I have yet to have a sitter tell me that spending the night before is not an option. Here’s the reason I make this request,
The very first sitter we had, his vacation visiting his family overlapped our start date. He told us what time he was flying back and the long commute from the airport. He flew into an airport out of state because that’s where is car was. He told us approximately what time he would be at our home. We were ok with this as we had our neighbor watch our dog for the day. He arrived very late that evening and it was raining. Our dog did not know him and was beyond stressed. We do have an outdoor camera in the backyard. The sitter didn’t know what to do so he called us for help. I almost flew home the next day. The situation was resolved and worked out fine. I would have that sitter again, but have him come the day before and meet the dog.
Our most recent sit, the sitter lived just over an hour away from us. They were in Europe for a sit and would be flying home 10 days before our sit started. When they arrived, they told us that they almost didn’t make the sit because they took a last minute sit before flying back from Europe. So, hence why I want to meet the sitter ahead of time.
If the sitter states they would be more comfortable coming ahead of time and staying elsewhere, that would be fine since they have met the dog and us. Again, no sitter has said this to us. Everyone seemed very excited to stay in our home the night we are there.
Hi @UKSITTER1
I ask the day and date they’d like me to arrive for the sit and leave on the pre sit video chat. I confirm the dates back to the HO.
Lots of HO’s from my experience prefer a sitter to arrive the day before at least especially if it’s a sit I’m flying to.
If you read the forum for a while you’ll see several people mention it’s a red flag/deal breaker for them.
But, do what’s comfortable for you. I just recommend mentioning this requirement so there is no waste of time on either side of the equation.
I’ve done both and I generally do arrive the night before, especially with dogs. But plenty of people don’t want to and that’s fine too. And I get it.
I arrived early for my current sit and was so glad when the HOs left because, while they’re super nice and I anticipate we’ll remain friends after the sit ends, they’re also super loud and active and it was like a parade through their house with people coming by to say goodbye. As someone who is very introverted and peaceful, it was both uncomfortable and stressful for me and not screaming at the teenage brother to stop kicking the stupid football around the kitchen took all of my self control. lol
While it’s true that the best way to know about departure and arrival times is just asking and I always do even when it’s on the listing, this hasn’t saved me from having owners arrive early when they are driving. It has happened on three occasions. Once with no warning. Just used their key and opened the door.
It wasn’t too bad, I was just finishing up cleaning. I always think this can happen and start as early as I can but it is weird when I can feel they would prefer me out of their way and I have already booked travel later so that the pets are not left alone for long.
Of course. I completely agree. I like to confirm that during the chat, though.
I have also learnt that the owners’ return time tend to vary more when they are driving and, unfortunately, not all of them are sensitive to the sitters schedule.
This happened to me on my last sit and it was so annoying. They were like 4 hours early and I’d timed my day to be done in 4 hours which included a final clean, showering, and loading up my van. They came in while I was having my morning cup of tea and completely messed me up. Thankfully they were in their camper so they just hung out there until I was done - at their originally scheduled arrival time. They were like ‘we thought if we came back early you could leave early’ and I was just like ‘i could have if you’d let me know…’
The last time it happened I was nearly finished packing and cleaning but they they were supposed to arrive in the evening and I had booked a flight so that I could feed the cats their afternoon meal. Then they arrived mid morning. They said I could stay if I wanted but their attitude said otherwise. They made coffee and took their cups with them. There was no private space where I could stay comfortably without feeling I was invading their space so I left for the airport far too early and wasted my day.
I’ve had sits where my hosts drove and one where they flew their own plane and drove from the airport. In each case, I knew exactly when they were returning and no one surprised me. They even told me their progress on the way.
If they’re driving, I ask what time they’ll be returning, so I and their pet(s) will be prepared. So far, we’ve all been in sync. I look for signals from the listing, our exchange of messages and our video chat when it comes to warning signs of inconsiderate hosts. That includes ones who might surprise me or cut their trip short without a legit reason, etc. They’ll likely be selfish or inconsiderate otherwise. Those hosts, I withdraw my application without hesitation and wish them well.
If anyone surprised you or cut your sit short without a good reason, I hope you reviewed them honestly, to help other sitters make an informed choice. I sure would. And if they came back early, I’d pack up and skip the cleaning I would’ve done during the time lost. I’d also note that in my review.
If I see any review that mentions that a host came back early without a legit reason, I’d automatically skip their listing.
My hosts have all been thoughtful that way, including on a sit I wrapped yesterday — my 19th. They texted me before their plane took off and then texted again when their connecting flight was about to leave.
In two cases, they texted me to inform me they were coming earlier. In one case, the sit was a complete disaster. The signs started two or three days before the sit but I was new to sitting and I wanted to live up to my commitment I didn’t even know I could ask for a cancellation according to THS T&Cs. I usually read everything I sign really thoroughly but I must have forgotten that part. Anyway, things kept building up gradually. Before the sit, it was just changing their mind about my arrival time. They asked and I said we had to keep the plan we had both agreed on, that would not have been a reason for me not to do the sit, even now.
