Some Thoughts on Early Arrivals and Late Departures

Owner Questions, Advice & Chat
1

As a full-time sitter especially, I am a big fan of the new feature that allows hosts to state preferred arrival and departure times. It helps me know right upfront if it is even worthwhile to apply to the sit, which is a great time saver.

There are all different types of sitters out there with all different types of preferences, schedules,etc.. But for hosts wanting the sitter to arrive really early in the morning, like 6 AM and/or stay well until 7,8 or later into the evening, you might consider offering an option for the sitter to either arrive the day before, or stay on the night you get back if that suited them better, especially if you don’t seem to be getting a lot of applicants.

While a sitter who is based locally, or is already in the area may be able to get there 6 in the morning, that may not be feasible for a lot of people.

Asking a sitter not to leave until at least 8 or 9 PM might not be either. As a full-time sitter who can easily book sits back to back,I would not apply to such a sit since it would almost certainly mean I would not be able to start another one that day and would need to pay for a night in a hotel. And unless it was a particularly unique sit or I thought I would end up with a gap in my schedule anyway, I wouldn’t apply as I know I can easily find a sit that wouldn’t require me to lay out this extra money.

For sitters who would be traveling to another sit or back home that day, many probably would not be able to stay that late.

Of course there is always the option for a sitter to inquire if there is any flexibility with these times, but I know personally I would not be inclined to do that in these instance of really early and late times as the times I would need to arrive or leave are typically different by at least several hours. It would be different if the arrival time was by 11 and I couldn’t get there till noon…in this sort of scenario I would probably apply and ask.

In the many years sitting, I have found it usually didn’t work out when I did ask to change times by more significant amounts.

I also know a lot of sitters might not feel comfortable asking if they can arrive a day early or stay a day later than the listed dates.

Thought this could be something helpful to consider.

2

So it boils down to, you cannot be inclined to ask about someone’s flexibility?

3

Yes in most cases, unless it was a sit I really wanted to do for some reason. If they are listing specific times that are really early in the morning or late at night in these tighter windows of 1 to 3 hours, as opposed to wider ones, or the ‘to be agreed upon later’ I know it is less likely they have the flexibility.

It is these type of sits I’m referring to specifically, because for myself and a lot of other sitters, the arrival and departure times that would work for us would probably be at least several hours different than they are listing.

If it was a sit that had a more standard arrival time or departure time, and I needed to leave or arrive like an hour different, that’s a different scenario and I would be more inclined to ask.

. Having been housesitting for 12 years now, there were many times I inquired about this when hosts mentioned times in their listing, and more often than not, the host did not have a huge range of flexibility.

And I know a lot of sitters would probably not be comfortable specifically asking hosts about arriving or staying a day later than the listed dates if the host made no such offer in the listing.

And like I mentioned, there are so many other sits available so I would probably just focus on other ones.

That is the main reason I mentioned it, as I am sure I am not the only sitter who may operate in a similar way. Also in many cases, the hosts probably don’t have a lot of flexibility and this is something they can think about doing. Just trying to offer some helpful advice.

4

It’s also a bit of a flag for me in that they are not considering the sitters needs at all. I saw one with a very early arrival on a public holiday, would necessitate a night before nearby in a hotel. I did enquire on that one and they were open to us staying the night before, but the fact they hadn’t considered the difficulties for a sitter put me off a bit for sure. Do I want to sit for thoughtless hosts? Only if everything looks amazing.

5

You’re certainly not the only one. Just yesterday I saw a listing that I quite liked and I had seen it before. I checked again to find out why I had not applied. Then I saw the expected arrival was 7 -7:30 am and departure 7-8pm. I couldn’t be bothered asking if there was some flexibility. The fact that they have not even thought how inconvenient that can be for the sitter is enough to put me off.
The listing has been on for a while, I don’t understand how they don’t double check and try to improve it.

6

Yes, when I see those small windows with really early arrival times, my first thought is they probably don’t have much flexibility, or else they wouldn’t be asking the sitter to get there so early.

I wrote this post after seeing a listing today where they wanted the sitter to get there between 5 and 7 am and stay until between 8 and 10 pm.

Of course there are probably plenty of times where something can be worked out, but if hosts are picking these specific windows, more often than not, these are probably the times they actually need and they may not have much wiggle room.

7

It’s kinda why I applied to the one I did and enquired about timings. I thought they needed a nudge to consider sitters needs too :wink: too much time on my hands when I’m handing out unsolicited advice to hosts :rofl:.

8

Hi KC1102, I totally agree with you. I actually saw one listed for one night only. They wanted you to arrive before 8am and leave late in the evening the next day, They also had several animals. Now if that had been made into at least three nights somebody may have applied, but one night? They had nil applicants. Did they wonder why? On the other hand I have applied for some longer sits, where owners were coming back late at night and they have then said that there is the option to stay on until the next day.

9

I thought adding on the day before or after would be a helpful suggestion because I"m guessing that in most cases, the preferred times are pretty accurate as far as what the host needs or prefers, or they would have listed longer windows. And these times just aren’t going to work for most people.

