I keep getting requests for dates that I've marked as unavailable on my calendar. I have my calendar set as inflexible regarding overlapping stays. I thought being unavailable was supposed to keep you from appearing in searches. Why is this happening and does each request count as a mark against me?
I've tried to book two different sitters, both who showed their calendar as available, and both who responded that they were already booked. It's frustrating for the customer as well. Definitely something that should get fixed. Personally, I don't hold that mix up against the sitter - and will definitely look to try them again.
This could be a couple things - the sitters may have pending requests that aren't reflected in their calendar yet, they may have stays they are aware of from previous clients that just haven't been officially booked, or they may be using other websites (like DogVacay or Care.com) and have dogs booked through one of those other services but have not updated their Rover calendar to reflect this. I only use Rover, but I've had the first two happen, and it's always sad to turn down a dog who sounds like a great fit.
I've had the same problem recently with having to turn down clients on weekends that I have marked as unavailable. . I feel like it might leave a negative impression of me even though I've kept my calendar up to date. I wish Rover would require customers to select a date before they were allowed to do a search for a sitter.
From the Rover homepage (or any other page within the site), clients can use the search bar at the top of the page and just search by location without entering stay dates or pet info. This means that clients are seeing all profiles in an area, regardless of availability, size restrictions, etc. Then they can request a booking from your profile and attach the missing information. It happens to everyone.
One thing I realized after this happened to me the first time, is that there are 2 calendars if you are both a boarder and a traveling sitter. So while my boarding calendar may show unavailable once I make a booking, it won't automatically make those dates unavailable on the traveling sitter calendar. I assume this is because as a traveling sitter you don't need to necessarily stay overnight in their home. I usually mark the dates as unavailable myself, even if I am technically available to do dog walks or cat care, because it's easier than explaining to people who inquire that inquire that you are only available for quick visits, not overnight stays.
It would be nice if they could change the system somehow to prevent this from happening, but at least it does not count against you. It used to; they used to tell you to try to book at least one out of every three requests so that your rank doesn't decrease. However, not too long ago I emailed customer service to ask about this and they said that it didn't. So, I guess they changed it.
I will not count against you. Customers can search without dates and then don't look at your calendar. I get request all the time that are for my unavailable dates.