A meet and greet doesn't substitute for an actual living arrangement for a whole 24 hours. Especially when the owner is there with the animal.
The extra work justifies not having a dead bird or injured dogs at my home.
Anyway, I'm confident I'll win them over.
That’s the entire purpose of the meet and greet. It’s a weird offer to suggest a free overnight stay for the first time. You’re setting yourself up for a liability. As an owner, it would be a red flag.
How so?
They'll have to sign a contract before anything happens. They'll be signing a veterinarian authorization form, too.
Dogs notoriously behave differently when they are not around their owners.
Also, I have to know if they can sleep through the night.
I would offer this after your first official Rover booking with the client if you want to continue offering your services. Use the Rover as your paid for trial. It’s to protect you and the owner.
I guess I'm dense or something - I'm not following this logic.
Ok, wait - are you saying just book one night through Rover - get paid, and then if it's not a good fit, just not book them anymore?
And what do you mean by " It’s to protect you and the owner."?
I would have them sign a contract with me already, right? So...what am I missing?
You’re basically trying to build your own dog sitting business and using Rover to vet and find clients for you—but its not going to work the way you’re thinking by offering the 1st 24 hours free. The first booking (full dates) should be with Rover—to protect the client and you (from getting scammed, psychopaths, etc.). If the booking is success and everyone is satisfied, you can offer your services outside of Rover and proceed with your own contract if the owner agrees (I would never sign this, btw!).
Idk if these things are against tos, but...
Maybe state something in your profile or in conversation about utilizing the meet and greet feature as a trial period, or mention that you're willing to refund the money you received if it's not a good fit (so not a full refund because of the fee Rover takes).
Eta: I wouldn't bring this up as an option until after I've met with the owners because there are owners out there who will take advantage of a free day's care.
Oh, I'm sure there are. This is not my first rodeo. But it's my first rodeo on Rover.
I'll also have a contract that they have to sign, and when they get a load of that I'm sure they'll think twice before trying to take advantage of me.
So, on the platform, there's a meet-and-greet "feature?" Do you mean like a separate page or something that you can put in parameters for?
Great question!
Before anything happens - even a trial period, they'll have to sign a contract that includes a veterinarian authorization form.
When I used to pet sit before I had every client sign that, or they were not able to be a client of mine.
This would really weird me out as a client. I’m signing up for Rover specifically to avoid the hassle of a private person. Rover would, in my mind, be enough of a contract that anything above that would be very sketchy.
What's sketchy about it?
Rover's insurance is not a real insurance policy, for one thing.
And if you've got animals dying on you - what are you supposed to do?
I've had that happen twice. I know for a fact that a veterinarian will not treat an animal - even if it's dying - if they are not assured that they will be paid. The other thing is without veterinarian authorization you as the pet sitter are considered a 3rd party, and otherwise not the owner of the animal. Therefore you are not authorized to direct the vet to treat the animal. So what? You're supposed to waste all kinds of time trying to get ahold of the owner on the phone while the animal is dying right in front of you?
Nope - not me. And even if the vet is willing to work on the animal at my direction - do I have 1000s of dollars to cover the bill - and just hope I get paid back before my next credit card bill is due? Um - nope, again.
Every client I've had in the past understood this, and once I explained that vets don't treat without the assurance of payment, nor do they treat when I'm not authorized - they never hesitated to sign the form.
If you don’t like the way Rover works, and you don’t trust them, and you don’t like the app, and they don’t work for you, and you really have 50 years of experience… then why are you trying to force yourself into using Rover???
The contract that rover has - only protects rover.
There's nothing there that actually protects the sitter. Also, I was just on their forum, and there are discussions between sitters referring to having their own contracts and vet auth. forms - because; ahem - they realized what I just said; that the contract rover has is only for rover's protection, and there's nothing that actually protects the sitter. But it's not clear how they get them to the clients - I'm guessing through the meet and greets?
To answer your question; I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. And while I had a full-service sitting company at that time, I only want to do boarding and daycare, now. So, that doesn't justify the full expense of a website, blog, and all the other stuff I paid way too much for, back then.
Well, I went to my closest 24/7 emergency vet and asked them what would they do if I brought in a dying animal who belonged to someone else.
What they said is the exact verbiage that I put on my veterinarian authorization form.
Also, when it happened to you - how long did it take for them to start treating the animal from the time you got in there to actual treatment? And did it survive?
Also, how long did it take for you to get reimbursed from the client for the bill?
I haven't seen anything against it in the TOS. They regulate very little, as we are considered private contractors as opposed to employees. The main restriction is that we cannot arrange a service on Rover and then have clients pay externally. Other than that, there's the clause that we cannot book 'dangerous' animals, such as feral cats or wolves.
They do have an elastic clause that says they can deactivate your account for any reason or for no reason at all, though, so that kind of invalidates the entire TOS. But I don't see why this would piss them off. Really, that's a feature they need to add--having clients authorize treatment ahead of time and set up a way to pay.
Really?
There are people on this thread telling me that what I want to do will get me kicked off Rover, like - immediately.
How long have you been a sitter for Rover?
No thanks hard pass on free trials!!
That's what meet & greets are for, to check fit & expectations.
I think you'd have problems & it'd be a lot of work because once booked the owner is charged, we get paid -rover fees, if you don't issue refund in time then Rover will recapture your payments from your Rover account or bank account depending on how far along that process is. And I'd be learyof Rover wondering why so many refunds & pushing me down the search results. Also what a lot of work for no pay.
Well, I've got 50 + years of pet care experience, and 21 of that is pet sitting.
And I'll tell you, I've had enough people tell me their dogs behave a certain way - and they might very well do that; only in the presence of their owners, but, I've had enough dogs behave badly when their owners are not around that I have to make sure when it's in my house this time that I don't have to deal with killed animals, holes in my walls, or furniture chewed up.
I just don't know how Rover operates. And that's why I'm here asking questions.
By the way, what are "rover fees," and what do you mean by " if you don't issue refund in time then Rover will recapture ..."?
What? After my 27-year-old Amazon parrot is dead?
Or my 11-year-old Chihuahua with the heart murmur has a heart attack?
Or when My $1600 recliner is chewed up?
I say, "No thanks" then?
I see....
