I am reading through reviews of some sitters and I see that half of the reviews for a particular sitter are not "verified stay". Should this be a concern? What does it mean when it says "verified stay" next to a review?
There are two types of reviews: (1) from "verified stays" which are the result of bookings through Rover and (2) from testimonials. When a sitters signs up to Rover, they will ask friends, family and others for whom they've petsit to write testimonials on their character and/or work performance. A new sitter will not have any "verified stay" reviews because they haven't received any bookings through Rover.
I would not be concerned about the lack of reviews from verified stays. It only means that the sitter is new to Rover. As Deb wrote, if you like what you read about the sitter, have a Meet & Greet, and then make up your own mind.
A Verified Stay is a review based on a booking through Rover.
Reviews that are not verified stays were provided by that person responding to an email, often based on experience prior to setting up a rover profile for pet parents connected with through some other source (not the web site).
It's understandable that the earlier reviews might not be verified stays, but ideally there are at least a couple verified stays if it seems like they've been doing this for a while. After reading the profile & reviews, the meet & greet should help in making the right match.