Have you ever canceled a date-night babysitting job for another one that pays better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MB here. I never cancel on a sitter without offering the full payment. That's only happened once or twice in 5 years. If someone cancels on me, I wouldn't hire them again. If that's not a problem for them, so be it. It's not meant to be punative, I just don't want to deal with people that would cancel. (Except in real emergencies for a normally reliable sitter)

And, sure, I would quit my job for a better one. But I'd give the agreed on notice. There's a difference between changing jobs and breaking a specific committment.

And most would agree that a few days notice for a casual sitting job is a reasonable amount of notice. I'm a sitter that would charge a cancelation fee to a family that cancels within 24 hours more than once, but 48 hours or more in advance is not a problem at all. It goes both ways as far as I'm concerned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
It's unprofessional and I wouldn't use the nanny again if I can't rely on her. I expect any nanny/babysitter we hire to be an adult and clearly state her rates. If I accept that rate I rightly assume we have an agreement.


If a sitter cancels on you because she was offered a better rate, significant enough to justify the action, its probably not some huge loss to lose you as a client, FYI. If she gives you a few days notice, and it doesn't happen often, I fail to see how that's unreliable. That is unless you're an MB who pays the full amount when she cancels, which I so highly doubt you are. It goes both ways lady.


Different MB here. I think this is where we disagree. This isn't a justification for breaking a commitment. If I accepted your rate and booked your time, you committed to that rate and time. If you cancel for another job, you are unreliable and don't honor your commitments and I would not hire you again or recommend you. You may not care and that's fine. But that's what you're doing. Make no mistake.

How exactly will it catch up with us? I'm intrigued.

And if a sitter books with you for $25/hour, and you realize that Becky, the high school girl down the street, charges $10/hour, is it some heinous commitment breaking to cancel with me (tell me grandma is in town, you decided not to go, blah blah blah) and you hire Becky instead? Parents do this ALL.THE.TIME. It really is just business. If you book with me at a low enough rate to make it easy for someone to hire me away from you, that really is your own fault, just like the sitter that overcharges. I find it hilarious that MBs are all for letting the market dictate this or that when they're in control, but the second a nanny/sitter uses it to her advantage its a moral crime. Please.

You don't seem to understand business and you make a lot of assumptions to "justify" your bad behavior. You assume that parents will cancel on you. You also assume when a parent books you, it is at a low rate. I book babysitters at the rate they charge. If you charge a rate and I accept and book you, you made a commitment to my job. If you cancel, you have broken a commitment and are now blacklisted with me and everyone I know. Smart business people don't break commitments and chance their reputations.

I get it. You don't care. You think you have an endless supply of jobs. Fine. But if you keep acting unprofessionally and ruining relationships, eventually, it will catch up with you. What you are doing is not a moral crime, it is a stupid one and you are more than welcome to be stupid.

I'll stick with sitters who stick to their commitments. Contrary to what you think, such sitters are not hard to find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
It's unprofessional and I wouldn't use the nanny again if I can't rely on her. I expect any nanny/babysitter we hire to be an adult and clearly state her rates. If I accept that rate I rightly assume we have an agreement.


If a sitter cancels on you because she was offered a better rate, significant enough to justify the action, its probably not some huge loss to lose you as a client, FYI. If she gives you a few days notice, and it doesn't happen often, I fail to see how that's unreliable. That is unless you're an MB who pays the full amount when she cancels, which I so highly doubt you are. It goes both ways lady.


Different MB here. I think this is where we disagree. This isn't a justification for breaking a commitment. If I accepted your rate and booked your time, you committed to that rate and time. If you cancel for another job, you are unreliable and don't honor your commitments and I would not hire you again or recommend you. You may not care and that's fine. But that's what you're doing. Make no mistake.


And if a sitter books with you for $25/hour, and you realize that Becky, the high school girl down the street, charges $10/hour, is it some heinous commitment breaking to cancel with me (tell me grandma is in town, you decided not to go, blah blah blah) and you hire Becky instead? Parents do this ALL.THE.TIME. It really is just business. If you book with me at a low enough rate to make it easy for someone to hire me away from you, that really is your own fault, just like the sitter that overcharges. I find it hilarious that MBs are all for letting the market dictate this or that when they're in control, but the second a nanny/sitter uses it to her advantage its a moral crime. Please.

