Rover

We had problems with the app in booking the service and the level of care was sub-standard. Do not use this service.

TLDR: Rover sitter lost Dog. Rover has been disrespectful and has offered zero help.

This is a fairly long story so I apologize. We were going on a vacation from the USA to the UK for about 10 days. Due to our dog being a little anxious we wanted her to be at home and not boarded for such a long time.

Hired a sitter with great reviews and multiple repeat clients. She came in for the meet and greet and was great with her.

Day of the trip she is suppose to be there at noon to sit more with the dog and get more use to. She doesn't show up. I text her what is going on she said she stopped by for a bit and she was fine (which was a lie because we have a door monitor and no one unlocked or opened the door). She says she will be back there at 3:00 pm. She doesn't get there until about 6. No more communication until the next day, when she tells us she lost the dog. We drive 9 hours to an airport and fly 8 hours to NYC then drive 4 hours home. We find the dog after a few days of searching.

We find out from animal control she lost the dog the night before she told us she did (the first night) lied to us and Rover about it.

Rover offered to print flyers for us (at a store that is not in our area), but informed us we could only print a limited amount of flyers. Offered to request Rover sitter volunteers to come search (no one did). They initially refused to refund the first night of pet sitting but after much complaining they finally did. They refused to pay for a vet checkup to make sure the dog was ok after we found her. They refused to pay for any of the costs associated with finding the dog (travel expenses to get back to the area or to reimburse the trapper we hired to get here back, which did work thankfully). They were condescending and purely money oriented in everything they did.

Please avoid Rover if you think their guarantee is anything. Read the fine print they have a loop hole to get out of almost anything and they will use it.

The girl was cool and my dog was happy. Kinda crazy all the negativity, but I get it. Maybe I got lucky, but I couldn't be happier

Do not leave your dog with rover, I guarantee they will lose your dog, not pay for vet bills or the loss of your dog.

They do not protect their sitters at all. If you think they care at all you are very mistaken, they care nothing about their sitters

Dog walker canceled and I am still waiting for my refund. I don't recommend prepaying.for their services

4 bookings, 2 meet and greets, all backed out for b.s. Reasons. Having to cancel my vacation. Will never use this site as a resource again.

Their services totally suck, keep looking don't trust your beloved pet with them, completely unreliable.

Horrible company. No quality of caregivers. They only want money and don't care if your dog suffers or dies.

Our dog has now been viciously attacked TWICE while sitting dogs on Rover... only to find out that the dog doing the attacking had a few different sitters on Rover. Hmmmm why didn't you go back to your previous sitter? They lie and say they had issues with the sitter, but it makes me wonder now if it was really an issue with the dog. IF we as sitters put notes that a dog is aggressive why does Rover not allow all of us to see it? I have no problem watching a dog with aggressive tendencies if I'm aware up front and prepared to keep the other dogs in my care safe. It makes NO sense to me if there's an aggressive dog behavior being documented by one sitter it should be SHARABLE to ALL sitters. Instead by not allowing us to know this or see this behavior on a meet and greet, we are putting our dog's life at risk. Not to mention the guarantee is a friggin joke. If you turn in a claim they kick you off Rover (even though it's not your fault if a dog with an aggressive streak starts off playing and all is cool and out of the blue they attack a dog).

What do you do when a dog gives absolutely NO signs of being aggressive, is playing and then tries to rip your dogs throat apart? Our dog is submissive and loves everyone. He's big and playful and sweet and we've now had two situations which will lead us to CLOSE our account. I've spent over 1700 in vet bills this year only to make a few pennies more than that.

Rover acts like a dog attack is the sitter's fault? I've had and watched dogs for over 30 years and I can guarantee I don't do stupid $#*! and am always watching the dogs in my care.

Then of course there's the ones that come in and ruin every piece of carpeting you have even though they are "house trained" and "have never done that before"... Yeah right... SHARE the information with all sitters regarding dogs in our care.