10

Before THS started the check boxes with times for arrival and departure, I would put in my listing our flight time and time I would like sitter to arrive and our departure time and time for sitter to leave. Most times we have an early flight so I put in arrival date to spend the night in the dates listed and we usually arrive home very late so I also include that night for the sitter to spend the night. Only one time did a sitter want to stay in a hotel the night before and 2 sitters left after we got home. That way when a sitter reads my listing they have all that info and can make a decision to apply.

The night the sitter stays with us we take them out to dinner so we can get to know them.:grinning_face:

11

I always appreciate those sorts of listings!

12

I’m clearly a dinosaur. Because when I started, you’d apply for a sit - having noted the dates given - and then have a chat, video or phone, about the actual arrival and departure dates that would suit both parties. There was no need for the THS platform to give tick-box times for Arrival or Departure… All it did was introduce one adult to another. We took it from there.

13

To be fair, as a HO, the way THS implemented this is awful. It’s confusing and not clear whether its HO depature time or the time they want sitters to arrive. Literally it’s confusing. I think most are marking their own depature time as say an 8 am flight so they are leaving at 6 am, so that’s the time they put.

Making one box the HO departure time, and a second box asking when they prefer sitters arrive, would solve this problem. So weird that they can only manage to implement this important element of a sit so poorly.

So, if I were a sitter and saw a listing I otherwise liked, I would apply but in your message state you would want some flexibility on the listing arrival time…and take it from there. I wouldn’t read more into it than a poorly implemented field by THS. Now, if the HO replies and says no you need to be here at 3:48 am,one minute after we depart for our flight…we’ll, then I think you know what to do from there.

14

That is good to know how it looks on the host end and that it may not actually be representative of the actual times–THS should try to make all that more clear if people are not entering accurate information.

For me personally, I don’t interpret those sorts of requests as not being considerate of sitters. I just see the listing and think it is more likely than not they would not be able to accommodate my necessary arrival and departure times for that particular sit so I take a pass.

Assuming the times are an accurate reflection of when they actually want the sitter to arrive, it is reasonable to assume that in most cases, they are probably pretty fixed; if there was room for significantly later arrival or earlier departure, the noted window would probably reflect that. If a host was okay with the sitter arriving by 10 am, they likely wouldn’t set it from 5 to 7. If they were okay with the sitter leaving at 4 pm, they probably wouldn’t put the time at 8 to 9.

Now in some cases, the stated window may be more of a preference than an absolute necessity–such as preferring to meet the sitter in person before they leave–and inquiring may result in them changing the time if that means they will be able to secure a sitter.

But like I said before, in most cases, a lot of sitters may not take the time and will make a reasonable assumption that the stated time is probably pretty fixed. And the suggestion I made in my original post is based on cases where the hosts truly want the sitters to arrive and leave at these sorts of hours.

15

I like that feature as well! About a year ago had a bad experience though which made me cancel a sit. We had a four hour drive to the house sit and the homeowner asked us to arrive at around 1 pm. We were fine with leaving our home at 0900 am but had done other sits in this locale where the traffic was awful and were worried about arriving on time. We said to the homeowner that we would book a hotel nearby the night before and then she asked us to arrive at 0800 the next morning. I said no - I’m not an early morning riser and like to relax in the morning. I felt we were taken advantage of and she replied she didn’t get a good feeling from us! We’ve been sitters on here for 11 years and have over 52 - 5 star reviews. I chalk it up to her loss!

16

Definitely would be a reasonable assumption for a sitter looking at a listing to conclude that HO expects them to arrive at 6 am, for example. But just putting it out there that it’s really confusing on HO end what the site wants us to put in that field. Most casual users would probably plop in their own departure time. So just adding that perspective. I do think it’s a valuable field but poorly implemented.

17

I applied for my current sit because it is an hour away from home, the arrival time requested was 7-8pm which suited us fine as we had guests at home until late on the previous day.
In reality when we had a conversation the arrival time was 8am (couldn’t secure the flight they preferred), which meant a very early start for us.
They also wondered why they were receiving applications from sitters who wanted to bring children and pets until I pointed out those categories show on their listing. They had no idea.
I think the tick boxes are causing more issues than they resolve.

18

My dear! Twelve years—you’re a pro! I don’t understand why you’re afraid to ask the host about suitable times and conditions. I’m nowhere near as experienced as you—I use the site purely for comfortable travel (my soul really needs it right now after a trauma)—but I always ask hosts about the dates. People have even changed their plans and tickets for me; there are such open, wonderful hosts out there. I’ve almost always been met at the airport and driven to the location whenever my schedule overlapped with the host’s. There was even a time a host arranged a taxi from the airport (an hour’s drive) and back again at the end of the sit. Please, don’t be shy—I beg you! I understand the financial anxiety—the fear that you might lose the sit because of “too many” requests and end up without a booking—but the site is growing, and the number of offers is multiplying. Be bolder, and good luck to you!

19

May I ask—was it an elderly woman?

(Post edited by the Forum team to comply with the Community Guidelines).

20

I hear where you are coming from on this. Unless its a really desirable sit if the arrival and departure times are awkward, i dont even bother asking about flexibility.

I actually saw a sit that had a 3-5am arrival and departure time- either they had no understanding of how it comes across to potentisl sitters and they had the intetion of letting them stzy over, or theyre completely selfish. Couldnt be bothered finding out!!!