RoverReviews 622

As a sitter, they are useless in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. In the event of a mandatory evacuation, their only solution was for me to drive 2+ hours round trip to deal with a dog that was in my care AFTER assuring me that I would be taken care of in the event that this precise thing happened when I called before the stay began. If I had cancelled the stay, like I knew I should have, I would have been penalized. I ended up penalized anyway with a ridiculous "solution". The "support" staff is either completely clueless or downright rude and condescending.

My dog died in the care of one of Rover's pet sitters. Rover has found every reason to not pay for the medical expenses associated with the passing of my precious dog. There has been no investigation in to the incident and Rover still allows this sitter to remain part of their enterprise. Poor reviews are not posted. Sitters are not properly vetted and Rover is not accountable for anything that goes wrong. If you care about your pet, do not use their services.

We just had a terrible experience with a very well reviewed dog sitter. Our one mistake was meeting her outside the house and not checking more closely. Picking up next day, she had her phone off and was unreachable. We showed up and a strange man answered who was rude and abusive to us and especially the dogs. House was filthy. Dogs everywhere barking. Our own dog was covered in burrs. They couldn't find any of our belongings (leash, harness, food, toys). When we contacted rover they apologized, but wouldn't say if they could guarantee a refund because the "session had already ended." Woman on phone was very unprofessional and seemed to not know how to handle the situation. We asked Rover to send someone over for a welfare check or to contact a dog agency and they told us that was our responsibility. Unbelievable. This company doesn't care about your dogs at all. They are willing to let abusive and shady people watch your pets and don't seem to have a conscience about their wellbeing. Do not use them.

Previously had decent experience with Rover but one bad apple does spoil the bunch. Hired someone with an excellent review (just one) to stay with my dog sit for me. She was being paid to stay full time with our elderly (14 1/2 year old) dog- she lied and said she was in my home at 2:15 the first day (we left at 1:30 and I knew she would be there after her morning waitressing job and was fine with that). She actually didn't show up till 4pm and left for the night at 4:23. I have Ring and checked the videos. The next day she came at 8:30 and was in and out through the day leaving at 4pm again. The last day she showed up at 10:30 and left again at 1pm- my dog was traumatized when we got home, he has separation anxiety as it is which is why I wanted someone with him night and day. The bottom line, I called Rover and they were all talk and no action whatsoever. This woman is a danger to dogs and a liar to humans and Rover is not removing her from their list of dog sitters. Beware.

I've used Rover twice to board my pup and I'm done with them. They're sitters are irresponsible and reckless. The first person I used seemed nice but when I brought my dog over for his stay he was boarding 4 other large dogs at the same time. He was basically running a hotel for dogs. Apparently my guy did not enjoy his last night cus of it. For my second sitter I was charged extra for a third party walker who only walked him for one of the two days of my dogs stay. On the last day the walker brought a package into my sitters home and left it accessible to my pup and then left. My pup got to it damaging its contents. Now granted I felt bad about him doing that, the sitter expected me to fully reimburse them. This along with the fear that there could have been something dangerous in the package upset me greatly. I paid for a sitter and that isn't what I got. Instead I got hit with huge expenses from irresponsible people. I will never use Rover again.

I requested three different sitters because that is what Rover suggested and they all had open availability on their calendars but they each had an excuse. Michael and Sidney were gonna be out of town even though their calendar was empty. Crystal said her big dog doesn't like other big dogs but she said on her page she was comfortable with all breeds and her hosting preferences go up to an 100 pound dog. My dogs are 50 and 59 pounds. This has been a horrible experience and a complete waste of my time. Thanks for nothing!

I hired a Rover sitter to board my two small dogs for one night due to an event I worked that required a 16 hour day. When I picked up my dogs the next morning at our previously scheduled time, my "sitter" was passed out on her couch. I found out my dogs had not been walked yet nor my diabetic dog fed or given his insulin shot (which instructions were for an 8 am feeding/medicine). Her drunk boyfriend/husband tried to give me a bag of fast food condiments saying it was my dog's supplies. I found my 6-pound Maltese cowering under an end table visibly shaking and terrified. The funniest/worst part of this is, Rover is 'still deciding' if I should receive a refund. Ultimately, I'm lucky as my dogs came home alive.

I have hired two sitters through Rover.com, both were horrible. The first one just didnt show up. Had some excuse that her grandfather died, but that turned out to be a lie.
The 2 nd one (who had 5 * reviews) told me she would stay from 6 in the evening until 9 the next morning. My neighbors reported that she came fir an out 5 minutes, fed the dogs and left until the next day! Seriously! She was a pathological liar and was telling me she was in my house even though my neighbor was on my porch looking in my front window and only saw my scared, hungry dogs! No more Rover for me!

I hired a Rover dog walker to walk my young Husky multiple times a week. He was a nice kid for the first few weeks. My husband was laid up with a broken back so he was here but immobile. Once the walker left the front door wide open and my dog was out running in traffic. Then he just quit showing up, I reached out through Rover and he had found a real job so he quit with no notice, just a no show.

Second attempt was a young woman to walk my dog twice a day and feed him over Thanksgiving, for 6 days. She showed up to the meet and greet with a toddler in diapers. She said she wouldn't bring her child to the walks, just to the meet and greet. We were out of state when my husband's friend called, she was at our house and the walker was trying to walk my dog with a barely walking toddler. I fired her but I still had to pay the 6 days. Very poor service and there is no contact at Rover when there is a problem.

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.

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.

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 very recently had an extremely bad experience with one of their sitters, and he subjected my dog to inhumane conditions. The sitter did not follow any of my instructions, and I have proof of his negligence. I picked up my dog and he was soaked in his own piss, among other things. The sitter had put him in his travel carrier and left him there alone, which is very cruel because the carrier is not a crate and it is very small. The carrier was damaged when I picked up my dog. Everything in it was soiled with excrement. The sitter did not give my dog his supplements, as I had instructed. My dog is recovering from surgery and needs these supplements. This surgery was to fix my dog's leg; as a result, he should not be off -leash and running in a dog park as this puts him at risk of a rupture and lameness. However, someone from a greyhound Facebook group of which I am a park posted pictures of my dog loose in a dog park. When I brought my dog home, he seemed very distraught, was limping, had scratches in his legs, and refused to come to bed with me. He sat scared in his basket. This sitter clearly is not fully invested in dog care and is unfit for what Rover claims to offer. This was so unnecessarily distressing that I won't be looking to Rover for sitters anymore