Spinoff-- What's your cancellation policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

You may even like to pay "token of appreciation" money, which is super for HS kids who don't support themselves. Any professional values his/her time, inspite of the fact that you may not. Most professionals with whom I do business, require 48hrs. advance cancellation notice, or they charge you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

That's fine, we don't want to work with you anyways.

-signed a grad student who values her "pocket money" just as much as her "pay the bills" money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

That's fine, we don't want to work with you anyways.

-signed a grad student who values her "pocket money" just as much as her "pay the bills" money

+1 my time is my time, and the reason I work extra hours shouldn't matter at all. I have never needed a cancellation policy, but I see nothing wrong with someone having one. In most cases when you reserve someone's time/services there is a price to pay for canceling at short notice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

That's fine, we don't want to work with you anyways.

-signed a grad student who values her "pocket money" just as much as her "pay the bills" money

+1 my time is my time, and the reason I work extra hours shouldn't matter at all. I have never needed a cancellation policy, but I see nothing wrong with someone having one. In most cases when you reserve someone's time/services there is a price to pay for canceling at short notice.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.

I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

Ha, ha.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.



I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

I'm the MB above who would happily pay a cancellation rate...yet, if I knew my sitter had a bad attitude like yours, I'd never hire you.

Passive aggressive sitters are unattractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.



I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

I'm the MB above who would happily pay a cancellation rate...yet, if I knew my sitter had a bad attitude like yours, I'd never hire you.

Passive aggressive sitters are unattractive.

Just as PA parents are....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.



I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

I'm the MB above who would happily pay a cancellation rate...yet, if I knew my sitter had a bad attitude like yours, I'd never hire you.

Passive aggressive sitters are unattractive.

I don't think the PP was saying she would do this as a retaliatory method, simply illustrating the logic from another perspective. The earlier PPs statement seems as though because sitting is on an as needed basis and not a means of income, a cancellation policy is inappropriate/not something she would tolerate. The PP is just illustrating the attitude in the reverse and the absurdity of it. If a sitter had a cavalier attitude about her commitment to sit for you because its for you to go to work but to go have fun, almost anyone would agree that is not okay. The reason a nanny/sitter takes on babysitting hours should not impact how seriously you take the reservation of her time, just as the reason you've hired a sitter should not impact how seriously she takes her commitment to be available/punctual.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow. I would not work with a sitter who had a cancellation policy. But for sitting I prefer to work with those doing it for extra pocket money - like a neighborhood woman or a grad student. I see it as totally different from a nanny situation where she depends exclusively on pay from me and so I guarantee hours. I am sure for some sitters it is part of their "pay the bills" money - that just isn't the market I am in it interested in.



I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night."

I'm the MB above who would happily pay a cancellation rate...yet, if I knew my sitter had a bad attitude like yours, I'd never hire you.

Passive aggressive sitters are unattractive.

I don't think the PP was saying she would do this as a retaliatory method, simply illustrating the logic from another perspective. The earlier PPs statement seems as though because sitting is on an as needed basis and not a means of income, a cancellation policy is inappropriate/not something she would tolerate. The PP is just illustrating the attitude in the reverse and the absurdity of it. If a sitter had a cavalier attitude about her commitment to sit for you because its for you to go to work but to go have fun, almost anyone would agree that is not okay. The reason a nanny/sitter takes on babysitting hours should not impact how seriously you take the reservation of her time, just as the reason you've hired a sitter should not impact how seriously she takes her commitment to be available/punctual.

Thank you, PP. That is exactly what I meant. I would never show up late as retaliation.

[Anonymous]

I'm the MB who wouldn't be cool with paying a cancellation fee. I'm not saying that I think it's totally fine to call same day or somethign and cancel but a few days ahead of time - yes, I think that should be OK and I'm perfectly happy to forgo the professional sitters that take issue with this, given that my kids are asleep for 80% of the time and in the midst of bath/teeth/pjs routine for another 10%. Actual play/engagement time is pretty small for the type of date night I do.

"I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night.""

