Hi there, can anyone tell me what time a sit officially commences, and ends.
If a home owner requires us to be present for the 8am morning walk and feeding routine, surely they should provide accommodation the night before? There are no airbnb etc close by. Looking forward to your thoughts.
When you cannot or won’t agree to the demands of the HO, then the deal is off. And then they need to find another sitter. Maybe they can find someone with an RV.
It has happened that I met the day before, to have a walkthrough and to get the keys. Then stayed the night in a hotel and started the sit around noon the next day.
They don’t have to provide accommodation. Good owners will as they are reasonable people but even then they may not have a spare room or may be wary of violating the policy about the sitter having the place to themselves (they may not realise it is allowed for handover and situations like this).
If their requirement is you get there at 8am and you can’t stay the night before the practicality is that they just get less option of sitters applying. If you have already accepted the sit and this has now been sprung on you then I suggest you let them know you can’t get there for that time unless you arrive the day before and would need to stay that night. Be firm but polite on the requirement. or be prepared to stump up for a hotel at you own cost (been there, done that)
To the best of my knowledge there are no specific rules about this.
Our experience has been that if a HO wants us there very early they almost always ask us to come the night before.
That’s peace of mind for HO & considerate to Sitter.
The two times it’s been awkward we should have not accepted a vague answer (both homes had multiple bedrooms and HOs knew we traveled a long distance to get there): surprised on arrival to be told we were expected to get hotel for the night AND be there before 9 a.m.
In both cases departure was similar: expected to stay late & go to a hotel.
BUT I want to state, just two out of dozens.
Lesson learned: best thing to confirm in writing with the HO their expectations of both (1) arv time/day (2) dep time/day
That’s considerate for both sides of the equation!
I don’t know what you can do if you’ve confirmed but agree with the post above: If they did not make the early arrival/hotel night clear before confirming AND they have a spare room, you can explain that given this new requirement, either you can arrive the night before or arrive at the house later.
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This is something you need to discuss with the homeowner, not something we can give you an answer to as there will be different scenarios.
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There aren’t really any rules to it just basic common courtesy.
If they want you there at 8am then it would be reasonable they offer you to stay the night before unless you live like down the street or something.
Just discuss with them what would work best for both of you it’s a mutual exchange so should benefit and be best for both parties
We always ask about our arrival and departure times in the video call, before we accept the sit.
If a home host wanted us to arrive very early in the morning they would have to have space in their home to allow us to arrive the night before, or be prepared to pay for us to stay in a local hotel the night before.
If neither of these options were possible then we would politely decline the sit and move on to another one that suited us, and the home host better.
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Thanks everyone. Yes I told our homeowner that she should provide accommodation if she wants us there early. As it is we will be there two days before she leaves the country. We have agreed to arrive on midday of the start of the sit. We are travelling a long way to get there. Happy 2024 sitting everyone❤️
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Thanks for letting us know the outcome @RickCindyLee2023 - I’m so glad to hear you were able to come to a compromise!
Feel free to pop back any time and share your thoughts about your journey, and your sit, with us!
Jenny
No they ‘should’ not! It’s up to you whether you can suit the requirements they have, and the sit timings is whatever you agree with the pet owners, as it has to work for both sides.
If a sit doesn’t suit you, then don’t apply, or remove your application. There are no rights nor wrongs. You could ask to stay the night prior, but that ‘may’ put some homeowners off you if they don’t wish to share their space if they didn’t advertise it as such.
If a home owners timings don’t suit you (on the presumption they actually want you), then ask if they have someone who could care for their pets prior, that is the easiest way, but don’t presume they ‘should’ provide accommodation for you, it is just really lovely when an HO offers to do so.
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The ‘deal’ in a trusted housesitter exchange is that the home host provides free accommodation in exchange for the sitter providing free pet and home care.
The home host abandoning their side of the bargain (the accommodation) because the timings don’t suit them is akin to the sitter abandoning their side of the bargain (the pets) if the timings didn’t suit them - and as we all know from the new THS rules recently put into place there are dire consequences at the very thought of that ever happening.
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Everything was agreed months ago. We are travelling g all the way from Romania to the south of Italy for this sit.
We were asked to arrive on the 30th and owner would stay elsewhere for two nights while we settle in for the 3 month sit, and she would then still be around to show us the ropes. It was recently sprung on us when she asked if we could arrive a day it two earlier to come and meet the dogs so long. This would require us to pay for accommodation elsewhere. I said no as we really are coming over 2200kms for thus sit and can’t just change all our pre-booked accommodation. Then we were asked to be there at 8am which means we would need to pay for accommodation the night before, check out super early to arrive in her tiny village at 8am. We have always arrived at our sits later afternoon and stayed a night or two with all our home owners, at their request.
I any event, it’s all been settled. I was just wondering if there was any official start time. Thanks everyone.
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Hosts who don’t show consideration for sitters and spring significant things on them last minute are nervy and risk sitters canceling based on a change in terms of the sit. Or they risk sitters being resentful and having access to their home and pet(s), which seems crazy to me.
Whatever time both parties agree. It’s something that should be discussed before any commitment is made. And discuss it on the THS messenger so there can be no confusion or conflict.
That’s completely differently, I totally change what I just said when the 8am start wasn’t at least indicated beforehand. I hadn’t realised that.
Asking you to come a day or two earlier after things are agreed is totally fine for her to ask afterwards, however, like most of us sitters, once dates are agreed we can’t magic up extra days from nowhere and to change our flights/bookings/plans, suddenly makes everything VERY stressful and a real hassle, for what should be a relaxed and enjoyable experience with pets.