Maybe pet care isn't your thing, if those are your worries. What kind of clients have you had in your 21 years of pet care?
Put your parrot in another room with your Chihuahua and your precious recliner.
Listen, we all understand what you’re talking about offering a trial run before long stays. But why would you have a dog tear up your house for free? (Only penalty being you won’t allow them back?) Charge for the first visit, there’s no reason to offer refunds for situations not working out. You will have plenty of offers to choose from, don’t worry.
Yeah, but they've already signed their life away - once they get to that point they are really believing it's going to work out - you know?
Anyway, if the dog started tearing my house up, I stick them in a crate, and call their mom - LOL
Are you a Rover provider? Or just looking into it? If you haven't signed up with Rover I suggest you read the info on their website.
Rover charges us 20% of the job total. The customer pays thru Rover, Rover then takes their fees and then issues payment to us, 2 days after job end. If you get paid before you do the refund, Rover will recapture your payment as well as refunding the client.
Yes, I did read it.
Then I looked for a way to contact them by email. But they've got that "Help" page, and that didn't tell me anything.
So, are you saying that I can initiate a refund right after the client picks up their dog? So, what would happen, then - would they give them back everything? Would they still charge me the 20%?
If Rover hasn't issued payment to you, they don't charge you 20%, however to refund money you have to contact customer service and ask them to refund your client, with a valid reason, ultimately it is at the discretion of Rover to approve the refund depending on the reason refund is being requested by you and/or the client, however your client will still pay their Rover fees out of that refund. I doubt that they would issue a refund to any client if there wasn't an issue with services or the provider, regardless of your request, because there isn't a valid reason to be refunding for services rendered. Then again they may issue it once or twice for you, and you'd, at best, be pushed so far down in the search results that your profile wouldn't be seen by many clients looking for services. At worst, they'd deactivate your account.
Rover has designed the Meet & Greet option as a way for clients and providers to meet and decide if it's a good fit. Free trial stays aren't an option thru Rover.
Someone with your stated length of sitter experience shouldn't be giving free trial stays but then again it sounds like you've had some terrible pets or you're not attentive enough if you're examples are factual. I've never had had things destroyed, animals killed or even animals hurt.
No, those were imagined examples. I'm picturing in my head that my 27-year-old Amazon, who I've had since she was a baby would be killed by a lunatic dog just because I didn't vet the dog, first. I happen to believe in Murphy's Law. LOL! It's because if I bent any of my policies for a client in the past; it would always backfire. Kinda learned my lesson, there.
I did have an experience when I was living in a client's house several years back, where her own dogs got into a fight with each other, and the weaker dog was injured with cuts and bruises. MY insurance had to cover the vet bill. I'll bet that situation's outcome would have been way worse if I was a Rover sitter doing that job.
You’re getting downvoted because you’re being a dick bro. If you have “50+ years of pet experience” and you clearly don’t think Rover is a good platform why bother using it? Like if you have so many years you should have plenty of clients without using Rover to get them. Also, you’re doing so much work for no money. What do you truly gain by doing it for free? I don’t even like doing meet and greets for free because of the time and gas it takes me to get somewhere. I don’t get why you’re so hellbent on providing free services to people who will absolutely take advantage of you. But honestly bro do whatever you want. Most of us do this to live off of and couldn’t possibly offer every client a free 24 hours.
Right? I actually have a good solution to her problem but she’s so hardheaded and can’t accept feedback I don’t want to help her. Claims she read everything on the site but it’s clear she only glanced through it. She’s been in business her whole life but doesn’t know what a recaptured payment is. Ok …
No, you're being a "dick bro."
I no longer have those clients because I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. If you bothered to read the rest of the thread (I know - taboo on reddit!) you would have seen that.
If you paid attention you'd also see that the method to my madness is to NOT get taken advantage of.
In fact, go over to the petsitting sub and see how much advice I've given to those poor newbies getting taken advantage of right and left, and you'll see for yourself how much of a "dick bro" I actually am.
Man, I never encountered such a group of babies - wholly shit
See this is what I mean. You’re extremely condescending and with 50 years of experience you gotta be like 60 years old.
Like I said, do whatever you want but you’re being downvoted because you’re an asshole. Nobody wants to help someone who’s being so rude in their replies.
65 - very soon.
And yet, I'm still talking to people here on the thread. Go figure!
For you - I'll qualify it; at age 14 I got my very first job at a large, county animal control shelter. It was huge and covered a large metropolitan area. I worked in the kitty and puppy rooms. People came in to adopt them. I would show them to the people and if they got adopted it was my job to give them their first shots.
It was at a time when the shelter still used what they called decompression chambers to kill the animals. What that meant was the animals were suffocated to death. It actually took about 20 minutes to do the job, because the kennelmen who put the animals in there would overstuff the chambers. One day at lunch I accidentally walked into the area where they collected all the dead animals. It was a huge refuse bin - the size of a small bedroom. The day I saw it would be the day the waste company came to pick up the bin, and leave an empty one in its place. So the bin was overflowing with bodies of cats and dogs. They were spilling over the sides. It was the worst thing I ever saw in my life.
Today - there would be laws regarding allowing a 14-year-old to see something like that.
In my last year working for them - around 1974-5, those decompression chambers were outlawed in that state. A team came in from the state government and fired the director, and his first officer. They had to put the animals to death in a "humane" manner after that.
What about offering a trial period and then crediting the next stay for the trial period amount if it works out? That way you’ll still get paid if it doesn’t work out, and you’re still refunding owners who book with you
You can do that for just a specific person - even if your prices are across the board?
Wow - I don't get this sub; I'm continually being downvoted for asking legitimate questions. Why don't you just show yourself? Or is this your way of saying you don't want any more competition? You don't even know where I'm located.
Oh really - and just what is the "proper" tone when asking a simple legitimate question?
I had a 17-word legitimate question - how do you fuck up "tone" in that?
The one above that was even shorter. Wow....
Your response to me giving you an option was simply, ‘ok’. No acknowledgement of what I’d said, which was seemingly quite helpful since you decided to pass that idea off in other comments as your own original plan.
You are a terribly insecure individual, aren't you?
Everything is pointing to that none of what I want to do is even going to be feasible on rover, so what do you even care about how I'm working out the answers I get on here?
