Reliability Policy

On UrbanSitter, both parents and sitters are expected to follow through on every accepted booking. This includes Phone Interviews, In-Person Interviews, and Babysitting Jobs (bookings). Our ultimate goal is to maintain a community that will provide a reliable experience for both parents and sitters! 

Negotiating Booking Details

After accepting a job, sitters are expected to adhere to all booking details and terms. The terms of a booking include the payment method (cash or credit), hourly rate, number of children, time, and location of the booking. Sitters have the ability to decline booking requests when they are not the right fit. If a sitter finds they cannot agree to all terms of the booking, we ask that they politely decline the request.

We routinely advise sitters not to negotiate booking terms after accepting a job. Repeated reports of these negotiations may result in a probationary period or permanent action on the sitter's account.

Cancellations

Both parents and sitters are expected to uphold their booking commitments. However, we do understand that life can lead to unexpected circumstances which may cause a member to cancel a booking. If either member needs to cancel in case of an emergency, they should officially 'cancel' the booking through UrbanSitter as soon as possible. Cancellations come at the inconvenience of the other member, so immediately notifying the parent or sitter allows the member to make other arrangements. 

When canceling a booking, members have the opportunity to select a reason for canceling as well as add a personal note. The reasons include: 'illness or emergency', 'sitter/parent canceled', or 'other'. If you are canceling the booking because the other member canceled verbally or through text, make sure to select the reason 'sitter/parent canceled'. 

No-Shows

Not showing up to an accepted booking, especially without communication, is not acceptable conduct on UrbanSitter. If a parent or sitter is a no-show for a booking, it should be reported as soon as possible by contacting UrbanSitter Support at support@urbansitter.com or by flagging the member's profile. Our Member Services Team takes action in regards to every reported no-show.  

Expressing Interest

We expect sitters not to "Express Interest" in jobs they do not intend to fulfill as posted. Sitters should only express interest in jobs that they would like to provide childcare for with the proposed booking terms. The terms of a booking include the payment method, hourly rate, number of children, time, and location of the booking. If a job isn’t the right fit, we encourage sitters to look for other job opportunities on the Job Board. 

Problematic Reliability Concerns

We review all cancellations and no-shows in detail and use all the information available to us to determine if a cancellation or no-show will warrant action taken on the member's account. Each situation merits its own review, but we abide by the following guidelines in our review process to determine which reliability concerns are problematic:

1. When did the member cancel? The closer to the date and time of the job that you cancel, the more concerning it is, with no-shows being the most serious.
2. Is this a first-time booking? The fewer times the parent and sitter have worked together, the more concerning the cancellation is — canceling on your first booking with a parent or sitter is the most serious.
3. What was the reason given? We evaluate cancellations and no-shows based on the reason provided by the member. 

Dismissible cancellations include:

• Serious illness/health emergency
• Death/major illness in family
• Extreme weather causing safety concern (hurricane, blizzard, wildfire, etc.)

Upon reporting the above circumstances, our Support Team may request proof within reason. 

COVID-19 Update: We will not be penalizing families or sitters in the event of a cancellation due to COVID-19 to ensure all parties feel supported in putting their health, and their community’s health,  first. If you need to cancel a booking due to COVID-19, please proactively inform the other member, cancel the booking, and email our team. For more information, please read our FAQ: Coronavirus Precautions and Resources

To protect the member experience on UrbanSitter, UrbanSitter reserves the right, in its full discretion, to take corrective action on members' accounts. Our Reliability Policy is in place in order to maintain the quality of the UrbanSitter platform and to ensure that members can trust the reliability of others.

While we recognize that life does happen, members deemed to be unreliable may have action taken on their account, including permanent account closure. These members would be removed from UrbanSitter for being in violation of our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines.