The new feature of when to arrive and depart, has become a nightmare. There is no way that a two sits should be able to be booked when one ends at 9pm, and the other starts at 8am, the same day. The developers should have worked harder on this, and made it a field that generates a “you’re applying for a sit that stars 12 hours before the end of your booked sit.” I’m also finding that owners don’t know what to put, so they tend to overestimate how early you should be there, or how late. And sometimes they want you to come there at 8am, go over things, and then come back later.
Personally I just use the arrival and departure times in listings as a guide. The best thing is to discuss these with the owners as, you may find they’ll change or you can negotiate.
You can still apply for a sit that starts the same day as another ends even if the times overlap -then sort out the arrangements with not hosts .
I find it rather annoying that applying for sits are so precise time wise.
We discovered that long-term sits can be more flexible as it is more common that when you are communicating well all people involved can be flexible about arriving and leaving.
What is the most important is imo the time of giving notice.
During one sit the HO wanted us to stay as long as possible but we didn’t know for sure if we wanted this. We agreed that we would inform the HO asap, within max 2 weeks what we would do. We chose to stay and everyone was happy. I have no idea how to arrange this platform wise if we would have chosen to stay for a shorter term, but probably would have contacted TH support line.
I think most people just put something down, without thinking about how it may affect whether or not someone will apply.
I agree it has created more issues rather than solved anything.
@SunnySit, in case helpful - we view arrival time (and date!) per THS listing as simply illustrative. We have had video calls where pet parents real date/time situation was markedly different to listing. Perhaps they felt pressure to enter something into the arrival/departure day and time field? Perhaps their plans were always flexible? Perhaps day/time was not primary housesitter selection criteria and they flexed to attract housesitter? Perhaps otherwise. Regardless, we do not perceive this functionality as value-add. In our view, day/time of arrival/departure can be discussed adult-adult in video call.