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Issues with no shows at meet and greets. How to avoid?

Kelsey K.'s profile image

This summer has been very busy for me. I have had tons of requests, some from previous/repeat clients, and some from new ones I've never dealt with before. Of course the repeat clients get priority with me, but if I have a week or two that is unbooked (I try to only keep one pet family at a time) I will accept people's inquiries and set up meet and greets with them. (duh! lol) However, even though I normally don't have any issues with this, over the past few weeks I have had 3 no shows on meet and greets. The people want to meet and greet, but they are sketchy and slow to respond when we message back and forth. Sometimes they want to meet the same day or next day, which I can usually do, so I cancel any previous plans (such as errands or going to the nail salon) and I rush home after work to wait for them, only to have an hour go by with no show and no contact, for them to finally reply that "their plans changed." This even happened 2 days in a row with 2 different people. One lady even messaged me, set up a meet and greet for the next day, cancelled the meet and greet (in advance) saying she is having a friend watch the dog. Then 2 days later she calls me frantically saying that those plans fell through and needed to do a meet and greet that evening so she could set up the stay for the next week. I agreed, rushed home after work, was supposed to meet at 6:30, with me messaging her several times "I'm off work, heading home, I'm ten minutes away, I'm home now, etc." An hour and a half goes by before she texts me saying that they decided to keep her in some kennel at a training facility....

So what is going on? Am I doing something wrong by trying to meet my clients needs and be available for them when they need me to? How can I avoid this from happening again in the future?

4 Answers

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Donna P.'s profile image

Wouldn't it be great...if Rover instituted a policy whereby sitters can rate clients. This is what they do on Air BNB... and this way you don't end up renting your house to some irresponsible jerk. Just because dog walking doesn't require a degree, doesn't mean that your time is less valuable than someone else's . If Clients knew that they run the risk of getting bad feedback (like eBay sales feedback...it's for both sellers and buyers) and that could result in no one being willing to sit for them...they'd get it together QUICKLY.

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Cari C.'s profile image

You are definitely not doing anything wrong. I think you are going above and beyond the call of duty, especially in the cases you listed. I understand your frustration. I've had no shows a few times myself. I just think some people don't realize how much trouble it is for us to set up a meeting and rearrange our schedule, just to accommodate them. When that happens, I give them the benefit of the doubt ONCE. If it happens a second time, I just tell them I'm not interested or not available, and move on. I don't know that there is anything you (or any of us sitters) can do to prevent this from happening, other than just making it clear from the beginning that you expect them to show up on time and to please notify you if anything changes.

Comments

This is very frustrating , I just had it happen to me- she said she found a friend that could take the dog. After I cleaned my home, rearranged my schedule and cut a meeting short she calls me 30 minutes before the Meet and Greet to cancel and since she had already paid had the nerve to ask me for a full refund after I had held the space for her and turned other clients away. Very frustrating. The way I believe it should be is if they set up a Meet and Greet and cancel after that the least they can do is pay a fee for the Meet and Greet since they wasted my time or a cancellation fee. The reason people do this is because there are no consequences to wasting your time. They simply don't care.

Miriam L.'s profile image Miriam L.

I switched my cancellation policy to "strict" after repeatedly having this done to me. What aggravates me is that the owner doesn't even give me a heads up before canceling, I just get the notice from Rover. It just happened again today. I won't accept repeat bookings from customers that do that.

Ceyzanne H.'s profile image Ceyzanne H.

Isn't there any way to get paid when all arrangements are made, the owner says they're on their way, you cancel your life and then they are a no show?

Kristi M.'s profile image Kristi M.
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Deb A.'s profile image

I empathize, as I try to only have meet & greets when no visiting dogs are staying here. I read that you are exchanging messages. Maybe you could try to speak with the dog parent on the phone and/or through Rover's messaging service, to exchange more information about their needs before agreeing to a M&G?

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Julie M.'s profile image

How about when the dog sitter doesn't show and gives zero communication for a meet and greet? Yup, just happened to me :(

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