I have a prospective house sitting booking for 15 nights and because I work 8 - 5 I am not always available to come home for lunch. The owners said they would be okay if another sitter came by for lunch walks when I can't. Has anyone ever done that? Is anyone in the same situation as me and losing clients because of the inability to come for lunch?
Found the answer from Rover. See below!
his is Chelsea L. with Rover Support. Thank you for your email!
As it turns out, we are currently a new system to pair sitters up so they each have a backup. Although, it is not currently available to the entire site so for now the owner will need to reach out to other sitters to see if they are willing to be a backup for you in case you are unable to make it.
Please let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with. We are also available 24/7 by phone at [Edit: Rover’s contact options have changed. Visit the Rover Help Center at https://support.rover.com/ to find the phone number, help articles, or chat with the team] to help you with any questions.
Yes, I successfully helped a nearby neighbor create a profile, mentored her along the way with using the site, including communications, pricing, etc. and soon enough was able to share my rover client with her. By then, I had worked with her as I gave her some of my non-rover accounts.
When a rover parent contacted me and I knew there could be time conflicts with other commitments, I told them I'd like to introduce them and the dogs to her, so she could fill in as an alternate. At the time, it was mostly for repeat day care. Some days we'd share the pups (often splitting the day in half) and I'd pay her. The couple preferred text/photo updates went to each of their cell phones, rather than the rover assigned number, so both of us used those And I made sure at least one went to the rover assigned number daily, even if I had to forward with message indicating it was for Rover photo album. It worked out perfectly.
In your situation, if I worked 8 hours, I would have asked if she could keep them for 9-10 hours for the daycare rate (then I'd be less rushed coming/going to work & not stressed out about what could be happening at my home with canine guests left there, etc.) and I'd pay that out of the boarding rate. Even if it doesn't leave you much incoming revenue, it's okay, because you're keeping the client happy (and loyal to you and the alternate) and building a relationship with the back up sitter, who some time may be able to reciprocate.
Job sharing is tough, but my question is who would pay for the mid-day drop-in or walk? If a house sitting rate for 24 hours and you cannot do the mid-day, the cost of the extra service would be yours to bear in my opinion.
But I'd like to hear from our other top responders
Right, I would agree it would come out of my pay. I was thinking to prorate my regular rate at 16 hours(since 8 of them I will be at work) for days during the week and regular rate for weekends and then the other sitter would get the regular dog walking rate for week days.
I had one client book walks separately from the house sitting booking. So maybe see if the owner is willing to pay for the other walker, especially if they'll take the dog on a walk (and not just stop by). But if the owner expects it as part of the stay, it would be your job to provide or pay for it
I haven't run into that but that's an interesting idea! I really like it. I would definitely consider teaming up with someone to help each other out and keep the dogs well-cared-for. I know when I had my dog a couple of friends co-watched my dog and it worked great.