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Rover & DogVacay Joining Forces ?

Just got an email about this. What are your thoughts?

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I am signed up on both rover and dv. I have been that way since the beginning. Yes Dv you get paid faster but the take 20%. While rover takes only 15% but it's 2 days later. I also noticed on rover you get paid on weekends.

Also does anyone know what the fee is going to be dv is 20 percent while rover is 15 percent. Has anyone heard what it's going to be?

9 Answers

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Rover is buying DV. They're not merging.

I have mixed feelings about the news since I have been registered on both sites since they each entered my market. Originally I liked DV better because it used to allow customers to search by zipcode. Really, distance was an option. But then, they changed to a more puzzling search function like Rover's.

Over time they've become more and more the same. However, DV's payout is faster; you don't have to wait as long unless the stay ends on a weekend or holiday. So it was always a case of 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

BTW, DV operates in Canada, so that should solve the problem of Rover not accepting non-US credit cards.

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I kind of thought we bought them out. As for DV being in Cananda, I thought they were based out of Cali

Yes, DV is HQ'd in Santa Monica, but it services customers all over Canada.

Gotcha....

The main thing I liked about DV was the faster/automatic payout, I wouldn't mind Rover taking that from DV haha

On the negative side, DV didn't have holiday pricing until very recently and you had to send customers a custom billing instead of it being automatic. I also didn't like the automatic booking option, mainly due to holidays, so I had to turn it off.

Agreed. I loved the faster payout but dreaded the booking process.

Big problems in Fort Wayne, IN, had reservations disappear after the conversion, impossible to contact http://Rover.com for help, two extended stays were going on during this time and we may not get paid for them because there is not record of them now. Poor customer service. Why sit if we are not paid???

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I was disappointed to see the news. DogVacay has been circling the drain for some time. Their service wasn't that great. They implemented some things badly (they perform processing which degrades photos after uploading them).

I'm not real thrilled about DogVacay employees "contributing" to Rover.

Somewhat different topic, but perhaps more relevant now: I wish Rover would survey sitters to ask them what they believe Rover's priorities should be. I always get the impression Rover isn't listening. They implement changes to the website which seem trivial (and often are regressive, introducing bugs, degredations). They prioritize grooming sitters to strive for perfection, but seem to do zero to groom dog owners to be better participants (completed profiles, do's and dont's of dropoff/pickup). A "101" class (badge) for owners would be nice. That would certainly help me know how passionate a potential client is about the experience.

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Hallelujah!!! I could not agree more. Rover treats Sitters like chattel and Owners like Gods.

I totally agree. Clients rarely fill out all the info necessary for me. I can spend up to an easy 2+ hours of texting back and forth to get all the necessary info. Not getting paid for it either

I agree. I seem to have wasted a lot of time with Robrt-bookings just for questions, Incomplete info, etc.

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This thought just came up...
I'm on both sites but rarely use DV. Recently, I've had several requests from DV but am wondering, since they're merged and essentially one company now anyway, could I ask my DV clients to book with me on Rover so that my schedule is easier to maintain.

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I would ask Rover support about this..it would be a bummer to be reprimanded for "poaching" business from one site to the other using this logic.

No it's going to one all of your dv. Contacts and reviews are going to roll over to rover.

I recently had an issue, where apparently my DV account wasn't "fully merged" so they were taking an extra 5% out of my pay outs- after a few days I received a call back and Rover changed my rate into the grandfathered 15%, yet they refused to reimburse me for the excess since the merge..

Funny how all my DV clients could still book on Rover with me, but the account merge "wasn't complete"

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UPDATE:as of 6/11 New message at dogvacay.com: "DogVacay is now Rover ..." And a new e-mail was sent to sitters/walkers: Starting today, you’ll only be able to create and accept bookings on Rover and you’ll no longer be able to message through the DogVacay site or app... On June 20, the DogVacay site will redirect to Rover, and the DogVacay site and mobile app will be retired.." Many questions have been answered now.

(Previous) There are many unknown details about this union (their wording) that will be answered in the future, such as: Will they keep both sites operating separately or will they merge them somehow? If they merge their sites - When? What will be new domain name & what will happen to old online identities? (What effect will that have on new searches for pet care?) What will be kept and what will go away? What will change with regards to services/requirements and profiles? (i.e. Rover requires the app & cards for walks, visits, and daycare. Dog Vacay does not.) What other policies will change?

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DV's website will continue according to what I've read.

""" Will they keep both sites operating separately or will they merge them somehow? """ Hopefully dogvacay's URL will "redirect" to Rover. If Rover maintains two different websites, that will add to the work of sitters (maintaining two profiles).

Would love continuing updates on the Rover-DogVacay merger as it progresses. Important info!

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I have used both for over 4 years, with almost equal payout and bookings however Rover has been doing better over the last year. I have 200+ more feedback than anyone else near me. My concern is that whenever someone sends a reservation request, Rover prompts them to send another one. There are a lot of newer sitters, who get a search bump which I don't mind, but I get all the second offers which never book which keeps me out of the top 5. I still got my fair share of new bookings so it wasn't that big of an issue. Plus, I was still getting bookings on DV where I was always 1 or 2. Now that I merged my accounts, my search rank dropped considerably. Very nervous I won't get any new bookings now. The number 2 sitter as of yesterday, also merged accounts and is now #21 and on the second page. Something needs to be done to address this.

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I would love to see large animal care added such as horses.

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I hope it does not change too much because I have had several clients leave DogVacay and start booking me on Rover because they felt it was easier to use, especially on mobile.

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I am a sitter on both and I find that I like certain things about both apps (But Rover is overall way better) and I think this is awesome. I actually put myself as unavailable on Dogvacay because I just wasn't getting enough bookings and I was getting overloaded with bookings from Rover. And the few inquiries I have gotten lately from dogvacay, the clients would become very unresponsive. So I am super happy they are joining forces because I think it will provide a larger client base, and from what I saw it seemed that there were not very many sitters on Dogvacay in my area anyways, so it won't add too much competition. I'm pretty excited to see how this will turn out.

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Same experience here. I have one regular on DV. It's for 4 chickens. I love them because they're so easy. It literally takes 5 minutes to feed them and lock / unlock their coop. Otherwise, I've had almost no business from DV and overwhelming business from Rover.

I think Rover should encourage sitters to offer other pet services. I have a cat and a large koifish pond and contacted another sitter about visits for feed while we are away and shes up for it.

I've just signed on w/ Rover from DV. Finding that there is a lot that I miss from the DV website, like their Bookings List, Messages, and the ease of accepting or declining a booking. Also, it seems to be necessary to "get the App" for Rover - I don't have (and refuse to get) a cell phone!?!?

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Exciting times