Just checked the HO flight and it says they are arriving a day early (husband – wife gave me his info, she’s still away). Obviously an error on their end.
No communication, no replies, they gave me the house phone number
This ever happened? Needing to pack quickly and book Airbnb earlier than anticipated
@GentleSitter - we had a homeowner come back several days early it is a stressful experience so I empathise with your situation.
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/home-owner-curtails-sit-by-coming-back-several-days-early
Unfortunately this happens too often and has been discussed here https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/t/owners-geting-back-earlier
In fact date changes have happened on 7out of 12 confirmed sits in the past year .
On 2x sits the homeowners came back early , curtailing the stay.
5 x sits we found out after confirming the sit (but before the sit started ) that they would be leaving a day later or returning a day earlier than the dates listed . We only found this out because we double-checked the arrival and end date/ time.
In addition one (about to be confirmed ) sit we withdrew our application when we realised that the dates overlapped with the homeowners being at home for first 3 days of the sit .( this hadn’t been mentioned in the listing or our in conversations with HOs)
We now always double check with HOs prior to the sit starting and state the day of the week for example what time on Tuesday 12th will you be returning?
We just did this for our next sit coming up and was told oh actually we arrive home on the Monday so you can leave then … at least we know before doing the sit but that is an extra day’s accommodation to find and if we hadn’t checked I am not sure when we would have found out .
@GentleSitter, please note this in your review. Doesn’t have to be said in a way that sounds like criticism, and if it’s otherwise a 5-star sit, you don’t have to dock them if you don’t want to, but other sitters need to know to at least ask if this is a possibility. IMO a HO who comes home early and leaves a sitter stranded needs at minimum to offer to pay the cost of a hotel.
What?! Why did they even want you there if they were going to be home those three days?
I don’t quite understand. You had a flight number?
Sometimes the airline puts passengers on an earlier flight.
Anyway, always communicate with redundancy: not just the date, also always mention the day of the week.
@val they had close calls with sitters from overseas not arriving in time due to flight delays / cancellations so they built in a few days overlap.
That I can understand BUT this was not explained in the listing and since we were coming from the same country we did not need to arrive and stay for 3 days with the owners . It turned a 2 week sit into a 10 day one and unless we wanted to stay with the owners we would have need to find alternative accommodation for those days at our own expense.
Good grief. I mean, I get that it could be stressful if your sitter is flying in on a connecting flight, but the answer is not “Build in three extra days but don’t tell sitter.” It’s state in your listing, “We’ve had close calls in the past, so we’d like to limit applicants to those who are either within an easy drive or who can plan to come in three days early; welcome to stay with us or we’ll put you up at a hotel for those nights.” 
@GentleSitter
Some airlines use the same flight number once per day .
Are you sure it is today’s flight that they are on and there isn’t one with same number tomorrow?
I think I’d text, something neutral like “What time on Friday the 8th will you be arriving home?”
Homeowner apparently gave me the wrong info:
Departing Dubai Thurs March 7
Arriving into London Friday March 8
It’s 4 hours on the clock flying West. Going East is when flight’s gain a day
Last minute scramble to pack, wash, line up Airbnb and no one arrived home at 1:30 UK time ?
@GentleSitter Do you mean that aside from the THS inbox you have no other way to communicate with them ( like their mobile number to call or send a WhatsApp message to )?
When we agree to a sit we always exchange mobile numbers and ask for an emergency contact number too .
Just curious—for the 7 Sits with date changes, how many actually changed the dates within the THS platform?
My most recent Sit and my next 2 future Sits have date changes, and so far, nobody has bothered to change it within the THS platform.
Oh I did. No reply.
Think they are asleep on the opposite aide of the planet
bags packed by the door.
no one came home
obviously i was given the wrong departure date.
@PVGemini Only the ones where we requested that they did so and explained that we couldn’t apply for other sits unless they corrected the dates as it looked like the sits were overlapping.
All the homeowners said that they hadn’t realised this was the case . Some figured out the four stage process to change it themselves
. Unconfirm sit,
. Amend dates,
. send new invitation for correct dates
. we accepted
For others we had to send screenshots of the messages to member services and they amended the dates .
@GentleSitter
Sorry I am confused by your posts .
I am in the U.K. today
now it is Thursday 7th so they are not due home until tomorrow Friday according to your previous post .
I don’t understand why you thought they were coming early or why you expected them today. Is there something I am missing from this story ?
Please clarify what date was the sit due to end according to your dashboard?
Or was this a misunderstanding by yourself about the flight number - where the airline uses the same number once a day ?
This hasn’t happened to our family yet but if we ever have to scramble to leave earlier due to the pet parent’s decision to come home early or make a mistake, I’m automatically deducting 2 to 3 stars. Pet parent’s would be mortified if a sitter left early so why is it okay for them to come home early and leave the sitters scrambling? Or have the awkwardness of being in the home with them for the last day or two? No thank you.
@GentleSitter have you heard from the homeowners ? Are they coming back today as scheduled?
Yeah, I admit this was confusing:
I asked homeowners to update me 24 hours in advance when they complete online checkin and again from the airport to confirm ontime departure and arrival.
Instead wife (arriving home separately) just gave me hubby’s flight number with he’s leaving city #1 Thursday arriving to home city #2 Friday. Turns out its not an overnight flight, but a 4 hour flight.
So when I checked Thursday departures it showed they arrive on Thursday too.
Eventually looped in the key contacts who confirmed areival date. Wife still thinks its an overnight flight, but that’s not what the airline shows.
Just gave up on the details and accepted I don’t need to know more than when the homeowner gets back.
Tried to connect with husband via text my rhe number I had rings in the kitchen where I am 
Thank for the update @GentleSitter
It does sound confusing . Glad you were able to get it sorted by reaching out to the key contacts.