score:
1

How should I handle my serious concerns about dog parent's behavior?

During the meet & greet with parents and their two dogs, I was first asked about a discount on the price for the second dog. We agreed on the discount, went over routines and expectations, as well as Rover's next steps for booking. Then Mrs. deferred to Mr. to explain what was next, in such a way that it implied this was all new to her. Mr. added detailed care instructions for salt water aquarium with computerized controls mimicking wind, cloud, rain, night conditions, etc. Next, Mr. took me outside to a large pond with almost 20 koi fish, and proceeded to explain pedigree, habitat and feeding procedures.

Fast forward to the actual first sitting which began yesterday. Mrs. texted me 23 times (yes, verified and logged!), most of those while I was in a meeting elsewhere / private one-on-one language instruction (and not on duty), had told her about it ahead of time, and politely reminded her she would have an update once the meeting had ended. To no avail. She kept on texting anyway. Now my duties had increased to be in charge of basement flooding remediation service, emptying the 3 dehumidifiers and coordinating with their staff, to whom Mrs. had given my personal mobile phone number without my knowledge.

Basement consists of several rooms with closed doors, so there is a strong suffocating smell upon entering, with more potent whiff this morning when staff sprayed mold retardant during my emptying-dehumidifier-bucket duty. I became wheezy and dizzy. One dog escaped through a gate left open by said staff, because they were never informed about anything by Mr. and Mrs. the day before. We tramped through muddy fields to finally get the dog back inside the secured gated area.

During my first 'visit' to the basement last evening, I had noticed two rifle-type firearms with a 'cage' covering the barrel (I am no expert at all in that domain, but I know for sure to exercise caution when doors are unlocked to give full access as needed, but not informing me). They were left willy-nilly, naked, on top of desk-height furnishings in 2 different rooms.

Mr. & Mrs. return mid-day tomorrow and are likely to question me thoroughly about the exact times I fed everyone, when the staff came and went, etc. I do know that I will cancel the already-booked one-weeklong stay in one month, but I am unsure if I should report this unsafe situation to Rover. It's not just for me, but for any other sitter. In retrospect, they did mention they were very disappointed for not being able to have repeat sitters from Rover.

To me this is a matter of ethics involving sitter safety. Does Rover have any mechanism by which potential sitters could be warned?

6 Answers

Sort by » oldest newest most voted
score:
4

I'm not trying to be slight about your concerns but Rover does little to nothing about screening owners before allowing them to book a sitter. I might recommend you contact Rover Support @ [Edit: Rover’s contact options have changed. Visit the Rover Help Center at https://support.rover.com/ to find the phone number, help articles, or chat with the team] so they can document your concerns about the owners. And I also suggest you drop them as a client.

Comments

I reported my concerns to Rover Trust & Safety, and dropped the owner as a client. Actually, our next booking was canceled because "neglect" took place, before I gave any kind of feedback and photos. I have learned a lot from this situation going forward, thanks to this blog!

score:
4

You do always have the option of dropping them as a client or (if you still would want to continue a relationship with them if chances where made) you can voice your concerns to the owners. I would recommend when the owners return, setting up a time to go over with them how everything went. I would than mention to them that you have them booked for such and such date, however, after this first booking you want to make sure that you are still the right sitter for them. Letting them know that you did take great care of their pets (And what ever you did for them) however, you are not going to be able to continue with 23 messages a day, you do have other clients along with meet and greets it is impossible for you to get through all your clients in a day. If they do want to reserve your undivided time 24/7 for how ever many days you would be able to make them your only clients during that time for XX cost. If not let agree to a set amount of times that you will give them an update on their babies. (weather that be twice a day morning and afternoon or once a day at the end of the day) As for the basement situation. I would express to them that you understand that this may have been an emergency situation however in the future they are going to need to make another arrangements for a friend or a neighbor to deal with anything that comes up non-related to the pets.
To avoid your number being given out, Only use your Rover number in the future. (phone numbers have to be registered through Rover to contact you this way. Completely your call. Just depends on how much you really want to work with these clients. If you are just so over it, than I don't think anyone would judge you for wanting to drop them as clients. Best of luck!!

score:
3

I'm all for helping out a client in more ways than just watching their pets but you deserve a medal for all the stuff they had you doing. A regular feeding for an aquarium is one thing but a whole koi pond and an aquarium with controlled mechanisms?? That would be extra $$ for sure. Your whole ordeal is out of the realm of what should have been expected of you and your messages sound much more polite than mine would have been. I hope to hear about how you go forward with this stay!

score:
2

Your ordeal is just another example of my experience based opinion that when a new client starts trying to negotiate price from the get go, it's just going to being problems and more trouble than it's worth. After all the detailed fish instructions, I would have declined the booking. I have communicated with text overload people, but 23 times in a day broke any records! I would not have accepted basement flooding remediation and you were under no obligation to do so -- that may have exposed you to mold (or even worse toxic mold). I'd suggest you contact Rover, the Trust & Safety team will document it, help advise you, and determine how to proceed - if it impacts this client's status.

Comments

Rover Trust & Safety replied to my concerns by emphasizing my choices as an independent contractor/sitter. It sounds as though there is an investigation taking place behind the scene. The conclusions will not be shared in order to protect the owner's privacy.

score:
1

you should never negotiate your price i know that you want to give your first time client a good deal but it can cause many problems in the near future. i hope everything goes good.

score:
0

You poor thing!! That sounds awful! I've only had one definite bad sitting experience (I almost had to go to the ER) and it was nowhere near these standards! I'm very impressed you stuck it out and completed all tasks, I admire that as I know it is not easy to deal with certain clients and situations. I think you were right to drop them as clients. I can understand a client wanting things to be 'just so' but this goes above and beyond your responsibilities as a sitter! I've only had to turn down one client that wanted to use me as a repeat sitter (she was unable to find any repeat sitters because her dog was VERY challenging) and it was hard and made me feel terrible but I assured her that my top concern was the dog's safety and happiness and I felt that the dog would be happier and better suited for someone else. It's important not to nick-pick these things over, though it can very frustrating.