If I have someone booked from, say, Saturday to Friday, is it reasonable to expect that they will be there most of the last Friday? I am in this situation and my sitters are leaving early Friday morning which means I have to find other ways of having my dogs looked after for the rest of the day.
Thatâs something that shouldâve been discussed before you mutually agreed on the sit. Thereâs no standard assumption that applies, because everyoneâs travel arrangements vary.
Now that youâre in this situation, youâll need to work out a solution. If their departure is firm, like with flights or trains out, possibly get a neighbor, friend or dog walker to look after your pets as needed.
In the future, make sure to discuss at the outset. Thatâs typically a shared responsibility between host and sitter.
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If that was what you agreed on before confirming the sit yes .
Otherwise you will need to agree a solution . If the sitter has a long distance to travel home or onwards to the next sit then they will likely need to leave in the morning.
One solution , (if the sitters are available for an extra day ) would be to accommodate them staying overnight an extra day and you paying for alternative accommodation either for yourselves or for the sitters for that night , so that they can stay for the day and then leave the next morning to travel onto their next destination.
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As @Maggie8K says itâs all about comms on both sides. The time they need/want to leave and the time you need/want them to stay until. Theyâre not a âbooked serviceâ or being paid, itâs an equal partnership so probably a neighbour or friend to help out if youâre not back until later in the day on this one and add it to the list for discussion for future sitters. #commscommscomms
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It would be really nice if Owners would put the exact days and times that the Sitters are needed at the home, in their original listing!
If not, then this should definitely be a discussion point before confirming the Sit.
Most people like to travel during the daytime rather than during the night, so Owners tend to arrive home later in the day. With dogs, we always accommodate the later arrival (we expect it!), but every Sitter has different needs. Each situation is unique.
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Worth noting as well: Sometimes hosts return later in the day and that can make it unreasonable for the sitter to leave immediately. In such cases, hosts often offer for the sitter to stay overnight and leave the next day.
I say this, because a host shouldnât expect a sitter to come and go at just the hostâs convenience. Itâs an exchange, a partnership. There was a thread for instance where some host expected their sitters to leave at late night because the hostâs flight returned then. Unless a sitter is local, that might mean theyâd have to pay for accommodation till say their flight out the next day, and many sitters would find that inhospitable.
Personally, Iâve never encountered this issue, because to me itâs logical to discuss arrival and departure specifics. And my hosts have always offered for me to stay overnight if they returned late. I almost always fly to and from sits.
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Travel times should be adressed early, and pre-confirmation if it is important in my opinion.
I think most people that travel often start their travel early in the day so that they can reach their destination before evening. Many means of transport to several destinations are often only morning and evening (specially the less traveled ones, rural, small airports). Evening flights can also be quite expensive in some areas.
I usually leave a sit morning or at least before noon and my impression is that the hosts often prefers the same pattern for their travel. So I would think it is important to adress early on if one need someone to stay all day. If that makes it troublesome for them to travel home it could be a good idea to offer accommodation to the following day.
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@Roosmum This is one of the essential points of discussion between sitter & host.
We always discuss this during the call or pre-sit messaging and get a clear agreement that works for all. If we are doing back to back sits, like we always do in the UK, we will often ask this question directly in our application as we donât want to waste anyoneâs time having a call if we discover in advance that timings wonât work.
We pretty much always leave in the morning, as early as we can get away, subject to cleaning/dog walking etc. If the host is coming back very late they usually request us to stay over- this gives peace of mind re-possible delays. If we are going directly to another sit that day, or if they canât/donât want to offer overnight there is usually a friend or neighbour they can call to step in to cover the gap.
In our experience most people, on both sides, try to be as flexible and accomodating as possible. Thatâs part of the concept of an equal/balanced exchange.
