This has come up before, and since there was confusion I emailed Rover on it. The Rover Promo Code can be used by any first time user of Rover, regardless of how they got to the site.

I know this post is old , but it deserves renewed attention.

If you can't do dog sitting without the kids onsite, give up sitting, or make arrangements so your children never come in contact with strange dogs. Leaving them in the car alone is against the law BTW.

Human safety ALWAYS come first.

Bite the bullet, say nothing, wait until they have left a review, and if you're fortunate you can just turn down future requests.

Had the EXACT same thing happen. Owner lied about peeing/crating. I transferred the dog to another sitter (with owner consultation). Even refunded the one night w/me. THREE WEEKS after booking ended she wrote a nasty review. Rover of course would do nothing even though it goes against TOS for owners to post deliberately misleading reviews.

Side note, maybe it's because I'm a single client sitter, but have never had a dog "forget" housetraining. I've had males do a one time mark on something, but are fine the whole stay otherwise. The dog stated above started marking everything within 10 minutes of arrival, and was not stressed in the least. Just untrained.

I read you your entire post but already had an answer by the first 1/2 of paragraph one.

Would I take it? No. I would never accept anything out of my personal comfort zone. She sounds like a nice-enough client, but, she chose to live in a remote area, one that makes pet sitters difficult to obtain.

For perspective, my sister in law lives in the "boonies". She's very nice and has two dogs. She has to take her pets to someone in a nearby city for boarding. That's just how it is.

I've rejected clients at the MnG because their dog was a safety risk, and I know she probably won't be able to find anyone to take that risk. But that's life. Her choice to own a people aggressive dog. In no way am I obligated to care for it even if she took time to have a MnG with me.

FWIW, that is the purpose of MnG's... To weed out clients we don't want (as well as for owners to confirm a sitter they've contacted is the one they want).

Again, just my outlook on it.

In my experience/opinion, owners who don't want MnGs often have circumstances/dogs you wouldn't want to deal with.

I didn't bother to watch it, and read over a few of the comments, which pretty much told me all I needed to know. You would think that a company whose success depends on their IC's keeping clients on Rover to put more effort into keeping those same IC's happy.

I've noticed a few questions lately that have a common denominator...sitters worried over not charging enough.

Many folks starting on Rover don't give a lot of thought into pricing structure, and it's not a wise thing to do.

In this business it's easy to charge too little, and doing so results in basically providing a volunteer work. Which is great if that's the objective.

Add to that the problem of drawing the problem clients when you charge a much smaller fee. It tends to attract the kind that want a lot for a little, try to negotiate, want things that result in a loss of income.

This is a situation you have created/allowed to happen, but it's also a situation in your power to correct. Institute a new policy for key pick up, notify your clients, and stop the chit chat. You're there to walk their dog and leave. If they don't like it, move on.

Would I ask for the same under similar circumstances? No. Simply because I would not accept this request, here's why:

-I don't do pick-ups and drop-offs -I don't think the Rover guarantee would cover the transportation -The distance would be too far, would have to charge too much to make it worth my while

Also, as Walt said, you are charging far too little for daycare. Generally that price attracts only the type of client it would best not to have. The fact they're trying to negotiate price with you is a big indicator of that.

Know your worth. Set your prices accordingly. Never allow a potential client to try to bargain with you. If they don't like what you charge, let 'em move on.

I posted it above. Sorry for the delay in response. :)

I also ask them what are their requested D/O, P/U times. If it goes over the 4 hour mark, I tell them about my policy. At the MnG, I confirm they need it and modify the booking then and there.

In my profile, I state, "A boarding day is a 24-hour time period. Your drop-off time is your pick-up time. If you need a much later pickup (4 hours or later past scheduled pick up time) we can do so at an added cost of $). When I get a request, I tell them to read my profile for important info.

I don't think it's so much a 'Rover' thing, as it is a 'social media' thing. Rover is just one of many businesses that have jumped on the FB bandwagon, because that's where "everybody" is. Forums like this get forgotten by all but people of an older generation :) My 56 yr old hubby is still calling FB a "fad" LOL.

I think it's not so much as an 'etiquette' question as it is the customer does not understand your pricing structure, and you have not firmly set your prices.

On Rover, sitters charge what they want, for whatever services they want. Rover does define a walk or drop in as a 30 minute time period. So, when pricing out drop ins/walks, you have to decide, how much am I going to charge for one 30-minute time period for 1/2/3 dogs, 1/2/3 cats, etc.

When you know what you want, you have to keep in mind potential customers don't know how Rover works, and may even think you an employee. Pricing can be confusing.

Decide what you want to charge, and explain it in your profile. For new requests always refer them back to read your profile for your rate structure/policies.

Lastly, it couldn't hurt to keep a close watch on the sitters you're competing with. I don't know going rates for sitters in your area, but you could be pricing yourself out of new business.

Rover's info on this is:

https://support.rover.com/hc/en-us/ar...

Many sitters, including me, charge a late pick up fee. It's in my profile, is covered in texting before the MnG, and at the MnG. I am very accommodating on when folks can drop off and pick up, but they will...and do...pay for this, if they need extra hours. This is business not a volunteer work ☺️

I would suggest you cover this with clients before the booking.

I was surprised to have such extreme differences by device when I made the comparison (above). After all is said and done, this is just one more of the many 'how does Search work?' conversations that Rover sitters have asked online for years. Rover intentionally keeps mum on the subject.

This is what I said recently:

"Hello, it was nice to meet you and ( dog name)! All dates are considered reserved when they are finalized. Please click "book it" to finalize, and be sure to use the promo code I gave you to get $20 off!"

That serves to: Remind them this is a 'pay first' service, make them aware they have not secured a reservation with you, give them instructions on how to start the payment process, and shows you don't want them to lose out on a deserved discount.

All nicely stated, of course. :)

Rover uses a complex search algorithm. But the biggest thing is they give new sitters page 1 rank for a while to get clients/reviews. IMO this is the key...if you don't establish a number of reviews during this time, it'll be extremely difficult to be competitive when you lose that advantage.

I agree with Walt, it's just 'one of those things' when caring for dogs.

I would be more concerned about a client leaving an ill dog with you, and not telling you it was ill. Why is the dog ill? Is it contagious? Sometimes owners will fail to mention things they think might cause the sitter to back out. Not fair to the sitter of course, but it's always good to keep in mind, and possibly have a tactful discussion with this client about your policy on accepting ill dogs (whatever that policy may be).

In text conversations with a potential client, I have twice gotten a reply similar to this:

Me: It was so nice meeting you! Fifi is a cutie pie!

Potential Client: Loved "It was so nice meeting you! Fifi is a cutie pie!'

It reminds me of social media pages where you can click 'like' on something, however this is the first time I've seen anything like this on Rover. She said it on two separate occasions. Anybody seen this type of "Loved" comments on Rover?

Since you've been a Rover sitter since 2015, I'm guessing you already know you're not a Rover employee, you're considered an Independent Contractor. In addition to the suggestions Brittney made, perhaps a screenprint of the Dashboard page, showing the payments made to you, and the yearly totals.