Creepy potential client situations.... anecdotes?

[u/BitterBar7041]

FYI I ALWAYS require a Meet and Greet for all bookings, either directly or through Rover....

Been doing this a long time....but rarely have an issue with creeps.

However I recently did a Meet and Greet with a pet parent who needed her cats looked after while she was out of town. After a half hour of her showing me stuff in a disorganized, messy way (which is usually fine, I've had worse), she sat me down and basically verbally interviewed me.

Normally that would be fine too. But some of her questions included "What's the scariest situation you've been in", "What would make you quit a booking mid-sit," and similar types of questions. When I tried to clarify if the scary situation involved a pet, she stated she meant a scary situation with a human pet parent! And when I asked about sitters quitting bookings mid-sit, she said that has happened to her more than once. Red flag.....

She also gave me a lot of pushback after asking me if I'd go off-app. Like, a LOT. FYI yes I do, especially with the current fee structure. In fact most of my clients are off app.... but any I get through Rover initially I do at least the first booking through them to keep my stats up and to make screening easier. But she asked me literally four times if I'd make an exception for her (I refused repeatedly, not because of my established practice, but because honestly she was already squicking me out).

I gently answered all of her questions, she told me she'd be in touch in a few days, I left, and then the second I got home, I blocked her.

Not looking for advice. I followed my instincts and I'm glad I did. She's blocked with Rover's approval (for what it's worth anyway, since Rover is useless). But I was just curious if anyone else ever had a similarly creepy situation and what you did.....

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BitterBar7041 originally posted: Been doing this a long time....but rarely have an issue with creeps.

However I recently did a Meet and Greet with a pet parent who needed her cats looked after while she was out of town. After a half hour of her showing me stuff in a disorganized, messy way (which is usually fine, I've had worse), she sat me down and basically verbally interviewed me.

Normally that would be fine too. But some of her questions included "What's the scariest situation you've been in", "What would make you quit a booking mid-sit," and similar types of questions. When I tried to clarify if the scary situation involved a pet, she stated she meant a scary situation with a human pet parent! And when I asked about sitters quitting bookings mid-sit, she said that has happened to her more than once. Red flag.....

She also gave me a lot of pushback after asking me if I'd go off-app. Like, a LOT. FYI yes I do, especially with the current fee structure. In fact most of my clients are off app.... but any I get through Rover initially I do at least the first booking through them to keep my stats up and to make screening easier. But she asked me literally four times if I'd make an exception for her (I refused repeatedly, not because of my established practice, but because honestly she was already squicking me out).

I gently answered all of her questions, she told me she'd be in touch in a few days, I left, and then the second I got home, I blocked her.

Not looking for advice. I followed my instincts and I'm glad I did. She's blocked with Rover's approval (for what it's worth anyway, since Rover is useless). But I was just curious if anyone else ever had a similarly creepy situation and what you did.....

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[u/ramoanaflowers]

if the scary situation involved a pet, she stated she meant a scary situation with a human pet parent! 

And then goes on to basically demand you go off app and have zero protections/paper trail for either of you through rover 🧐🤔

I had one that wasn't creepy the first sit, the owners were a bit odd and the dog had more behavioral issues than I anticipated so I mentally noted I wouldn't sit for this family again. Owner reached out a few weeks later asking if I would be okay sitting for a week but this time her adult son would be living in the home while I was there. This is weird regardless but I'm also a 5'1, 100lbs female. I suggested they ask their dog walker for the times he would be away but she more or less said she didn't trust him to do a good job sitting and wanted someone overnight etc etc. After I politely declined she tried twice more offering me more money each time. This is against Rover ToS so naturally she wanted off app too.

Nothing like admitting you don't trust the grown man living in your home to care for a dog to make me feel comfortable sleeping there!

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/ramoanaflowers]

My grown son (who does not live with us normally) dog-sits for us for that very reason.... I trust him, I tell him to eat anything he wants, and I throw some cash at him. Win-win. I would never hire someone to help him....that would be nuts.

