Rover.com | Pet SittingReviews of rover.com

I used to book Rover sitters to take care of my gentle and smart Labradoodle dog. My dog became old enough to need supervision at home - this is less stressful for the dog than boarding in a stranger's house. I am about to take a one-month trip overseas for family reasons. As a diligent pet owner, I booked a Rover house sitter more than a month ago and paid for the service on Rover in advance. I am flying out of the country in 4 days and there is no way to change the plans (it is an important family event). We had a meet and greet, the sitter appeared to be reliable, she was shown my home and I explained all the details. Yesterday, I received a note from the sitter saying she will cancel due to her own family trip. She said she was sorry, she would refund the money, and she hoped I can find someone else. What???? I called Rover, they confirmed that this is totally OK with them, and gave me a $20 discount for the next booking. The problem is now I would have to schedule a long-term stay in the last minute: the number of sitters available for such a long stay in the last minute is very few, and - of course - the cost is going to be substantially higher. There is barely any time left to do the vetting --- after all I would leave my beloved dog and my house in the care of a stranger. Rover does not even promote background checks on the potential sitters as their real names and contact numbers are not available on the website. All I see is their reviews --- sometimes there are very few or non-existent reviews, and even then, these reviews could be manipulated. So I had to think really hard about liability issues: if a sitter whom I vetted and trusted has proven to be so irresponsible and uncaring as to leave the dog, whom -as she indicated at the time- she really cared for, in the care of another stranger I would be forced to choose in the last minute... I wonder how much she really cared for the dog. After all she abandoned us in the last minute... signaling that she really could NOT care less... As I found out from the Rover representative ROVER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LIABILITY WHILE THE PET IS IN CARE OF A ROVER SITTER. BUT SINCE THE CONTRACT IS WITH ROVER, THE SITTER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE EITHER... SO TRUSTING OWNERS ARE EXPOSED TO HUGE RISKS... Can you make sure, that the sitter you chose (who created a web page indicating her love for the animal and trustworthyness) will prove to be trustworthy? As many cases illustrate, there is no way to tell.... and if bad things happen... will you ever forgive yourself? I decided it is not worth the risk anymore. ROVER encourages irresponsible and unethical behavior by allowing last minute cancellations, and not taking any liability. The sitters are not responsible for anything.

So overpriced! While they were useful in our emergency, we most likely will not use the service again because of the ridiculous costs. Don't be fooled by the price on the sitters page...Rover will smack you with other fees. And in their reply to this review, Rover Support? responds without one simple apology for my poor experience. Laughable company to say the least.

Dog I was looking after ruined my home and Rover refused to cover it and made me partially refund the owner. They look after the owners not the sitters and it's disgusting how badly they've treated us.

Very disappointed. I signed up for Rover after the worst part of the pandemic during January of 2021. In between jobs, I hoped to find a part time paying gig. Upon reviewing the local job listings on sites like Indeed and Google, Rover was listed as heavily needed in my area. After filling out pages of personal information and uploading pictures of my own pets, I finally created a profile only to be disappointed by the amount of walkers/boarders in my area. I deleted my profile and unsubscribed from the website. However, I sill receive unwanted emails on a weekly or bi-weekly bases to my personal email account that I am unable to unsubscribe from. Poor practices, just want to take advantage of your privacy.

Two different sitters have cancelled less than two days before an overnight boarding.

SITTER LOST MY FRIENDS DOG. PROVIDED FALSE UPDATES WHEN SHED ASK ABOUT HIM. TAKE YOUR BUSINESS SOMEWHERE ELSE PLEASE

Terrible customer service - hard to reach, and does not help when reached

I am of the opinion that the sitter I paid for did not watch my dog. I came home to find that my dog has severely damaged my home by tearing up portions of two rooms and potentially eating jewelry that may have punctured his bowel, which could kill him. The same potty pads that I left out were still on the floor when I returned 3 days later. (my dog does not go outside and uses only potty pads). It appears the sitter came to my home only to throw food in my dog’s bowl right before I returned and did nothing else, causing my dog psychologically damage and placing his life in danger. I sent Rover pictures of the damage my dog caused to my home (in 6 years he never did anything like that) and Rover responded that the sitters on the site are independent contractors and also kept asking for photos. Rover claims to have a “guarantee “ however they would not pay for me to take my dog to a vet to find out if he ate anything that may harm him while he was left alone during the time the sitter did not show.