I would not be happy w/ someone being late because it would probably mean we would miss the movie or reservation - we don't leave a lot of extra time in the schedule. But If it happened once or twice I wouldn't refuse to use the person. On the other hand, if our nanny was a 1/2 hr late twice in a month we would be having a very serious conversation.

Those posting here are simply not the type of sitter I use though. So not surprised that you take offense to people who oppose cancellation fees - you probably take it a lot more seriously. I see sitting as a very casual arrangement and that's the sitter market i'm in; entirely different from what I would expect and offer to our nanny.

[Anonymous]

Responsibility and common courtesy are a two-way street, pp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the MB who wouldn't be cool with paying a cancellation fee. I'm not saying that I think it's totally fine to call same day or somethign and cancel but a few days ahead of time - yes, I think that should be OK and I'm perfectly happy to forgo the professional sitters that take issue with this, given that my kids are asleep for 80% of the time and in the midst of bath/teeth/pjs routine for another 10%. Actual play/engagement time is pretty small for the type of date night I do.

"I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night.""

I would not be happy w/ someone being late because it would probably mean we would miss the movie or reservation - we don't leave a lot of extra time in the schedule. But If it happened once or twice I wouldn't refuse to use the person. On the other hand, if our nanny was a 1/2 hr late twice in a month we would be having a very serious conversation.

Those posting here are simply not the type of sitter I use though. So not surprised that you take offense to people who oppose cancellation fees - you probably take it a lot more seriously. I see sitting as a very casual arrangement and that's the sitter market i'm in; entirely different from what I would expect and offer to our nanny.

I don't think anyone on here indicated that they'd charge a cancelation fee for a few days notice. We're talking about very short notice situations like a day or two before when little can be done to salvage the evening for other jobs or even to make plans of your own. I understand that you're saying its a very casual thing for you, but it doesn't really matter that your kids are asleep most of time. You have reserved someone's time and it should be respected, just as you would like your time to be respected. We all understand that things happen and most sitters will let it slide at least once maybe twice, as you would tolerate an occasionally late sitter, but at some point everyone has to draw a line and feel respected. A cancelation fee is simply a means to preemptively ensure that. Maybe that's not the "type" of sitter you use, but I have a hard time understanding why.

[Anonymous]

There are far more sitters than jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the MB who wouldn't be cool with paying a cancellation fee. I'm not saying that I think it's totally fine to call same day or somethign and cancel but a few days ahead of time - yes, I think that should be OK and I'm perfectly happy to forgo the professional sitters that take issue with this, given that my kids are asleep for 80% of the time and in the midst of bath/teeth/pjs routine for another 10%. Actual play/engagement time is pretty small for the type of date night I do.

"I guess you won't mind if I show up half an hour late then? After all, it's not like it's work you're missing out on -- only a fun little "date night.""

I would not be happy w/ someone being late because it would probably mean we would miss the movie or reservation - we don't leave a lot of extra time in the schedule. But If it happened once or twice I wouldn't refuse to use the person. On the other hand, if our nanny was a 1/2 hr late twice in a month we would be having a very serious conversation.

Those posting here are simply not the type of sitter I use though. So not surprised that you take offense to people who oppose cancellation fees - you probably take it a lot more seriously. I see sitting as a very casual arrangement and that's the sitter market i'm in; entirely different from what I would expect and offer to our nanny.

I don't think anyone on here indicated that they'd charge a cancelation fee for a few days notice. We're talking about very short notice situations like a day or two before when little can be done to salvage the evening for other jobs or even to make plans of your own. I understand that you're saying its a very casual thing for you, but it doesn't really matter that your kids are asleep most of time. You have reserved someone's time and it should be respected, just as you would like your time to be respected. We all understand that things happen and most sitters will let it slide at least once maybe twice, as you would tolerate an occasionally late sitter, but at some point everyone has to draw a line and feel respected. A cancelation fee is simply a means to preemptively ensure that. Maybe that's not the "type" of sitter you use, but I have a hard time understanding why.

Exactly. It was clearly stated that the issue was a last minutes cancellation, not the one or two days the dense pp is talking about. She's constantly misreading.