We use the same message @MaggieUU
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Yea. I always give a reason if I withdraw our application.
Precisely, but if our application hasn’t spurred hosts on to respond, then we clearly haven’t hit the mark and consider it subsequently wouldn’t be a good match. It’s the same as when you see a listing and instinctively know you’d like to do it, you apply quickly and with enthusiasm. If you decided instead to wait for a few days and check out other options first, it implies you weren’t really enthused about the first sit. We like to be consciously chosen, or we prefer to pass.
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I have not withdrawn an application so far, even when I didn’t hear back.
I just assume the HOs are busy with the other applicants. I also don’t like the 5 applicant max rule and that ties the HO’s hands somewhat.
I applied for a christmas sit, and I saw that the HO had seen my application message, but they did not reply for 3 weeks. Theirs was still my first choice, but after 3 weeks I started favoriting other suitable sits. Then my first choice got in touch, we had a video chat and now I am booked!
The HO seemed very nice, and I am hoping they are reliable. I interpreted the reason they didn;t reply straight away was because they wanted one of the other applicants, but then for whatever reason, they changed their mind and wanted me.
While I value good communication, I am less “strict” on initial correspondence, as many people don’t think it rude to ignore such applications. Although I always reply when people contact me.
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Please do. It’s common good manners.
I usually write a brief note, something like “I am assuming you have chosen someone else”
Or, since you have made no contact, I am withdrawing my application.
I usually only wait 3 days, occasionally a week at the most. It is too stressful to have too many balls in the air.
I did, once, get an Immediate apology and host begged me to reconsider.
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While I was trying to decide what to write, I got declined. It took five days to read it and two more to get the automatic decline message.
Next time I’ll have my message ready and I’ll send it around 72 hours later.
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Overall, if someone is that bad about timely responses, it’s a red flag for me.
If I’m really interested in the other party, I may send a bump message after about 36 hours, but if no response to that within maybe half a day, I decline.
I’m a strong feedback person so I just tell them “declined due to lack of communication.” This works both for HO/HS.
And tbh, some people really just don’t get that urgency is important. My hope is that by providing that feedback, it will collectively help to improve behaviour on the platform and improve the other party’s behaviour for the next person they interact with.
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That’s quite clear.
Completely agree. That’s the reason I started this thread. I feel that, as a community, we can help one another to improve the way we interact to empathize with the other party’s needs and, consequently, have better partnerships.
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I have generally had very prompt responses and normally tie sits up within 48/72 hrs and therefore folowed these threads with mild interest only until the last two sits.
One over Christmas/NY in a remote UK location requiring transport and with a dog so not flush with applications and one on a beach in New Zealand so likely popular but again no transport available and 2 dogs so probably not as popular as other sits, although they did get 5 applications in quite quickly.
Both applications were read quickly but no responses after a week. As I was relatively keen on them both I did as suggested here for the Christmas one and withdrew my application with a note thanking them for reading my application but assumed we were not a good match for them. They responded immediately and apologised for their tardiness explaining that they had been busy with xyz. We had a good video call where they offered the sit immediately so we went with it.
On the back of this experience I followed up the NZ sit with a similar message but did not actually withdraw. Again they apologised for being slack and not making a timely decision and said they definitely did want us so that worked out in the end too. Now it just remains to be seen how comms go during the sits.
As others we have a reasonably high success rate and are quite choosy with our selection so don’t tend to do multiple applications at a time, so it really does help us move forward and make plans when HOs are responsive.
Both of the above HOs were not first timers but were relatively new to the platform. We do find experienced HOs seem to move very fast with their responses.
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I wish more people were this direct. These are HOs that we’re probably not going to sit for because of whatever reasons. There is no reason to be all softly softly with them. Be honest so they learn that what they’re doing is a problem. They can’t rate you, so being honest has literally no danger to you or your profile and can only help both the HO and future sitters.
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Wondering what you guys think about home owners who get in touch to let you know they’ll be reviewing your application and then don’t bother getting back to you?
The sit in question would be pretty good for me, but the home owner said she’d review my application on Monday and, almost a week later, there has been nothing but radio silence. Contrast that with one I applied for today during the same time period which is slightly less convenient, but the home owner responded within minutes of reading my application, which has made me feel so much more positive about her sit. I’m tempted not to withdraw from the original one, to see how long (or even if) they take to get back to me.
My answer: not much
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We are new to housesitting. Reading the info it says to apply for several sits, which we did. Fortunately, we were chosen immediately and nievely thought that our names would be removed from the other sits we had applied for that overlapped. This didn’t happen, meaning we were chosen again and had to let the prospective host down. Is there a button or procedure we should have followed after accepting a sit?
Thank you
Hi @JulueG, if I understand correctly, you should not have been able to be invited by another owner when both you and the first owner had confirmed the sit. I’m wondering whether you had actually pressed the “Agree to Sit” button after receiving the Confirmed from the owner. Once a sit is confirmed by both parties, you need to then let other owners know you are no longer available. There’s quite a bit to learn and you’ll find both the website using the Help button and the Forum very useful. All the best for your sit.
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We withdraw other applications for the same period once we confirm a sit, with a brief note stating that we’ve now been invited to another sit which coincides with their dates. Hopefully, it will make pet parents realise they need to respond a bit more quickly in future, to secure a decent sitter.
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You can manually withdraw your application, but to be clear, someone can’t just choose you to sit. They can invite you to sit but before they do, a whole interview process (on both sides) should take place to make sure you’re actually a good fit. You should have at least a phone but preferably a video call where you can both ask questions before agreeing to any sit. I want to make sure you’re following that process for your protection.
Once you’ve done that and both sides have agreed to the sit the owner will issue an official invitation on the system and then you have to manually accept it. After that, any HOs you have open applications with can still contact you but they can’t officially invite you to their sit.
FWIW, I agree that auto-withdraw should be a feature. Just like when a HO chooses a sitter the other applicants get a message, when a sitter chooses a sit, any applications to overlapping sits should be automatically closed.
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Hi @JulueG, welcome to the forum.
As @temba has said, it’s important to let the owners know that you’re no longer available. There is a function for this. If you’re on the app, go to my applications, select the one you want to withdraw, go to conversation and then all dates and updates. You have a cancel option there.
If you’re using the website, go to inbox, select your message of application, then manage.
There have been complaints on the forum about getting invites from HOs in spite of having confirmed sits with overlapping dates. I don’t know if this has been fixed.
There’s also the possibility that @JulueG is referring to a message of invitation rather than pressing the invitation button. Perhaps they can clarify.
@JulueG, there’s arguably four phases to securing a housesit
- Pet Parent lists specific housesit opportunity
- Housesitters “Apply for housesit” (up to five at any one time)
- Pet Parent selects preferred housesitter and “invites to sit”
- Housesitter agrees to the housesit and “confirms sit”
Everything before “confirm sit” is exploratory.
Totally ok that housesitter applies to multiple listings concurrently.
Some Pet Parents reach out directly to housesitters and jump to stage 3 “invite to sit” (we receive steady trickle)
For you, after you’ve accepted a housesit by pressing ‘confirm sit’ on THS platform then it would be courteous to ‘withdraw application’ for any concurrent applications.
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I think i probably hadnt pressed the accept button. Thankfully i seem to have sorted out and notified everyone involved. Thank you all for uour help and support.
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