You don't seem to understand business and you make a lot of assumptions to "justify" your bad behavior. You assume that parents will cancel on you. You also assume when a parent books you, it is at a low rate. I book babysitters at the rate they charge. If you charge a rate and I accept and book you, you made a commitment to my job. If you cancel, you have broken a commitment and are now blacklisted with me and everyone I know. Smart business people don't break commitments and chance their reputations.

I get it. You don't care. You think you have an endless supply of jobs. Fine. But if you keep acting unprofessionally and ruining relationships, eventually, it will catch up with you. What you are doing is not a moral crime, it is a stupid one and you are more than welcome to be stupid.

I'll stick with sitters who stick to their commitments. Contrary to what you think, such sitters are not hard to find.

How is it going to catch up with us exactly? I'm intrigued.

[Anonymous]

Not a huge moral failing I suppose but I think it is a bad business policy. Charge your rate and stick to what you agreed to do. If you hire a contractor to work on your house and he then gets a shot at a bigger contract you think it is 100% fine for him to just ditch you on days notice?

My response would also depend on whether the sitting was for a date night vs a special occasion. It is not easy to replace a sitter on short notice so they could be out of luck with 2 days notice. Very crappy - definitely would I recommend the sitter and not use her again.

[Anonymous]

"I recommend" should be "un-recommend"

[Anonymous]

I'm a sitter and I wouldn't do this. If a family pays a particularly low rate, there may be some other reason I would take the job (e.g., the kids go to bed early and the family is fine with me working on personal stuff after bedtime, or there is an age group I want to gain experience with, or they always order dinner from a nice place and let me choose something for myself). If there is no reason for me to take the job, then I don't. You have to be aware that you are branding yourself. If you cancel on a family it doesn't happen in a vacuum. DC Is a small town. The demographic of people with young children who have the money to pay a sitter well and live a lifestyle where they need a sitter often is an even smaller group. You may or may not believe that karma will catch up with you, but unprofessional behavior almost certainly will. It is worth it to me to sometimes take a loss on a particular evening in exchange for maintaining a sterling reputation among my clients. That is the kind of behavior that gets you booked again and again and more importantly gets you extremely positive word-of-mouth among the right set of people. If you are smart about the way you book and advertise yourself, you will soon find that you have more than enough jobs to choose from and never have to work for low-paying families again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
It's unprofessional and I wouldn't use the nanny again if I can't rely on her. I expect any nanny/babysitter we hire to be an adult and clearly state her rates. If I accept that rate I rightly assume we have an agreement.


If a sitter cancels on you because she was offered a better rate, significant enough to justify the action, its probably not some huge loss to lose you as a client, FYI. If she gives you a few days notice, and it doesn't happen often, I fail to see how that's unreliable. That is unless you're an MB who pays the full amount when she cancels, which I so highly doubt you are. It goes both ways lady.


Different MB here. I think this is where we disagree. This isn't a justification for breaking a commitment. If I accepted your rate and booked your time, you committed to that rate and time. If you cancel for another job, you are unreliable and don't honor your commitments and I would not hire you again or recommend you. You may not care and that's fine. But that's what you're doing. Make no mistake.

How exactly will it catch up with us? I'm intrigued.

And if a sitter books with you for $25/hour, and you realize that Becky, the high school girl down the street, charges $10/hour, is it some heinous commitment breaking to cancel with me (tell me grandma is in town, you decided not to go, blah blah blah) and you hire Becky instead? Parents do this ALL.THE.TIME. It really is just business. If you book with me at a low enough rate to make it easy for someone to hire me away from you, that really is your own fault, just like the sitter that overcharges. I find it hilarious that MBs are all for letting the market dictate this or that when they're in control, but the second a nanny/sitter uses it to her advantage its a moral crime. Please.

You don't seem to understand business and you make a lot of assumptions to "justify" your bad behavior. You assume that parents will cancel on you. You also assume when a parent books you, it is at a low rate. I book babysitters at the rate they charge. If you charge a rate and I accept and book you, you made a commitment to my job. If you cancel, you have broken a commitment and are now blacklisted with me and everyone I know. Smart business people don't break commitments and chance their reputations.

I get it. You don't care. You think you have an endless supply of jobs. Fine. But if you keep acting unprofessionally and ruining relationships, eventually, it will catch up with you. What you are doing is not a moral crime, it is a stupid one and you are more than welcome to be stupid.

I'll stick with sitters who stick to their commitments. Contrary to what you think, such sitters are not hard to find.

