what are the pickup times before you charge another nite?
what are your pickup cut off times before you tell owner that it is too late? what are the "normal" delivery/pick up times?
4 Answers
My hours are 6AM-11PM. I charge per night, not per 24 hr block. For instance I had a dog here this weekend from 10am Saturday until 4:30PM Sunday and they paid for just one overnight charge.
When I started I thought about adding a day care fee if the dog was here too far beyond the hour they had been dropped off but people don't always know exactly when they are going to pick up so trying to add that to the booking in advance when they are paying is tricky.
Sure, sometimes I end up on the short end of that but it also puts me in the position of knowing I'm being more than fair. Then when I get people who call me a couple days in advance and say "Oh our flight is so early, would it be easier for you if we just drop Fido off the night before?" I have no problem saying "Sure, I'll just add a night to your booking."
It works out better for Owners, too. Most people don't want the stress of "OMG!! I have to get my dog by a certain time or I'll incur a day care fee."
In the long run this policy has ended up being hugely beneficial. My area is virtually SATURATED with Sitters. I've been doing this too long to use pricing to differentiate myself from all those other Sitters. Therefore, the only way to set myself apart from the pack is to offer a perk. This flexibility has really done the trick. I'd attribute at least 12% maybe as much as 25% of my bookings to the fact that people like my billing structure.
Comments
Great advice!
Sitters set their own rules about how boarding works, especially about pickup and delivery times. Rover states that every "night" of boarding is good for up to 24 hours of care, so it all depends on when they drop off the dog. If, for example, the dog is dropped off at 10 am on Tuesday and booked for one night, then it should be picked by about 10 am on Wednesday. I give my customers a couple of hours of leeway before charging them a pro rata day care fee but I don't tell them beforehand what my limit is. Otherwise, I expect some will take advantage of me.
As for dropoff and pickup times, I customarily won't accept a dog before 8 am but will allow them to pick up until 10 pm, mainly because I am more of a night person than early bird. However, I do make it clear that I am not a 24-hour Starbucks, You make the determination of what works best for you. Some sitters will charge extra for early and late dropoffs. I will usually just advise the owner that it would be better to drop off their dog the previous night when they have an early flight. It is better for all concerned. I do get a lot of customers with early flights to leave town, plus late flights returning, so it usually works out.
It is really up to you, I am very lenient with my pick up/drop off times. My husband has to get up at 4:30am for work every morning, so I allow drop offs that early (although I have only had one person drop off that early due to her odd work schedule a couple days a week). As for pick ups I used to allow as late as they want, but now I charge 10$ for pick ups after 10pm which I tell clients when we discuss what times they will be able to pick up.
I have my office hours set as 9 am to 8 pm (or dark, whichever comes first), and clients can drop off and pick up any time during that time. I bill in 24-hour segments, so if you drop off and pick up at 10 am there is no extra charge. Up to 4 hours difference gets no charge, 4-8 hours gets a daycare charge, and anything over 8 gets another night's charge. This is all explained at the M&G, and we agree upon dropoff and pickup times then. I will then edit the stay charges if necessary.