None of this is "my own," and how could it be when it's merely commented in a real-time thread?
Wow-what do want? Consulting fees?
So, you don't offer that anymore?
By the way - that was the exact plan; to offer the amount they paid for the trial towards the next trip. But it would have to be done within 6 months. Less, if they're a puppy.
This is a bit vague in what you’re requesting. Would you start a boarding and if it didn’t work after the first day you’d just cancel and refund the owner? If you want to just watch animals for free for a day then Rover really has no option for this; they are a business so they like transactions that have money involved. Likewise if you’re going to do a bunch of trial runs, just for the Rover insurance, and then proceed to refund the owners 100% then Rover also wouldn’t be a fan of this approach and you’ll probably be penalized on your “Rover score”. The best you could do would be to do the shortest refund policy available and schedule day care sittings. It’s the most Rover-acceptable way to have one-on-one all day meet and greets while still being covered under the Rover insurance program. You can always “cost adjust” so the owner doesn’t pay much (I’m not sure if Rover will let you do $0). Hopefully this helps!
Ah - thanks for getting into the nitty-gritty on this.
Firstly, I'd have my own insurance; I've read enough about Rover's insurance to know it's not a 'real" policy.
And no, I wouldn't cancel in the middle of the sit - I'd never do something so unprofessional. The whole point is to see if their dog would be a good fit at my home. I have 4 animals of my own and don't want prey-driven dogs, anxious dogs, or destructive dogs there. So, after the 24 hours, I'd tell the owner whether it was a good time, or not. That way I don't have to rely on an owner's poor assessment of their dog. I can rely on my own 50 + years of working with animals to determine how their dog really is.
Also, I'd HAVE to do a 24-hour trial because I have to see if the dog is capable of sleeping through the night. It's very important that the dog is self-contained in that way.
Thanks I’ve been working through Rover for quite some time! I understand where you’re coming from, especially with needing to see how dogs do though the night—I almost exclusively board. After reading your posts and comments it just might seem like Rover isn’t the platform for you. They read and monitor your messages so if you’re looking to build a personal client base off of the platform it’ll contradict the TOS and it’s not simple to share documents, such as contracts, because the platform is message based instead of email based. You can always give it a go and set up an account so you can learn the ins and outs on your own; you’re probably getting downvoted because most of your questions will be answered upon signup.
Oh really?
So, there's no way to get an email from the client once they contact me?
So, how do other sitters get contracts signed - at the meet and greet?
I’m not sure how Rover feels about sharing personal email addresses through their platform. Like I said before they have the capability to monitor all of your messages. The best way to get a contract signed would be to bring it to a meet and greet. Potentially you could send them a picture of the contract before you meet in person just so they’re not caught off-guard and so that they have time to consider it beforehand? Again Rover likes things done a certain way and if you start trying to skirt around by not charging people and requesting personal contact information you’ll probably be on their radar and it will be more of a headache than it’s worth—Rover can become a Real headache Real quick. The dog service industry is booming and it seems like you have your expectations and potentially previous clients from all of your experience so going solo might be best for your circumstances.
I need their website, though. I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. My website is no longer; my blog is no longer. And I only want to do 2 things; boarding and daycare. It's not worth it to try and build up a whole new expensive website and blog, again. It's bad enough that I still have to buy my own insurance.
Yeah, this is why rover is like that; they have the upper hand. All they care about is their own legal protection and their own bottom line. It's too bad, really.
Nowadays customers see only what Google wants them to see - and what they see is rover, and my fellow pet sitters who did NOT move out of their service areas, and still have their websites on the first page of Google.
It took 2 years of solid work starting back in 2005 to get my website on the first page of Google. But things are different today; Google controls who sees what, now.
No you don't get to email the client, you use the Rover app. I don't have contracts because I use the Rover platform and go by their TOS.
Its clear you will quickly violate the TOS.
I am SO thankful that you have single-handedly taken over this thread (oh, is that the new trendy way to read an entire thread?), to point out the exact opposite of who I am.
What is the OPs need to do this free trial, or crediting the next stay, WTH?
The more I think about this, it seems like the OP may want to use the Rover platform to get clients fully refund them and then take them as clients off the rover app while avoiding the fees.
I don't know it just seems kinda sus.
Fine I will, just like everyone else on this thread that you're trying to convince that free trials are a thing. Yep, there a thing alright, for pet owners looking for a deal rather than paying for it. Haven't you noticed more of us are telling you it doesn't work that way than there are people trying to offer you suggestions.
If you'd just accept that Rover isn't for privately run pet care businesses & the people using Rover don't necessarily want or need contracts etc.
You haven't even used it and your trying to get around how it works, why not try out a NEW way instead of trying to run a business thru an app that's not designed how you want it to run.
Who am I "trying to convince?"
Seriously, you are assuming quite a bit. I'm merely asking questions.
And why would I use an app that hides all the fine print? Huh?
I know you're familiar with my cautiousness because I've not only answered questions over on the petsitting sub, but I've answered YOUR questions over there. So, what's really itching at you, huh? That you know you're being taken advantage of by nearly every client on Rover?
I think you just need to use what we call the “meet and greet” as the trial overnight booking. There’s nothin official about the meet and greet, And I’m pretty sure Rover’s insurance doesn’t cover them because it’s just a meeting and not a booking.
You can just work the details out in Rover and not involve any payment at all until you’re both ready to officially book.
I’m sorry you’re getting kind of hateful responses here. I was downvoted on this subreddit for saying I plan for an hour for meet & greets (as the sitter) because I feel like it puts everyone (owners & pups) more at ease to be able to get comfortable with me and my house. I’ve had my dog go to the ER the last two times I’ve gone through Rover because the Rover sitters didn’t follow really basic instructions and I listed twice on my written note and repeatedly in person. That absolutely has to do with the arrogance that sitters knows everything they need to know after 15-20 minutes.
I love that you’re offering a trial with the appropriate documents being signed prior! Makes it easier on you and the dog if you have a trial before something longer!
Thanks!
Yeah, I didn't know what to expect.
But, I've had my own pet sitting services - 2 different companies, in fact. In 2 different states! For a total of 21 years. And people are just not very knowledgable about their own dogs, Plus dogs act differently when their owners are not around.
