Don't bother submitting for a profile. I'm a cat expert with glowing reviews from clients and I was rejected with no explanation, and then told I can re-submit after an entire year. My confidence in this company went down to a 1 after that, because if a cat mom of a healthy & active 15 year old cat with no criminal history, perfect driving record, extremely satisfied clients isn't qualified to sit for this company, than I can't imagine who's running this operation.
You'd be better off using a service like "Petbacker" or even Rover over this poorly managed start up. I won't even consider booking a cat sitter from here for my own cat, and I will be discouraging any cat parents I know from this shabby start up.
Response from MeowtelOct 17, 2022
Meow there, Suzanne!
We’re sorry that you weren’t selected to join our sitter community. Expressing your dissatisfaction with our decision across multiple review sites including Yelp, Reviews.io, and Trustpilot reinforces why we have our thorough vetting process in place to begin with.
As we mention on our website, we accept less than 10% of our applicants and our vetting process takes many factors into account which we outlined for you in our email. Not all sitters are a purrfect fit for every platform, and we wish you all the best with your future cat endeavors!
LG
Laura G.
The application process is bogus
The application process is bogus. I have over 10 years of experience AND vet classes. My references checked out and my profile was completed in a timely manner. I did EVERYTHING they asked for, plus more. Then out of no where I got a denied application email. And at the bottom it LITERALLY tells me to NOT reach out to them if I am wondering why I got denied. It’s terrible, because if I did something wrong I would like to know about it. But, I am probably just a number to them so they don’t even have time to communicate with me. As an AVID volunteer at multiple shelters and a cat owner myself, they have lost my business as a client or employee, and I will let everyone know.
RESPONSE TO THEIR MESSAGE BELOW: I don’t understand, Meowtel. My “retaliation” is simply me sharing my experience with you for the public to see. If you consider it retaliation, then I guess it’s wrong for me to write honest reviews. If you actually read my review, you would see that I did look at the reasons you denied the application and none of them pertained to me. If I feel like I have been treated unfairly, I have the right to let platforms know! I don’t want anybody going through this. Good luck!
Response from MeowtelApr 18, 2022
Dear Lauren,
We’re very sorry that you were not selected to join our sitter community. As we mention on our website, we accept less than 10% of our applicants and we provided several reasons in our last email to you as to why we may not be a purrfect fit for you right now. Retaliating with a 1-star review across multiple review platforms reinforces that we made the right decision if this is how you publicly react when things don’t go your way regarding a professional opportunity. We wish you all the best with your cat endeavors!
RS
Robert S.
Unreasonable cancellation policy
Theee says it’s tough to make plans and sometimes things happen and you have to cancel. Recently I had to cancel two days prior and the sitter was ok with it yet the company charged me the full amount over $200 saying it was less than the 48 hours required. I. Hold understand issuing a credit for future services but to abscond with the full amount is unreasonable. I will not use them again.
Response from MeowtelJan 2, 2022
Meow there, Robert! Thanks so much for bringing your last-minute cancellation to our attention. We are happy to issue full refunds, even when you cancel within the 48-hour window, as long as your sitter approves the Cancellation Policy override. Your sitter simply needs to get in touch with us approving the change and we can get everything processed. We hope this helps!
JM
JM
We used a cat sitter from Meowtel
We used a cat sitter from Meowtel. Two weeks later, we were robbed and all of my jewelry was stolen. No one else had access to the house, and the robbery was very targeted (i.e. only the jewelry box which was there at the meet and greet, but not there during the kitty sitting appointment). We have no proof. We have never been robbed before and no one else had access to the house or a key to house. I would not recommend using a Meowtel sitter unless you have done extensive references.
Response from MeowtelMar 8, 2022
Meow there, JM! We're so sorry to hear about your home robbery. After reviewing your reservation, you booked one of our top-rated sitters in the Seattle area who is both a customer and a sitter with us, so they know the value of trusted, in-home cat care. We would be happy to review your police report if you'd like for us to investigate this matter. We were quite surprised that you never contacted our customer support team about this incident and went straight to Trustpilot, but we're always here to help: [email protected].
SS
SS
Requested a cat sitter over the…
Requested a cat sitter over the holidays and paid nearly $300. The cat sitter then canceled on me (several hours later), then Meowtel did not refund my deposit to my visa but rather kept it as a credit to my account. I have no desire to rebook with them and am quite frustrated that I did not automatically receive a refund to my visa to use at a competitor.
Response from MeowtelNov 12, 2021
Meow there, SS! Per our account balance policy (https://meowtel.com/help/for-cat-parents/payments/account-balance) we are always more than happy to refund your credit back to your original payment method. Please feel free to give us a call at 844-636-9835 or email us at [email protected] so we can get this processed for you. We apologize for the frustration but we're always here to assist should you need anything!
KH
Karma H.
How the heck do they select their sitters?!!!
Wow. I was so excited when I saw an add to sign up to be a cat sitter. I took the initial quiz and was accepted. I started working on my profile. I just now received an email that I wouldn’t be a good fit. What. The. Heck. Let me just say I come with over 18 years of veterinary technician, pet sitting and foster care experience and had excellent references. There would have been nothing of concern in my background check. To add insult to injury, they would not even give feedback as to why I was not a “good fit”, citing they had too many applicants. You blew it folks. I was really looking forward to being part of the team. Now I’m going to make sure every cat person I know does not use you.
Response from MeowtelAug 7, 2021
Dear Karma,
We’re very sorry that you weren’t selected to join our sitter community. As we mention on our website, we accept less than 10% of our applicants.
