How does everyone feel about the "Booking Scores" and "Repeat Scores?" Do you find them to be helpful? I understand the purpose of having them is to give the sitter an idea of how they are doing in comparison to others, but I worry that some sitters may feel obligated to book stays they're not comfortable with because they want their "score" to be higher.
Personally, I hate the scores. I wouldn't mind if they served a useful purpose, in which case would need to be seriously overhauled. As others have mentioned, for one people "shop" around. For two, I'm at the point where I don't need / want to take every booking so I'm much pickier about what I choose. When I first started last year I was obsessed with the score. Now I just go with it, knowing that it is no where near an accurate reflection of how often I'm booked or the level of care I provide.
I feel that a good percentage of customers are just inquiring and don't end up booking especially house sits because they got family or whatever do do it cheaper. Not my fault and don't know if that's counted against me. Also not every customer is a repeat customer. I did make a mistake and canceled last notice for house sit per the customer request and took the blame because there wasn't another option. I thought I was giving good customer service by helping the customer do it but that was mistake for my rating. Lesson learned.
I agree. I’ve had many clients who cancel the booking, and I don’t think that should count against me.
The performance score matrix is a load of BS in my opinion, and cause far too much consternation by the sitter community. Only accept bookings you are comfortable with and let the scores go where they may. Best of luck
I'm glad to see someone bringing this up because I too have hated this performance rating since it first showed up on my dashboard. There is really no purpose for it in my opinion other than making you feel pressured as a sitter to take every request to help boost your score and anyone with good sense is not going to do that. And here's my main point, which may or may not follow in line with what other's feel. People constantly contact more than one person on Rover at a time, especially when they are requesting a stay not far enough in advance (which is something I have come across multiple times). I've had people contact me the day they want to drop their dog off and I don't work like that so often times those new clients get rejected and I get a hurt score because of it and that's simply not fair. I don't think there should be a performance rating for booking new clients. The reviews and number of them should be the only thing reflecting how well I'm doing my job as a sitter.
Not a fan of the scores- any clue the algorithm? I have had a couple of people contact me more than once, I respond right away then nothing - they are shopping around I suppose yet in a weird way that somehow counts against me- granted I am booked - so having a 98% (not the perfect 100%) is not bad for business- best of luck to all!
I have to admit... I'm not a fan of Booking or Repeat Scores. I'm heartened to read that they may not be as important as I thought, but there's still that part of my brain saying "I want a high score!" (Haha.) I also can't help but feel a little stressed out as I see my scores go down despite everything. I have awesome clients, I love their dogs, I get great reviews, and I'm booking and re-booking so much that there's almost always one pup or another in my home. But—and I'm not trying to brag, I swear—I'm also so booked up that I have to decline quite a few requests as well. The ones I feel hurt me the most are the ones where I'm not available to have a dog in my house for only a single day... But I can't really take a chance on double-booking, especially when that's one of the things my clients say they appreciate about me.
Then there's also the whole thing where, uh... sometimes I forget my phone on outings. Or turn it to Do Not Disturb for a nap, or church, or a date with my husband, etc. You know, normal stuff that keeps me from answering a request right away. I know Rover values a quick turnaround, so I suppose it's on me since I know they want that, but sometimes that feels a wee bit unfair.
But, like I said, I'm glad to read all these responses saying that it doesn't seem to matter much. So I'll just keep doing my best out there.
Somebody pointed out if they impact the search algorithm and I was wondering the same- does it impact the search algorithm? I don't care about any of the scores as I am generally pretty busy and most clients express gratitude with my service, though all may not make time for reviews. However, I was curious because I would like to pre-approve clients without having to worry about them deciding to book me right away. As many have pointed, owners are shopping for a good sitter, rightfully so. As such, pre-approving them allows them to book me right away without me having to maintain consistent communication about whether they need me to approve them. Sometimes, owners will just book away whoever approved them right away without the extra communication, esp if their request is last minute. I might've done that too. However, I did pre-approve somebody, she chose not to book me coz her regular sitter became available and my booking score dropped. It dropped even further after I refused to accept a puppy while already sitting a nervous dog. Rover has to be doing something with those scores, and the only thing I can think of is that it factors into the search algorithm.
I think that they are stupid and never change no matter how many or how often you book repeat/ new sittings. It's just another way of them making you feel pressured to create more business for them by booking more.
I’m not bothered by the scores, I’m having trouble with the ranking system. I used to show up on the first page within my ZIP Code. recently, I had to turn down four dogs in a row because they were dog aggressive/dog reactive and I board multiple dogs. Now I’m like 40th in search. Anyone else?
Im in the same boat here, very frustrating.