Not a question... but a warning to all your sitters. Did this happen to you?

Here's another way to handle the I can't book it online dilemma: I've had regulars (I already had a meet&greet with them & developed a relationship with them and their pets) who had to fly out of a nearby airport and this also worked with people who had other reasons for having issues booking online. I gave them the toll free number and stated that it could be booked over the phone while they wait at the gate. Worked perfectly. Even if someone doesn't have internet access, chances are they have a few minutes of phone access and that solves it

Add'n.: I gave them the Customer Support line, which is shown under Need Help (at bottom)[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].

I'm glad many find this approach helpful. In my experience, being solution-oriented (thinking how can this issue be fixed) tends to generate the best results, much more than looking at it from only one perspective or side. This is an example of when the other person is somehow challenged, providing another solution achieves the goal.

Thanks for that warning. When it comes to money, not everyone has the same degree of ethics. Just because we wouldn't do something, doesn't mean another person wouldn't either.

We are the Chief officer of everything! I get you. WE love animals and would never want them to suffer because of a grifter or a con. Those types of people can count on our hearts but I have learned to trust my intuition a lot more through Rover. When you work with the honesty of animals and the people that love them, anything that seems over the top, most likely is.

At that point you hadn't accepted the booking entirely so you could archive it and possibly even cancel. I'm not sure what benefit someone has by doing that but if they actually needed a sitter it would be their loss. As long as you made the attempt at reminding them I'd have called Rover within a few days of hearing nothing and asked them to open my calendar availability for that timeframe again.

That’s interesting cause something similar happened to me and river was not very helpful in anyway and the dog was already at my home.... I will never do it again in any case.

The "last-minute" have never met me booking is a huge red flag for me. I've had clients offer to overnight large checks to cover a month's worth of full-service pet care. I made it clear all payments must go the Rover app. Another long list of excuses later (a lost card, moving, and can't find this or that, can't meet me before a meet and greet, blah, blah, blah.) I gave them the Rover 800 #. They never bothered me or replied to my messages again. Only one "emergency" involved a transplant patient's family, and they offered the hospital number as proof. Has anyone charged a last-minute additional fee when their lack of planning has really messed up your schedule? How would you add that fee on Rover? It's not a penalty but an extra service fee for "special accommodation."

I say go anyway if you’ve already met the owner and they left for their trip without booking, as long as they left instructions, keys, etc. and let Rover handle it. Take pictures of the notes and keys to send to Rover. If we don’t show up AFTER meeting them and making verbal arrangements, even if they forget or play trickery to not book, we may save their amimals’ lives. It’s not the animals fault. Rover is equipped to deal with this, the animals aren’t. They didn’t ask to be left alone without care.