Retaliating with a 1-star review reinforces that we made the right decision if this how you publicly react when things don’t go your way regarding a professional opportunity. We wish you all the best with your cat endeavors!
DQ
Devynn Q.
From an Ex Meowtel Sitter:
Please look elsewhere!
This company was built upon a wonderful concept, but unfortunately I will strongly urge you to avoid them. I was mistreated, misled, and extremely disrespected.
I was a 5-Star cat-sitter with Meowtel. Out of the blue, I received a very inaccurate, poorly written, but threatening email stating “[Notice of Legal Action]”. Meowtel announced that I had apparently cat-sat for a woman named “Ashley” who had contacted me two weeks beforehand, trying to get me to accept money outside of Meowtel (which I did not). I never met “Ashley”, and I never sat for “Ashley”. But, Meowtel claimed I had accepted money from “Ashley” and other parties outside of Meowtel (absolutely untrue). They informed me that I was not only fired, but being taken to court. I asked Meowtel and their lawyer to provide literally any documentation to me in support of these claims, and they responded with “we will retain the records” that show such violations.
WELL GUESS WHAT? It turns out that “Ashley” was just a false identity created by Sonya (the CEO of Meowtel) - trying to trick me into breaking my contract! Thankfully I did not fall for it, but I am saddened to think of other sitters who have. I had a perfect track record and lovely clients.
I was appalled. One, because they drafted up such a threatening letter to try to frighten me, and two, because of their exceptionally slimy and improper conduct.
To anyone, and everyone, but mostly JOURNALISTS: Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about my Meowtel experience - I am happy to share with you all documentation and feelings about my exploitation by this gig-work app. I will be sharing my story with some local newspapers this month.
To any client of Meowtel: I highly urge you to seek a neighbor, friend, or someone you trust to care for your kitties. You can be paying far less money to FAR more compassionate people out there. Meowtel’s business is shady, to say the least.
To any cat-sitter or to-be cat-sitter of Meowtel: IT’S NOT WORTH YOUR TIME. Meowtel takes a ‘variable‘ part of your commission (a huge percentage), has no respect for their independent contractors (you), and will dismiss you in the blink of an eye over fraudulent accusations.
I have never in my life dealt with such childish, mean-spirited people.
Response from MeowtelDec 9, 2020
Dear Devynn,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We understand that being dismissed from our community can be disheartening. In your brief 2-month tenure as a Meowtel sitter, you had already had a customer complaint escalated to us about the service you provided on November 26, 2020, resulting in a reservation complaint rate of 20% which is extremely high for a new sitter. You also violated our Terms of Service on November 20, 2020 by making Sitting Fee payments outside of Meowtel when you directly texted one of our customers: "I'd be happy to offer you a discount if you'd rather venmo me, as Meowtel does take a significant portion…please do not book me on Meowtel, or we will have to use their rates."
Our CEO, Sonya Petcavich, shared Meowtel's policy on outside payments (https://meowtel.com/help/for-cat-parents/payments/what-do-i-do-if-a-sitter-requests-me-to-pay-them-outside-of-meowtel) in 2 separate emails with you which you received and read on October 7 and October 13, 2020. Sonya also explicitly mentioned this payment policy and the consequences of violating it while on your video conference call together which also occurred on October 13, 2020. The exact phrasing you probably heard on your video conference call was: "If we have any suspicion you might be taking clients offline and accepting cash or Venmo transactions, we will immediately dismiss you from our community."
We spend a significant part of our budget on finding new customers for our sitters to serve, as well as insuring and providing personalized support to each of our sitters across the country. When these features of what we offer are valued so little that a sitter is willing to bypass Meowtel to save a few dollars and leave both parties completely uninsured and unprotected, then these are individuals that we do not want representing the Meowtel brand and what we stand for: trusted and insured in-home kitty care.
Devynn, your short Meowtel tenure has been saddening for all of us but we do not, and will not, tolerate users who violate our Terms of Service and disregard our community policies. We wish you all the best in your next cat sitting endeavors, where you can work independently and void of any policies, guidelines, or accountability.
EL
Elizabeth
Unsafe and unaccountable
I had a very unpleasant experience with this service. I had booked one of their sitters several times, Paola's Purring Cat Care in Brooklyn NY. Last year we had an incident at my home with this sitter, whereas something was stolen while she was there. We also had proof she repeatedly unplugged our Google Home device whilst in our apartment. We tried to reconcile the issue by booking a different sitter and Paola began stalking us, writing to us incessantly, saying she was watching our personal social media accounts and demanding to know why we no longer retained her services. This went on for some time. We ultimately contacted Meowtel directly to report this issue and the subsequent harassment by Paola, and they initially apologized and wisely removed her from the service. However, it’s come to our attention now that they simply reinstated her and are allowing her to be in people’s homes still. It’s very unsettling and completely betrays their company assurance that they have a ZERO TOLERANCE policy for harassment of their customers. Meowtel should be avoided unless they exercise better oversight with their sitters and take greater responsibility for those they are facilitating being in others’ homes. These are people’s homes they are gambling with.
Response from MeowtelJul 10, 2020
Meow there, Elizabeth and thank you so much for this valuable feedback! It has been community feedback like yours that drove our decision to implement a Harassment Policy, which was done a few months back in March 2020 and applies to both customers and sitters who use our service. While the incident you are referring to occurred around August 2019, we will certainly re-assess this sitter's status and let you know the outcome of our decision. We hold our sitters to very high standards and regularly communicate these expectations to them. Our Harassment Policy has been just one step among several others to tighten our oversight across the entire community since the beginning of this year. Thank you for voicing your concerns and a team member will be in touch shortly!