I'm very uncomfortable with my visit because of a camera/owner behavior, how should I proceed?

Hey I'm so sorry to hear about your experience! Your safety comes first and perhaps you should avoid this client for future bookings. Why are they watching you while your sleeping, that's very sketchy. To avoid this happening in the future, definitely let the client know before booking that you have a dog of your own that needs care. That you will need to leave the house at this particular time. I'm not sure if you disclosed to them in the meet and greet. Anyway if you are worried about receiving a bad review, I'd say this "I'm sorry to hear your experience with me wasn't up to your expectations. Your dog was my first priority and it was a pleasant experience until the camera situation. I'm very sorry for frustrating you and will take your feedback seriously in order to improve myself. I hear you where you are coming from, as a pet owner myself, your pet means the world to you. I assure you that my intentions were good. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding in our meet and greet. Before writing a review, please be considerate as this is a job I take very seriously. As a client, I will be fair with my review as well. I don't want this to hinder our future bookings with others. I really wish you and pet's name well. Hope you can understand where I'm coming from."

From years of customer service experience, my best advice is to de-escalate the situation by apologizing and putting yourself in their shoes (even though\ you are the one that deserves an apology). Sometimes people are just miserable and we just have to take the L - keep it moving.

Hope this helps and hope it goes well with the client.

I had something similar happen as well except the owner only required me to do 2 drop in visits a day and did not want me spending the night. I think he booked housesitting over drop ins because it was the cheaper option but around 11pm he texted me saying one of the dogs was pacing and barking and he thinks she may be having diarrhea. I wasn't able to go over in the middle of the night and I was unaware he had a camera even. He ended up coming home first thing in the morning and the dog had diarrhea and now hes threatening to sue me. Even though I held up what we agreed on. I don't like the idea of him having a hidden camera, I have cameras in my home as well and in the very least when I hire sitters I inform them of this prior and ensure they are aware. He did not do this and I don't think it's my fault I couldn't go over in the middle of the night.

I had a similar situation, the meet and greet went well, however the owners failed to mention that they had a web camera to watch me and their dog had anxiety issues at night. Their neighbors would go outside and smoked ( smelled like pot) coming through their venting system. the owners kept asking if they needed to come home, I felt unsafe and uncomfortable in their home and I would refund their money. then the owners started to harass me. I did contacted Rover stating that I have never had a client harass me. I did get a negative review and that's okay. I felt my personal safety was more important.

Hailee,

Everything hinges on what you discussed with the client about how you would provide your services to her. Rover's definition of house sitting only says that a sitter will stay overnight in the client's home:

https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/arti…

and that each "nightly charge" is good for up to 24 hours of care:

https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/arti…

the same as a Rover sitter who boards dogs. But that doesn't necessarily mean you are with them 24/7. There is a wide range of interpretation regarding house sitting by Rover sitters. Because there is no link to your own profile, I can't assess whether that client should even expect that you should be tied to her home. House sitting should be viewed as a premium service and the higher the rate, the more the client should expect in terms of exclusivity. Many sitters use the client's home as a base of operations and check on other clients (drop-ins or walks) throughout the day. A client should only expect that you spend the majority of your time at the home, especially in the evening hours.

As for the camera situation, you should have some expectation of privacy when you sleep and use the bathroom. Everywhere else is fair. Communicate that to the client and see if you can block the camera in some way.

Remember, it is very important to discuss how you will perform the job beforehand to ensure that what you provide meets the client's expectations.

Good luck!