@idocsteve Yes, as I said, this is something that can be discussed and agreed to prior to sit confirmation if it’s important that the sitter be available extra days in case of delays. If that doesn’t work for both parties then the sit doesn’t get confirmed. Personally, I have to manage my work schedule, I would have to block out those extra days from meetings because I can’t have meetings discussing confidential information with the HOs there. I plan my travel day since I can’t work on a travel day. If I have to have additional days available that is very disruptive to my work. Not every situation works for every sitter. That’s why we agree on the details of the sit prior to confirmation and both HOs and sitters can choose what works for them. Having a career and obligations outside of voluntary sitting does not make me a bad sitter.
I never said you were a bad sitter, nor did I mean to infer it in the slightest, if anything I said you were a good sitter. Sorry if you interpreted it that way.
Glad you think I can be a good sitter. But not a great one. I will carry on with what I’ve been doing. HOs and pets that I sit for seem very happy.
Indeed. ideally before sit confirmed. very normal conversation.
As full-time housesitters, that’s not how we think at all.
If a Pet Parent asked that we build a couple of days contingency into end date of sit then we’d discuss before sit confirmed. We’re reasonable people and try to assist. But if they expected that we leave property on-schedule at end sit but requires that we should not commit ourselves for a couple of days after end date just-in-case they need us to extend then we’d decline and wish them all the best. Unreasonable.
Notably, THS recently reintroduced Duo-Sitter feature that allows for up to two day overlaps. Quite the opposite from two day contingency gaps.
You being someone living in a remote, rural location, your comments about what sitters should or should not do is easy to get if your perspective is given preeminence. However, very few hosts face your challenges with sits. We plan our travels with contingencies for sitters being delayed enroute and for our being delayed on return. None of those contingency plans need or require flexibility or accommodation by sitters. Your unique circumstances are not any basis for expecting sitters to adjust to your travel problems. Indeed, it is incumbent on the host to plan for and accommodate sitter travel delays as well as their own.
Yup, as a sitter, I’d reject any sit where the hosts didn’t have contingency plans if they were delayed.
Personally, all of my hosts have reviewed me as a great sitter and I’ve been asked back. Today, most recently. And none of my hosts have asked for coverage if they couldn’t make it back in time, because they were responsible enough about their pets to have emergency coverage, if needed. To me, that’s a good host vs. a bad one.
You mention this during each video chat prior to accepting a sit?
You DON’T query potential sitters along these lines? Considering your expectations of sitters, that’s truly shocking. What? You just wing it? Stunning.
I guess I sort of do. On both of the sits we have had through THS, we hadn’t yet booked the return flights as they were a month out, and we queried the sitters as to their flexibility at the end of the sit, but it wasn’t specifically asking “what happens if we get delayed” it was more along the lines of “does it matter if we return on xx day instead of yy day.”
Wow. 2 whole sits? And based on that you’ve figured both how sitters should sit and hosts worldwide should host? That should be very impressive. I’ve been a host for 3+ years with a dozen or so sits and am still trying to figure out the stuff I need to know that I don’t. Either good on you or god help your future sits.
As a responsible host what are your alternative plans if the sitter is delayed due to factors beyond their control ?
Here are some reasons why Great sitters are in most cases unable to stay on extra days when host is delayed
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The majority of sitters on THS have full time jobs and sit during their vacation time so need to get back to work - their employer is unlikely to have any flexibility about the date they must return to work . Families sit during school holidays and the children have to be back in school.
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Additional Travel expense . Changing a train or flight ticket at the last minute will in most cases incur an additional expense, why would an unpaid sitter incur this additional expense to accommodate a host that has been delayed ?
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Full time sitters and nomadic workers will have consecutive sits booked . This means another host and pets are depending on them to arrive on the agreed date and time. Why would a sitter cause inconvenience for the next host to accommodate the delay of the first hosts ? That would not make them a “great” sitter .
That is why the onus is on the host to have a backup plan if they are delayed .
We are sitters , on several occasions our host’s return has been delayed by a day or more due to flight cancellations. They made other plans to cover that and didn’t expect their delays to impact or inconvenience us . These are great hosts and understand the mutual exchange concept of THS.
That doesn’t mean that if there was an emergency we wouldn’t stay on if we were available . On one occasion we did stay on when a host’s trip was extended . On that one occasion we were available .The hosts didn’t expect it , they already had arranged a back up plan but offered us the opportunity to stay on if we wanted to . It was a great sit and fantastic location and on that one occasion we didn’t have work commitments, a flight ticket or another sit that prevented us from accepting the offer to stay on a few extra days . It was mutually beneficial for us to stay on and help out the hosts .
I say to my wife “Honey you need to make other plans”
Well, I don’t need to respond since everyone else has responded. So my attitude doesn’t seem so out of place.
The listed end date of a sit is the date sitters expect to leave, and it’s incumbent on HOs to make arrangements for their pet and home cares if their return is delayed. That said, we’ve more than once been asked during the video chat if we could be ‘flexible’ regarding the end date, as well as being asked during a sit if we’d stay for a longer period. Whenever we could accommodate these requests, we simply asked the HOs to confirm their new sit end date request to us via WhatsApp message, which we sent to MS who officially amended the dates.
It’s impractical to simply assume that all sitters can stay an extra day or two to accommodate potentially changing requirements, so this is something any responsible host who understands the reciprocal nature of THS should clearly set out in the listing or during the video chat (and preferably both) so that any sitters who already have other plans beyond the published end date of the sit can withdraw or simply not apply.
It’s not about being flexible or inflexible, but about being organised. Transparency is key.
‘Sort of do’ is a very vague response. We state in our profile that we’ll only accept sits where travel plan dates have been confirmed, so if you list specific dates on THS but have not decided upon return flights it would be prudent to state this in your listings.
My “sort of do” reply was about querying sitters on their flexibility should plans suddenly change due to unanticipated travel delays, not about whether they’re committed to the exact return dates specified in the listing, because as I said previously, we would prefer to leave our return dates flexible if that works for all parties, which it has, in both of our sits to date.
You might be surprised to learn that in both of our sits, when we contacted sitters who applied, several said they could not even do the exact dates we listed! Not only that, but they were unaware of certain important details that were clearly stated in the profile that became an issue for them when it was brought up in subsequent communications. It seems that in their haste to apply for a popular sit, some applicants figure they’d get in line and address those details later.