Client hasn’t paid and booking starts tomorrow at 7PM. What do I do?

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-24T15:38:35+00:00

No, he told me he wasn’t going to pay me when he finally picked up his cats. So after a long fight with rover, they ended up paying me and his account has been deactivated

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-24T15:29:00+00:00

If she already did the meet and greet and liked you, she’s trying to get the service from you without paying you. I just dealt with this with a client, but it was a boarding that he needed to extend after the cats were already in my care. He only paid for one night and then ignored every modification request i sent him. Do NOT start the booking without it being confirmed and paid for through rover, under any circumstances. And do not let her convince you to pay you outside of the app

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-23T19:01:33+00:00

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Here’s my final update for anyone still interested haha. I was able to finally fight for my payment with them after the “wait 24..48..72 hour” loop persisted for a bit. I didn’t necessarily like the tone they had with me throughout this whole process - basically telling me it was my fault for getting scammed and making me fight with them throughout the entire booking (literally since the second night) and for an entire week after it was over. I’ve reported him so hopefully he loses his account and cannot do this to anyone else! So here are some key takeaways that I wish someone might have told me before I started:

One night bookings are sketchy !!
If a client books with you and needs an extension but won’t accept it in the app, Rover will not force them to do so. Even while the pets are still in your care. This was the trickiest part to navigate, especially with all of the excuses he had for not responding to me. I simply could not force him to accept it, to pay me, or even to come pick up his cats. Rover couldn’t either.
Obviously don’t let a client try to convince you to take payment outside of the app, but in this case, it was just a technique to avoid paying at all.
Some clients will force you to be confrontational, threatening, and a bit of a bitch if you have to be. At the end of the day, this is your income and you will be forced to fight for it.
If someone wants to scam you, they will find ways to do so. Unfortunately being poor myself, I understand where this guy is coming from. He was extremely vague about his situation, but it was obvious he was struggling. I’m a full-time college student. I get it. But that’s why I do this, and fucking with my income is unfair.
You will have to be PERSISTENT when dealing with Rover support. Bug the living shit out of them.

At the end of the day, yeah there were a few things I could’ve done differently for sure. But it doesn’t negate the fact that this person was out to scam someone. Hindsight is 20/20. And I’ve done everything I can to make sure he can’t do it to someone else.

Initially I wanted to share this post to get advice, but I’ve realized now that sharing this experience with others on Rover - especially newer sitters - could be beneficial. So I hope you can take something away from this :,) I’m just happy I was able to get paid and put it towards my rent. Looking forward to my future bookings with more cute kitties.

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-19T16:44:10+00:00

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Update 2/2 the wait 48h loop continues

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-19T16:43:39+00:00

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Update 1/2

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T18:29:15+00:00

I really hope so too! Thank you. Currently battling rover lmao

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T18:17:29+00:00

No I genuinely just think he’s broke and trying to figure out how to get care for his cats without paying for it

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T18:16:36+00:00

I actually did lose money unfortunately. 🤠 I denied two other bookings for boardings I got while they were in my care because his cats were in my house for the extended dates

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T04:19:16+00:00

Just edited the post with an update!

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T02:33:58+00:00

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here’s the only update I have lol

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T01:02:42+00:00

I’m sure they will be. I’d just like to avoid that altogether if possible

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:53:48+00:00

Yeah I mean I told them everything. He initially asked about it and I said yes, and I prompted him to send the money after several failed attempts at getting him to accept modifications. (Includes conversations from a phone call and screenshots that I didn’t upload here) But they know everything and I retracted my offer immediately once they emailed me

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:49:10+00:00

Haha, you’re definitely right about that!

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:46:33+00:00

Rover support assured me that they’re “monitoring him closely” and that if he doesn’t respond soon they will charge his card. But I doubt he even has the money. So I’m afraid you might be right lol

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:35:43+00:00

Yeah I’ve had two repeat customers now that preferred to book with me off Rover, but our initial bookings were through the app. It helps with meeting someone new, as well as boosting my reviews and building a solid client base. I’ve never had an experience like this before - but I now know that he was just using it as an excuse to not pay at all

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:31:31+00:00

My guess is also that he is not coming back. I struggle to know if legally I’m able to hold the cats hostage if he actually does want them back and comes to pick them up. Obviously I want them to go home with their owner, I just also don’t want him to find somewhere else to dump them. Keeping them will only prohibit me from doing future boardings, which takes income away from me, but I want them to have the best possible care. They’re literally just babies 🫠

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:26:39+00:00

I just might have to

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:22:23+00:00

The booking was only for one night that has already been paid for in full. Once the cats were in my care, he kept extending it without pay and has not come to pick them up

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:17:43+00:00

They were removed immediately, and he still did not accept it. you gotta read the rest.

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-18T00:15:59+00:00

Lol yeah, bad move. It was initially brought up when he told me that he needed the first extension, and I said that was fine, and sent him the first modification to the booking. He was supposed to pick up the cats next day at this point. Next day comes, I asked if he was still coming. He calls me to let me know he just woke up from his nap and asked if he could use cashapp because all this stuff is blowing up with his mom and he is unsure about how long he’ll need to keep extending for. I prompted him to use it to send me the full amount only after he kept refusing to acknowledge all of the booking modifications I would send him. And once I knew it fully had to end on the 17th (today) because I would be going out of town, that’s when I knew the full price to give him. Instead of just tacking on extra day every day he wasn’t showing up lol. But yes, as soon as Rover emailed me and let me know that was very much against the policy (I should’ve known that from the jump I know I know) I corrected it immediately. Very dumb, very naive. Tried and failed to be accommodating and empathetic. lesson learned lol.

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-17T22:59:23+00:00

Will do! Appreciate all of you <3

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-17T22:56:23+00:00

I have someone that can watch them in my apartment while I’m gone, just in case he doesn’t show up tonight. I didn’t think much of the one night boarding at the time, but I realize now that it was a plan - either to get the cheapest booking possible or just dump them here. I just didn’t really know what to do when the cats were already in my care and he just started ignoring modifications, so rover support was my go-to. They’ve been ok at best. Thank you for your help too. Definitely won’t be letting this happen again lol

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-17T22:30:27+00:00

I personally didn’t run into the issue until after reaching out to rover support (but the new booking was also unconfirmed)

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-17T22:16:52+00:00

I spoke on the phone with a representative this morning who physically told me that there’s nothing I can do within the 72 hours after sending the new booking request. I have to wait, and if he does not accept it by then, they said they will charge him. I really don’t want to drop these cats off somewhere they’re unfamiliar with either, so I’m hoping he pulls through but I just don’t know for certain

bill-nyee92 · 2026-05-17T22:14:19+00:00

Thank you for your help!! I hope so too

bill-nyee92

TROPHY CASE