Not sure what to do now. The HO said we could talk closer to the date of the sit which is in the middle of February. I’m excited about it. Are the HO’s usually gone from the date listed to the end date? I’m going to drive to the sit since its just in another state and not sure if I should get a hotel the night before the start date.
Hi @tvillan28
Congrats. Can I suggest you arrange a video call or at least a phone call asap to confirm the dates the HO needs you or is happy for you to be sitting as there’s no set rules around advertised date. It’s a question I include in my questions for a HO on a video chat before I accept any sit.
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Agreed.
- have you done a video call to meet the HO, and the animals and see the property?
- have you had a chance to review the welcome guide and ask questions?
- do you have at least a contact number for the HO?
- are you sure about exact arrival and departure times?
- will they require an orientation or overlap day at the start and end of your sit?
…are a few things I would make sure are clear after my initial set of questions ha e been met and I’ve accepted the sit…some I would have made sure were clear before accept tbh.
Good luck!
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When the HO puts in the dates, they have to put the date that the sitter should arrive and the date they should leave. You’ll have to establish with them whether there is an overlap on either end.
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@tvillan28 I’m not clear if you have actually a confirmed sit on your dashboard or just an application at this stage ?
Before confirming a sit we discuss details with HO such as the time that they expect us to arrive / when they will be departing and confirm what time on last day that they will be returning ?
We also ask if the pet has any current medical needs and what arrangements they have in place for paying vet fees if emergency medical treatment was required during the stay .
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/sitter-has-to-pay-veterinary-expenses-up-front
Immediately after accepting a sit ( if we haven’t already ) we exchange mobile numbers so that we have alternative method of communication and don’t rely on the THS platform only .
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Have they actually confirmed the sit? If so, just pop them a message saying that you would like to plan things ahead of time, and ask them what time they would like you to arrive on ?date, and what time they are likely to return on ?. Also, ask for their full address and telephone, but give them your mobile number at that point so they naturally give theirs straight away.
Also, depends how you feel, but if you mention you are considering finding somewhere to stay close by on the night prior, then they may offer you a bed for the night (& may even cook you a meal), but maybe you prefer to stay elsewhere, everyones different, there’s no rights nor wrongs.
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This is not true. I see many times Sit dates are listed, and in the listing, it says, “We would like the Sitter to arrive the day before the Sit begins.”
To me, this means that if the DATES are, for example, January 20-30, and the Owner wants me to arrive a day early, then my arrival is on January 19.
This is one of the many reasons that the rules about non-overlapping Sits is really ridiculous. There is no absolute uniformity to the way that Owners label their Sits.
Lots of good suggestions here.
Do you have the physical address of the home? Get it asap. Don’t leave this until the last minute.
Some will say, “It is in the Welcome Guide.” Well, you may not get a Welcome Guide, and even if you get one, the address might not be in the Welcome Guide.
Yes, I do. The HO actually did send a welcome guide for which I was thankful. I didn’t realize those were available and your comment about one not always being sent is appreciated.
During the video call I always ask if the HO is flying to their destination and, if so, I ask if they have tickets yet and if they could give me the details of their outbound flight. This helps to plan around the start of their trip and it also provides an exact date upon which they will be leaving. If the video call has already occurred, You can still ask for this info. I’ve never seen this info included in a Welcome Guide.
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In the edit field it says “Sitter arrives:_____ Sitter departs _____” not “date that sit begins”. So if there is that much confusion, THS should require HO to fill in when they will depart and arrive. In our HO listing, we show the dates that the sitter arrives and departs and we tell them from the beginning of discussion when we will actually leave and return.
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I completely agree with you. That is very interesting. I am not an Owner, so I cannot see this exact process. THS should have other fields in which those specific dates are entered (the dates in which the Owner arrives and departs).
Given the current fields, it seems that there should be many more listings which explicitly spell out, “The Sit dates include your arrival the day before our departure, in order for a handover, as we are leaving on X date.”
Some Owners are really good at accurately describing the situation in the listing. However, the majority do not include these details. It would be really helpful to Sitters if we knew the situation before applying to Sits.
Thank you that is helpful.
Thank you.
New user here and sorry for such a simple question. Also a new sitter and will possibly use sitters. When you apply for a “sit” how long do you give the owner to respond? If they don’t respond in 1-3 days can you just pull your application? Is there a way to do that? I don’t know if the site automatically prohibits you from signing up for other “sits” if you have an application pending somewhere.
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You can always pull your application as long as the sit hasn’t been confirmed and it can be a good idea to apply for multiple sits, especially if you have set times you want to be sitting for, as many home owners won’t reply to you. Good home owners will respond either way but lots just don’t even bother acknowledging an application or will decline weeks/months later. It might be the case that this particular owner is waiting to get five applications before deciding and you can see on the listing whether applications are still open or not, which may explain a couple of days’ delay.
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Congrats on your first sit. I will suggest that since you are traveling interstate it is important to be clear on the date and time the HO will be arriving back. If the home owner is coming home late we usually ask to stay the night and then leave early the next day. It is dangerous for you to travel at night on unfamiliar highways. Save yourself the anxiety of that. We have learned to simply ask if the HO is willing to let us stay the night. We also make it clear that we will get our own dinner at a local restaurant so that they can settle in and that they do not need to feel they need to entertain or feed us after just getting home. Setting these clear expectations will save you a lot of grief. Trust me, we know. We once traveled in the dark to our home on windy snowing roads late at night. We will never do that again!
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Thanks your information was helpful.
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You can apply for multiple overlapping sits so go wild.
Generally I do not withdraw my application if an owner does not respond. Sometimes it is unread for months. After a while I will make a determination that I wouldn’t accept it anyway as the lack of response does not bode well for a good sit. However I do not remove my application. It can sit and clog up one of their 5 slots and if they do eventually respond I get to tell them thanks very much I was interested but their lack or response and is concerning and I no longer wish to proceed.
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So as an HO, we require HS to arrive a day or so before we leave to orient and stay a day later to allow for logistics buffer and we post our dates so that they account for this. I obviously can’t speak for all HO but I think there comes a point where we should be expecting people to do simple maths and post dates based on what they actually expect as an absolute minimum. That doesn’t seem like an outlandish standard to be held to as an HO IMO. And if things change, cool, a conversation can be had and if it works, great, if it doesn’t, you’ll have to figure it out.
When you’re making a “booking” that has consequences for cancellation or changes, you put time and effort into getting the dates right. Not sure why we would expect this to be different?
If an HO posts inaccurate dates or has confusing language in their posting, I would validate that in my very first message as on HS and if the dates don’t work, it’s not a fit. End of.
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