Long story short, Rover is false advertising by luring you in with language like "they hire only 20% of applicants" and their stupid Guarantee that means nothing. People, I never saw my purebred declawed Persian cat ever again. They are saying so far they won't do anything and I didn't even get a refund! Long story: The sitter knew I was selling my house the next day, moving 8 hours away after the boarding stay, and in a very stressful time. I hurriedly dropped my cats off for an originally 2 nights, then added another night so 3 nights stay. 1 of my DECLAWED (by previous owner) Persian cats, the one I'm most bonded to and have had for 6 years, was never returned to me. I was told he "slipped out the door" and ran into the rural woods, yet when we searched for him and called, it was dead silence. We went back up there a few days later (she never even looked for him) and still silence and we searched everywhere and walked what had to be for miles on the giant wooded property. Was he sold, given away, or was the story true at all? We'll never know. My holidays are ruined and the grief is staggering. I never even got to pet him or look at him one last time. So day after Thanksgiving (today) we wanted to go back up there one last time with traps and tuna and items that smell like him and us. The sitter said to never contact her again and if she ever sees us on the property she's calling the police. This even more strongly makes me think she either for sure sold my tiny 8 pound declawed Persian cat, or she's simply a cruel sociopath that doesn't care if he starves and dies in the cold woods. I called the police and they said unfortunately I have no rights to look for him if she won't let me. Rover could care less. I'm getting with a lawyer who's gotten settlements from Rover before and am starting that process. I'm also going to the local news and will make YouTube videos spreading the word. JUSTICE FOR LITTLE FLUFFY. MAMA IS SO SORRY. Baby Fluffy trusted his mama and by using Rover, I unknowingly sent him to his doom.

ROVER.COM Although i have found ONE person the first time who has done a great job she is in high demand and difficult to get when needed now. So i tried another person and did not hear from her for what they propose as a Meet and Greet prior to paying. She was a no show. So I quickly looked for another sitter to help me, an older lady in irving named Sandy, who set up the meet and greet and seemed very nice with good review and bio she has to write for Rover wherein she stated she was responsible very responsible and discussed why and how she was. She couldnt meet until the Friday before and we were leaving on a Sunday morning early. I have long texts back and forth and she even gave me her cell. Again a no-show. I knew I needed to wait to pay as it even states to do so. So I called rover and until the party is CONFIRMED and you have paid you cant even write a review on them! And the rep agreed you dont pay til after the meet and greet. So i said how do you make these people accountable? You are representing them on ur site! She said she couldnt change the rules! Sorry If you luck up with a responsible and dependable sitter it is truly luck as this site wont help UNTIL you pay but before then u are screwed and on your own. So BUYER BEWARE! They make no-one accountable nor reprimand nor remove them and they could be a no show even AFTER you pay AND THE DAY OF ur departure for ur trip! They say if THIS happens they offer to give money back. 1) not sure this happens as i still havent gotten a first time discount that was offered months ago and 2) what will you do if your plane is leaving albeit this probably doesnt happen because you have had
A meet and great and then contact info. In terms of the meet and greet, this company needs to put things in place for accountability! Sandy should not be allowed to register for other people and disappoint THEM! And customer service doesnt cate.

Full disclosure, I am a Rover sitter. However, I was first a Rover customer. I found two wonderful Rover sitters in my area after I had surgery who came by and walked my dogs when I couldn't. One was a student and one was a retired nurse. One of them suggested I do Rover part-time to supplement my income and I have 90 five-star reviews from the last 3 years.

I take pride in my work and am retired military, so I am detail oriented. And there are ways to make sure that your sitter is doing what they're supposed to do. One, I have a smartlock and a Nest doorbell. I do not give keys out anymore and every single sitter has a code, so I can check when they show up and when they leave. My Nest doorbell verifies that with video.

Two, I have a camera in all common areas to watch my dogs and to make sure my sitter is doing their job. Third, I make sure all my sitters send a ROVER CARD to document they are there the full 30 minutes with my animal. Ask for it at your meet and greet. That way somebody can't stay 14 minutes when you paid for 30 minutes (drop in or walk).

I'm sure people would interview someone who was going to take care of their child, so you have to interview your dog sitter also. I ask DETAILED questions and make sure they understand exactly what I want them to do while I'm away and they are taking care of my animal. I also leave detailed instructions if I go out of town and someone house sits. I'm sure some of my Rover sitters think I'm a bit OCD, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I'm very disturbed by some of the stories reported here. I've only had one bad experience with a house sitter who bailed the night before we were due home (it was a 5 day booking, she bailed on day 4 as her bf "came into town."). However, Rover sent over a backup sitter so our vacation was not ruined.

Not every single sitter on Rover is unprofessional. Many of us go above and beyond to take care of our clients. Weed through the undesirables and interview many sitters until you find the right one for your dogs/cats.