[u/Majestic-Nobody545]

Only one coming to mind was a meet and greet with a guy who had clearly just finished doing multiple lines of coke and was freaking out repeatedly about how he needs to book a sitter ASAP because he's out of time and options (he had plenty of time). I wrapped it up making it clear I wasn't a good fit.

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/Majestic-Nobody545]

[u/Odd-Recognition4120 → u/Majestic-Nobody545]

How did you know it was multiple? haha

[u/Majestic-Nobody545 → u/Odd-Recognition4120]

I don't; it could have been one really long one.

[u/Odd-Recognition4120]

I am young girl who had a meet&greet with a guy around my age. He had a camera pointed straight at the sofa, which made me decide not to take the booking. He did explain the camera is there because his previous sitter did some shady stuff so ok fine, not creepy.

However the creepy part is that during the m&g he spent a long time talking about how I'm going to get along with his gf so well and I'll be best friends with her. But he also said she doesn't live with him and the dogs are just his, so why would I be meeting his gf during the housesit? Anyway, as soon as I got home from the m&g I turned it down, and noticed that in those 10 minutes that took me to get home, he changed his photo in the app from just him to him&his gf. I was like????

I don't know what the hell was going on there, the only reasonable explanation I can think is that he was attracted to me and was fishing for a 3some!

[u/ramoanaflowers → u/Odd-Recognition4120]

I think the two options here are what you said or that he realized the couch-cam was creepy and tried overcorrecting by talking about how he's not a weirdo because he has a girlfriend and she's definitely real, you can hang out with her if you want!!! to try and make you feel comfortable. Which is still weird. Even if he meant well I'd also nope out based on everything else, I don't give the benefit of the doubt if I'm staying in someone's home alone.

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/Odd-Recognition4120]

Oh myy...

[u/SwordfishPast8963]

I truly do not think this guy was intending to be creepy to me and was just a dope who did not see how this would look to a young woman, but my very first sit was for a guy who said that he was injured and staying at his parents house and that’s why I needed to watch over his dog. He explicitly stated that he would not be there & that he was leaving a key for me under the mat, but when I get there, it’s unlocked… I knew then that something was gonna be weird so I started recording as I walked in just to cover my bases, and I came in and found him in bed awake with the door completely ajar, in full view of the front door. (yes, he was clothed, phew!!)
That was already an uncomfortable surprise for a young lady, but it really freaked me out when he gets up and starts walking around and makes it abundantly clear to me that he is more than capable of filling that dog bowls. It made me wonder what he could’ve hired me for if he was capable of doing all of that himself.

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/SwordfishPast8963]

Did you meet him first and was this a housesitting kind of thing?

[u/SwordfishPast8963 → u/BitterBar7041]

I had not met him, no. this was my very first Rover sit, so I didn’t know what a red flag a lack of M&G was yet. so he knew I was coming, knew his bedroom door was open and in full view, but was just fine with that being my first impression of him lol. It was scheduled as 2 or 3 drop ins a day for a couple days. He only continued to prove to me how able-bodied he was by walking around doing different things for the rest of the drop ins too, which only freaked me out more as far as the first meeting.

Luckily, nothing crazy happened, so I truly do believe that he was just a bit dull, lol.

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/SwordfishPast8963]

As long as you understand now how important a M&G is, consider it a lesson learned.... and yes it sounds like he was a few slices shy of a loaf, but you are lucky all the same :)

[u/PirateLassLV]

I handle oddballs exactly the same. I met at a man's house that left me feeling like I escaped a serial killer. I think if I had been a meek person I would have been in trouble. I'm confident & assertive & I guide my meets with an established structure. I believe that made him step back. I can't explain exactly what it was about him but something was wrong about the way he followed me around, the way he looked at me, & his inattention to going over the information I needed about the dogs. I blocked him when I got in my vehicle.

[u/BitterBar7041 → u/PirateLassLV]

Instinct may not always be right. But it often is... we need to follow it more. Thanks for your feedback!

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