How do others arrange sit start and end times? On my next trip, I will be leaving around lunchtime and arriving back late at night. I have put the dates on my post, but am unable to say “the morning of” or “the evening of”.
I have a confirmed sitter, and they did the same as me, assumed the times of day. They are arriving in the morning (great!) but leaving very early in the morning on the last day.
Is it just me? Should I assume sits all start and finish in a morning?
You can mention timing in the listing itself and you should both have discussed the timing before confirming anything. If you’re arriving late at night and want them there all day you should really plan for them to spend the night and leave the next morning and list your dates accordingly. If you say you’re leaving on x date but don’t specify then it’s fair for them to make travel that fits their schedule, not yours.
Neither the sitter nor a home owner should presume anything about the time. It’s best if you clarify the time with your sitter before accepting them, so that you both agree.
You shouldn’t have presumed the time, BUT neither should they, I would go back to them and say in a nice way, that you don’t have cover for during that day, is there any way they can help you. Neither of you is in the right, but neither of you is in the wrong either, because it wasn’t mentioned by either of you.
Thank you, and I agree we should have discussed timings before confirming the sit - certainly something I will do in future.
I find the app quite unhelpful when advertising sits, it is not intuitive and I spend ages looking for where to put information. I just think being able to include the rough timing along with the dates would be helpful for all.
Discussing the times of day you will be leaving and arriving home are important, and it is equally important for the sitter to discuss their schedule, and not assume they can just leave any time the day the sit ends.
In many cases, a sitter will leave before the host gets back. As a full-time sitter who often books sits back to back, knowing the return time is important as it helps me plan.
I don’t think all sitters automatically plan to leave the morning of the last day.
If the host isn’t coming home until later in the day and the pet can only be left alone X hours, I wouldn’t plan to leave any earlier than the start of that window, unless I knew before applying to the sit that I needed to leave at a specific time earlier in the day–and would mention it right away in my application --or the host said we can leave any time we needed to.
If a host would like the sitter to stay until at least a certain time for one reason or another, it is really good to let them know upfront to make sure their schedule can accommodate. This is one thing that is good to discuss right in the beginning before confirming.
Just one of those things we all learn with experience…
Assuming times doesn’t make sense in any sitting context, because everyone makes individual travel plans.
If you’ve assumed and left a gap, you can ask whether your sitters can adjust. Whether they do that would be at their discretion. If they can’t, then you’ll need to arrange stopgap care for your pet(s) if there’s a significant window between leave and when you return. Like get a friend, family member or pet walker/feeder.
In the future, don’t leave such details to assumptions. Discuss specifics with potential sitters before mutually agreeing on a sit.
It’s the first thing as a sitter I ask on the pre sit video chat. When do you want me and when are you going and coming back.
No. And it’s all about communication. I often stay the night before because home owners are leaving early the next day, likewise sometimes stay the final night because they are returning late afternoon or evening. With cats it’s less of an issue but with dogs more important to stay. I like to know that the owners, if flying, have landed or are on the road back home before I leave, if daytime flight. It all needs to be discussed with the sitters.
@Eleanor17400 No , neither party should assume anything . The onus is on both parties to discuss this before confirmation of the sit .
As the host you can add this important information to the introduction of your listing - I will be leaving at xx so I need the sitter to arrive by xxtime on xxdate / I will be returning at xxtime on xxdate I need sitter to stay until xx.time. I have seen many listing that state this .
Where this hasn’t been mentioned in the listing , we always ask at applicantion stage , what time do you need us to arrive / leave ? It makes no sense to commit to a sit without this information - we need this information upfront .
Just to add, that it quite often will be unreasonable to expect a sitter to arrive early in the morning or stay until late evening and then have to start their travel home ( this of course depends on their onward destination and method of transport ) So in future you may want to consider stating that since you are returning late in the evening, the sitter is welcome to stay that night and add that extra night to the dates .
As others have mentioned it should be discussed, preferably before confirmation but at least quickly thereafter. Host and sitter should exchange exact travel times in my opinion.
I always ask for this in videocall. As soon as a sit is confirmed by both parties I book my tickets and let the other party know.
I would think that most people - hosts and sitters - that have a long journey would often want to leave early in the day so that they come to their destination in a reasonable time in the afternoon/ evening, and often it could even be necessary to reach destination same day. For instance at my home airport the latest train leave at a certain time, and if a late flight is delayed I will miss it costing me a quite expensive last minute Hotel night (BTDT).
If a host want a sitter to stay all day, and especially returning «late at night» in my opinion one should have the listing dates to the day after arrival and offer the sitter to stay over. And state that in the listing. Some sitters would perhaps want to leave even «late in the night», but I think that should be the choice of the sitter.
I usually leave the home before the host arrives. It has happened that a host want to prolong after confirmation, but I have tickets that can’t be altered. Then they get a friend or neighbor to pop by the last day.
I give this info in the About You/Introduction section of the listing @Eleanor17400 . For our next trip, it looked like this:
I always talk about this very early in the selection process - either in the app or on the first call. There are some things I know from experience - if the sit is stand-alone (no immediately prior or after) and in the western half of the US I know that the earliest I can arrive based on flights is late afternoon and that I can generally be there almost all of the last day because I can get a red eye back to the east. If I have to cross the Atlantic then the earliest possible arrival is mid-afternoon as the flight will arrive in the morning.
But we always talk about it.
If it’s a deal breaker I think safest bet is to put it on the listing 
There are so many variables. Some HO have a neighbour who can pop in on the last / first day to work around sitters times. Others don’t.
I had a situation recently where a HO said I sounded perfect, but couldn’t video call for a few days so I kept the sit dates free for her. Then on the call, she mentioned she actually wanted me to come meet them the evening the sit was listed to start, and have dinner with them etc as they weren’t leaving till 4am the next morning. I couldn’t because I had work commitments that evening which I was planning to do on the sit, so I offered to come get the keys in the morning beforehand and come to the house the next day when they had left but she said no, someone had to stay the night before with them. It was for cats so I was surprised but everyone is different - So yeh, deal breakers should go on listings
If I apply for a sit on dates that I know I can not arrive before a certain time or need to depart by a specific time, I include that in my application so the homeowner can decline my app if my timing is not compatible. If I have no restrictions, I will just ask the homeowner when I should plan to arrive and depart.
You should not assume that all sits start and finish in a morning. Flights, trains and other travel can depart and arrive at various times. As sitters, we now ask for flight numbers (or equivalent specific info) during video conversation before sit confirmed. Transparency is good for expectations and mutual planning.
We always ask what time hosts need sitters to arrive and to leave in the application, since if we can’t accommodate their requirements it’s pretty pointless taking things any further unless they have someone who can cover.
When a late return is planned, we usually stay until the following day. It’s unreasonable to expect sitters to leave late in the day, in my opinion.
During the application process, below are 2 questions I ask:
*What day/time is your departure from the home and what day/time is your return?
I want this in writing before confirming the sit so that there are no surprises. After I get these responses, I let the pet parents know what I can do and get their agreement via the message system
