We are just finishing up a 2 & a half week sit ( a rare no pets) and all has gone well….except for this morning when I received an email from the hosts stating that they have landed and picked up their car and will be driving home, “see you in a couple of hours!”
This sit doesn’t end until tomorrow. We had a discussion before they left, FACE TO FACE in their kitchen confirming return date and time.
We are doing a sit immediately after this one in the same city. We made plans to stay over at a friend’s tomorrow night to bridge the gap as the 2nd sit does not begin until February 14.
I was so surprised to receive this email since we had discussed it beforehand. I replied immediately to the email saying that the agreed return date is tomorrow and even sent her a screenshot of the THS sit on the dashboard. I asked her to call me.
They said “ Ohhh we were going to sleep over at our niece’s house ( which is what they told us before they left) and drive back tomorrow, but we slept a lot on the plane and felt fine to drive so we decided to come back today.”
???!
I said “this is not what we agreed upon. “
She said “ oh you can stay over tonight, that’s not a problem if you need to.”
I said “ No. We don’t stay over with hosts”
“Oh……….Ok, lemme call you back we’ll figure something out.”
They called back and will stay with their son overnight and we will leave tomorrow AS PLANNED. So disappointed with their lack of consideration and assumption that we would be A-ok with them arriving a day early and that we would just stay over.
I told them we are renting a car tomorrow at 10am AS PLANNED and that I will text her to let her know when we are packing and driving away. Unfortunately, she alluded to the fact that they will “probably arrive a few minutes before that.”
I will definitely be docking them stars in my review. This is the first time in 13 sits that anything like this has happened.
I put dates in my listing and I stick to them. I am also clear that the dates include one night overlap prior and one night overlap after.
No offense but I really don’t want sitters who object to any overlap with hosts.
But I’m glad you stood your ground and reminded these hosts of the agreement. It’s never ok to unilaterally change plans, whether you are a host or a sitter (and I have had to accommodate sitters changing dates at the last minute as well so it’s a problem for both sides).
Not cool on their part to change the goal posts during a sit. Whatever is agreed upon, stick to it. Barring emergencies, weather conditions… etc. of course.
Yes, sadly it is both sitters and hosts that attempt to switch things up. Thankfully, the vast majority adhere to the plans that are agreed upon.
And I forgot to mention that in the case of international sits, we most definitely plan for overlap with the hosts. It is almost impossible to have a seamless handover without doing so. Especially when pets are involved and not just an empty house!
When we flew to UK from Canada, we made sure to have a buffer day just in case of delays and stayed at a hotel our first night. For the start of the sit, the hosts had asked ( months prior during video chat! ) if we could stay overnight at their home as their flight would be leaving at 3:30am and they did not want to leave their dog alone. We happily obliged and had a wonderful dinner with them and went for a walk and got to know their pet’s preferred path etc.
So we are not against it at all, I should have been more clear in stating that for this sit, it was not discussed or agreed upon.
Were they new hosts? Sometimes when they are, they don’t actually understand the concept. At least they accepted it all in the end and sounded gracious about it. If they are new, I wouldn’t be marking them down, it could be just a newbie oversight and it all worked out fine in the end. Sounds like it was a nice sit and easy for you so I wouldn’t be too harsh because of one possible misunderstanding. Comment on it in your review maybe but I don’t feel it is worth docking stars for.
And even if they were new hosts, how is it a difficult concept? And how is it a misunderstanding?
As I said, all four of us, agreed, in writing and verbally in person, to a date and time. It could not have been clearer.
When you expressed your concern and discomfort with overlapping a day with them, they changed their plans to accomodate you. 4 prior sits is not a lot, and they probably honestly didn’t think it would be an issue. But when it was, they were flexible. And I’m sure they learned a lesson for next time (that it’s not always assumed leaving early would be cool for the sitter). We’re all human and make mistakes, but they handled it well.
Hey folks, if you are going to take the time to comment, kindly also take the time to actually read my post. @avamyst11 It’s “NOT OVERLAPPING A DAY with them” . The sit is NOT OFFICIALLY DONE until tomorrow.
These hosts tried to unilaterally cut the sit short by a day and told the sitter while they were two hours away. Only after the sitter pushed back did the hosts back off. These are hosts thinking only of their own convenience and preferences, rather than being good partners who are thoughtful.
The hosts did the sitter no favors by backing off after the sitter pushed back. That was just living up to what they’d originally agreed to, after giving the sitter an unpleasant surprise or shock.
And I bet if the sitter just wrote the facts in their review, many other sitters would avoid such hosts. Who wants to be sitting and then rudely surprised?
It becomes an overlapping day if they return home early. You said you objected. They accommodated. No BD. Not impressed with your flexibility but you do you.
The use of the word “accommodated” does not apply in this situation. Perhaps read the logical explanation given by Maggie8K.
It was only about to “become an overlapping day” because the HO were reneging on their agreement. Why is it acceptable that they are returning home early for no reason other than that it suddenly suits them? No consideration for how it affects us and our plans and arrangements that we have already discussed with them, and with 2 hours leeway no less. Naaaahh, who cares about the sitter right?
Not impressed with how you minimize the effect of the HO’s actions and just arbitrarily declare me unflexible but you do you.
The two hour warning thing would totally spook us and wouldn’t like the change. You did well to push back & send the screenshot. They then did the right thing and aren’t coming back until the official end date. We’ve had a not dissimilar conversation with a host and their response was “well it’s my house” which is kind of hard to argue with as it is. Plus they offered for you to stay. It is annoying but it also has been resolved with a bit of stress. Mentioning it in the review is useful for future sitters. Docking stars or not is up to you but maybe they don’t see anything wrong with their actions? #lifeislikeaboxofchocolates
Substitute “acquiesced” if that works better for you. Regardless, your “issue” was a minor upset quickly and easily resolved by you and your hosts. Were the hosts overly presumptive? Probably. But in the realm of outrageous presumptions reported by sitters (and hosts) on this forum, yours is a minor boo-boo.
According to your account, it seems your hosts cared about their sitter.
Thanks Cuttlefish. I appreciate your input. I think though, that if they don’t see anything wrong with their actions then that’s a problem. As far as stars go, I was thinking one star with explanation as to why in my review. NO BIG DEAL as @OnTheRoadAgain would say.
Nobody. The same can be said of hosts hosting. Both are a given.
The “outrageous” hosts in this scenario apparently landed a few or more hours away from their home by car. Their original plan was to stay over somewhere rather than driving home on landing. But who hasn’t found themselves homeward bound just wanting to get home and pushing through? If the hosts had insisted on coming home a day earlier, I would understand and empathize with @Synchronicity’s upset. But they did not.
Host communicated. Sitter communicated back. Host appropriately acquiesced. Considering that communications are regularly touted as the key to good sits, this is seems a reasonable example of crossed hopes/expectations being sorted out with good communications.
This does not seem a great example of “Hosts please don’t do this”.
