RoverReviews 620

I hired a sitter from Rover to stay at my house while pet sitting. After getting a flat tire she informed me she would be able to get back to my house until 6pm the next day, leaving my animals, including a dog alone for over 24 hours, fortunately I have a great neighbour who was able to come over to feed them and let the dog out. I left a detailed note stating if weather is cold (-15 or colder) not to take the dog for a walk, the last couple of days were more than warm enough but doesn't appear he was taken out. My neighbour informed me she was rarely at my house, really only over night and quick stop during day to let the dog out. I have a camera, which she was informed about, I checked on my guys several times a day, I literally saw her three times in 8 days, she was petting my dog in one of them which was nice to see. My neighbour said he had considered coming over and taking my dog out for a walk since the weather was good and he felt bad he was being walked. Suffice to say I will not be using Rover again.

I paid for boarding for 18 days. Handed my dog over and 6 hours he was no longer with the boarders, there was a hole in their fence and he had escaped. I had five days of worry and emotional distress. He was exposed to a major highway and could have killed. He was found on the fifth day and spent the remaining time with a friend. I have asked for a refund and was told they had refunded the money in October. They were not paid until November and the stay was in December. They are responding to me with rubbish. Don't risk your dogs life with rover.

I'm not the happiest with this app, especially because they take such a large portion of what I earn and then take 3 or more days to pay me. I'm no longer going to use this app, as I've gained a number of clients who agree that the 20% is ridiculous. And they do not mind paying me through PayPal. Also, I hate apps like this that don't have a PERSON to speak with when there is an issue. It only has automated chat, and Q&A. And they never refunded my $35 for the background check... But here is my experience:

I considered Rover for a long time but finally gave it a try when I lost my job. I was worried, being a Black male in a nicer area, that I would get looked over and not be seen as trustworthy. But I was very surprised with the amount of requests I got, even when I hadn't had any reviews on my account. I also set my prices reasonable, as I am ok with providing a lot of services beyond the basic care. And I don't expect to be paid extra to administer medicine or give baths. I enjoy dog sitting so I'm not trying to empty the owner's pockets. However, it is necessary to set your prices to a median price for your area. If it's too low, you won't be paid worth your time. If it's too high, you won't get any requests. Also, doing some extra stuff like cleaning before you leave, will always get good reviews and a tip!

I have met the best pups and owners, and they have been very friendly and never judged me for my looks. I was given house sitting gigs for my first couple of jobs and they went incredibly smoothly! I made sure to do Meet & Greets, and I didn't even feel comfortable staying in the owners' houses at first, until one couple let me know that they prefer someone who stays through the night, and not someone who just drops in a few times a day. So I became more comfortable.

I'm grateful for the ones who chose me and trusted me with their pets and home. Some owners do send out multiple requests at a time so they'll say "nevermind, I found another sitter" even when I respond within 10 mins. But that is ok. I don't believe all of these negative comments and bad reviews, but Rover is not 100% the best platform. If you love animals and aren't looking to pay most of your bills from the app, you will love it. It's a good side gig if you have lots of free time. If I keep my weeks booked, I can usually make $600-$1000 a month. Especially if they have more than one pet. The only down side is Rover takes that 20%. On my most recent gig, I sat 2 dogs for 7 days. Because of the second dog and it being the holidays, I was supposed to make $400 for the sitting. Rover took $80... Luckily the owners are recurring and always appreciate the extra work I do, so they try to tip the fee to offset it. So just be aware of that because you still have to pay taxes on what you earn.

3 stars because in general it's a really good site it's very easy to manage and decent to use the calendar for booking people but it's very very confusing on both the user and the clients and for payment and how many hours are there and if they need an overnight sit or not.