Nothing against most of the great sitters, but the company is a failure when a problem arises.

Ask Rover what happens if the house sitter/pet sitter never shows up after you have left for vacation. How do you get your money back?

They state that they will contact the sitter and see if they are willing to give you back your money! If the they can't contact them or the sitter refuses to give back the money... you lose.

Our sitter fed our 2 pit bulls 3 cans of food over a 4 day period. Didn't stay at the house. Stole money. Damaged property. The dogs were locked in the house and defecated and urinated all over. He left empty alcohol containers in the kitchen. Didn't water plants, which all died.

My son had to take off from work to care for the animals and house for the remainder of the trip.

Rover's response? "We will contact the sitter and see if he is willing to give you your money back. We will also do a holistic review. As far as damages, submit a claim, you (I) are responsible for the first 250.00 and theft, urine and feces damage and dead plants are not covered."

People also need to realize what the TOS now states, which was inaccessible before.

You pay up front, and if the the service isn't provided, oh well...

This is from their website:

"We make no representations or warranties about the quality of boarding, pet sitting, dog walking, house sitting, transportation, or other services provided by Service Providers ("Pet Care Services"), or about your interactions and dealings with users. Though we provide general guidance on our Site to Service Providers about safety and pet care and to Pet Owners about selecting and engaging Service Providers, Rover does not employ, recommend or endorse Service Providers or Pet Owners, and we will not be responsible or liable for the performance or conduct of Service Providers or Pet Owners, whether online or offline. We conduct an initial review of Service Provider profiles and we facilitate background checks on Service Providers conducted by a third party, but, except where explicitly specified in the Rover Service (and then only to the extent specified), do not otherwise screen Service Providers or Pet Owners"

I hired a sitter via Rover in May. The sitter, Kirra, came to my home on 5/29 to meet my dogs. We did a walk-through of my home. During the walk-through, I showed her where the washer and dryer were located, opening (sliding) the doors of the laundry area, clearly not pulling them out. Kirra agreed to watch my dogs from July 3 to July 8. I asked Kirra to take care of my girls, most importantly that they not be left alone at night. I didn't mind if she stayed at my home or her home, as long as they weren't alone in the evening. I left instructions on the fridge as well, giving her info on their care and feeding. Kirra was thoughtful and washed the sheets and bedding she used, but I didn't ask her to change the bedding. When I returned home, I noticed that a piece from the sliding laundry room door had been left on my counter. I didn't realize what it was until I went to do wash. BOTH of the doors to my laundry area had been damaged. I now need to replace the two doors as the damage at the top cannot be fixed nor can the rollers be put back on the doors as the wood is so damaged from the doors being pulled open instead of slid open. I contacted Rover via email, and received a response that I would be contacted within 72 hours. Sean O responded to my email and then after I left a few messages for him to return my call, he and I spoke. Initially, he shared that there is a $250 deductible for which I am responsible (never heard this before), and after a discussion about my long history with Dog Vacay and now Rover, he shared that possibly they would issue me a full refund in order to cover the damaged doors. Now he is back to the $250 deductible and wants a quote from a company to fix the doors. I would like the doors replaced and I do not want to incur the costs to do so as I did not damage them myself. I have lived here for over five years, and I will need to replace them before I move out. I felt it was appropriate to contact Rover directly rather than the sitter as I hired her through Rover. Sitter was Kirra B from West Chester, PA.

Called customer service late in pacific time. Surprisedly a gentleman answered and tried his best to resolve my two questions. Truly appreciated!

After a good meeting and greeting and messages saying my dogs was doing well, I got a phone call saying my dog has bitten the babysitter. My dog has been between 10 to 12 times each year in care of petsmart and everybody knows him as a playing, lovely dog, and he never has been aggresive, non aggressive behavior was notified to me in the two days he stay with the sitter until they let me know about the bite. Neither workers at home when it has been required, exterminator, etc have has problem to get in the home even been the dog is alone. When I dropped the dog I was told the brother of a person in the house had 2 German Shepherds and this person would like to see Batman behavior with them. When we picked up Batman there were other dogs including a German Shepherd I wasnt notified will be there. Now all this is affecting me and my dog because I decided to try Rover again. Who knows if the other dog was aggressive with Batman and when the sitter tried to split them is when she got bite?, of course, even been the other dog they wont tell it was the dog of the person in the house to the authorities to been able to get medical care. They will accused my dog and I didnt have any peace of mind as the web page says. Even the insurance says literally in the web page says this coverage is valid for injuries to the sitter or dog walkers resident pet(s) as a direct results of contact with the pet owners pet, now Rover is telling I am not cover and the family of the sitter is calling me for medical expenses. Where was the piece of mind?. Again, I can proof my dog is not aggressive with supoenas of several pets mart workers, neighbors, people that has worked at my house, etc. am living this headache for trusting this non organized company that cant insurer the pet safe and I will let know everybody my case. By the way, rover is doing a false offer when indicate the insurance cover the sitter injuries by the pet owner pet and I will take that and see if rover.com can now just clean their hands

