I love being a freelance writer. But when I need extra money (like everyone does these days), I use third-party apps like Instacart and Rover to make it.

And that’s where I messed up. These third-party apps seem like the best of both worlds. You get to make extra money at your convenience and as long as you follow the terms and conditions of the app, it’s all good.

But it’s not.

Here is why I’ll never again use apps like Rover to promote my services.

My Horrible Experience With Rover

In November of 2022, I was searching for ways to make extra money when writing had slowed down. Since I have two dogs and have cared for cats and dogs since I was 16, pet sitting seemed legit.

That’s when I came across the app Rover. Rover is a third-party app that makes pet-sitting arrangements easier for owners and sitters. Through this app, you can arrange a consistent dog walking or pet-sitting schedule for your pet.

The first few months that I used the app were great. I found a few clients who were willing to take a shot with me, even though I didn’t have any reviews on my profile at the time. Everything was going okay for the most part.

Then the problems came.

Difficult User Experience

Things happen, and pet-sitting is no different. One of my clients had to make changes to her pet-sitting arrangements for her own personal reasons.

No worries, right?

Well, the app makes it a problem. If you want to modify or outright cancel a booking, you have to literally jump through hoops. And it’s not the fault of the owner.

It’s like the app doesn’t recognize that situations can change at any moment. I don’t understand why my client and I have to wait hours to realize whether a booking has been cancelled or not.

You may be wondering why an accurate cancellation matters so much. If the booking isn’t cancelled in time, the app will still charge the owner for the booking. Which leads into the ultimate reason why I will never use this app again.

Taking My Entire Tip  

In addition to an extremely difficult user experience, Rover has acted unethically with my money and with my client’s money.

The first instance happened last year with one of my clients. I had a client who wanted me to house-sit and stay with her dog for five days. It was last minute and she needed someone who could stay with her baby and make sure she was well taken care of.

The house-sitting gig was great, I loved taking care of the dog, and my client was so appreciative. She left me a great tip, and I was excited.

At least until I realized that my entire tip went to Rover. Apparently, there is a cap on the tip that clients can leave to sitters. Anything over that tip will go to Rover.

 If I had known that, I would have suggested that my client use another app like Cash App or Zelle to tip me.

But hey, that’s on me. And even though I was pissed, it’s not like I won’t ever make that amount of money again. So I wrote a review on Site Jabber (because no one else has to learn the hard way like I did) and I let it go.

Unfortunately, that was not the last problem that I would have with Rover.

Unethical Refund Practices

In February of this year, my client asked me to house-sit again. This time, it would be for three weeks instead of five days.  My client made an initial booking, but had to modify the dates.

Even though I accepted the modified dates, the initial booking date was still listed on my profile. And my client had to call into customer service and still had problems cancelling the initial booking. I was paid for the modified booking, but my client was still charged for the initial booking date.

I noticed an additional payment in my account and immediately thought that my client had been charged twice by mistake.I contacted Customer Support through the app and informed them of the situation.

I was told that her refund would be returned to her within 5 to 10 days. So, 5 to 10 days rolled by, and the money is still in my account.

In addition to the money still being in my account, I noticed that I still was not paid for dog walking gigs that I had done for the following week. Usually, the payments reach our account in 2 days.

I contacted Customer Support again, and that’s when I learned that my payments had been recaptured. Yes, recaptured.

Apparently, another potential client asked me for a house-sitting gig for a few weeks. I didn’t accept the job yet, because I know how plans can change. And that’s exactly what happened. My client went with another sitter.

So, what’s the problem? Rover already charged the client for the full amount.

The representative told me that the client requested the refund, and Rover paid the amount out to me to cover the cost. As a result, my payments are going to that cost. Even though I never accepted that house-sitting gig and my client chose another sitter.

And my other client? She was charged twice and was reimbursed once.

Moral of The Story

I can acknowledge when I’m wrong. I should have spent more time reading the Terms and Conditions of the app before using it.

If I had known that this company would accept large tips that I worked for and recoup my payments after a mistake was made on their part, I would not have even agreed.

But there is one lesson I’ve learned from this ordeal. I don’t need a third-party app to promote my services.

And that’s for anyone who wants to start a side hustle or provide services for extra income. The only thing that a third-party app does for you is expose you to people that you just don’t know how to connect to through the Internet.

You can learn how to promote yourself online and keep 100% of all of your profits. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I love pet-sitting. It’s a great way to make additional income as I build my businesses.

I’m going to remove Rover from my life and focus on providing great pet care for my clients and their pets.

If you’re in the same boat, I can help create a great digital marketing strategy to help you find and retain clients. Click on my Contact page and book a consultation to get started.

Have you used Rover? What was your experience? Share in the comment section below.