App used to be good but now there’s no support and it’s horrible
I had a client request me for a wag walk today at a time where I wouldn’t be able to but I knew I could do it a little later that day however there was no way for me to message the pet parent beforehand to ask them if I could come later in the day without first accepting the request so I accepted the request but after accepting I had to select if I would be there in 15 minutes, 30 minutes, or 1 hour but I needed more time the walk was scheduled at 4:25 but I couldn’t get there until 8 once I got off so I selected 1 hour which changed the walk to 5:25 and I messaged them saying I could come at 8 which they were okay with however when 5:25 came and went wag cancelled the walk before 8 gave me a 1 star review and said I missed the walk didn’t show up and violated their trust and safety policy. How and why when I messaged the pet parent and they said it was okay for me to come later please fix this someone needs to reach out to me I have the screenshots of the conversation to prove it.
I have been doing Wag! Walks on and off for a few years now and I have no complaints or issues. I love all the pups I’ve walked and continue to find pups who’s mum/dad makes me a preferred walker. From time to time pet parents will put up an ASAP walk or drop in and it will say “Preferred Walker”, and I’ll be able to do that walk or drop in but not at that very second because I’m a ways away or I’m in the middle of another walk/drop in. I’ll request the service and message their parent and the message is usually something like this “Hi, I can come for (pups name) but it would be closer to 10, if that works for you.” I’ve never had one of my pet parents say no that doesn’t work, and sometimes they can’t edit the time request for the service from 8 to 10 for example. So I have to say I’m on my way then select other and put 60 minutes then edit my ETA multiple times if the time agreed on is more than 60 minutes from the current time because the system doesn’t allow you to enter a time like 120 minutes. So it’s not surprise that I’ve run across this several times which is why I make this suggestion. My suggestion is that as walkers we should either be able to enter a three digit number of minutes (i.e 120) or after the request is made and confirmed we can edit the time from whatever the parents put to what the agreed upon time is (i.e 8am to 10am).
I started walking a year ago as a means to supplement our household income. In just a couple months I was able to earn over $1000!! I was excited about my future with Wag. But shortly after, Wag started making changes in the app - a feature where walkers could pay in to the app and with that the walker would get higher priority. And more changes have been made since. Wag is not the same anymore and my walks have dramatically dropped to where I’m lucky if I break $100. I give 110% to my clients and have the ratings and reviews to prove it. I started Wag to make money, not give Wag more money. The 40/60 commission split is painful already (oh, but if you PAY Wag them you have the opportunity to get a bigger commission 👎🏼). // Another issue has been getting hold of customer service with problems. I have had a few times where the Pet Parent didn’t leave a key and I could not get a hold of the parent. Or the time the cell tower was out and I couldn’t get service at the address so I had to drive a mile away to get a signal. The customer service bot kept running me in circles and eventually the “solution” was “you’re have to decide what to do.” If you are considering whether or not to do Wag, I’d say consider your options and maybe go in to business for yourself. Wag has been disappointing - it feels like they are struggling and are trying to find ways to make money off their walkers (providing poor customer care to walkers).
Hello since the economy has changed, the average prices in the area need to be changed. If I go out of that range I am going to lose pet parent demand it says. When you try to click on somebody’s link to hire them it just has a set rate of $15 and that’s not the rate but other places it says a different rate. The prices need to be raised because of the economy between 2 to 3 dollars per visit. That helpful. I’ve contacted customer service and they actually tried to raise the rent in my area and said she was unable to that’s not the rate but other places it says a different rate. The prices need to be raised because of the economy between 2 to 3 dollars per visit. That would be really great and helpful. I’ve contacted customer service and they actually tried to raise the rate in my area and said she was unable to. So I appreciated the help there. I’m not sure exactly what happens when you do go out of the range and what they mean by pet parent demand. If it means I will show up on the list of caregivers in the area I’ll raise it if it means I will not I won’t. That’s what I need to know when it says pet parent demand. Will I still show up on the caregiver list if I choose my own prices a little bit higher? Please answer that question when you can thank you
It would be really helpful if walkers could see the previous walkers notes before requesting walks. Also, dog owners should have to fill out the dog profiles if they are going to use the app. There should be a way to put in your preferred mile radius without crossing state boarders (I live in south Jersey and am constantly getting notifications for Philly walks) the town the dog is in should also be listed as some towns are not as safe as others. And the walkers should be able to defend themselves against false accusations. I have over 150 5 star ratings, and one 1 star rating due to “not feeding the dog” although it was never indicated that I should feed the dog. Also, dog owners put old pictures up and don’t fill out profiles so you think you are walking a puppy only to show up and find a 100+ pound dog needing a walk. And wag keeps a lot of money for the walks the walkers complete, I walk a dog that is listed as “leashed trained” and get pulled around the neighborhood by a strong dog whose weight wasn’t listed right and wag keeps almost half the money the owner pays. This app doesn’t seem to care about the walkers. And if you do reach out to “customer service” you either get the same auto generated message over and over again, or you get no response at all. I find myself booking less and less walks because I have no idea what will be there when I show up.