Horrible place, so cold, get to know your local dog boarder. Don't support these people, please, thank you for ypur consideration.

When we decided to use rover.com, we told a sitter named Laura that our husky was a 7 month old puppy with VERY high energy and if you turned your back to her, she would chew on things, etc. My husband pretty much tried talking her out of watching our dog but the woman said she had lots of experience and would be fine. Our dog was there for only 2 nights while we went out of town. Our last text to her was telling her what time we would arrive. My husband went in and got our pup and brought her out to the car. She had a deep scratch on her nose that the woman told him her little dog was playing without dog and our dog got hurt so she super glued it together to stop the bleeding. When we got home, our dog wasn't active, wouldn't stand up or run and play and was not herself. Then we got a text shortly after picking her up saying she walked our dog before we got there so hopefully she would be worn out for us. Our dog was not tired from walking, that has NEVER happened, she has more energy than our kids! Our dog layed around all night barely able to open her eyes and we pretty much had to pick her up to put her in her kennel. Our dog is a beautiful Siberian husky, black and white but she has no white on her and her collar is caked in dried mud. Our dog is so dirty so it makes us wonder if she made her sleep outside and stay outside the whole time. Rover doesn't have ANY bad reviews on their site and I think it's so wrong. If our dog is still this way in the morning, I will be taking off work to take her to the vet and having them do a toxicology screen on her to see what she was given, then I will contact a lawyer. Rover obviously doesn't care who watches your fur babies. Makes me so mad that people don't know what they are getting into when they order services through them. If you are in Oklahoma and type in zip code ******* and see a Laura with 18 years of experience, I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU SCROLL RIGHT ON PAST HER!

To whom this may or may not concern,

I had the worst experience as a sitter with an employee from support not setting the expectation and as a result leaving me penalized completely. I was assured that as long as my policy was updated prior to booking day it would reflect right away for anyone. However, that was not the case and as a result Im nearly out $500 that could've been made elsewhere had I not blocked my dates out for this individual who wasn't the most considerate and cancelled with no reasoning. I'm not expecting reimbursement for the entire amount but I expect something for being misinformed, for the amount of times I had to reach out during my valuable time, the subpar customer service, and I shouldn't have to hear excuses as to why you cannot locate the conversation nor help. I have several cell phone numbers, several emails, and I contact support via every method but because you couldn't locate nor properly register conversation for instances like these I'm being held liable. The supervisors refuse to take accountability and offered nothing as compensation for their terrible customer service. I've never been so disappointed with a company I pay high fees to every time to not have a support system that has my best interest. Considering we are the face of the company and in my case in a matter of two months managed to rake up tons of 5 star reviews. I feel completely unappreciated and I want to make sure everyone is aware of what happened and how it was handled. Certainly I'm not the first to feel undervalued and taken advantage of because your employees from support take no accountability nor offer actual support! For such a huge company I would've never imagined the lack of customer service being nonexistent after working so hard, prioritizing pups over our social life, and accommodating clients time and time again with their schedule changes.

I will continue spreading the word and sharing my experience under all platforms + resources until someone hears me and steps up to find a solution other than no solution for myself and to make sure others aren't victimized as well by this Rover App + "Support Team"

We had a very bad experience with Rover. To make a long story short, the person watching our dog lost the dog three hours after we dropped her off. The next morning, we got a call from the police that the dog had been found dead. The sitter felt horrible and compensated us a substantial amount of money for the new dog.

