Question 1

How do I find a pet sitter?

Accepted Answer

On the search page you choose the service and an area (yours, or any area you like), optionally some dates, and see the sitters available near you.

You can filter by maximum price, minimum rating and Instant Book, and sort results by distance, price or rating. Every sitter's profile shows their services, their prices and their reviews (not their calendar); if you picked dates, the request form tells you if any of them aren't available before you send it. Sitters who can't take those dates are left out of the results.

Question 2

What services can I book?

Accepted Answer

Vres offers five services, each different in where it happens, who travels, and whether it includes an overnight stay: dog walking, home visits, staying at the sitter's home (home hosting), day care at the sitter's home, and house sitting at the owner's home. We explain each one on its own below, and which one fits which situation.

Each sitter turns on whichever services they offer, with their own price for each.

Question 3

Which service do I need?

Accepted Answer

It depends on how long you'll be away and what your pet needs:

- Away all day at work? Day care fits best.
- Away for a weekend and your cat hates travel? Home visits or house sitting.
- Away for a week with one dog? Home hosting at the sitter's, or house sitting.
- Your dog needs exercise while you're out at midday? Dog walking.

If you're torn between two, see the detailed question for each service below.

Question 4

What is dog walking?

Accepted Answer

The sitter comes to your home, collects your dog, and takes them out for a walk — they don't stay inside, and there's no overnight stay. Priced per walk.

It suits you when you're away for a few hours (say, at work) and your dog needs exercise and time outside. The sitter needs to know how to get in and out of your home (bell, keys); you note that on "My home".

Question 5

What are home visits?

Accepted Answer

The sitter comes to your home for a short visit — feeding, water, cleaning the litter box, play, medicine if needed — and leaves; your pet stays home, with no overnight stay. Priced per visit, and you can ask for more than one on the same day.

It suits pets who are happiest staying in their own home (cats, say, or small pets) when you're away for a few hours or a day or two.

Question 6

What is home hosting?

Accepted Answer

Your pet stays and sleeps at the sitter's home, for however many nights you're away. Priced per night. It's always one pet from one household at a time, for up to 14 nights — Vres doesn't offer pet hotels or boarding kennels, only hosting in a private home, one pet at a time.

If you have more than one pet, choose a sitter who takes several in one booking (house sitting or home visits often suit better in that case).

The first time with a sitter you haven't worked with before, a first meeting (meet & greet) is required before the booking.

Question 7

What is day care?

Accepted Answer

You drop your pet off at the sitter's home in the morning and pick them up in the evening — daytime only, no overnight stay. Priced per day. The sitter may look after more than one pet on the same day, up to the limit they've set.

It suits you when you're away all day (at work, say) and don't want your pet home alone for that long.

Question 8

What is house sitting?

Accepted Answer

The sitter stays overnight at your own home, together with your pets, for however many nights you're away — keeping your home lived-in and your pets in their own space. Priced per night.

It suits pets who can't travel or aren't comfortable elsewhere, or when you have more than one pet. The first time with a sitter you haven't worked with before, a first meeting (meet & greet) is required before the booking.

Question 9

How does booking work: requests and price offers?

Accepted Answer

You send a request to the sitter you chose, with the dates, the pets and the listed price. On the booking's page, either of you can propose another total (between half and double the listed price), with up to 3 counters each.

You need to agree within 48 hours of when the request was sent (the deadline is set once and doesn't restart with each counter-offer), or before the first day starts if that's sooner; otherwise the request expires and you're both told. Once you agree on a price, the booking is confirmed.

Question 10

What is Instant Book?

Accepted Answer

If you've already completed a booking with a particular sitter, and they've turned on Instant Book for the service you want, your next request to that same sitter is confirmed right away at the listed price, with no waiting for an answer or negotiating. The request form tells you this before you send it.

Question 11

Can I book the same walk every week?

Accepted Answer

Yes, with a weekly series. You ask the sitter for specific weekdays (say, Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for walks, home visits or day care; if they accept, each week becomes a normal booking on its own, about two weeks ahead, at the sitter's prices at that time.

You can stop the series whenever you like; bookings already made stay, unless you cancel them one by one.

Question 12

What is a meet & greet, and when is it required?

Accepted Answer

It's a first meeting before the booking: either of you proposes 1 to 3 times (starting 08:00–21:00, Athens time) within the next 60 days, and the other confirms one of them — all from within your chat.

It's required before the first home hosting or house sitting with a sitter you haven't worked with before — meaning neither a held meeting nor any booking you've both agreed to. For the other services it's optional but recommended.

Question 13

What happens if I need to cancel a booking?