We actually just withdrew from a very attractive 3 week Christmas sit in the tropics when it became clear the hosts were not thinking of us at all. The sit involved flying in long haul but there was no offer to pick us up & no suggestion of staying the night before or after, no mention of dinner or any of the usual signs of hospitality we are offered- especially with overseas sits. They did not ask about our plans at all. They just wanted us to arrive mid-afternoon for a quick handover and on the last day to stay as late in the day as possible (for the pets) but leave before they arrived back! We had a video call scheduled but decided to cancel it when we got this infoâŚ
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Definitely something that has to be discussed before confirming a sit. My current sit the homeowner doesnât fly in until nearly midnight then an hour drive home so luckily I asked the question before confirming. I will stay that night and leave early next day, the day AFTER the advertised end date.
Really important to check these things first before finding yourself in this situation but I understand that doesnât help you now. Unfortunately you will need to either ask the sitters politely if they could stay a little longer or find someone to look after the dogs for the day. To be considerate to you also though, the sitters should also have advised you, or asked you, about departure time when communicating initially rather than now. It works both ways and a mutual agreement deserves mutual respect from both parties.
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Its not unreasonable to ask and its not unreasonable to get NO as a reply.
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No, sorry, itâs not reasonable to expect them to stay, not unless you already discussed timings. There is no official start and end time at all. Likewise, they should have brought it up with you too (but if they were newer it would not have entered their head or maybe they have just sat cats before, in which case leaving after breakfast is normal).
So, personally, given you are stuck, Iâd ask them again, just say that you hadnât realised the two of you hadnât discussed it already, and you havenât got a back up plan for the last day, so is there any chance they could stay a longer, even just until 1pm (or whatever), and how you would be hugely grateful youâd be if they could help.
You need to word it beautifully, because right now you need to solution, and they are your easiest bet right now, so donât put one ounce of âexpectancyâ into it, because then theyâll just say no.
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And if you do what @HappyDeb suggests I definitely would suggest a decent thankyou gift
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Unless you specifically told them that they need to be there until a certain time, then no, not reasonable. We travel sit to sit and if we need to be at our next sit by a certain time, then we will make sure the animal is walked/taken out, fed/has water and will depart at whatever time we tell the HO we need to leave.
Now if a HO tells us per-confirmation or pre-arrival that they are going to be home at 7pm, we will make arrangements to stay until 3-4pm (given an animal can be left 4-5 hours alone). We would not stay until 7pm or wait until you get home and stay that evening. That is just not something we do. We always leave before the homeowner gets home. UNLESS you are getting home around 10pm-midnight, etc. Then we will take care of the animal that evening, go to bed, wake up early, do laundry, say goodbye and then head out.
This is why we ALWAYS ask (even prior to getting the welcome guide), when would you like us to be there on the beginning date and when are you coming home on the end date?
That way we have it in writing or verbal agreement to know when we can make arrangements. If the HO are traveling internationally, we might wait at the house until they make there domestic layover, etc to see if they are delayed however, but this is usually more rare of a case.
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No, itâs not reasonable to expect sitters will just sit around all day to suit your undeclared return plans. What time did you all agree they could leave the sit? Surely it was discussed prior to confirming the sit? Itâs one of our earliest questions, since is imperative to whether or not we can meet a pet parentâs requirements.
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Yes, it would be useful to have some idea (and it would also be worthwhile for pet parents also to specify in the listing whether or not theyâve already added a day to one or both ends of the sit to accommodate handovers ,or early departures / late returns) but itâs still a matter for discussion because often thereâs some flexibility which can be worked out between sitters and hosts.
Hi @Roosmum
The exact dates and times are the first thing I discuss with a HO on a pre sit chat as many HO post their travel dates and not the actual dates they may prefer a sitter to be âon siteâ.
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Thanks for all your replies. Iâll know next time.
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Thank you for your forthright reply. As a fairly new member, lesson learned for next time.
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To be fair to you @Roosmum, itâs not just down to you, the sitter is equally as responsible for confirming required times for arrival and departure. Maybe they too are new to THS?
Wishing you a satisfactory resolution to this problem, which must be a worry for you.
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someone booked
You cannot âbookâ a sitter. The wording says all I need to know.