Rover.com | Pet SittingReviews of rover.com

Unable to cancel pending transactions and it is frustrating

Long story short, my dog didn’t come back in the same condition she was dropped off. She had an infection on her back that needed vet intervention, a ton of fleas, smelled like she was homeless, and I’m just glad it was only a week I trusted Rover with my baby. Rover did nothing other than tell me “please settle with the sitter.” They didn’t even bother to reimburse my vet bills. No excuses for handling our fur babies like that! Will not be using or recommending their services. This experience was truly a nightmare and don’t wish on any pet parent.

No stars should absolutely be an option here. First and last time using Rover. I hired a sitter on Rover who advertised herself as a "certified behavioral trainer" and listed her services as operating under a local training and boarding company. I chose her over other sitters because she represented herself as a legitimate business owner and as having more experience than the many teenagers/stay-at-home parents that are on Rover to make an easy buck. However, after having my dog for 24 hours, the sitter opened the front door to her home, without having eyes on or control of my dog, and allowed her to escape. She also TEXTED me to inform me of this, did not call, and also did not contact Rover (I was the one who did this). For some reason, the sitter believed that Rover covered incidents like this under their liability policy (there is no such thing), and even though Rover's Terms of Service says they expect their sitters to be properly insured, licensed, and permitted according to local laws, they do nothing to enforce that. Why are there sitters who do not understand the TOS? I found all of this information out easily on the website, and my sitter did not know that she was not insured by Rover until *I* informed her. After having spoken to other Rover sitters in the area, I learned that Rover's vetting process is practically non-existent. So I clicked through the Become a Sitter process to see what it took...all I had to do was request testimonials from a handful of different email addresses (who's to stop me from creating those addresses and making up those testimonials myself?), complete a 6-question safety quiz, and pay their review fee. That is an utter joke. Rover also does not give the last name for your sitter when booking, just first name. The following morning after my dog went missing, my sitter made a post on a local Facebook page, and there I found her last name. I Googled her and found that she had been arrested for a DUI earlier this year in March. I also went to City Hall to see if she was licensed or permitted for residential boarding and found no, she is not, she is indeed operating an illegal business out of her home. Had I had a last name, I would have at a minimum seen the DUI, known that she was not a responsible person, and would have made other arrangements. Then when I went to the police station to file a police report against her, I found out that she and her family are well-known to them for criminal activity. Additionally, I started talking to other trainers in the area who are familiar with her and found that this wasn't even the first time that she had lost someone's dog! She had actually lost another client's puppy just a few months before losing my dog! I was able to contact that person and confirm this information. They found their dog quickly though, so that is why they never pursued anything against her. So even though the list proving what an irresponsible human being she is (and that's not even accounting for the apathy and lack of remorse that she's shown throughout this entire ordeal) continues to grow, she has Rover's stamp of approval with an enhanced background check. This proves how woefully inadequate Rover's vetting process is. Should I have asked more questions? Absolutely. Should I have not taken this person's exaggerated credentials for granted? Certainly. The sitter called it "silly" and "ridiculous" that I went to the police for her illegal residential boarding operations and even went as far as to blame my dog for "not knowing her name" and "not knowing basic commands" (none of which is true), in addition to blaming me for choosing her in the first place! This woman completely misrepresented herself as someone who could be trusted, and she 100 percent failed and refuses to take responsibility for her actions. These are the kind of people Rover allows on their platform. Please do not use Rover to hire someone to take care of your beloved pets. Go to a legitimate business who is properly insured, licensed and permitted. This has been an incredibly painful lesson for me, please learn from my mistakes. We are exploring our legal options. Oh, and my dog is still missing. It's been 32 days. I don't know if my best friend is alive or dead, and I may never know. Thanks, Rover. 10/25/22 Edited to add response to Rover: You can imagine the stress this has caused me? Losing my dog and not knowing if she’s dead or alive? What a laughably weak apology. How about you make an effort to step up your “enhanced” background checks? I was able to discover my sitter’s criminal background, lack of insurance, licensing and permitting, as well as proof of previously losing another client’s pet with MINIMAL effort. Better yet, start providing sitters’ last names so owners can do their own research since you don’t care to do it.

I had a safey concern upon dropping off my dog for a long vacation and upon informing Rover that I felt so uncomfortable I not only pulled my dog but called animal control, they did nothing. I had to rush to find care hours before leaving, I fought to get someone to stop the sitter that from all accounts on Rover was safe, and was still charged. They don't do enough when things go wrong.

An irresponsible dog sitter, "Anna W Oxford South" changed her mind 48h before a working trip to the US for a money issue ( email received at 22h30 on Sunday while I booked 10 days ago "I've come to realise that this isn't financially plausible for me as Rover takes 15%, so I’m paid £21/night") . As it was too short to find someone else, I had to ask a friend living to 100miles from my home living to look after my dog Rover cancelled the booking but let the dog sitter can take the new bookings and cancel at the last minute. The profile is "Anna W Oxford South" a part-time college student. Rover does not let publish a review when a booking is cancelled. Anna took a booking the same day as my booking, cancelled on 26 October thus, Rover took no action again this dog sitter.

My dog vomitted after the stay with a sitter (I saw the vomit and know the sitter let her eat something she shoudln't have). The sitter was extremely rude and didn't take any responsibility. Rover stuff that was supposed to be available 24/7 said that they are based in US and they can't help me now and the UK office will be open tomorrow morning... They couldn't even advice on the process in the UK! No help whatsoever! Also UK advisor compeltely unhelpful. Most of the sitters just sit with the dog and don't properly look after them.

This concept doesn't work for me. I had to pay to interview two dog walkers and chose one, who I felt was reliable. I went through the routine and felt comfortable with her coming into my home and taking care of my babies. However, for the next appointment, she did not show; my more traumatized rescue pooped in the house, which was okay because she did it on the pads. But, the point of this service was to take them out to do their business outside. The male can hold it. The female, who has come a long way, cannot when stressed. As I found this service not reliable, taking care into my own hands, I just cancelled the appointment for Saturday -- 48 hours in advance. I was only refunded %50 of the fee. Rover.com doesn't work for me.

Well, my recent experience with Rover was HORRIBLE! The sitter appeared under the influence of something and would not allow me inside her apartment to discuss particulars concerning my dog. I refused to leave my dog with her which put me in a pickle to secure someone to keep my dog. My trip was the next day. I highly recommend you do a meet and greet PRIOR to when you need a sitter. This sitter should be banned from Rover. I fear for the safety of pets left in her care.