Adding on days to overlap with sitter

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

If you ask the sitter to arrive the day before you leave, with them staying overnight with you, are you open about this in your listing?

I’ve twice had this as a surprise - once when I’d actually arrived, and once during the phone call pre offer/confirmation, but only because I asked their departure time and got a bit of mumbling before they told me they would be leaving the following morning.

Both sits were ones I would easily get to a couple of hours before they needed to leave.

I do understand why some HOs like someone to stay the night first. But please be open about it, otherwise it can be really annoying for sitters.

  1. I don’t really enjoy spending extended time with strangers
    1. It wastes (imo) one of my very precious annual leave days. Both of these HOs are retired, so maybe that didn’t occur to them

Thanks :grinning:

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2

Is there some reason you can’t raise this during the video chat? Or are you saying hosts are lying to you and telling you only later?

Personally, I always ask at the outset and I would never rely on what was on a listing alone, even if it was spelled out. That’s because plans and circumstances change and hosts can easily forget to update their listings.

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3

I always ask hosts about this prior to confirming the sit if it wasn’t explicitly mentioned in the listing. So I go into a sit knowing with certainty what day they are leaving, what day they expect me to arrive and whether or not we will be staying with them the night.

I have noticed several posts where sitters talk about this issue happening to them on numerous occasions, and I would think that after a couple of times at the most, they would start asking about this right upfront.

I know it is possible to have things sprung on sitters last minute or issues can come up that they would not have even known to ask about ahead of time, but this isn’t one of those things.

So while yes hosts should be clear about it, it is also something sitters can easily ask about, and definitely should if it seems to be something that happens to them often.

I think it is one of those things that you learn along the way.

And for hosts, making this information clear in your listing can be very helpful and can save time on both ends.

Ideally, you would make the start date the day you want the sitter to arrive, and you would specifically mention this first day is an overlap.

Setting the start date in this way will automatically weed out people who actually wouldn’t be available for the true start date of the sit. It will also weed out people who don’t do sits that require them to spend the night with the host.

And lastly, it might open up applicants who might otherwise think they would not be available–if the sit isn’t actually starting until the next day, that usually means the sitter doesn’t need to arrive until later in the day on that night before. So if they are on another sit that they can’t leave until later in the day or are otherwise engaged, this sit would still be doable for them and they can apply.

Or if you chose to keep the start date the day you actually leave, be sure to mention there is an overlap and you actually want the sitter to arrive the day before and spell out the date explicitly. Ex. We are leaving on the 18th but would like you to arrive on the 17th.

4

From my first sit onward, what’s easily worked for me is asking for the host’s departure and return times. And I ask when they’d ideally want me to arrive — “ideally” is operative, because I’m not automatically saying I’m agreeing. It just sets the conversation off quickly to address what could be a dealbreaker timing wise. And for folks who aren’t comfortable with an overlap, that should be something they bring up, since it’s their potential dealbreaker.

Hosts could specify in their listing that they need an overlap, of course. But then it’s also reasonable to ask a sitter to mention in their profile or application that they don’t do overlaps, if that’s their dealbreaker.

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5

@Maggie8K

Yes discussing specific arrival and departure times is also important. Sometimes I don’t discuss departure times specifically at the outset because in some cases, depending on my schedule, I don’t need to leave at any certain time, and it’s very rare that I have needed to stay very late into the day. But when I do have to leave at a certain time, or I wouldn’t be able to arrive until at least a certain time, I always note that in my application.

Yes, overlaps can be dealbreakers for some sitters so mentioning that ahead of time either in the profile or the application message at the very least can be a good strategy.

6

@UKSITTER1

Prior to accepting sits, I ask for this information in video calls. If for an example, a HO posts his/her listing date as 21 November - 30 November 2024, I would ask, “What time would you like for the sitter to arrive?” Sometimes I have gotten the “I / We would like for the sitter to arrive a day prior”—in which case, they actually want the sitter to arrive on 20 November. I have also had sits whereby I arrived the day of the HO’s departure. We agreed on a time that would give the HO enough time to show me the pet’s routine and tour of the home. I also ask what time they expect to return and I would say that I needed to leave by a certain time on their return day.

On one of my sits, the hosts’ flight return was at 10 p.m. and I informed them that I needed to leave by 6:30 p.m. They made arrangements with a neighbor for a handover who I coordinated with to look after the pet until their return.

If having an overlap which comes as a surprise and you did not tell them about your annual leave, how would they know?

If you were not expecting an overnight stay, there was no meeting of the minds between you and the HO.

It is not just about HOs having a say. You have a say in what makes you comfortable.

