I wish we did! Karen's point makes a lot of sense, though with that in mind, a feature that doesn't alienate clients or frighten sitters away is still possible. If they sent out a survey after each booking where we send back positive criticism (the answers to which aren't published until Customer Service reviews them), we could prepare the future sitters of problematic clients to have a better experience. If sitters know ahead of time what behavioral issues the animals have, they can avoid them and/or charge adequately for their services and everybody wins, including Rover.

There's one ex-client in particular that tries to convince sitters to do transactions off Rover and then finds a reason not to pay them. I found out recently after an ex-sitter of hers found me on Facebook to ask for tips on managing the animals, and a third ex-sitter confirmed this client had made up accusations and demanded a refund or tried to skip out on payment altogether. Even with all that, there's nothing Rover can do about it because I didn't meet her through here, which makes sense to a degree? But they're basically providing this person with a tool to siphon money away from their business and scam good sitters out of their earnings.

That's a good point. I had a problem client I no longer pet sit for with whom this was a problem. Her profile lists her animals as house trained even though they have serious destructive tendencies and the cats relieve themselves throughout the apartment because they share one litter box.

Hey, everyone.

This question is about one potential client in particular. In a household with two large, highly energetic dogs that need to be taken to the apartment complex dog park daily, and three cats (one adult and two kittens), what's a reasonable housesitting rate? I don't typically charge additionally for cats if I'm already there to housesit for the dogs - does anybody else do it differently? The stay would be 3 weeks long, not during a holiday.

Thanks in advance. :)

I try to make it very clear at all meet-and-greets that it's important for clients to disclose ALL bad habits or unusual behaviors so that I can be well prepared. I want us both to be confident that I'm the right sitter for the job and nobody runs into any negative surprises.

Since I started phrasing it that way, I've managed to avoid mishaps, but a good sign they're not being honest is glancing around the home for any signs of damage during the meet-and-greet. For example, I recently had a repeat client who insisted her dog was now fully house trained in the new apartment, but who (like yours) later said that some behavior I brought up was common (ripping up trash bags, chewing up treat bags, ripping pillows, etc.) despite not warning me at all. Had I visited her new place before accepting the booking, I would have seen broken blinds, chewed up windowsills, scratched up doors, etc.

You could potentially discuss adding a charge (usually I set it up as if it's a new booking) but that assumes the owner will be responsible and compensate you for the damage. If this is something you plan on doing part-time longterm, I recommend drafting up a contract for clients to sign. It might be worth investing in a short consultation with a lawyer (here I found one who did this for like $25 for 30 minutes). Clients who know they'll be expected to replace anything their animal damages are much less likely to omit details about bad behavior.

I'm sorry you're dealing with that, though. It's frustrating to deal with owners who don't respect your home or peace of mind.

How did this booking wind up going for you? I'm sorry you had to deal with this. She sounds like someone with absolutely no boundaries or understanding of the service she's paying for, and I really wish there was a system through which sitters could make notes so future sitters wouldn't go in blind to what I know to be an extremely stressful situation that's not at all worth the money. Been there. :/