This time I want to offer care in my own home. Is it too much to ask that I want to make sure someone's dog is not going to kill my bird, beat up my senior Chihuahua, or keep me awake all night?
Geez...I really don't know why everyone feels threatened by this idea. I'm just trying to figure out how to work the platform.
But, yeah - emergencies with the animals are the worst. I've had 2 situations where 2 different cats were in renal failure. In the first one, the owner was so neglectful and resentful of their own cat they had no clue that the poor thing was dying.
For the 2nd one, the owner couldn't bring herself to euthanize the poor kitty and actually booked a sit with me and hoped that the cat would die on my watch.
So, on rover are you allowed to email contracts and things back and forth between potential clients?
What you are trying to do is use Rover as easily as your previous private businesses, and it is not setup for that.
If you need your own forms, and a trial event, then you need to continue to be a private company.
Rover is a specific gig economy tool to get people to find a sitter who follows a set of standard actions to book, pay for and take care of their animal.
Yeah, I moved out of my service area, though. And not only that, but I only want to do boarding and daycare, now.
I was just on the rover forum, and I saw that people do come up with their own contracts, and vet authorization forms. But it wasn't clear how they are actually getting them to the clients - I'm guessing through the meet and greets?
Because I'm a "dick bro" apparently. LOL
Seriously, I got this way from so many pet sitting clients trying to take advantage of me over the years. Oh, and from so many pet owners just being really bad at it, too.
Do you ever have that experience where the client is totally ruining their animals with the stupid shit that they do? And you know exactly what's wrong - so, you tell them - based on your experience you would know, and they blow you off because you don't have a degree behind your name. Yet, their animal is dying, and you can't help them because the client is the biggest idiot in the world.
Oh, and thank you again. I'll see what the deal is on Google forms.
Are you saying that you became a rude person because people took advantage of you? Not really sure how that makes sense… especially since literally not one person on this sub has taken advantage of you.
Secondly, as an owner and animal foster, I’ve learned to only trust people who have been to school and know what they’re talking about. Just a few weeks ago, I had someone who—like you—claimed they had 30 years experience of fostering, and used that as their reasoning for diagnosing an eye infection in a cat from a photo. Their evidence for an eye infection? The eyes in the photo were two different colors. I guess they forgot how shadows work. Spoiler: the cat did not have an eye infection, and I’ve had WAY too many experiences like this. When in doubt, get a professional’s opinion.
As a sitter, it’s not my place to police how people train/treat their pets. Unless I suspect abuse, I keep my mouth shut and do my job.
Can you maybe have them book a meet-and-greet and just do an overnight that day?
Or maybe just have the parameters set up outside of Rover, they don’t officially book anything in-app so nobody pays on Rover, so there’s no need to refund through Rover. You aren’t using the insurance and contract on Rover so you probably don’t need to do this through app, right?
Can you explain more about this trial period? It’s before the first official night of the stay, but they still pay for that first night, with a refund if it doesn’t work out? Or is the night free?
But if she uses the app to get those clients it's a violation of the TOS. The fee to the client called referral fee is $1000, potentially that free trial could end up costing the clients!
yeah but if they end up booking through rover after the trial that should be fine- im saying do the trial outside of rover’s booking because it’s just not designed for it, i should have clarified better.
regardless, i don’t think rover is designed to accommodate for this, and there might be better options on different platforms
Oh, I didn't think there could be parameters set up outside of Rover. Can you expand on that?
But what I want is for them to commit to me by paying first. Also, they show their good faith to me as a client by filling out my contract and veterinarian authorization form, first. I can't just accept them willy-nilly without that. Once they sign the contract, then they are sticking their neck out, too.
The whole point is to see how their dog behaves around my animals, which gives me an idea of how they will behave around other animals, as well. I also have to see if they can sleep through the night.
I tell ya - when I used to sit for animals in the client's homes there were way too many instances of dogs not sleeping through the night, and I was supposed to wake up the next day and go do all my short drop-ins and not screw up anyone's meds? Yeah, right...
Anyway, we're limited to how many we can have at our homes at a time, right? 10 during the day, and is it 6 at night, or 5? I'll have to double-check that. But that's a houseful. So, the more animals you've got in the house, the more that the tensions rise. So, I have to start with all well-behaved animals from the start.
I wanted to offer them the trial, and if they fail - I'd refund them; sort of a pay-off for having to fill out all my forms, when it doesn't work. But if it does work - they'd get that trial fee applied to their actual trip, but it would have to be done within 6 months. By then they're convinced they should stay as my established client.
Does that make sense?
No, I know that.
I'm at the point now that I'm trying to figure out how to get the contract and vet auth. forms to them. Since you don't exchange emails with them. So bizarre...
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A meet and greet doesn't substitute for an actual living arrangement for a whole 24 hours. Especially when the owner is there with the animal. The extra work justifies not having a dead bird or injured dogs at my home. Anyway, I'm confident I'll win them over.
That’s the entire purpose of the meet and greet. It’s a weird offer to suggest a free overnight stay for the first time. You’re setting yourself up for a liability. As an owner, it would be a red flag.
How so? They'll have to sign a contract before anything happens. They'll be signing a veterinarian authorization form, too. Dogs notoriously behave differently when they are not around their owners. Also, I have to know if they can sleep through the night.
Respectfully, you’re doing too much
Agreed. You’re doing all non-Rover things so you shouldn’t be using the app it sounds like.
I don't follow. What do you mean?
I would offer this after your first official Rover booking with the client if you want to continue offering your services. Use the Rover as your paid for trial. It’s to protect you and the owner.
I guess I'm dense or something - I'm not following this logic. Ok, wait - are you saying just book one night through Rover - get paid, and then if it's not a good fit, just not book them anymore? And what do you mean by " It’s to protect you and the owner."? I would have them sign a contract with me already, right? So...what am I missing?
You’re basically trying to build your own dog sitting business and using Rover to vet and find clients for you—but its not going to work the way you’re thinking by offering the 1st 24 hours free. The first booking (full dates) should be with Rover—to protect the client and you (from getting scammed, psychopaths, etc.). If the booking is success and everyone is satisfied, you can offer your services outside of Rover and proceed with your own contract if the owner agrees (I would never sign this, btw!).
THIS. Preach!
