What is the over night petsitting time frame?
If a want an overnight pet sitter, what are the hours I can expect them to be there based on the fee through Rover?
4 Answers
I have run into this a few times and now charge for early dropoff (before 8am) and late pickup (after 10pm). I charge $20 for this service and have yet to have an owner mention anything about it.
I often think wording it as a 'daily rate' rather than 'nightly rate' would eliminate some confusion, since that more readily brings to mind a 24 hour increment, but since we are offering overnight services (much like a hotel) a nightly rate also makes a lot of sense. And like hotels, sitters can stipulate a check in/out time. Since those hours and rates may be different from sitter to sitter, it's important for rate info to be discussed between each client and sitter before booking. Personally, since my energy investment is much more weighted towards the day, I consider my nightly boarding rate to be per day, so if a client wants to drop off early on Saturday and pick up late on Sunday, I can adjust accordingly - the stay may only cover one night, but I'm providing 2 full days of care. I may not charge the full rate for the second day, but I certainly feel like I earn my money when I'm awake more than when I'm asleep.
Comments
I quite agree about the daycare rate being practically the same as the nightly. If a dog is dropped off early and then picked up late, I see no reason to discount at all. In my area, 20 minute walks cost $15 or more. Given that the dog is in my care all day, receiving at a minimum two walks of substantially longer duration, I don't feel any need to discount. I never begrudge people an hour or two and am certainly not as stringent as a hotel (no checkins before 2 or 3 pm, with checkout at noon!),.
Oh, totally. For stays longer than a few days I don't even worry about drop off and pick up times. I'm only going to be concerned in instances where either the stay is short enough that it makes a significant difference, or when the dog is really a handful.
Absolutely. I base it on a 24 hour stay. So from 7am to 7am the next day or vice versa, drop off at 7pm pick up at 7pm so there is no confusion. If they pass that 24 hour period then they are charged a daycare fee. So in essence if you are working more than a 24 hour period, you should get compensated for that.
The nightly/daily rate is for a 24-hour period. With the example you gave (7 pm to 7 am), that is just overnight, which isn't a rate category I don't believe exists on Rover. If the client expected you to stay at their home until 7 pm, that is entirely reasonable.
Here are more details from Rover's Help Center:
The reason I am asking is that some clients are wanting you to be there early in the morning and stay late the next day. I think that the overnight fee should stipulate the hours, such as 7 pm to 7 am next day. If the client requires additional visits/walks, then they would need to pay for that extra service.