I reached out to Rover asking if they would be willing to compensate the remaining $250. The initial reply that I received from them told me that we'd heard from our assigned Trust & Safety person within 24-48 hours. Two weeks later, we finally got an email telling us that they Rover Guarantee doesn't cover compensation for new pets. The guarantee will cover vet bills up to $25,000, but there's nothing in the guarantee to offer compensation for the death of a pet due to negligence by the sitter. I asked if they would reconsider and reminded them that they would have been willing to pay a substantial amount of money for vet bills had our dog just been injured. So, I asked if they'd be willing to take $250 that they would have been willing to pay for vet bills and apply it to the purchase price of our new pet. I was told that they are unable to do that.

Any time a company says they are "unable" to do something, it drives me crazy. "Unwilling" would be a more appropriate word. There is ALWAYS something a company can do. They just chose not to.

So, what I learned is that the Rover Guarantee covers a lot of things. However, if the sitter loses your dog and the dog ends up dying due to their negligence, that's not covered. Some guarantee. I would caution anyone to think twice before using this service. Their guarantee is severely lacking. Check the reviews online. There are numerous stories just like mine. I'm sure that most of the pet sitting arrangements go smoothly. But, for those of us who are unfortunate enough to experience the death of a pet, I guess we're on our own.

UPDATE: After my post on Rover's Facebook page got shared multiple times and received dozens of comments, I got a call from Rover. They have decided to offer a settlement. While I'm glad that they ultimately did the right thing, I'm discouraged that it took so much effort to get to that point. I'm hopeful that they will update their Rover Guarantee to include some sort of resolution for death due to negligence.

My dog caught a fatal disease while being boarded by a Rover.com dog sitter. I noticed that he was not normal when I picked him up from a 7 day stay with a Rover Sitter named Roseli L. In Delray Beach Fl. Near Military Trail and West Atlantic Blvd. When I brought him home, he seemed different. A few hours latter we noticed he was shaking and in pain. We immediately brought him to the Animal Hospital. He was treated with pain meds, and had a blood test. The next day he was worse. We sent him to the main Vet Hospital in West Palm Beach. He died a few hours latter. He was perfecty healthy when we dropped him off. He had been with this Rover Sitter two previous times. With no problem. We suspect that he was poisoned, bitten by a poisonous snake or caught a serious disease from another dog that was in the sitter's house. Neither the sitter or Rover were of any help in this situation. I even paid extra for Vet services through Rover. Also, there is a Vet hospital within walking distance of the sitter's house. I also reminded the sitter that if there was any problem, to use my vet, and he would bill me. The sitter obviously did not check for dogs shots which she is supposed to do. She didn't even ask me about shots. They are supposed to. When at the vet, he was weighed and lost over 2lbs, that alot for a Chihuahua Mix, also his Temp was 103. He must have been in this condition for days, and the sitter did nothing, didn't even contact us. We miss our dog dearly, He was the most beautiful little guy. If you need boarding, please do not work with Rover.com. Spend the extra money and board with a Veterinary Hospital. It would be alot cheaper than loosing your beloved pet, and paying over $5K in Vet fees to try to save him.

I've dealt with so many scams on Rover it's unreal. Rover encourages its sitters to PAY to promote their profile on Craigslist for more business with hesitation, I did it. I've received nothing but creepy, weird messages and I've questioned if these people were even pet owners. I'm officially fed up after this just happened to me again on the actual Rover site. Despite common belief, Rover has an EXTENSIVE application process to become a sitter on there. You have to pass MULTIPLE tests and a background check and provide all sorts of documentation. It took me about a week to get approved and I was excited after all that work to start.

The scams begin with a LENGTHY boarding request resulting in a great amount of money for the sitter. (Yes, they know how to hook you) then proceeds to them borderline harassing you about your care, your home, asking for your address, all while STILL NOT CONFIRMING THE BOOKING AND PAYING! I'm sorry. I'll entertain, meet and greet, talk on the phone to make you feel comfortable, but at some point it's time to pay and stop wasting my time. I made the biggest mistake talking to one man for almost 24 hours while he hadn't confirmed yet. It would've been $600.00 for me so I was so excited and overlooking red flags. Finally, my husband called the owners "number" no ring, no voicemail- "the GOOGLE SUBSCRIBER" is not available! A SCAM NUMBER. I was infuriated. Rover requires soooo much to become an sitter and "owners" can create an account and harass their employees.

From now on, immediately calling people that request me and hearing a VOICE. If you don't, don't entertain anyone. Some advise for aspiring rover sitters.

To Rovers defense, they followed up with me almost immediately after my complaint, told me they take it very seriously, and would remove the account if accusations were true. LOVE Rover. HATE creepy scams. Wish they would filter it.