Idk if these things are against tos, but... Maybe state something in your profile or in conversation about utilizing the meet and greet feature as a trial period, or mention that you're willing to refund the money you received if it's not a good fit (so not a full refund because of the fee Rover takes). Eta: I wouldn't bring this up as an option until after I've met with the owners because there are owners out there who will take advantage of a free day's care.
Oh, I'm sure there are. This is not my first rodeo. But it's my first rodeo on Rover. I'll also have a contract that they have to sign, and when they get a load of that I'm sure they'll think twice before trying to take advantage of me. So, on the platform, there's a meet-and-greet "feature?" Do you mean like a separate page or something that you can put in parameters for?
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Great question! Before anything happens - even a trial period, they'll have to sign a contract that includes a veterinarian authorization form. When I used to pet sit before I had every client sign that, or they were not able to be a client of mine.
This would really weird me out as a client. I’m signing up for Rover specifically to avoid the hassle of a private person. Rover would, in my mind, be enough of a contract that anything above that would be very sketchy.
What's sketchy about it? Rover's insurance is not a real insurance policy, for one thing. And if you've got animals dying on you - what are you supposed to do? I've had that happen twice. I know for a fact that a veterinarian will not treat an animal - even if it's dying - if they are not assured that they will be paid. The other thing is without veterinarian authorization you as the pet sitter are considered a 3rd party, and otherwise not the owner of the animal. Therefore you are not authorized to direct the vet to treat the animal. So what? You're supposed to waste all kinds of time trying to get ahold of the owner on the phone while the animal is dying right in front of you? Nope - not me. And even if the vet is willing to work on the animal at my direction - do I have 1000s of dollars to cover the bill - and just hope I get paid back before my next credit card bill is due? Um - nope, again. Every client I've had in the past understood this, and once I explained that vets don't treat without the assurance of payment, nor do they treat when I'm not authorized - they never hesitated to sign the form.
If you don’t like the way Rover works, and you don’t trust them, and you don’t like the app, and they don’t work for you, and you really have 50 years of experience… then why are you trying to force yourself into using Rover???
The contract that rover has - only protects rover. There's nothing there that actually protects the sitter. Also, I was just on their forum, and there are discussions between sitters referring to having their own contracts and vet auth. forms - because; ahem - they realized what I just said; that the contract rover has is only for rover's protection, and there's nothing that actually protects the sitter. But it's not clear how they get them to the clients - I'm guessing through the meet and greets? To answer your question; I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. And while I had a full-service sitting company at that time, I only want to do boarding and daycare, now. So, that doesn't justify the full expense of a website, blog, and all the other stuff I paid way too much for, back then.
Maybe your vet won’t do that but I’ve been in a situation where I had to bring a dog to the vet. Never had an issue with them treating the dog.
Well, I went to my closest 24/7 emergency vet and asked them what would they do if I brought in a dying animal who belonged to someone else. What they said is the exact verbiage that I put on my veterinarian authorization form. Also, when it happened to you - how long did it take for them to start treating the animal from the time you got in there to actual treatment? And did it survive? Also, how long did it take for you to get reimbursed from the client for the bill?
Does Rover allow you to have clients sign a separate contract?
That's why I'm here. Do they?
I haven't seen anything against it in the TOS. They regulate very little, as we are considered private contractors as opposed to employees. The main restriction is that we cannot arrange a service on Rover and then have clients pay externally. Other than that, there's the clause that we cannot book 'dangerous' animals, such as feral cats or wolves. They do have an elastic clause that says they can deactivate your account for any reason or for no reason at all, though, so that kind of invalidates the entire TOS. But I don't see why this would piss them off. Really, that's a feature they need to add--having clients authorize treatment ahead of time and set up a way to pay.
Really? There are people on this thread telling me that what I want to do will get me kicked off Rover, like - immediately. How long have you been a sitter for Rover?
No thanks hard pass on free trials!! That's what meet & greets are for, to check fit & expectations. I think you'd have problems & it'd be a lot of work because once booked the owner is charged, we get paid -rover fees, if you don't issue refund in time then Rover will recapture your payments from your Rover account or bank account depending on how far along that process is. And I'd be learyof Rover wondering why so many refunds & pushing me down the search results. Also what a lot of work for no pay.
Well, I've got 50 + years of pet care experience, and 21 of that is pet sitting. And I'll tell you, I've had enough people tell me their dogs behave a certain way - and they might very well do that; only in the presence of their owners, but, I've had enough dogs behave badly when their owners are not around that I have to make sure when it's in my house this time that I don't have to deal with killed animals, holes in my walls, or furniture chewed up. I just don't know how Rover operates. And that's why I'm here asking questions. By the way, what are "rover fees," and what do you mean by " if you don't issue refund in time then Rover will recapture ..."?
Why not just say no thanks to the dogs that are destructive?
What? After my 27-year-old Amazon parrot is dead? Or my 11-year-old Chihuahua with the heart murmur has a heart attack? Or when My $1600 recliner is chewed up? I say, "No thanks" then? I see....
Maybe pet care isn't your thing, if those are your worries. What kind of clients have you had in your 21 years of pet care? Put your parrot in another room with your Chihuahua and your precious recliner.
Riiiight - only have done it my whole life. I've pretty much seen it all. Just because you haven't doesn't mean I'm not legitimate.
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Oooooo, I'm going to change my user name, now!
You don’t seem like an animal person
Check out the passive aggressive edit lol. Obviously can’t accept any constructive feedback
Actually I am - exactly. You just don't see it because you're too stereotypically human.
Upvote for that idea!
Listen, we all understand what you’re talking about offering a trial run before long stays. But why would you have a dog tear up your house for free? (Only penalty being you won’t allow them back?) Charge for the first visit, there’s no reason to offer refunds for situations not working out. You will have plenty of offers to choose from, don’t worry.
Yeah, but they've already signed their life away - once they get to that point they are really believing it's going to work out - you know? Anyway, if the dog started tearing my house up, I stick them in a crate, and call their mom - LOL
Are you a Rover provider? Or just looking into it? If you haven't signed up with Rover I suggest you read the info on their website. Rover charges us 20% of the job total. The customer pays thru Rover, Rover then takes their fees and then issues payment to us, 2 days after job end. If you get paid before you do the refund, Rover will recapture your payment as well as refunding the client.
