I had a bad experience staying in a really dirty home! I want to warn other sitters that it's not a good place to stay without the owner knowing... Is that possible?
Discussion keeps coming back to this. It would be great if sitters could exchange info about dogs/clients the way that clients can see our reviews. I would hope that this wouldn't be abused, but would be a place to objectively list the positives and negatives of each animal. And if a client is chronically late or misrepresents their pets, that's important info to pass on. Plus, there are a lot of things owners may not know about their dogs if they haven't boarded them much, or if sitters are sugar-coating some of their mischievous behavior.
Personally, I'd love to have our dog reviews available to anyone who receives a booking request for the dog. I'd like to have it public, like our reviews, except for fear that leaving a less than 5 star review for the dog would lead to a less than 5 star review for the sitter. I think transparency would discourage owners from glossing over issues before the stay begins. There are still many of us who will take more difficult cases, but it's just as important for the dogs and owners to have a well-matched sitter as it is to the sitter. Obviously someone with kids wouldn't want to take a dog who had shown nervous or aggressive behavior with children in the past, but for sitters with no children in the home, that's hardly an issue. Likewise dog aggression is far more problematic for sitters with dogs than sitters without, but either way, it's important information for the sitter to know to prevent any incidents.
Fantastic line of thought and very well stated. I agree very much with this.
As a host, I'd like to have access to the feedback/reviews we write for the guest pups. I know there is a 'notes' section but it seems redundant. Thanks!
I agree. One good thing about Wag, is that sitters can see notes of other sitters about the dog before they accept the offer. I wish rover had this option as well.
This is a great question and I wish that http://Rover.com would make that clear when your feedback is asked for. I had a great stay with a dog and only wanted to reflect positive things about her but if it's meant for only other sitters I would add more relevant information.
I had no idea that the feedback we left for the owners and the owner's pets were strictly for Rover Support feedback and was not available for the owners to view. I know sometimes pet sitters may have a bad experience at a job and are fearful that if they leave any feedback that may be construed as negative by the owner that they may lash out and leave them a less than stellar review or at least less than what they would have originally left. I am so glad to know this going forward. There has been important information I have left for the owner in feedback reviews that I thought was going to them and was important and helpful for their pet and now it seems they never received it I guess? Now I know to just send them another message.
Why hasn't a Rover rep addressed this question? It clearly seems your sitters are asking for it. Rather than ignore it perhaps you might provide a thoughtful explanation why Rover thinks it a bad idea to allow owner/canine commentary to be public.
Someone from Rover did address this. Jessica is a Rover employee. And from what I've heard (there have been a few threads touching on this topic) it's a feature that has been considered and will hopefully be available in the future, but they are still working on logistics for how this would be implemented and who would have access to the dog reviews.
Also, the Q&A forum isn't where we can formally make suggestions to Rover. Formal suggestions are made by contacting Rover directly by phone or email. The rover staff who post here (there are a few of them) aren't necessarily in a position within the company to make these kinds of changes.
Unless you change the sorting option from the default of most voted showing first, or scouring through the answers, you don't see Jessica's answer right away.
I was also worried about not giving a stellar review for my clients. I felt that I needed to know for future reference but was concerned that the owner might take it the wrong way. I am glad to know that they are not shared.
Hi Courtney,
Thanks for reaching out! At this time, owners cannot see the feedback that you leave about their dog. Whenever you have feedback about another user, Rover's Support team is here to help you with it. They can guide you through handling anything that comes up during a stay. You can reach them here: https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/re...
I'm a sitter too, and this is one of the reasons why I always do meet & greets, especially when traveling sitting.
Jessica
I had a HORRIBLE experience the last time I booked a dog sitter at rover. My dog was not well monitored and she ingested food that made her sick for over a week. The dog sitter was very low class and frightened me due to his unstable behavior. I will NEVER use this service again.
That's awful.. your poor dog :( It sucks you had that experience.. there are some seriously awesome pet sitters on Rover. But I would never use one with less than 5 years of experience, and less than 10 reviews - which must be all 5 stars. I wont trust my dog to a stranger with minimal credentials.
I always do a meet-and-greet at the sitter's home prior to a booking a stay to know that my pup will be in a good environment with a good sitter.
How can anyone leave their fur baby with someone or in a place they complain about only after pickup day?