This isn't currently happening to me, but I was just wondering what happens if an owner refuses to pay after something has been booked and services have started. Is there any kind of protection for sitters for things like this?
Rover charges the customer's credit card as soon as the stay is booked and confirmed. It's part of the process from the owner's side. So non-payment is not an issue. Rover's handling of all payments is one reason I don't mind my 15% service fee (I joined before the fee increase).
Thus is true and all, but I had a client who canceled the service when i already had the dog. And I didn’t know cause I received a message 2 days later saying that it was canceled. I messaged the support and they said they can do everything in their favor to help her decide to pay, but they can’t
Force her to pay. So hopefully she decides to be a trustworthy person.
I agree with Cari! This is why it is important to always have the owner confirm the booking before you start a service. I wanted to add that if an owner hasn't confirmed the booking the day before the stay starts, I send them a message reminding them to confirm, and I never render services without a confirmed booking!
It’s just mine was confirmed already and I had the dog with me but she had submitted a cancel so I guess it went through and I only got paid the cancelation
I had a client who booked boarding for one night from 1030am-11am on drop off day, but they put their pickup time the next day between 1-4pm so this enabled them to not be automatically charged the extended care fee as 1pm would be right at the cutoff time before the fee applies. The owner didnt pick up until 4pm. I contacted rover and requested they change the pickup time to 4pm and the extended fee was then applied but it had to be accepted by the owner within 72 hours. Two days later the owner still hadn’t accepted the extended care fee so I reached out just to mention that their pup was with me for 29 hours and the boarding fee only covers up to 26 hours and to please accept the fee so I can be paid for my services. The owner refused and said they were given a quote and they paid it. So in situation such as this, what happens? I just don’t get paid? What if the owner says pick up time is before 26 hours to only be charged the boarding fee but then they show up 3 hours later? Is there no compensation ? What can sitters do at this point?
Did you get an answer to this question? Currently going through same thing.
I only allow people to have a 1-hour window. If they say drop off is 8am-12pm, and pick up is 2pm-6pm, I change it to the earliest drop off & latest pick up (8-9 & 5-6) since people try to avoid the extra fee with playing with the times. I don't accept a booking until they accept the change.
All of the Rover services (boarding, walks, drop-ins, etc.) that are booked through the website are paid for once everything is confirmed (owner and sitter). Like Paige and Cari, I would not start a service unless the booking is confirmed (no pending owner response, etc), even if that meant meeting the owner at your door with a computer so they can finish the booking.
However, if you're asking about something extra - like needing to pick up dog food, that's tougher. Rover has no way to request the owner pay you through their site, so you have to ask the owner to please bring you cash or check, or pay electronically through Venmo, PayPal or Square Cash. I would make sure to document anything like this via Rover's messaging system, and send photos of the receipt . If an owner won't pay you, you can try calling Rover Support for help, but I have a feeling there isn't much they can do either. Unless it's a large amount of money, you may have to chalk it up to a learning experience and avoid that client in the future.