I would like to contact different sitters to interview them and have them meet my dogs. The site makes me set up a specific booking for a specific service/ date/ time. The help directions for a meet and greet are not accurate.
I understand the interface can seem confusing in the beginning. It’s best practice to meet sitter(s) before deciding who to book. Message the sitter(s) you’re most interested in to set up a meet&greet. You do not need to book it.
This should be the relevant portion from the help center: “How do I contact a pet sitter or dog walker? If you're contacting a sitter or walker for the first time during your booking search, visit the sitter's profile and select the Contact button.” (20 truncated sitter profiles are shown per page x many pages, you’ll need to click to open each one, where you can learn more about each sitter, the contact button is shown there)
The site asks dates that services are needed to help filter out sitters who have marked their calendar as unavailable during those dates and times to show you the rate in case extended prorated rates apply, if the end time is sufficiently later than the start time.
Add’n.: Most sitters offer meet and greet for free because it’s a way for everyone to see if it looks like a good match. I wouldn’t worry too much about their calendar because a long m&g may last up to 1 hour& they may be able to meet when calendar shows unavailable for service. You can message them that you'd like to schedule a meet& greet and suggest dates. Messages can go back and forth a few times / or if you prefer you can look for the rover assigned number on each sitter profile to call them (it re-routes to their personal # and rover similarly assigns one to each client profile so they can call you).