Am I being too polite/flexible with booking?
When you receive a request for a stay that is many months away and you have a M&G, the client states that they would like to book with you but they say "we want to book with you but we can't book right now due to money, unsure of exact dates, etc"........ do you give them a time limit for booking?
I have always been flexible in regards to this. If it's June and I get a request for October and the clients asks if they can wait to book, I say yes. Because I want the client to be satisfied and not turn them away if they cannot financially afford it at the moment. And because honestly, I don't get very many requests that far in the future so I figure it's okay to let it sit for a while.
The issue is that (for example) the stay is in October and September has rolled around, still no official booking. Most of my requests are for a month in advance, and I am appearing as "unavailable for these dates" due to this. I may send a message asking if they are ready to book due to being a month away from the stay, and they say they're still not ready. Out of compassion, because I would hate for them to have to scramble to find another sitter before their trip if they actually have intentions to book, I let it slide another week or so. They may end up finally booking, or they may end up doing the thing that DRIVES ME INSANE..... They cancel the entire stay because their trip is being canceled. So for all that time I've been blocking out the dates as unavailable for clients and personal reasons, all for it to be pointless. I miss out on potential business for those dates or potential friend/family/work gatherings/events that I'd like to attend.
My questions is- what do you all do in this situation? Do you put a time limit on bookings? Or do you block the dates off in hopes that they don't cancel on you?
So sorry for the long post but I felt the need to explain thoroughly because this has happened to me at least 3 or 4 times.
What do you guys do about late pickups. So like today this family said they would be here by 2 pm. So I planned my day around that. Now they are saying they just left so they won't be here until earliest at 4:45. I could have gone to do my errands but I was waiting for them.
GOOD QUESTION. This happens to me all the time! I had someone dropping off at 7 in the morning but didn't show up until closer to 8 and made me late for work. There needs to be a way to charge an extra $10 for late pick ups or drop offs after the booking ends.
I agree, there needs to be a setting for sitters to be able to add reminders or extra charges. Like an 'Extra Notes' section for their profile.