Rover is testing out a new program to recognise pet sitters and dog walkers who have been highly rated by their pet owners and meet certain other criteria in our community. Currently, this is only available in certain areas, but we hope to expand the program over time in more areas.
Sitters who are eligible for this program will be notified via email, and they’ll receive a badge on both their profile and in search indicating their Star Sitter status. There'll also be a search filter pet owners can use to search for Star Sitters.
Note: The Star Sitter program doesn’t change a sitter’s ability to use Rover as they always have. All the same features remain available to you as a sitter, and none of the actual features or functionalities have changed.
How can I qualify for the Star Sitter program?
How often does Star Sitter status refresh?
What if I have a last-minute cancellation due to an extenuating circumstance?
What happens if I decline requests that aren’t legitimate?
Will Star Sitter status impact my visibility in search?
How can I qualify for the Star Sitter program?
To qualify for Star Sitter status, you must reside in one of the cities where this program is currently available (sitters who reside in those areas received an email from Rover). We also take into account several other factors related to your metrics on Rover—like your star rating, how often you respond to requests, how often you book with new pet owners, and whether you have pet owners who’ve booked with you more than once.
To qualify for Star Sitter status, you must have:
- Completed 10 or more bookings
- A 4.9+ average star rating
- A 95% 24-hour response rate of your last 25 requests
- 33% new pet owner booking rate (based on your last 25 new pet owner requests)
- At least 2 repeat pet owner bookings in the past 6 months
- Last-minute cancellations by you, the sitter, that are less than 2% (1 in 50) across all your bookings since the start of 2023. (Last-minute means the booking is cancelled within 5 days of the start date.)
Note about new pet owner booking rate:
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You can view these metrics from the Rover app at any time by tapping More, then Insights. If you don’t see Insights in your menu, make sure you’re using the latest version of the Rover app.
As before, Rover reserves the right, in our sole discretion, to take action against an account for safety or other concerns as described in our Terms of Service, such as if the user has caused severe safety-related incidents or property damage, or violated our Terms of Service. This may include removing a sitter from the Star Sitter program for up to one year or more.
How often does Star Sitter status refresh?
Your Star Sitter status refreshes at the start of every quarter (January, April, July, and October). Exact dates for each quarter will be announced ahead of time so sitters know when they’ll be notified if they obtain Star Sitter status.
If you reside in one of the areas where we’re testing this and you qualify for the program, you’ll achieve Star Sitter status for that quarter. This also means that if you no longer meet the qualifications for the new quarter, you'll no longer qualify for Star Sitter status.
You can obtain this status by consistently meeting all the above criteria. These criteria determine whether you obtain Star Sitter status for the applicable quarter.
What if I have a last-minute cancellation due to an extenuating circumstance?
We understand that unexpected situations can happen that are outside your control. If that happens, or if you cancelled a booking on behalf of the pet owner, we encourage you to contact Rover Support so we can look into this further.
Note: Keep in mind that cancellations initiated by the pet owner don’t affect your booking rate or cancellation rate. If a pet owner asks you to cancel a booking for them, make sure you’re selecting the appropriate cancellation reason (The pet owner needs to cancel) in the dropdown list. Once you initiate the cancellation, the pet owner can easily confirm the change.
What happens if I decline requests that feel unsafe or aren’t legitimate?
Your metrics aren’t impacted by any conversations that don’t meet your pet preferences (like pet size, getting along with other pets/children in the home, if they’re spayed or neutered, vaccination status), are phishing-related, or are reported by you using Rover’s block/report feature.
Your safety is important to us. If you receive requests that make you feel unsafe, report them through Rover. Declining these types of requests won’t affect your metrics.
Learn more about reporting conversations here.
Will Star Sitter status impact my visibility in search?
Star Sitter status doesn't affect your visibility in search, unless the pet owner applies the Star Sitter filter to their searches. When that filter is applied, only Star Sitters will show up on the search page.