I'll be sitting for *maybe* another year or two. I've done this all of twice, the families are none the wiser, still use and recommend me, and I have my pick of jobs when I decide I want to do some sitting. Idk what you think is going to catch up to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a sitter and I wouldn't do this. If a family pays a particularly low rate, there may be some other reason I would take the job (e.g., the kids go to bed early and the family is fine with me working on personal stuff after bedtime, or there is an age group I want to gain experience with, or they always order dinner from a nice place and let me choose something for myself). If there is no reason for me to take the job, then I don't. You have to be aware that you are branding yourself. If you cancel on a family it doesn't happen in a vacuum. DC Is a small town. The demographic of people with young children who have the money to pay a sitter well and live a lifestyle where they need a sitter often is an even smaller group. You may or may not believe that karma will catch up with you, but unprofessional behavior almost certainly will. It is worth it to me to sometimes take a loss on a particular evening in exchange for maintaining a sterling reputation among my clients. That is the kind of behavior that gets you booked again and again and more importantly gets you extremely positive word-of-mouth among the right set of people. If you are smart about the way you book and advertise yourself, you will soon find that you have more than enough jobs to choose from and never have to work for low-paying families again.

Every babysitter we've hired came recommended by someone we know--everyone we know hires sitters based on word-of-mouth. Being reliable and responsible ensures a constant demand for your services. I have never cancelled on a babysitter and wouldn't except for a family emergency or illness, and I expect my sitters to honor their commitments in the same way. If a sitter is reliable and responsible and good with my child, then we will use that person more, and may even go out more because we know we have someone we can count on to take care of our kid. If a sitter cancelled on me without a good reason, I wouldn't hire that person again. Full stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a sitter and I wouldn't do this. If a family pays a particularly low rate, there may be some other reason I would take the job (e.g., the kids go to bed early and the family is fine with me working on personal stuff after bedtime, or there is an age group I want to gain experience with, or they always order dinner from a nice place and let me choose something for myself). If there is no reason for me to take the job, then I don't. You have to be aware that you are branding yourself. If you cancel on a family it doesn't happen in a vacuum. DC Is a small town. The demographic of people with young children who have the money to pay a sitter well and live a lifestyle where they need a sitter often is an even smaller group. You may or may not believe that karma will catch up with you, but unprofessional behavior almost certainly will. It is worth it to me to sometimes take a loss on a particular evening in exchange for maintaining a sterling reputation among my clients. That is the kind of behavior that gets you booked again and again and more importantly gets you extremely positive word-of-mouth among the right set of people. If you are smart about the way you book and advertise yourself, you will soon find that you have more than enough jobs to choose from and never have to work for low-paying families again.

Every babysitter we've hired came recommended by someone we know--everyone we know hires sitters based on word-of-mouth. Being reliable and responsible ensures a constant demand for your services. I have never cancelled on a babysitter and wouldn't except for a family emergency or illness, and I expect my sitters to honor their commitments in the same way. If a sitter is reliable and responsible and good with my child, then we will use that person more, and may even go out more because we know we have someone we can count on to take care of our kid. If a sitter cancelled on me without a good reason, I wouldn't hire that person again. Full stop.

Your sitter could tell you anything she wants and you would be none the wiser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. I never cancel on a sitter without offering the full payment. That's only happened once or twice in 5 years. If someone cancels on me, I wouldn't hire them again. If that's not a problem for them, so be it. It's not meant to be punative, I just don't want to deal with people that would cancel. (Except in real emergencies for a normally reliable sitter)

And, sure, I would quit my job for a better one. But I'd give the agreed on notice. There's a difference between changing jobs and breaking a specific committment.

A babysitting job is just...a job. No different than yours except duration.
OP did state that she gives 3 days notice.
As a babysitter, I would give sufficient notice as well.
For your job it is 2-4 weeks (in most cases).
For a babysitting job it is 24-48 hours.

I wouldn't expect a job I had quit for a higher paying job to subsequently rehire me if I needed work later though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. I never cancel on a sitter without offering the full payment. That's only happened once or twice in 5 years. If someone cancels on me, I wouldn't hire them again. If that's not a problem for them, so be it. It's not meant to be punative, I just don't want to deal with people that would cancel. (Except in real emergencies for a normally reliable sitter)

And, sure, I would quit my job for a better one. But I'd give the agreed on notice. There's a difference between changing jobs and breaking a specific committment.

A babysitting job is just...a job. No different than yours except duration.
OP did state that she gives 3 days notice.
As a babysitter, I would give sufficient notice as well.
For your job it is 2-4 weeks (in most cases).
For a babysitting job it is 24-48 hours.

