It was not the first time that had happened, and we usually just move on, but for some reason on that occasion I felt particularly incensed! The HO had not even acknowledged our application let alone sent a polite decline message and we felt we were a perfect match for them! I wrote a (quite strong!) message expressing our disappointment in being declined without them even sending a friendly message…
The HO was mortified! She replied immediately saying she had not consciously declined us. She’d actually loved our application & profile but had simply chosen someone more local (we’d applied from the other side of the world)

That was when we both made the connection that the auto decline is activated when a sit is confirmed…
Good to know! I’ve mentioned this to several HOs now and most don’t know about it.
So, to any HOs reading this- do send your decline messages out before you confirm your chosen sitter! It feels so much nicer and more personal!

Anyway to cut a long story short this host was very open to me, did not take any offense to my ‘complaint’! On the contrary we ended up having a lovely dialogue which led, a few weeks later, to an invitation to sit for them that summer! It turned out to be a great sit and the hosts were lovely people. The sit would definitely not have happened if I’d not spoken my mind! :sweat_smile:

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Thank you for sharing! It did make me wonder why, despite not knowing about the auto decline feature, the HO hadn’t acknowledged your application anyway. But, it’s good that she received your feedback so graciously.

I did end up writing a message to the home owner who auto-declined me today, making them aware of this and adding that receiving an impersonal auto-decline message can add to the disappointment of not being accepted for a sit. I haven’t received a reply but I’m not bothered. It matters more to me that I expressed this and hopefully they will be more mindful of not acknowledging applications in the future.

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What’s ironic is location means literally nothing. I change mine all the time, to fit wherever I’m sit searching at the moment.

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I normally never withdraw my application. If an HO doesn’t respond, I move on but I leave it up to them to decline my application

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@Newpetlover, we tend to leave applications open for a good few days.
I provided relevant comment yesterday on a different thread. Bottom line is that we perceive two types of housesit - feature and filler. For feature housesits then we leave applications open as, for some reason, we’re super keen to progress the sit. For filler housesits, we don’t chase too hard as we are typically progressing concurrent applications - so slow responders get weeded out after a confirmation is made.

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