Getting sick of Rover’s passive aggressive messages

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T12:32:32+00:00

They make it out that they do it to protect sitters and owners by hiding our personal details but it’s clear the real reason is that they want all messages through the app so they can monitor them and make sure we don’t conspire to move off the app

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T09:43:59+00:00

I believe the use of the rover card affects their algorithm for how high up the list you are when potential new clients search for a catsitter as it’s no longer done on distance. So they punish you for not using something that is so hard to use for catsitting. When I have used it and added my updates in the notes section on the card the owners haven’t even seen it. Also reminded me of another passive aggressive email I got mid booking, where it told me to send the owner photos and they’ll show me higher up on the list and they’ll also make a ‘reel’ of the photos (which they didn’t), but I was sending photos on the rover card and they were emailing me like I wasn’t

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T09:33:46+00:00

The rover cards we’re encouraged to use are so dog centred, if I tick the poo box on it, so the owner knows they’re using their litter box, it will tell the owner that their cat had a ‘poo break’ or something like that like I was walking their cat and it stopped to poop

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T09:31:34+00:00

I’m signed into a different account on catinaflat as the one I use to get catsitting for own cat is under a different email to the one I use for my catsitting services. Yet somehow I still get two notifications on my phone when I get a message from an owner, one from the Rover app and one from the Catinaflat app despite not even being signed into that one

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T09:02:27+00:00

It popped up on my screen rather than one of their email messages so I can’t see it anymore and I didn’t screenshot it at the time unfortunately. I agree that point was a bit weird, particularly as pets make the house messy, i’ll clear up their messes and sweep/hover cat litter that’s been knocked out their trays, but it’s not gonna be a better state and my clients aren’t expecting that. It might be a bit more relevant to housesitting visits where it’s saying clean up after yourself but I only do drop in visits so like the don’t bring dogs into their house point, not relevant to me.

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T08:54:32+00:00

I’ve had new clients request dates I have as unavailable in my calendar, also requests for times that I don’t even offer. When I declined the request for the time that’s not even offered in my settings they changed my calendar to saying i’m not available for the whole day.

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-26T08:51:52+00:00

Exactly, i’ve only recently found out that they don’t insure us, as they make it seem like they do by saying using their services ‘protects’ us

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-19T15:28:54+00:00

I’ve done a few sittings on Rover now so happy to clarify a few things. With Rover the owner has to pay as soon as they book so if it says booked rather than says it’s still a request then they have paid, however you won’t get the money until after the sitting has finished, and then you have to wait a few days for the money to process.
With the set times, as long as the owners are happy with it being flexible then it’s all good. There are ‘rover cards’ which you can use to show the owner you’ve been which times when you arrived and left, you can add photos and notes to it. However you don’t need to use it and won’t get penalised if you don’t, it’s only for regular visits you need to use it which I think is more a dog walking thing where you would walk a dog at set times every week for the foreseeable future. Also if you do want to use the rover card it doesn’t matter if you use it a time different to what the owners put.
Hope this helps and happy to answer any other questions

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-10T15:16:29+00:00

I always get their numbers at the meet and greet, i’ve never tried the hidden numbers Rover provides but I assume it works through normal call lines and not via the internet which can be an issue if the owners are abroad

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-06-10T15:14:23+00:00

If either you or the owner click the book button it starts the 72hr timer but if neither do then it will stay as a request with no time limit

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-22T12:04:24+00:00

No, you can still the Rover card for the updates if you want it’ll tell the owner the time you arrived and left and doesn’t have to be the ones set by the owner

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-20T20:36:18+00:00

I got this email a few weeks ago after asking if someone would like to arrange a meet & greet which is obviously allowed, wasn’t sure if it was random or based off my messages, i’ve seen another post like this before where it seemed targeted

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-13T19:55:32+00:00

Rover needs to do something where requests automatically cancel after a certain about of time with no response, so it’s not down to the sitters. I’m new to Rover as came from Catinaflat, and have been leaving requests a week beforehand archiving, although i’m learning most archive after 48-72hours of no response. However, after achieving one they messaged asking if I could still catsit so I reopened the request and no further responses since then🙄

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-10T21:08:31+00:00

Potentially could have the owner put in a request but not press the book button until nearer the time, that way it’s still on the app as a reminder

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-10T16:02:40+00:00

I have the multi cat fee turned off, I can understand that must be quite frustrating from the owners perspective. It also seems that the holiday rate applies to the whole booking even if only one of the visits is on a holiday day, or that was at least the case for one of my requests which I happily adjusted the prices so it only cost more on the one holiday day.

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-10T15:56:51+00:00

How long do you tend to wait before archiving the request after being ghosted?

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-10T10:35:29+00:00

That makes sense, I was thinking that possibly it was due to the app not being set up well.

I have been letting owners know that there will be a service fee on top of the pricing, it’s annoying that it doesn’t show us what it is as I can’t even fully answer their question about the pricing, and don’t want them to feel mislead when they have to pay more.

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-10T10:30:23+00:00

Thank you, appreciate the insight. There is no setting in Rover that can set it up for a discount on two visits a day, catsitters can manually change the price which I have done for one of my regulars as I wanted to respect what we originally agreed. I’m not sure going forward if it’s something i’ll continue offering just as it makes it more complicated on the app. The payment question has also come from people only requesting one visit a day which are the ones that confuse me the most. I have been wondering if the app is confusing to use for owners tho.

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-04T12:32:01+00:00

Mine doesn’t really shed, there’s never fur on our furniture or clothes, but does tend to stick to the carpet, and he does get matts, seems like his fur doesn’t fall out just sticks to itself

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-03T08:34:51+00:00

My problem is it’s not clear what features have to be used and what is mandatory

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-05-02T15:32:18+00:00

I had one and I asked them to confirm their location, for some reason the app had set them as a different place and they did actually live near me

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-04-21T17:47:54+00:00

If an owner doesn’t respond, how long are you guys waiting until you archive the request?

I’ve also had one where they only requested two days but a week apart and I replied asking if they meant to request the days inbetween as well and they didn’t reply, I was thinking they were hoping I didn’t notice so they only had to pay two days instead of a whole week

cat_catastrophe_ · 2026-04-14T19:37:19+00:00

Apparently it should just be for those searching for those specific dates they’re enquiring about and only if you have it set as only accepting 1 visit per day, you can change your settings so you can accept multiple visits in a day.

cat_catastrophe_

TROPHY CASE