I wouldn't expect a job I had quit for a higher paying job to subsequently rehire me if I needed work later though.

Cool beans. Your little sitting job is not the end all be all that you think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a sitter and I wouldn't do this. If a family pays a particularly low rate, there may be some other reason I would take the job (e.g., the kids go to bed early and the family is fine with me working on personal stuff after bedtime, or there is an age group I want to gain experience with, or they always order dinner from a nice place and let me choose something for myself). If there is no reason for me to take the job, then I don't. You have to be aware that you are branding yourself. If you cancel on a family it doesn't happen in a vacuum. DC Is a small town. The demographic of people with young children who have the money to pay a sitter well and live a lifestyle where they need a sitter often is an even smaller group. You may or may not believe that karma will catch up with you, but unprofessional behavior almost certainly will. It is worth it to me to sometimes take a loss on a particular evening in exchange for maintaining a sterling reputation among my clients. That is the kind of behavior that gets you booked again and again and more importantly gets you extremely positive word-of-mouth among the right set of people. If you are smart about the way you book and advertise yourself, you will soon find that you have more than enough jobs to choose from and never have to work for low-paying families again.

This is smart professional advice, for really any profession. In the long run, your reputation is worth more (both financially and in terms of opportunity) than any short term financial benefit is likely to be.

[Anonymous]

No, I take my professional reputation too seriously to cancel babysitting except for genuine emergencies.

If you have a family that pays you significantly less than you make at other sitting jobs, just tell them your rates are going up due to high demand. Being reliable is the most desired quality in a sitter!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. I never cancel on a sitter without offering the full payment. That's only happened once or twice in 5 years. If someone cancels on me, I wouldn't hire them again. If that's not a problem for them, so be it. It's not meant to be punative, I just don't want to deal with people that would cancel. (Except in real emergencies for a normally reliable sitter)

And, sure, I would quit my job for a better one. But I'd give the agreed on notice. There's a difference between changing jobs and breaking a specific committment.

A babysitting job is just...a job. No different than yours except duration.
OP did state that she gives 3 days notice.
As a babysitter, I would give sufficient notice as well.
For your job it is 2-4 weeks (in most cases).
For a babysitting job it is 24-48 hours.

I wouldn't expect a job I had quit for a higher paying job to subsequently rehire me if I needed work later though.

Cool beans. Your little sitting job is not the end all be all that you think it is.

Totally fair. If you aren't interested in babysitting for us anymore, by all means cancel. You get more money. We find someone more reliable. Win win.

I will say though, the one sitter who has cancelled multiple times (with lame excuses), and who we stopped using as a result, asks me every time I run into her when she can babysit next so I am not sure it always works out as you are suggesting. I've never had another sitter cancel. And I always offer to pay/reschedule if I have to cancel (which I have done twice - once when my grandfather died and once when DC was too sick to leave with a sitter.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MB here. I never cancel on a sitter without offering the full payment. That's only happened once or twice in 5 years. If someone cancels on me, I wouldn't hire them again. If that's not a problem for them, so be it. It's not meant to be punative, I just don't want to deal with people that would cancel. (Except in real emergencies for a normally reliable sitter)

And, sure, I would quit my job for a better one. But I'd give the agreed on notice. There's a difference between changing jobs and breaking a specific committment.

A babysitting job is just...a job. No different than yours except duration.
OP did state that she gives 3 days notice.
As a babysitter, I would give sufficient notice as well.
For your job it is 2-4 weeks (in most cases).
For a babysitting job it is 24-48 hours.

I wouldn't expect a job I had quit for a higher paying job to subsequently rehire me if I needed work later though.

Cool beans. Your little sitting job is not the end all be all that you think it is.

Totally fair. If you aren't interested in babysitting for us anymore, by all means cancel. You get more money. We find someone more reliable. Win win.

I will say though, the one sitter who has cancelled multiple times (with lame excuses), and who we stopped using as a result, asks me every time I run into her when she can babysit next so I am not sure it always works out as you are suggesting. I've never had another sitter cancel. And I always offer to pay/reschedule if I have to cancel (which I have done twice - once when my grandfather died and once when DC was too sick to leave with a sitter.)

That's your sitter. I've never had to ask for sitting jobs in my life. Also can we stop with the whole "professional reputation" crap? Babysitting is not a professional job. Its an occasional gig college students do for spending money, so no I'm not worried about my "professional reputation". Eventually I'll be on to my actual career, and canceling a sitting job is not going to affect that I promise.