Very hard to find enough work to make study part-time income even if you live in a super dense area like I do I'm lucky to make 600 a month.
You have to give the clients your personal number and talk through there or else just wait until you meet up with them and strike a deal where you just do a few sits for them but then they pay you in venmo to avoid Rover taking 20% of your hard-earned money. RIDICULOUS!
I just got doing a week-long sit for the super obnoxious whiny needy hyperactive dogs( not every experience by any means) cleaning out numerous pets cages all freaking week long and they only paid me a beyond measly $290 Soooo pissed off but if you raise your rates any then nobody will pick you because of the competition so you're kind of screwed either way and you're relying on them paying you through venmo for extra days or getting a huge tip which you obviously won't expect from anyone. A lot easier just to get insurance and start your own pet sitting company

A lot of people think they're animals are just the most wonderful things in their most rotten spoiled hard to deal with pets lol. I would not recommend driving far for a week long stay where you're stuck in their house is horribly boring and you definitely need to make sure you can leave for a couple hours during the day at minimum. But then can you meet the nicest sweetest pups ever and you miss hanging out with them so it evens out sometimes

HORRIBLE BOTH OF THEM, SCAMMERS. Go through PetsMart or your local dog sitting/boarding. NEVER USE HER SHE IS A STRAIGHT SCAMMER. AND ROVER LETS HER DO IT. SHE WILL NOT FEED YOUR DOG AND SHE STEALS THEIR COLLARS.

I used Rover.com for the first time at the beginning of the month. I hired a dogwalker who had apparently been vetted by rover.com. I met him in person, I gave him a key to my house. He was supposed to walk my dog on 6 separate days. He showed up for the first two walks then disappeared. I was in a panic, on vacation, scrambling to arrange other care for my dog. I reached out to rover.com to explain the situation and see what they could do to help me. The customer service is sllllooooowwwww. Their solution was to refund me for the days the walker didn't show up and give me a $20 credit on my account. Gee, thanks. I had to pay $344 to change the locks on my door because their verified guy never returned my key. They say they are going to invsestigate but because of "privacy" I don't get to know the outcome. And no reimbursement for the $$ for the lock. There are reputable pet care services but I would definitely not go through rover.com. Terrible.

I used to work for Rover for 5 years. First, they do not care about the sitter at all. Not even one percent. If you have any trouble with a crazy customer, they will not help you. If a customer posts a fake review ( and it does happen sometimes), they do not investigate their claims even on the basic level. In fact, they will penalize you for reporting anything wrong.

Secondly, they take out 20 percent of your hard earned profit. You are better off making your own website and promoting yourself via Craigslist or advertisement. Rover is a JOKE

Someone who watched my dog, with all rave reviews, ruined my vacation. First morning I got an email, it wasn't working and someone should come get the dog. Why, he barks. What the real problem was that the person ended up having three dogs there, and despite saying they were allowed on furniture and on the bed, would gate them off in a room on there own. Was shocked when I arrived early as she was taking 2 Rover signs off the front lawn. Have no idea if the signs were legit. I think they're used to hustle some business outside the app. Sooo disappointed but worse of all, my bad review is gone! Looks like they may have changed their name slightly on the app and started over…pic is of the same person.

I booked a sitter in August who then canceled in October. Between August and October I had to cancel my credit and bank accounts due to fraud. Rover refunded my old account for $655. The refund of course didn't go back to me because that account doesn't exist. However, Rover claims they've refunded me and gave me a 'tracking number ' that leads to no where. They won't just give me a check or refund the current card on my account. They told me this: "…when it comes to refunds, it will always go back to where it came from and rarely would it be processed on a different bank card. " so basically if you have to cancel a credit card you're screwed. Be very very careful! They will take your money in a heartbeat and claim to only. I would give zero stars if possible.

I got fast responses from two dog sitters. One said she just realized she was not going to be home that weekend I had requested a sitter, the other said she was reviewing her messages and would get back with me later that day...of course I never heard from her.
Don't even waste your time filling out the information.