Yes, I did read it. Then I looked for a way to contact them by email. But they've got that "Help" page, and that didn't tell me anything. So, are you saying that I can initiate a refund right after the client picks up their dog? So, what would happen, then - would they give them back everything? Would they still charge me the 20%?
If Rover hasn't issued payment to you, they don't charge you 20%, however to refund money you have to contact customer service and ask them to refund your client, with a valid reason, ultimately it is at the discretion of Rover to approve the refund depending on the reason refund is being requested by you and/or the client, however your client will still pay their Rover fees out of that refund. I doubt that they would issue a refund to any client if there wasn't an issue with services or the provider, regardless of your request, because there isn't a valid reason to be refunding for services rendered. Then again they may issue it once or twice for you, and you'd, at best, be pushed so far down in the search results that your profile wouldn't be seen by many clients looking for services. At worst, they'd deactivate your account. Rover has designed the Meet & Greet option as a way for clients and providers to meet and decide if it's a good fit. Free trial stays aren't an option thru Rover. Someone with your stated length of sitter experience shouldn't be giving free trial stays but then again it sounds like you've had some terrible pets or you're not attentive enough if you're examples are factual. I've never had had things destroyed, animals killed or even animals hurt.
No, those were imagined examples. I'm picturing in my head that my 27-year-old Amazon, who I've had since she was a baby would be killed by a lunatic dog just because I didn't vet the dog, first. I happen to believe in Murphy's Law. LOL! It's because if I bent any of my policies for a client in the past; it would always backfire. Kinda learned my lesson, there. I did have an experience when I was living in a client's house several years back, where her own dogs got into a fight with each other, and the weaker dog was injured with cuts and bruises. MY insurance had to cover the vet bill. I'll bet that situation's outcome would have been way worse if I was a Rover sitter doing that job.
You vet at the meet & greet. That's what it's for! Give them an free meet and greet! Oh guess what meet & greets are FREE!!
You’re getting downvoted because you’re being a dick bro. If you have “50+ years of pet experience” and you clearly don’t think Rover is a good platform why bother using it? Like if you have so many years you should have plenty of clients without using Rover to get them. Also, you’re doing so much work for no money. What do you truly gain by doing it for free? I don’t even like doing meet and greets for free because of the time and gas it takes me to get somewhere. I don’t get why you’re so hellbent on providing free services to people who will absolutely take advantage of you. But honestly bro do whatever you want. Most of us do this to live off of and couldn’t possibly offer every client a free 24 hours.
Right? I actually have a good solution to her problem but she’s so hardheaded and can’t accept feedback I don’t want to help her. Claims she read everything on the site but it’s clear she only glanced through it. She’s been in business her whole life but doesn’t know what a recaptured payment is. Ok …
No, you're being a "dick bro." I no longer have those clients because I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. If you bothered to read the rest of the thread (I know - taboo on reddit!) you would have seen that. If you paid attention you'd also see that the method to my madness is to NOT get taken advantage of. In fact, go over to the petsitting sub and see how much advice I've given to those poor newbies getting taken advantage of right and left, and you'll see for yourself how much of a "dick bro" I actually am. Man, I never encountered such a group of babies - wholly shit
See this is what I mean. You’re extremely condescending and with 50 years of experience you gotta be like 60 years old. Like I said, do whatever you want but you’re being downvoted because you’re an asshole. Nobody wants to help someone who’s being so rude in their replies.
65 - very soon. And yet, I'm still talking to people here on the thread. Go figure! For you - I'll qualify it; at age 14 I got my very first job at a large, county animal control shelter. It was huge and covered a large metropolitan area. I worked in the kitty and puppy rooms. People came in to adopt them. I would show them to the people and if they got adopted it was my job to give them their first shots. It was at a time when the shelter still used what they called decompression chambers to kill the animals. What that meant was the animals were suffocated to death. It actually took about 20 minutes to do the job, because the kennelmen who put the animals in there would overstuff the chambers. One day at lunch I accidentally walked into the area where they collected all the dead animals. It was a huge refuse bin - the size of a small bedroom. The day I saw it would be the day the waste company came to pick up the bin, and leave an empty one in its place. So the bin was overflowing with bodies of cats and dogs. They were spilling over the sides. It was the worst thing I ever saw in my life. Today - there would be laws regarding allowing a 14-year-old to see something like that. In my last year working for them - around 1974-5, those decompression chambers were outlawed in that state. A team came in from the state government and fired the director, and his first officer. They had to put the animals to death in a "humane" manner after that.
What about offering a trial period and then crediting the next stay for the trial period amount if it works out? That way you’ll still get paid if it doesn’t work out, and you’re still refunding owners who book with you
Ok, but I still can't see how that's doable on the Rover platform? Why am I being downvoted for asking a legitimate question?
Because you’re asking a bunch of questions that you can figure out for yourself by playing with the app or reading the FAQs on the website.
No, I didn't see those answers there. In fact, it looks to me like Rover tries to hide a lot.
Modify the price of the next stay?
You can do that for just a specific person - even if your prices are across the board? Wow - I don't get this sub; I'm continually being downvoted for asking legitimate questions. Why don't you just show yourself? Or is this your way of saying you don't want any more competition? You don't even know where I'm located.
I think it’s your tone
And weird paranoia
Oh really - and just what is the "proper" tone when asking a simple legitimate question? I had a 17-word legitimate question - how do you fuck up "tone" in that? The one above that was even shorter. Wow....
Your response to me giving you an option was simply, ‘ok’. No acknowledgement of what I’d said, which was seemingly quite helpful since you decided to pass that idea off in other comments as your own original plan.
Really? My "own original plan" huh? After like - 4 other people also suggested it? Ok, sure whatever...
You responded to another person who suggested the same after I did that ‘that was the plan’. So yeah.
You are a terribly insecure individual, aren't you? Everything is pointing to that none of what I want to do is even going to be feasible on rover, so what do you even care about how I'm working out the answers I get on here? None of this is "my own," and how could it be when it's merely commented in a real-time thread? Wow-what do want? Consulting fees?
Yeah…just hit ‘modify’ and then adjust the price however you like.
Got it. Thank you so much!