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7

As a HO, in my listing I include the night before and the day of departure. We always leave really early in the morning, so I want the sitter at my home the night before. I personally want to meet the sitter and introduce my dog, plus go over everything in the house and show the hiking trails and doggie park in my neighborhood. We also take the sitter out to dinner. On departure date, we normally arrive very late in the evening, so we post as the sitter leaving the next day. In our video chat, this is all discussed. It’s never been an issue, however if a sitter doesn’t want to meet us the day before, that would be a red flag for me.

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8

Yup, sometimes I can be flexible about leaving. Like I just wrapped a local sit and I could’ve adjusted.

I always ask about arrival and departure times at the outset anyway, because it helps set the table and can give you a sense of how firm the host’s plans are and how collaborative they are. Like you can find out whether they’re squishy or selfish — good sits take good partners on both sides and communications that don’t start off well already lower the odds of a good sit.

Asking at the outset also can surface whether a host automatically assumes that they can return home early (or is casual about overlapping on an early return), which can be an inconvenience or challenging cost for some sitters.

One time, when I asked, it turned out that the host hadn’t been transparent in their listing — they’d not actually booked any travel and their dates weren’t actually true. That helped me quickly withdraw and avoid wasting further time on a host who was thoughtless about a sitter’s travel plans. (In that case, the host asked me to wait for her to make travel plans. Nope.)

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9

@avidtraveler

I have had sits whereby I have had an overnight stay with the HOs and had meals, watched videos, along with great conversations. However, some sitters (for their own reasons) are not comfortable with this type of arrangement.

Are you stating that if a sitter did not want an overnight stay, you would see that as a red flag? If a sitter is uncomfortable, why would you consider it a red flag?

10

@Maggie8K

All good points. Last month I turned down a sit to which we initially agreed when along with the confirmation request–which didn’t come for three days-- came a message that these dates weren’t firm since they hadn’t booked their tickets yet, but wouldn’t change by more than a day or so. I had already booked sits on either side of this one based on the dates they put in their listing so I couldn’t accommodate coming earlier or leaving later than the original dates.

But even if I could, I would not have accepted the sit because I saw the lack of firm plans as a potential red flag that the trip would be more likely to get cancelled. Also, I didn’t want to deal with having to lay out money for accommodation needlessly if they decided to go away for a shorter amount of time than originally planned, leaving us with small gaps in our schedule we couldn’t fill.

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11

Yes, sounds like a selfish host, and with those the risks would be greater for sitters.

12

How does my dog know a pet sitter from a burglar? I get it if a sitter isn’t comfortable meeting the HO and dog, then my sits are not for them. It makes me uncomfortable for a stranger to stay in my home and take care of my dog without wanting to meet me. It goes both ways.

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13

@avidtraveler

Meeting the HOs along with the dogs as opposed to having an overnight stay is different. Sitters can meet the HOs’ dogs for a couple of hours or so either the day before they depart or the day of without having to have an overnight stay. It’s not that sitters are uncomfortable in meeting HOs / pets, it is that not every sitter is comfortable with staying overnight.

Yes, it goes both ways. Sitters have to be comfortable as well with the hosts and the pets.

14

You can meet pets and HOs without spending the night.

FWIW, you see not being willing to spend the night as a red flag but many sitters see requiring someone spend the night as just as big a red flag. So if you require it, you need to make sure it’s specifically mentioned in your listing so people who aren’t interested in that can avoid applying. And your listing dates should include the overnight dates.

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15

Most of my sits involve me leaving very early in the morning, and I do not do blind handovers. I make it very clear in my listing that the sitter must be available for a handover/meet the cat etc the evening before, and I am willing to host that night, or not if they prefer/have other accommodations. It’s been half and half so far.

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16

I always meet the owner and pets - but this can be done on day of departure usually (fair enough to ask for an overnight if they are leaving at the crack of dawn).

17

I have another example, I recently got rejected for a sit (which I would have rejected myself) as I was not willing to do an overnight test stay with the owners present on a date about a week prior to the actual sit.

I suppose I don’t get why some HOs are insistent on an overnight with them when logistically theres plenty of time to do a same day handover.

18

@avidtraveler

While I have had overnight stays, I have also arrived the day before to meet the HOs/dogs when they had a next day early morning trip. In this way, I would book an Airbnb, go spend time with the hosts/dogs, go back to the Airbnb, and then arrive at the HO’s home shortly after their departure.

The HOs would leave a key and since I had already met the dogs the day before, they would not be surprised to see me. Usually, the dogs greeted me with a wagging tail.

19

The petsitter is the one with the can-opener.

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20

what the what? those HOs are bonkers.