Accepted Answer

Before you cancel, you see exactly what you'll owe, right on the booking's page. Every sitter has either a "flexible" or a "moderate" policy:

- Flexible: cancel more than 24 hours before the first day starts and you owe nothing. Inside 24 hours or once it's started: you owe for the days already begun (or the first walk, visit or night, if none has started yet); nothing for the rest.
- Moderate: you owe nothing if you cancel more than 7 days before. Between 7 days and 24 hours before, you owe half the price. Inside 24 hours or once it's started: you owe the days already begun (at least the first) in full, plus half the price of the rest.

If the sitter cancels, neither of you owes anything.

Question 14

How do I pay the sitter during the beta?

Accepted Answer

During the beta, every booking is settled directly: you pay the sitter however you agree (cash, or anything else that works for you), and Vres charges no platform fee at all. The price you see on the booking is what you pay.

If fees ever change, we'll announce it well before it takes effect.

Question 15

Are my personal details and address safe?

Accepted Answer

The address you give on "My home" is shown to the sitter only for dog walking, home visits or house sitting, and only while that particular booking is confirmed or under way — never before, and never after. For home hosting and day care you don't need to give an address; the sitter only sees your area.

In chat, Greek phone numbers, email addresses (even spelled out with "at"/"dot" or in Greek), social media handles (@handle) and links are automatically hidden, even when written with spaces or symbols or split over two messages — precisely so the conversation stays on the platform, safely for everyone.

Question 16

What happens while my pet is with the sitter?

Accepted Answer

The sitter posts updates on the booking's page: "I've arrived", photos, "all done" at the end, and daily report cards (what your pet ate, a walk, its mood) — for any service, whenever they send one. You see them live, as they come in; photos are visible only to the two of you, and are deleted 90 days after the booking.

Once the booking is confirmed, there's also an emergency panel with 112, your pet's health notes, its medication, its vet, the emergency contact, and nearby emergency vets where we have a list for the area. If something serious happens, the sitter (or you) can report it; it reaches our team as an urgent case.

Question 17

How do reviews work?

Accepted Answer

After every booking that's completed, you and the sitter each review the other: a rating from 1 to 5 stars and some text, within 14 days. Neither review shows until you've both written yours, or the 14 days are up — so nobody is swayed by the other's review before writing their own.

Whoever is reviewed may reply once to each review they receive; a sitter's reply shows publicly, under the review on their profile. You can see every review about you, and the ones you wrote, on "My reviews".

Question 18

Can I save a sitter and book them again?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if you're signed in. Every sitter's profile has a button to save them; you see them all on the "Saved sitters" page. After a booking that finished or was cancelled, there's also a "Book again" button, which opens the request form with the same service and pets already chosen — you just pick the dates.

Question 19

Can I see my bookings in my phone's calendar?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On "My bookings" you can turn on a personal calendar link (iCal), which you can add to Google, Apple or Outlook Calendar. It shows the dates, the service, the pets, the other person's name and a link to the booking, with no address or price; a booking that's cancelled is marked as cancelled in your calendar.

Anyone with the link sees that information, so if you want to stop it working, make a new one — the old one stops right away.

Question 20

Who can become a sitter?

Accepted Answer

Anyone with a Vres account can become a sitter, with the very same account you use to book sitters: there's no separate account. You start on the "Become a sitter" page: fill in your profile, your area, and the services you want to offer.

If you already have an account with no sitter profile, you may also see a "Want to become a pet sitter?" prompt on your account's overview, with a link straight there; you can dismiss it, and it comes back after 30 days.

Question 21

Does my profile need approval?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Before you show up in search, someone from Vres reviews your profile, and approves or turns it down with a written reason you see on your onboarding page. If it's turned down, you can fix it and send it again.

Question 22

Which services can I offer?

Accepted Answer

You turn on whichever of the five you want, separately: dog walking and home visits happen at the owner's home, with no overnight stay for you; home hosting and day care happen at your own home (hosting overnight, day care not); house sitting means you stay overnight at the owner's home instead.

If you offer hosting or day care, the pet comes into your own home, which is why many sitters set how many pets they'll take at once and think about their own home and pets first. You don't need to offer every service — only the ones that suit you.

Question 23

How do I set my services, rates and availability?

Accepted Answer

In your profile you turn on whichever of the five services you offer, with your own price for each. You can also set:

- An extra charge per additional pet
- A cancellation policy, either "flexible" or "moderate" (moderate if you don't choose)
- Which kinds of pets you take
- Instant Book, per service
- How many pets you take together, per service (always one for a stay at your home)
- Whether you accept price offers from owners; if not, your profile shows "Fixed price"

On "Availability", every day is open until you mark it unavailable.

Question 24

What is Instant Book, for sitters?