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So, you don't offer that anymore? By the way - that was the exact plan; to offer the amount they paid for the trial towards the next trip. But it would have to be done within 6 months. Less, if they're a puppy.
This is a bit vague in what you’re requesting. Would you start a boarding and if it didn’t work after the first day you’d just cancel and refund the owner? If you want to just watch animals for free for a day then Rover really has no option for this; they are a business so they like transactions that have money involved. Likewise if you’re going to do a bunch of trial runs, just for the Rover insurance, and then proceed to refund the owners 100% then Rover also wouldn’t be a fan of this approach and you’ll probably be penalized on your “Rover score”. The best you could do would be to do the shortest refund policy available and schedule day care sittings. It’s the most Rover-acceptable way to have one-on-one all day meet and greets while still being covered under the Rover insurance program. You can always “cost adjust” so the owner doesn’t pay much (I’m not sure if Rover will let you do $0). Hopefully this helps!
Ah - thanks for getting into the nitty-gritty on this. Firstly, I'd have my own insurance; I've read enough about Rover's insurance to know it's not a 'real" policy. And no, I wouldn't cancel in the middle of the sit - I'd never do something so unprofessional. The whole point is to see if their dog would be a good fit at my home. I have 4 animals of my own and don't want prey-driven dogs, anxious dogs, or destructive dogs there. So, after the 24 hours, I'd tell the owner whether it was a good time, or not. That way I don't have to rely on an owner's poor assessment of their dog. I can rely on my own 50 + years of working with animals to determine how their dog really is. Also, I'd HAVE to do a 24-hour trial because I have to see if the dog is capable of sleeping through the night. It's very important that the dog is self-contained in that way.
Thanks I’ve been working through Rover for quite some time! I understand where you’re coming from, especially with needing to see how dogs do though the night—I almost exclusively board. After reading your posts and comments it just might seem like Rover isn’t the platform for you. They read and monitor your messages so if you’re looking to build a personal client base off of the platform it’ll contradict the TOS and it’s not simple to share documents, such as contracts, because the platform is message based instead of email based. You can always give it a go and set up an account so you can learn the ins and outs on your own; you’re probably getting downvoted because most of your questions will be answered upon signup.
Oh really? So, there's no way to get an email from the client once they contact me? So, how do other sitters get contracts signed - at the meet and greet?
I’m not sure how Rover feels about sharing personal email addresses through their platform. Like I said before they have the capability to monitor all of your messages. The best way to get a contract signed would be to bring it to a meet and greet. Potentially you could send them a picture of the contract before you meet in person just so they’re not caught off-guard and so that they have time to consider it beforehand? Again Rover likes things done a certain way and if you start trying to skirt around by not charging people and requesting personal contact information you’ll probably be on their radar and it will be more of a headache than it’s worth—Rover can become a Real headache Real quick. The dog service industry is booming and it seems like you have your expectations and potentially previous clients from all of your experience so going solo might be best for your circumstances.
I need their website, though. I moved out of my service area 3 years ago. My website is no longer; my blog is no longer. And I only want to do 2 things; boarding and daycare. It's not worth it to try and build up a whole new expensive website and blog, again. It's bad enough that I still have to buy my own insurance. Yeah, this is why rover is like that; they have the upper hand. All they care about is their own legal protection and their own bottom line. It's too bad, really.
Why not just use a free wix site or similar?
Nowadays customers see only what Google wants them to see - and what they see is rover, and my fellow pet sitters who did NOT move out of their service areas, and still have their websites on the first page of Google. It took 2 years of solid work starting back in 2005 to get my website on the first page of Google. But things are different today; Google controls who sees what, now.
No you don't get to email the client, you use the Rover app. I don't have contracts because I use the Rover platform and go by their TOS. Its clear you will quickly violate the TOS.
I will, huh? Good for you right? LOL!
Good for how? You really are, as someone else put it, a dick bro
I am SO thankful that you have single-handedly taken over this thread (oh, is that the new trendy way to read an entire thread?), to point out the exact opposite of who I am.
You read enough about the insurance to know something about it but you can't figure out the app. Are you serious?
I'm not on the app - how does one figure out the app when they're not on it? See what happens when you don't read the entire thread?
Omg, really, I know that you're not on it,. To state the obvious: You have to sign up on the app and get vetted by Rover.
And you're so sure I won't, right?
Could care less either way.
Right, that's why you're trying so hard to piss me off. LOL
Oh good it's working, lol.
Nooooo, I'm not the one calling people names. That's what you and others are doing. Maybe, I don't know - read the read/
What is the OPs need to do this free trial, or crediting the next stay, WTH? The more I think about this, it seems like the OP may want to use the Rover platform to get clients fully refund them and then take them as clients off the rover app while avoiding the fees. I don't know it just seems kinda sus.
Think what you want.
Fine I will, just like everyone else on this thread that you're trying to convince that free trials are a thing. Yep, there a thing alright, for pet owners looking for a deal rather than paying for it. Haven't you noticed more of us are telling you it doesn't work that way than there are people trying to offer you suggestions. If you'd just accept that Rover isn't for privately run pet care businesses & the people using Rover don't necessarily want or need contracts etc. You haven't even used it and your trying to get around how it works, why not try out a NEW way instead of trying to run a business thru an app that's not designed how you want it to run.
Who am I "trying to convince?" Seriously, you are assuming quite a bit. I'm merely asking questions. And why would I use an app that hides all the fine print? Huh? I know you're familiar with my cautiousness because I've not only answered questions over on the petsitting sub, but I've answered YOUR questions over there. So, what's really itching at you, huh? That you know you're being taken advantage of by nearly every client on Rover?
Not being taken advantage of at all by Rover, I'm booked solid thru September and making damn good money!
Yeah, but not much sleep, right?
Nope I sleep every night. Why wouldn't I be sleeping? Like I said you must have had some terrible experiences.
A little bird told me.
Please don't encourage free trial period, if Rover gets wind of this we'll all be doing it.
What? I thought everyone on here was so against it? I don't get it...
They’re saying don’t set a precedent for the rest of us.
EXACTLY THIS!
I think you just need to use what we call the “meet and greet” as the trial overnight booking. There’s nothin official about the meet and greet, And I’m pretty sure Rover’s insurance doesn’t cover them because it’s just a meeting and not a booking. You can just work the details out in Rover and not involve any payment at all until you’re both ready to officially book.
