@Savuti94 Thank you (on behalf of Sitters everywhere) for changing your dates! I just read your listing, and it is still not clear, unfortunately. You did say something about the Sitter coming the day before, but I would add that “we are leaving on the 15th.” That makes it crystal clear.
Also, please add something like “we are happy to host your stay on the night of the 14th in our spare bedroom, if you are coming from afar.”
Imagine that your Sitter is going to be coming from somewhere very far away, so when you review your listing, try to think of it from a Sitter’s standpoint. This will increase Success for both you and the Sitter!
Also, if you know your approximate departure time on the 15th and arrival time on the 20th, that would be Bonus material for your listing. Your Sitter can plan where they are going to land next, after leaving your home. Your dates are right before Thanksgiving. There are always lots of Pets who require care while their Owners travel for this holiday.
@PVGemini and all…I will make the suggested changes to our profile. We are new to this and trying our best to be clear.
This leads me to a question about Listings. What happens if I have 2 or more active Listings? Is the Listing text unique to each listing? That is, if I put specific dates/times in the body of my Listing text, is it shared between listings? I hope that makes sense.
Yes, there’d be only one listing text with multiple dates. @Savuti94
As to how to state in the listing that the dates include a hand-over date. We simply wrote: “The dates listed include one day hand-over in the beginning.”
I feel that the rest of it (departure and arrival times etc.) can be discussed with the potential applicants. I don’t feel comfortable sharing these details with just everyone who reads the listing.
I completely agree that the listing should include the hand-over date so that only available sitters would apply. Specifying something about the hand over process may also help filter interested people.
Then, there the insurance issue. Shouldn’t the exact dates of sitting be registered with THS just in case something happens?
@Savuti94 i’ve just read your listing and you invite the sitter to arrive one day before for handover (no date mentioned) and your listing dates start 14th- so I would assume I should arrive 13th? That’s how it would probably come across (to a sitter who has not read the dialogue above!) Its not completely clear.
You mentipn above that you have changed the date to include the overnight before but it does not read like that!
I’m sorry but I think it is clearly stated that the listing includes the sitter’s arrival one day earlier. What might be slightly confusing is the offer to stay the night before. One might think for a second that this could mean the 13th but I think the reference to local sitters clarifies it all.
Since we are debating adding a second listing soon, we wanted to avoid putting specific dates in our listing description. Our description of arriving early reads as follows:
“We ask that our sitter arrive the day before our scheduled departure to get acclimated to our pets and home. The date of our sit includes your arrival one day early.”
Since I’ve listed our sit to be from November 14-20 and stated the date of our sit includes arriving the day before our departure, I’m not sure how to word it more clearly aside from putting actual dates in the listing text. Again, we may make a second listing soon.
@Savuti94 I just read your listing, and if sitters read it properly, it is easy to understand. The 14th includes the overnight prior to your departure.
Sorry @Savuti94 my apologies- I missed the sentence which says- ‘the date of our sit includes your arrival one day earlier’ unless you added that bit after my comment?!?!
But now as I read it everything is clear!
I prefer the date to be the day the sit starts. I’m usually flying and plan to arrive the day before, on my dime, unless the HO offers accommodations. I don’t want to chance not being able to make it. BUT I can work with "day HO want you there’ too if it’s stated in the first line and mentioned if they are offering a place for me to stay.
It’s really just personal preference but I did have a sit where the date listed was not made clear and it was the ‘be there’ date vs ‘sit start’ date.
It’s now something I confirm if the HO is considering me.
I have overlapped with a sitter several times, as in them staying a night when I am still in the house, when I am leaving for the airport very early. Or when coming back from the airport very late. I always ask right up front in the first conversations with them if this is alright, and explain the layout of the accommodations to make sure they are comfortable.
What I usually do is post the dates I am actually going to be away, and then in conversation ask if coming earlier or leaving later in order to overlap would be okay. If not I make other arrangements.
@Sas As a sitter, I appreciate your asking about coming early/staying later but feel it might be best to post the dates that you want the sitter there and include the options in your listing. Then if the sitter doesn’t want to or can’t do that, it can be discussed. We are always flexible with our sits but if you post the dates you want me there, I know when I’m sitting back to back if it would work.
Unless you make the change on the THS site, I also find it to be very inconvenient to have my outlook calendar different than my THS calendar.
Dan
I’m 100% in agreement with ONLY listing the dates for the nights the sitter will be in your home & in the description state flexibility you can provide/prefer.
There are a few reasons this is a good policy:
(1) A system glitch I’ve only noticed this week prevents a sitter from applying for a sit that begins the same day as a previous sit ends. Same at the other end: can’t apply if your sit ends the day another sit begins.
If someone is doing a sit nearby & wants to stay in your area, they might be blocked from applying even though there’s no actual conflict.
The system is supposed to allow back-to-back sit/application but it doesn’t always (THS Support has said they are looking into this.)
(2) Your Posting Title can make it clear so why not put it there? You only get 5 initial applications, so you only want people who can def do the sit applying:
“Need Sitter 7 Flex Nights: Beloved Pet Coyote on Romantic Barge”
(3) Inside the description of your need, easy to explain flexibility/preferences about dates, and that might be a BIG deal to your plans and the sitters plans.
For example:
“We want to leave the barge at noon on the 15th, expect to return by 4 pm on the 22nd, however prefer someone who can either meet us in person before the sit or can come the night before. On our return, prefer someone who will be there when we get back, and offer them that night if desired.”
Alternatively if you don’t have room for a sitter when you’re home or you’re not comfortable with that:
“We want to leave the barge by noon on the 15th, so a sitter needs to be able to visit us for a couple hours earlier in the week to get orientation. We expect to return by 4 pm on the 22nd, but the sitter can leave any time after 10 am.”
Bingo - it’s all about clarity! What you need, what you want, what you prefer as either HO or Sitter. If everyone knows up front what’s needed & what’s possible, things are SO much simpler for all!
Given that the new overlap update might affect the number of people who could apply, I’d make the dates as tight as possible. You could write something like this in your listing: Sitters in the area will have the option to pick up the keys and meet us and the pets before the sit starts. Sitters coming from a distance,will have the option of coming in a day before the start date to meet the pets and stay in our home as our guest.
Hello @ASASG Thank you for raising this, to further assist there is an update on the main thread about overlapping dates
If anyone is having any issues applying for a sit that starts the same day as another one ends then please reach out to Membership Services via the help desk as this is allowed and any issues need to be reported so they can be looked into. We are sorry if this has caused anyone any issues, it has been tested and is working on the platform so reporting individual issues is helpful. Thank you.