Hey all. Im new to Rover and don't know when I should accept a booking into my calendar after I get the request. If it works for my schedule, should I accept the booking before the meet and greet? Or after? Thanks!
What service is this for? I see you only house sit or do drop-ins/walks?
If this is a booking to house sit, absolutely no way should you just accept without a M&G. There is so much to be gained by seeing where you'll stay, meeting the dog and seeing if you get along, finding bout what is expected of you and how you'll access the home, etc. Way too many horror stories posted here from sitters who have encountered filthy premises, neglected pets, very demanding owners who expect the sitter to do a variety of chores, animals who can't be controlled, etc. All of those things would be known if a sitter insisted on having a M&G and did his/her due diligence.
If the request is for a walk/drop-in, it is still a good idea to do a M&G because you need to make arrangements with the owner about how to access the home and what they expect you to do, especially with the drop-in, which isn't a walk.
I do a meet & greet before booking any service I offer. I put it in my profile that for all new clients it is required prior.
Hi! I’m new, as well. What I’ve been doing is scheduling the M&G for the soonest date possible, then marking my calendar as unavailable. So far the M&G’s have all gone well in which case I proceed with booking. But if it ever doesn’t, I’ll simply change my calendar back to available.
I always book after the meet&greet and I make sure there is one. Some clients are very pushy and will even pay for the booking before I confirm it. Take your time. Don't feel like you have to jump in head first. As long as the dates are requested, Rover won't let anyone else book them (I believe unless they are repeating clients), so you can take all the time you need. A good booking is a comfortable booking. If you have multiple clients trying to book at the same time, just communicate that with them. I typically do first come, first serve but covertly favor the ones that'll pay more. This is a business, this is how you make money, and people will understand. There have only been a handful of times that I confirmed a booking before a meet&greet and that is when I know for certain that I'd be a good match and if it is an emergency or last-minute booking. To go with Karen's post, I'm still cautious about doing so, my criteria is the pet profile has to be completed to its entirety so I know what conditions the dog lives in and all necessary information and then some that would be covered in the meet&greet. If they don't then I'm not comfortable and they'll have to find someone else.
Actually Rover does allow others to book overlapping that pending session. I talked to Rover about is and their response is to let us sitters have as many opportunities as possible. I assume that declining those other clients who are double booking will hurt my score. Rover wouldn't respond to that
Thank you for sharing! I appreciate your input. Just to clarify, canceling client requests can have an impact on the algorithm. It's important to keep our schedules accurate. Thanks again!
Whatever feels right to you I would think that if you’re scheduling the meet and greet you want to get to know them first so I would say after in that case
I was wondering the same. I was going to wait to book until after the m&g. But there are other clients still reaching out for me to sit on the same weekend. Can I remove my availability on a day once I’m talking with a client? Or does that screw up being able to book that client after m&g? Thanks!
Good luck ! Rover is out here scamming us! I’ve earned almost $300 weekly and the most I’ve gotten is $134. Not to mention Rover takes my tips too ! It’s sickening , I suggest you go on Facebook groups and get the word out for your services and do it that way !