I’m a sitter member and I always talk on first conversation about more exact timing of sits. I see that there is an ‘enhancement’ and that listings now include arrival and departure times. But of the dozen I’ve looked at every one says ‘To be agreed later.’ I’m trying to reason out how this gives me more info than I had before.
I can’t see the HOs’ side to see how they fill out a listing but since every listing I’ve looked at has the same language '‘To be agreed later.’ I’m guessing this is a check box for the HO and so what is the enhancement if they check ‘To be agreed later’ ls checked.
Thanks - I used the search feature (‘arrival and depature’) to see if this had already been posted but the only post that showed up was one from 2022 that had been archived.
I have seen a number of listings where hosts have actually listed times. As a full-time sitter who often starts and ends sits the same day, I think this feature has potential as at the time of applying, I often already know the earliest I can arrive and/or the latest I can stay. If a listing happens to have specific times listed that are way off from my availability, saves me the time of applying.
Of course, you will probably see a good number use that option of ‘agreed upon later’ as often hosts may have a good deal of flexibility of when the sitter can arrive and/or leave.
Ultimately, time will tell how useful it ends up being, but knowing as much about the various aspects of a sit as early as possible–especially potential dealbreakers such as arrival/departure requests– in the application process is worth experimenting with.
And of course, it doesn’t replace the need to explicitly discuss and agree upon arrival and departure times.
@KC1102 I agree it will be interesting to see how hosts use this feature and how it works out. I work in a school and my teenage sons are at school / college. We sit during school holidays, and I have often been reluctant to apply for sits starting on the last day of school because of the logistics of getting there on time after school.
There was one sit I liked the look of, but didn’t apply because we wouldn’t have been able to get there until around 6pm. The hosts then posted on the forum asking for feedback on their listing. I responded and ended up sitting for them as we could make the logistics work with help from a neighbour. So this feature could be helpful if hosts are flexible. Or it could go the other way with hosts selecting their ideal window and not allowing much flexibility. Time will tell.
Yes you are right that hosts can often make things work by employing the help of family and friends if sitters can’t get there earlier in the day or can’t stay as late.
I saw a couple of listings where the departure time wasn’t until well into the evening and I likely wouldn’t apply for a listing like that unless I perhaps already had a gap built into my schedule and wasn’t looking to start a sit that same day or I already had something booked and I didn’t need to be there until later in the day anyway.
The good thing is people are still free to apply and inquire if there is any flexibility if it is a sit they would really like to do, especially if they don’t have a lot of applicants.
I’d love an indication of times. I often find myself having to explain in my accompanying message when applying that we can only arrive from a specific time, so I find it a little silly that I apologise for something when I don’t even know if it’s a problem or not. So I think it’s great.
The times can still be tweaked/negociated anyway, so I’m happy with the introduction.