How do I deal with owners who take advantage?
Situation 1: doggie day care: "Why can't I drop him off at 8 am and pick him up at 9pm for the day care rate?" (she uses me once, I refuse the second day, she finds another more amenable Rover sitter) Situation 2: Boarding: Owner boards for two days but cannot pick him up until 10:30pm on day two. "I will pick him up tomorrow at 10am" making it a three night stay. She doesn't understand why I would charge for an additional night and instead of dealing with her cheapness I just accept the extension without payment. Situation 3: Holiday season: A booking through Christmas and New Years of 10 days gets cancelled after 4 because the dog needs to smell the "new baby clothes" at the owners home (meaning he probably found a cheaper sitter).
And more: I would like to know how other sitters deal with owners who take advantage then use another sitter to the same end. Why can't we provide testimonials on owners as well?
This is our business to manage. It's up to us to not be taken advantage of. We set the rules and how those rules are enforced. You need to stand up for yourself.
Molly, i am not, by any stretch, a pushover. These were all first time clients, had meet and greets with the exception of the last which was an "emergency" booking. We should, as business owners, be able to write shared testimonials on owners between sitters.
Sitters don't "pay" server bills, clients do. Sitters get free use of the site... if you aren't paying for a product, you're the product. As long as there's sitters to meet demand, it's more important to attract clients. Think Uber (tho even Uber lets u bill cleaning to clients who puke in your car)
20% of what I make is not "free use of the site". I for one, find that a troublesome number. Million dollar deals are done for less commission. What Rover ought to charge is simply a finder's fee which normally runs about 10%. i would prefer to have more for my extra 10%. Owner reviews included.
Daycare and overnight care, etc is all decided by us! Rover has never written after a bad review or crazy client and said are you okay, what can we do to help. Only when new client doesn’t know rules and offers cash for adding night,etc why you think that feature was added so fast allowing
Us to extend stays, while a dozen other improvements to help pet care professionals aren’t considered. I feel sad when reading some reviews and the pet parent so angry that sitter works full time and leave pets in cages at home. The owners see $45 night boarding plus Rover fees and
The company had Walmarted the in home pet care industry by taking huge fees without any sitter support - actually no expansion of education or sitter vetting process either. Just more ads to recruit by asking if you want holiday cash and play with dogs? Clearly it’s more to owners than that