Accepted Answer

It's a switch per service, off by default. When you turn it on, an owner you've already completed a booking with can book you again straight away, at your listed price, without waiting for you to answer. New owners always wait for your approval — you decide who comes into your life and your home.

Question 25

How do I manage my availability?

Accepted Answer

On the "Availability" calendar you block out days you can't work. Home hosting and house sitting each take up a whole day for one booking only; day care shares a day between more than one pet, up to the limit you've set; walks and visits aren't limited by the calendar — you just decline what you can't fit in. A request that's waiting for an answer holds its days until you answer.

Question 26

How quickly do I need to answer a request?

Accepted Answer

You have 48 hours to accept, decline, or counter with another price (less, if the booking's first day is sooner); if you don't answer in time, the request simply expires and the owner is told. Your median response time is shown in your Statistics.

Question 27

What if I need to cancel a booking myself?

Accepted Answer

You can cancel a confirmed booking, or one under way, whenever you need to, with an optional note to the owner about why. Neither of you owes anything. The cancellation is recorded on your account, and our team looks at accounts with repeated cancellations. The owner is told with a line in your chat and by email; no reviews follow a cancelled booking.

Question 28

How do reviews and my replies to them work?

Accepted Answer

After every booking that's completed, you and the owner each review the other, within 14 days; neither review shows until both are written, or the 14 days are up. Reviews you receive show on your public profile and in search results, along with their average and count; you may reply once, publicly, to each one.

Reviews you write about owners aren't public: the owner sees them, and so does any sitter they send a request to.

Question 29

How do I get paid during the beta?

Accepted Answer

During the beta, the owner pays you directly, however you agree (cash, or anything else that works for you), at the price you agreed for the booking. Vres charges no platform fee at all right now, so we don't keep anything from what you're paid.

If fees ever change, we'll announce it well before it takes effect.

Question 30

Where do I see my statistics, and what do they show?

Accepted Answer

On your account's "Statistics" page, once you've offered a first priced service. For whatever period you choose (and compared with the one before it), they show:

- Earnings, requests, confirmed and completed bookings, cancellations
- Acceptance rate, response time, and repeat clients
- Your average rating and how many reviews you've had
- Views of your public profile, and how many turn into a request
- How full your calendar is

There are charts (by day, service, status, weekday, client area, pet species), a pivot table you can cross however you like with a CSV export, and printing. Before you offer any service, it shows a short guide to get started instead.

Question 31

What do I send the owner while I'm caring for their pet, and what do I do in an emergency?

Accepted Answer

From the booking's page you send "I've arrived", updates with optional text and up to 4 photos, "all done" at the end, and daily report cards (food, a walk, mood) — for any service, whenever you like. The owner sees them live; photos are visible only to the two of you, and are deleted 90 days after the booking.

Once the booking is confirmed, there's an emergency panel with 112, the pet's health notes, its medication, its vet, the emergency contact, and nearby emergency vets where we have a list for your area. If something serious happens, you report it from there; it reaches our team as an urgent case.

Question 32

What do I do if I have a problem with an owner?

Accepted Answer

From your chat you can report the owner or a specific message; a review you think is unfair you report from underneath it, on your own profile. Your report reaches our moderation team, who look into it and email you their decision. You can also reach us directly from the "Contact us" page.

Question 33

How can I sign in?

Accepted Answer

Depending on what's switched on, you can sign in with Google, Apple, or your email: we email you a link, which works in the browser where you asked for it, and a six-digit code you can type on any device — each valid once, for 15 minutes. You can also create your account with a password and sign in with it ("Use a password instead").

Question 34

How do I report something that's not right, and what happens next?

Accepted Answer

You can report a profile (even without signing in), a message, a review, a reply to a review, or a person you've chatted or booked with. The report reaches our moderation team, who look into it and decide; whether or not action follows, you hear our decision by email. Anyone we act against is told why, in writing.

Question 35

Can I download my data?

Accepted Answer

Yes, right away. From "Settings" you download a file with your data: your profile, your conversations (including what others wrote to you), reviews about you, your bookings, your pets, and anything else you've entered. Passwords, sign-in secrets and staff's internal notes are left out.

Question 36

How do I delete my account?

Accepted Answer

From "Settings", typing your email to confirm. It can't be done while you have a request waiting for an answer, or a booking that's confirmed or under way. Your weekly series stop, and any scheduled meet & greets are cancelled.

Your personal details are deleted; bookings, reviews and conversations you share with other people stay in their own history, with your name replaced.

Question 37

I didn't find what I was looking for. How do I contact you?

Accepted Answer

From the "Contact us" page you can write to us any time, whether you're signed in or not. Our team replies by email.

Frequently asked questions