A Rover.com "Star Sitters" Fall From Grace

I rarely speak out over any social media for reasons of my own.? However, a recent incident with a company hit my "customer support leadership" and "business owner" button on top of being very disappointed as a consumer, so I felt it necessary to say something here.

Until very recently I was a very successful dog watcher on Rover.com.? Rover.com was the perfect platform for me to engage in something I truly love, as well as foster my business inner-child.? For two years I cultivated a very loyal dog-parent group (25+ repeat clients, over 30 dogs), and had received nothing but amazing reviews from not only the clients, but from Rover's staff as well.? My dedication to the trust and safety of these animals awarded me "Star Sitter" status, as well as some pretty amazing relationships.? Needless-to-say I wasn't doing it for the money, as Rover has to make theirs.? But that was understood.? I believed in the product and I made it work for all, very well. Hell, I even applied for multiple positions at Rover.com because I loved the company that much.

As with any animal, you need to be prepared for any situation.? Without making this longer than it needs to be, my house and yard's security and safety are well beyond any parameters set by any doggie daycare facility, especially some of the households Rover approves.? My attention to the animals, as testified by everyone that used my services, was way above the price I charged.? It felt really good to hear, time and time again, that people loved that I treated their "furry kids" like my own after hearing some of the stories of people that Rover.com allowed to watch their pooches. Hearing that whenever they drive the dog in their car anywhere NEAR my house they go crazy thinking "It's Uncle Keith time!!!!" It's been fulfilling.

However, over the past two years, there were two incidents where I was not warned of extraordinarily anxious behaviors and this resulted in these dogs temporarily getting out of my fully fenced and very secure yard.? This was despite my insistence of full disclosure (beyond what Rover.com requires for dog parents), and the pet parents touring and inspecting my property and giving me no indication that once left behind, these animals would attempt to, and be successful at, scaling a 4.5 foot high fence without warning and would not return to me under any circumstances.

During the most recent incident (the first one was immediately dismissed as the dog parents fault and was not brought up again) I kept in constant communication with Rover.com, in real-time, over a 24 hour period.? Because of my passion for dogs, I was extremely concerned for the dogs health and so I did everything I possibly could to find and get the animal back safely.? On-the-hour drives around my neighborhood.? Constant updating and monitoring of multiple neighborhood watch groups.? Responding to every “I think I saw him” post immediately and reporting back to Rover and the dog parents, in real-time.? I could write another 100 page novel on everything I did to retrieve the dog (which, by the way, he was brought home safe and sound).? It ruined me. I wasn't worried about losing money, I wasn't worried about my Five Star rating. My "Star Sitter" crown. I was terrified that the dog was going to be alone, hungry, cold, scared. HURT. It really, really sucked.

I’ve been working for corporations my whole adult life.? I get risk, I get polices, I get rules and regulations, I get making tough choices that have to weigh the benefits between the consumer that uses the business’s product and the business itself.? Ive been in customer support, risk, and leadership for over 35 years, I KNOW the difference between bad consumers and bad business practices.? In this particular case, Rover.com showed a complete and utter lack of customer service, communication, follow-through, and ultimately critical thinking based decision making ability that not only floored me, it astounded a good majority of my long time clients.? Despite communicating with Rover and following every single rule and regulation over the years, to the letter; in the face of truly extraordinary circumstances kept the values that Rover says they wish to portray and ultimately pivoted to make sure that despite the irresponsibility of the dog-parent I made sure their dog was safe; despite the accolades and testimonials and proven track record, Rover.com shut me down, permanently.? With zero chance for appeal.? No explanation.? No discussion.? Furthermore, they cancelled multiple bookings that paid up front, months in advance for the holidays with no messaging to them, and no recourse to communicate to anyone, disrupting these peoples lives in a big way for something that had nothing to do with them.

After days of trying to figure out what actually happened, I finally spoke with a “manager” in their Trust and Safety department.? After going over my story again (for what would be the 5th time since the incident almost a month ago) I was given verbal canned responses that amounted to: you lost two dogs.? You are a risk.? We don’t want you on the platform.? Stop calling. Again, no context.? No explanation beyond that I was ultimately a data point, and based on their "extensive investigation", the data showed that I was not qualified, nor was I going to be given any opportunity to explain what I have done to better the EXACT thing they are in existence for.?? Furthermore, I was treated with nothing but scripts and in a hostile manner.? Accused of “taking this personally” and “it doesn’t matter that you did everything you could, you lost two dogs.”? ??Ok...

Here’s the thing: I had already made the decision to use another service as well as set up my own business because their decision was just flat out wrong. On multiple levels. But I get it. It's business. I'm a very small percentage of dollar signs, risk. All that.? After being completely ignored by multiple reps who claimed to have documented all of my words, I saw the writing on the wall. This conversation wasn’t about me begging them to take me back.? Because, surprisingly, 25 people that also heard the exact same information, were former Rover.com clients that are disgusted with this behavior and very poor decision and are jumping ship to continue to bring their dogs to me.? I don’t need to use Rover.? This conversation was about:

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1. What more could I actually have done to avoid this situation?? They could not answer that question.
2. What are you going to do to assist other sitters in extraordinary situations like this because they will happen and your intake does NOT prepare them?? They could not answer that question.
3. If I am the perfect example of a sitter, based on their own “reward and support” system and the testimonials of over 50 dog owners, but that same system kicks me to the curb without so much as context or a conversation, what does that say about your system?? Their answer: “we’re going around in circles, we’re not reinstating your account”.

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What could’ve been at the very least a learning moment on everything from documentation, to intake processes, safety protocols, dog parent accountability, it came down to “We don’t value or respect you as a facilitator of our product.? We don’t value the bigger picture for the trust and safety for the dogs we’re using to make money.”? They took nothing from this conversation.? It was only defense and a button-click power play to mitigate risk.?? In response to stating that I wasn’t asking to come back, I’m trying to make this positive for everyone despite the unprofessionalism of it all, the response was “you’re more than welcome to use another service or care for them on your own.”??

You’re absolutely right.? And ultimately 25 paying customers that are jumping the Rover ship also agree with you.? And there will be more.? I'm looking down as I type this at three dogs that aren't mine that are happy, content, and very, VERY safe and Rover.com didn't get a penny for it. But they would have if they had any interest in actually doing what they claim to. And if this happened to ME, the “Star Sitter”, how many other “risks” have they mitigated.? I guess someone did the books and figured out that very, VERY poor Support and Safety SOPs are better for the bottom line than actually making a difference in the lives of people and animals that are looking for something real.

The reality is, by this blanket "data point" SOP with poorly trained "Trust and Safety" agents and leadership, with no critical thinking or conversation skills, they are ultimately putting more dogs lives in danger. Because as I pointed out...if I hadn't taken THAT dog...I'd still be a five-star, God level, "Star Sitter" that kept raking in the pennies and no one would know how big of a risk I really was. I just made the mistake of following their policies and trying to do something better.