I’m having my first experience with “On Sit Reminders”. I appreciate homeowners concerns that their pets and home should be properly looked after while they are gone, but I’m not sure that being micro managed to the point of hourly scheduling is a good way to cement those HO/sitter relationships we all strive for. How do other sitters feel about this?
In my experience many homeowners don’t complete the ‘On Sit Reminder’ section of the Welcome Guide at all (if that is what you are referring to).
At the very most it may just remind you when the bins need to be put out or when the window cleaner is due.
I have never come across a daily or hourly schedule.
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I have one that’s about 6 pages long, I wish I could share it with you.
@loventhis could you elaborate? I’m not sure I understand are you saying that the homeowner is contacting you on an hourly basis ?
Wow @loventhis. Is it part of the Welcome Guide?
If they are Homeowners new to THS perhaps they thought it was what was expected but it is highly unusual to go into such detail.
Is it to do with pet care or household chores?
I’ve not seen or experienced any hourly reminders as a sitter. HOs will usually say when their pets wake up, get meals, walks and opportunities to relieve themselves, but that would be normal.
I’ve seen listings that are super detailed, to what seems like an oppressive degree, and I suggest avoiding all such sits, because those HOs probably would be a pain to deal with — they likely have expectations that are best met by hiring and paying a professional sitter.
That’s the sort of thing that’s best sorted out during chats / video calls.
Of course, a HO could suddenly surprise you with a bunch of requests / demands, but you have free will to push back. For instance, if a HO surprised me that way, I’d say neutrally that that’s not the sit that I signed up for and I’d tell them what I could reasonably do. It wouldn’t be a negotiation — it would be a neutral statement. And you can say such in a friendly tone. No need to get awkward.
If a HO is being overly demanding in your situation, is there some reason you can’t just say that you didn’t sign up for X?
Unfortunately, some people over reach in life — not just sits — and it’s in your interest to uphold boundaries for what you’re willing to do vs. not.
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Ugh! I have had the reminder section notated trash recycling and garden watering dates but they were short. But I did recently have a sit where the welcome guide was super duper duper long and it was annoying. There was so much instructions in there that I kept referring to it over and over again.
I’ve never had anyone use it but thought it could be helpful for pet medication schedules.
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