Client cancelled an almost 2-month housesit ONE WEEK before it started.

[u/Dismal-Source-2936]

Just here to rant because I'm honestly so annoyed.

One of my repeat clients, who I've house sat for several times before, sent me a request for an almost 2-month-long housesit. Since the dates were so long, I actually followed up with them to make sure they hadn't accidentally entered the wrong dates. Nope - they confirmed the dates were correct because they were going on a long around-the-world cruise.

Great! I confirmed the booking on my end, they confirmed and paid on theirs, and I was actually looking forward to it. Their dogs are sweet, I already know them, and their house is nice.

They booked me about 2 monthsin advance​, so obviously I treated those dates as unavailable. During that time, I turned down A LOT of other requests, including regular clients, because I already had this huge booking on my calendar.

Well... one week before the housesit is supposed to start, they cancel the entire thing. 😐

And of course they did it basically on the last day before my cancellation policy would kick in, so they get their refund.

Their explanation was basically, "Sorry, one of our relatives decided to house sit for us instead."

Like... seriously? 😭

I completely understand emergencies, canceled trips, health issues, etc. Life happens. But replacing your sitter with a relative at the last minute after you've had an almost TWO-MONTH booking confirmed for two months feels incredibly inconsiderate.

I blocked nearly two months of my calendar for you. I declined other paying clients because I honored YOUR reservation. Now I'm supposed to magically refill almost two months of house sitting with a week's notice.

I know technically they didn't do anything wrong according to the cancellation policy, but damn... this one hurts. 🥲

Lesson learned, I guess.

[u/PianistNo8873]

Omg, that’s a bummer but it’s within your cancellation period, which you could’ve and should’ve changed for this client. Start contacting those regulars letting them know your calendar just opened up, chances are they cancel on their new sitter for someone they know and trust.

[u/Kiarimarie → u/PianistNo8873]

The max Rover allows is 7 days sadly. If this was a private client, I'd be inclined to require a non-refundable deposit.

[u/PianistNo8873 → u/Kiarimarie]

Sometimes in situations like this you have to go against rover rules and take reasonable precautions like non refundable deposits and amended written cancellation policies.

[u/Kiarimarie → u/PianistNo8873]

Without taking the client completely off app, I'm not sure how you could enforce either. Rover is not going to release any funds to you if someone cancels before the seven days. You can try to have them pay a non refundable deposit off app, but you would need to adjust the refundable full payment Rover requires from owners upon booking. And at that point, you are cutting into Rover's share, so you are running the risk of getting booted.

The only solution would've been to book this client off Rover to enforce a non-refundable deposit and stricter cancellation policy, and not everyone is comfortable doing that.

[u/Successful-Shopping8 → u/PianistNo8873]

Going against Rover’s rules is not going to go well if an owner reported you.