How do you handle late/inconsiderate owners?
I accepted a last minute dog sitting job Thursday night. On Friday the owner was dodging my calls/messages and didn't get back to me until 2 hours after the agreed pick up time only to ask if the dog can stay another night. Stupidly I agreed and it is now 2 hours past the agreed pick up time again. How do you handle this? He finally answered after http://rover.com called him to tell me that he'll be here "soon" but he is still not here to pick up his dog and this guy just cost me a personal job that I had for the next 4 days because that owner didn't feel comfortable leaving her dog with another that she didn't know.
You're very new to Rover so as shitty as this client is, try not to rock the boat with him. You don't want a bad review. Charge him for your time and never ever accept his dog again. Make an excuse if you have to. It's a good idea to not take last minute jobs to prevent stuff like this, honestly
I'd try calling him again in another two hours and if he doesn't pick up, call Rover again.
Thank you for your tips. As an experienced sitter is there a special way you handle late pick ups? Or is there anything you can do to prevent them?
Some other people have recommended that you establish a pickup time either before the stay or well before the pickup and mention something like '11:30 would work best because I have an appointment elsewhere at 12' or something. Make it clear that you can't wait around.
Thankfully that's the only client I had that truly seemed to think my only job was waiting around for her. Many people also charge overtime when the client is hours late but someone else might be able to give better tips on that.
But also, always have a meet-n-greet so you can get a sense of the owner