Can we get paid for meet and greets that later cancel the booking?

I always ask for an address before even agreeing to a meet and greet. I want to research the address on maps, look at the street view to see the house and neighborhood. I don't go further than 6 to 10 miles radius of my home. Then I tell them about meeting up for a free meet and greet. I don't mind meet and greets because I want to meet the animals, make sure all animals are listed for charging & safety reasons. All my clients have not had a problem giving me the information before we meet. I've had 2 occasions that when I showed up there was 2 cats they wanted me to care for also. I asked them to please add them to Thier profile due to safety reasons and that there is a separate charge for additional pets. Some are good with it some are not, but I've been fortunate that they didn't mind and paid for the additional pets.

I end up doing multiple meet and greets at times at my own expense. But it’s true it’s for both people and part of the business.

I propose a partially refundable deposit option for the site. Do you know that most owners don’t even know meet & greet is a formal option on the site? Ha! Maybe, since sitters undergo background checks and are verified as real people, it should be UP TO THE OWNER if they want to initiate a meet n greet. So far I have had some luck doing a free video chat. If the owners still seem worried or want to see how you interact with their pets, you can offer a drop in. That way they already met you, talked to you, etc, but agree to pay for the additional peace of mind.

Movie Stars could...we're just basically paid pooper scoopers, we get no respect. I wish I had even just a dollar for every cancelled booking outside my cancelation policy. ie; a woman called and talked on phone 20 minutes, booked a meet n greet, many many texts, the meet n greet was 1/2 hr, at least,,then more time checking for reply, finally a Yes (yay!) Just to get a text 2 days later cancelling. It's very annoying. All I could say is "ok". I suspect some, maybe many, that cancel, are calling just because they're lonely and bored. I should be getting what a shrink earns! It's the crappy part of 'customer service',, I've thought to block their access to me, but ya never know, those lame excuses may be true... Remember, we're basically spiders with webs waiting for the flys to stick, sometimes yes, sometimes no. No wonder spiders have to eat their own web to recycle...

Hi Beka, Sorry I'm a bit late to this conversation....IMO I think a lot of it DEPENDS...depends on where you are located. I live in South Orange County, CA. this is a very wide area and LOTS of sitter/etc. competition here. I completely understand your frustration.

In my area, there are A LOT of people that just set up 5-8 meet and greets and then choose the cheapest they liked out of them.

As a business owner ( and THIS is your business) you need to consider the time and expense this takes out of your profit (which allows you to run and have this business to start with).

I have been lucky and in all the years on Rover have only had 3 instances where this has happened to me.

It is unfair for a prospective client to waste your time and expense when they are not really serious.

I offer text, calling, video calling for free. Meet & Greets need to be requested as a walk or drop in. If the client books they will get a partial credit ( minus the nominal fees for gas and time) to their booking for that M& G. I believe this is fair and most serious clients understand this. Some (most) even don't require the credit. It is your business so you need to view as a business proposition. Just like some home business contractor ( plumbers, electricians) will come give an estimate for $XX and roll that estimate $ into the final bill as credit.

In general, I’d suggest that the meet and greet is as much for you as it is for the client to determine if it’s a mutually agreeable match. So you may determine that meeting someone that’s too far away (maybe that’s 20 + miles or less/ more) isn’t worth your time. However, I have read that there are some sitters who charge for meet and greet.

It’s really up to you to be your own advocate ,in setting the parameters of what you will and won’t do. If no one was wearing a mask inside and I was not comfortable (I’m wearing a mask too), I’d tell them I was uncomfortable and ask if we could talk outside, unless they’re willing to mask up. That last scenario-where 3 sitters were invited over at the same time to basically group interview is messed up. It’s too bad that the two who weren’t selected didn’t say something at the time about compensation.

Re. Proposed charged meet& greet suggested below: white it’s a unique approach for a meet and greet, II probably would not exercise it as an option because I want to meet their dog and introduce to my dog to better assess if it’s a good match for us and I have met people with dogs, who were not a match for us and let them know that. Since I would not accept the booking, If I had collected payment, I don’t know how that conversation would go over.

I have just stared offering drop-in service (I mostly board only dogs at my house), so I can accommodate clients who need care for their cats. I already have a dog repeat client and have another two cat clients.

The first cat client, with 2 cats, texted me yesterday and I made sure to offer a meet and greet. The client already confirmed booking! THEN this morning I received a request and scheduled a meet & greet for the same day. Both of these clients live no more than 5 minutes apart. Win-Win 💯!

I require a meet & greet to board so I want other care clients to do that for me.