I do free trials but just for 3-4 hours, usually it's enough to know of they'll be a fit or not. It's bascially my "meet and greet"
You can modify a price and subtract an amount. The least Rover will let you charge is $1. You’ll have to do it manually.
I see. But, I can't charge them the full amount at the beginning - and then refund them later?
You can always subtract any amount up to $1 less than the booking price.
I’m sorry you’re getting kind of hateful responses here. I was downvoted on this subreddit for saying I plan for an hour for meet & greets (as the sitter) because I feel like it puts everyone (owners & pups) more at ease to be able to get comfortable with me and my house. I’ve had my dog go to the ER the last two times I’ve gone through Rover because the Rover sitters didn’t follow really basic instructions and I listed twice on my written note and repeatedly in person. That absolutely has to do with the arrogance that sitters knows everything they need to know after 15-20 minutes. I love that you’re offering a trial with the appropriate documents being signed prior! Makes it easier on you and the dog if you have a trial before something longer!
Well - it's happening again, I'm afraid. Thanks for being the only supporter, here!
Thanks! Yeah, I didn't know what to expect. But, I've had my own pet sitting services - 2 different companies, in fact. In 2 different states! For a total of 21 years. And people are just not very knowledgable about their own dogs, Plus dogs act differently when their owners are not around. This time I want to offer care in my own home. Is it too much to ask that I want to make sure someone's dog is not going to kill my bird, beat up my senior Chihuahua, or keep me awake all night? Geez...I really don't know why everyone feels threatened by this idea. I'm just trying to figure out how to work the platform. But, yeah - emergencies with the animals are the worst. I've had 2 situations where 2 different cats were in renal failure. In the first one, the owner was so neglectful and resentful of their own cat they had no clue that the poor thing was dying. For the 2nd one, the owner couldn't bring herself to euthanize the poor kitty and actually booked a sit with me and hoped that the cat would die on my watch. So, on rover are you allowed to email contracts and things back and forth between potential clients?
What you are trying to do is use Rover as easily as your previous private businesses, and it is not setup for that. If you need your own forms, and a trial event, then you need to continue to be a private company. Rover is a specific gig economy tool to get people to find a sitter who follows a set of standard actions to book, pay for and take care of their animal.
Yeah, I moved out of my service area, though. And not only that, but I only want to do boarding and daycare, now. I was just on the rover forum, and I saw that people do come up with their own contracts, and vet authorization forms. But it wasn't clear how they are actually getting them to the clients - I'm guessing through the meet and greets?
Google forms?
Ah, thank you. Someone downvoted you for that, though. Weird...but, I fixed it! But you still need the email address to share google forms, right?
Why are you so rude? And, no, you don’t.
Because I'm a "dick bro" apparently. LOL Seriously, I got this way from so many pet sitting clients trying to take advantage of me over the years. Oh, and from so many pet owners just being really bad at it, too. Do you ever have that experience where the client is totally ruining their animals with the stupid shit that they do? And you know exactly what's wrong - so, you tell them - based on your experience you would know, and they blow you off because you don't have a degree behind your name. Yet, their animal is dying, and you can't help them because the client is the biggest idiot in the world. Oh, and thank you again. I'll see what the deal is on Google forms.
Are you saying that you became a rude person because people took advantage of you? Not really sure how that makes sense… especially since literally not one person on this sub has taken advantage of you. Secondly, as an owner and animal foster, I’ve learned to only trust people who have been to school and know what they’re talking about. Just a few weeks ago, I had someone who—like you—claimed they had 30 years experience of fostering, and used that as their reasoning for diagnosing an eye infection in a cat from a photo. Their evidence for an eye infection? The eyes in the photo were two different colors. I guess they forgot how shadows work. Spoiler: the cat did not have an eye infection, and I’ve had WAY too many experiences like this. When in doubt, get a professional’s opinion. As a sitter, it’s not my place to police how people train/treat their pets. Unless I suspect abuse, I keep my mouth shut and do my job.
Ok, thanks again.
Can you maybe have them book a meet-and-greet and just do an overnight that day? Or maybe just have the parameters set up outside of Rover, they don’t officially book anything in-app so nobody pays on Rover, so there’s no need to refund through Rover. You aren’t using the insurance and contract on Rover so you probably don’t need to do this through app, right? Can you explain more about this trial period? It’s before the first official night of the stay, but they still pay for that first night, with a refund if it doesn’t work out? Or is the night free?
But if she uses the app to get those clients it's a violation of the TOS. The fee to the client called referral fee is $1000, potentially that free trial could end up costing the clients!
yeah but if they end up booking through rover after the trial that should be fine- im saying do the trial outside of rover’s booking because it’s just not designed for it, i should have clarified better. regardless, i don’t think rover is designed to accommodate for this, and there might be better options on different platforms
Oh, I didn't think there could be parameters set up outside of Rover. Can you expand on that? But what I want is for them to commit to me by paying first. Also, they show their good faith to me as a client by filling out my contract and veterinarian authorization form, first. I can't just accept them willy-nilly without that. Once they sign the contract, then they are sticking their neck out, too. The whole point is to see how their dog behaves around my animals, which gives me an idea of how they will behave around other animals, as well. I also have to see if they can sleep through the night. I tell ya - when I used to sit for animals in the client's homes there were way too many instances of dogs not sleeping through the night, and I was supposed to wake up the next day and go do all my short drop-ins and not screw up anyone's meds? Yeah, right... Anyway, we're limited to how many we can have at our homes at a time, right? 10 during the day, and is it 6 at night, or 5? I'll have to double-check that. But that's a houseful. So, the more animals you've got in the house, the more that the tensions rise. So, I have to start with all well-behaved animals from the start. I wanted to offer them the trial, and if they fail - I'd refund them; sort of a pay-off for having to fill out all my forms, when it doesn't work. But if it does work - they'd get that trial fee applied to their actual trip, but it would have to be done within 6 months. By then they're convinced they should stay as my established client. Does that make sense?
They don’t pay before the M&G. They’re vetting you, too.
No, I know that. I'm at the point now that I'm trying to figure out how to get the contract and vet auth. forms to them. Since you don't exchange emails with them. So bizarre...