pawshake.comReviews of pawshake.com

I have been on pawshake as a dog sitter for nearly 2 years. The clients I met are great and I love being a sitter, but pawshake itself is badly managed. Their "premium" insurance has a cap of $2500 on all vet bills, giving a massive financial risk for both host and client (emergency vet bills are commonly in excess of $4000) The website and app is clunky, hard to use and does not guide sitter/client though the process nicely. It is also very minimal in its functions (eg. cannot offer special rates to a person, restricts the amount to charge). In the time I have used the platform has not been updated or improved at all. As a result I have decided to leave the platform and use other platforms like MadPaws.

We had a very good experience using Pawshake for our elderly cat. We had a sitter called Dominic, who was very good. He texted us shortly before the booked date, to let us know he hadn’t forgotten about us. The cat clearly liked him, and looked fat and well and relaxed when we came back. He sent us several pictures of himself interacting with the cat while we were on holiday. I don’t much like so much of the contact being via computer, but they did help me with it when I was doubtful about things. We were very happy with the service, and will use them again.

I used to be a highly rated pet-sitter on the site, had repeat client bookings, etc. I always gave A+ care to the clients I had, including going above and beyond in several cases where the animals had special needs. All of a sudden, out of the blue my profile has been deactivated entirely and the 'customer service' has been giving me the run-around, accusing me that I am taking cash payments (which I have not been doing). The owners of the company only care about taking that 19% chunk of change they take from bookings through the site (while doing zero work to earn that money, might I add.) You are better off asking your vet or some trusted friends for a personal recommendation for a pet-sitter. Don't give your money to these vultures.

I cannot wholly recommend the site to other pet sitters. The site controls are rudimentary and suggested technical improvements have not been made in my entire time using the site. I don't know what the 19% cut taken by Pawshake is spent on, but it doesn't go towards improving the site, that's for sure. Also, the admin might decide to randomly suspend your account for any reason. On the other hand, the visibility to potential clients is good. I haven't had any problems with pets or clients so far.

We had our dog looked after very well though contact at paw shake. We found the website really easy to use with lots of options available.

Easy process to set up and pay for services. I have used only 1 pet sitter so far over several visits. They understood and knew how to behave around my dog. However, my dog didn't take to the sitter even after a few visits. I also had to treat my dog for flea bite allergy after the visits.

A big fan of this platform! Intuitive and clear design. Great email communication. I really found the templates useful. If I could make a suggestion - have the option to allow 1x visit per day even if the bulk of your days are scheduled for 2x a day. I found myself needing a visit 2x a day on all the days reserved except for one (so I had to pay the full 2x a day price for a 1x a day visit).

Pawshake offer an outstanding service. Highly recommended!