I had a duplicate account because my original wasn't working with the phone number i had given them.
They took $1000 for a booking I made and then cancelled it WITHOUT notifying me. It just disappeared from my account.
They said the emailed me notifying me about this - I never received an email.
I called twice - customer service was rude both times.
Do not trust your pets with this horrible service.

For all of those in the South East the decide to use this service, please know that if you cancel your reservation it is only 50% refundable for a storm up to and including a Cat 2 Hurricane!

We cancelled our reservation due to Tropical Storm Nicole as the area we were going to was flooded and it did not qualify for a 100% refund. We were told nothing under a Cat 2 Hurricane was covered 100%.

Buyer Beware!

I will never and I mean never use this service again. I hired a sitter from this so called service and the sitter I hired was supposedly a 5 star sitter. I went out of town to attend a funeral and my trip was cut short because at 6:00 in morning I had to rush home because this negligent sitter did not close the door to my house allowing one of my dogs to escape to my neighbors house. When she tried to do the neighborly thing and return him walking over to my house seeing my front door wide open she yelled out to me and was met by my other dog who went into protect mode and bit her until she retreated back to her home. Meanwhile this sitter is upstairs sleeping absolutely clueless to what was going on. Even after she heard the commotion and eventually came to see what was going on with the dogs she was supposed to be watching my neighbor (still being ran off by my dog by the way) had to scream at this sitter to help her get my dog away. Then to top it all off my dog gets taken by the city for quarantine and rover suspends my account. If I could give this services a zero I absolutely would I have filed a complaint with the BBB about this company. An absolute joke

Sitter did not show up last day so we had to make arrangements long distance for three dogs to be taken care of. Sitter was late to every appointment each day they did watch our dogs. Once we got back it took two days of trying to contact the sitter to get our keys back finally they got back to us just to tell us they lost our house keys. Rover could have cared less not even an apology for the issue. All they said was lock smith is not covered by our guarauntee. Had not even asked for anything in return was just voicing our concerns. Very disappointed and will not use or recommend.

I have used Rover one time last June and again recently I made preliminary arrangements with a different sitter that I did not go forward with. I am very concerned that Rover.com allows sitters' profiles to be deliberately false. The false information I encountered was "non-smoking household," the house reeked of cigarette smoke, "no children," there were children present as young as 5 years old, "only two dogs" when actually there were 4 dogs and 2 cats. When I come across deliberate misleading information such as this, I wonder what else is being disguised and not as advertised. It is such a disappointment to discover this service to pet owners is operated in such a blatant smoke and mirrors manner. Lesson learned - I will not be back.

This company is terrible. The dog walker I found only communicated through their site which inundated me with start, finish, and a picture each day without alerting me to any problems. I had no idea that she was having problems getting my dog out until she cancelled last minute leaving me without alternatives. My dog has a UTI and needs to urinate during the day and the dog walker never contacted me directly to let me know even though she had my direct number. They also charge a fee for using the site each week. My dog had two dog walkers in NYC who were amazing. They would never have not let me know of a problem. The site is impersonal and the walker that I used was uncaring. I would give it zero stars if that was an option.

So I'm a Rover sitter, and have been doing so for a little over a month because I recently left my teaching job. In that time, I have racked up about 30 clients, all 5 star reviews, and several repeat clients. The majority of the reviews here are completely bogus. I find it extremely hard to believe that these things would happen via Rover sitters.
Most sound completely fake to me based on my experience as a sitter and all of my conversations with my Rover clients, all of whom are very satisfied with the service. Yes, we are background checked, and clients have complete control over who they choose as a sitter, so for these supposed disgruntled clients, it's up to you to do your due diligence and get to know the sitter a bit during the meet and greet. 99% of us are wonderful, kind, educated, pet-loving people.
And regarding a review complaining about paying $25 for a 30 minute visit... what do you expect? That 30 minute visit is more like an hour for us when you include our travel time to and from your house. Not to mention the cost of gas. Most reputable sitters are not willing to work for pennies.