Four star review?

I had a similar experience on a sitting job and asked the owner the next time she booked if there was anything that she wasn't happy about the previous stay. She told me that, on principle, she never gives anything 5 stars. The scale doesn't matter to her. She just won't give out that kind of rating. When she picked up the dog, I asked her nicely not to leave another review.

All the ratings get averaged. So when you have more, then eventually it will round up to five if you continue to get five-star ratings.

My very first review on Rover was the same: glowing review, 4 stars. It was frustrating since right when you're starting out it affects your ranking so much more than it does later on when you have a number of other reviews to average it out. Just keep in mind that 4 stars is still a good review. I'm not a fan of Rover's use of ratings, where the "average" sitter is supposed to have a 5 star rating. It means there's no way to tell the decent, good, and great sitters apart. The top of the scale should never be the rating you're encouraged to give if you're satisfied; there has to be room for variation or the scale is meaningless. Feel free to ask the client if there's anything you can do to improve your service, but I wouldn't expect to hear back that you're doing anything wrong. Many people just save 5 stars for someone who has gone above and beyond in ways that you may not have even had the opportunity to do.

Hang in there! I looked at both of your reviews and you are right - it looks like your client was very pleased with her pet's visit.

You can private message her through Rover and say something like, "Thank you so much for taking the time to write a review. I appreciate it! Because I am a new sitter, in the future what could I do to earn 5 stars?"

There is also an opportunity to respond directly to reviews on your profile, but since you said the review was positive it is probably better to go through your direct messages.

You may never hear back from her, and you may always have to guess, but at least you are making an effort.

I'm so glad you're enjoying Rover so far! Sorry you got a less-than-stellar review. If you are feeling brave and really want to address it somehow, you can respond directly to her review on your profile saying something like "Thank you for the positive review. Please let me know if there is anything I can improve for the future. I am always open to feedback." She may not respond at all, but at least potential customers see that you are putting in the effort to improving their experience and that you care about their perspective. The risk is that, IF she can respond to your comment (I'm not sure if customers can respond to you responding to their review, but they could probably edit their review), she may say something new that's not as positive. Up to you, just my two cents.