So, yes, I totally agree with your approach, it’s important to choose sits carefully but I don’t think that always guarantees that things are going to go well. I also think things are not always black or white, I like to allow for some flexibility, I accept there are cultural differences and I also like to give new owners a chance if their listing tick my boxes.
I put that down to experience and I didn’t leave a review. It was before the blind system and I was starting to read the forum. At the time, everyone advised against that because of retaliation. I checked lots of reviews and saw more than 95% were either 5 stars or no review. I just followed what was the reviewing code at the time.
I’m curious to know what the issues are for sitters who don’t like to stay overnight while the owners are there. We require this, but we have two separate dwellings so sitters don’t sleep in the main house while we’re there but they do eat with us. If the owners have one big house with a guest room, what is the problem? I belong to a generation that did a lot of house-sharing in the 70s and 80s so it’s hard for me to wrap my head around this phobia about spending one night under the same roof with people you don’t know but who are not exactly perfect strangers.
I generally don’t mind but it can be awkward or uncomfortable if you’re very different. I have misophonia so I like a very quiet environment and I can’t exactly tell a loud HO or their guests to STFU before I rage out. And eating together can be challenging as there are several things I don’t particularly like or people cook things in non-enjoyable ways. Like once for dinner the HO made steak and eggs. That was fine but the steak was basically blue and the eggs were sunny side up. I rarely eat either but when I do, my steak is medium and my eggs are only hard scrambled and filled with so much other stuff you don’t really know they’re eggs. I couldn’t really say “wow, this is disgusting” so I had to gag down a few bites before pretending I just wasn’t hungry. Later I ate a stash of food in my room that I keep for just such an occurrence.
There’s a million miles between a phobia and a preference. I’m not good at small talk, I may be tired from my journey (I may have travelled after a day at work too), I just want to relax and get properly settled in, get to know the pets, get into my PJs, chill with a movie.
If the owners are staying there I lose that buffer time between travel, arrival, tour, intros, etc, and bed, no space to just unwind.
@Newpetlover I had a sit in Australia in which I confirmed the departure and return dates/time with the HO during the video chat. When I arrived at the sit they gave me a copy of their flight itinerary as they were leaving for the airport. A day or so later I looked over the flight info and noticed they were returning a day earlier than we’d discussed / dates posted on THS. I messaged them to confirm their return date they apologized for the mix up and booked me a night at a hotel which I appreciated and accepted. I learned from this instance to re-confirm the return date/time with the HO a few days before the sit starts. It is important for HO to give the correct departure/return dates/times as many of us sitters travel for sits - most of which are international and be costly to make last minute adjustments regardless to how many backup/plan B we put in place.
@CreatureCuddler Yikes, I can see how meals could be an issue. Since we’ve required the sitter to stay a night, I always ask about their dietary preferences and plan accordingly. I’m a very versatile cook, and since we don’t have many restaurant or take away options where we live I’ve done a LOT of cooking over the decades.
It’s good to ask. Many people don’t think about it unless they have people in their lives who have food issues. I now ask about meals when I’ll be staying with HOs and depending on their plan I’ll just explain that I have some food issues and don’t want to put them out so I’ll just do my own thing. I will say that I have also had some great meals with HOs, so it goes both ways.
If I’m flying in, I ask hosts to send me their travel times and dates — I specify that I’ll be looking for that in a message after our video chat, before I book travel. That’s to force them to review and write out their itinerary, without risking me mistaking.
Then I check flights or trains and send them my tentative bookings before purchasing. That gives us multiple times to catch errors and to sync up arrivals and departures.
I also make sure to get emergency contacts as part of the welcome guide info (doesn’t have to be in THS’s template). That way, if anything snags our handoff, the pets are good.
For me, paying for unexpected hotels even last minute is OK, fortunately, say if there were a mixup that left me with a gap. And I sit only in urban areas.
If hotels are sold out, my backup plan is to rent a car and sleep in an airport or hospital parking garage — that’s also my fallback in the event of a big airline failure or natural disaster stranding loads of people. Those places tend to be open 24 hours and have toilets and vending machines and other food. I’ve yet to ever need that plan, though.
@Maggie8K My sits are mostly international so hotels stays are not all that I have to take into consideration, I have to consider my visa allowance, time to travel to my next sit that’s in another country on another continent, how many days I have left in the Schengen etc. Even though I’m fortunate enough to cover unexpected expenses I happily accepted the offer of my host to pay for my hotel due to their error. And was even more happy they were fortunate enough to have the means to do so.
Makes sense. With visas and flying, I build in buffer, because that can end up being a nightmare.
I think you nomad f/t. I sit only part time and I’ve avoided doing back to back unless a short flight away. No more of even that, though. Nowadays, I build days or longer in between to sightsee and lie around or putter — it feels especially decadent after a sit.
The older I get, the more appealing slow and relaxed travel becomes. And I LOVE going home and decompressing before heading out again.