I have been a dog walker for Wag! for almost two years now. If I didn’t love dogs as much as I do, I would have left a long time ago because of their app. Currently, a problem I’m having is that canceled walks still appear on my ‘Booked’ tab. When I try to delete them, the next time I log into the app, there they are again. This is a real pain when a client has booked way in advance and then something changes on their end. I currently have 49 on my page. I’ve contacted Wag! support, jumped through all the hoops to try to fix it. Nobody on their tech team can figure it out. Another problem that I’ve brought up is that when I first log into the app and check my earnings, the page won’t load until I TURN OFF MY PHONE and turn it back on again! Very frustrating. When doing a Drop In visit, the app doesn’t show how much time is LEFT for your visit. I have to set the timer on my phone for that. Add to all this the fact that if you have to contact them LIVE for a situation, there is nobody to answer unless it’s an emergency (injury, pet got loose, etc). Anything besides that, you’re pretty much on your own. I could go on, but I’m sure y’all catch my drift. I love the dogs. Hate the app.
I feel like Wag overall could pay its caregivers/walkers a lot better. I’m shocked that they don’t even give a surcharge for gas. Every other delivery app has no problem up charging for the rise in gas prices to better pay its workers on the app a better wage. It’s asking a lot to use your own gas when beware 99% the tips you will receive are either nothing or a $1. It’s a slap in the face. You could be the top best dog walker on the app and you will still get paid next to nothing. $10 per 20 minute walk is a joke even if I have a gig close by. I would consider everyone starting their own business off wag caregivers until they decide to pay better. If you’re waiting for your profile to get approved- don’t bother. Please believe in yourself enough and just start your own side business and set your own rates. You’re going to end up burning yourself out. It sounds like a fun idea especially when we have influencers out here doing it for fun. Don’t be a follower. These influencers are getting paid double time to sell a bad idea to you in hopes you hop on the trend. Don’t. If Wag wants to keep a good standing relationship with its walkers I highly suggest raising the pay for walks and adding on gas money and pushing for better tips. Do better please. Wag is a solid idea and system just has improvements to work on.
I enjoy using Wag! and giving walks or taking care of pets. It’s a great way to make a little extra money, hangout with dogs, and get exercise. My complaint is with their support department. It’s awful. I’d rather call my internet provider, at least there’s a better chance to connect with someone. There’s no phone line to call and you have to jump through hoops to get in touch via chat. If there is something wrong with your app, they will tell you to do the most basic of troubleshooting. If that doesn’t work, they transfer your case to the technical team and then say they will be in touch. They are never in touch. You have to just keep trying and hope it got fixed. Additionally, if there is something wrong with your service, there’s a chance you won’t be able to get help immediately and you’ll have to email. Again, who knows when you’ll hear back so I suggest keep trying to reach out via chat. It’s pretty ridiculous that this is a company that employees contract workers but then they don’t provide you with the support you may need to do the job. It’s a bad experience for the caregivers and the pet parents.
The app works well and is mostly well organized but there are still some bugs that haven’t been fixed. Sometimes messages sent in the app disappear and don’t get delivered. This is frustrating because Wag doesn’t share phone numbers of pet parents. If messages aren’t going through you just have to keep trying or delete and reinstall the app. This has been going on for at least half a year now. Additionally, Wag doesn’t ask pet parents to provide a secondary contact number. If there was a serious emergency, there’d be no way to talk to the owner. I do think customer support is getting better, however. I also like that the app has surge pricing for the holidays. And I do think Wag handles most other things well such as the calendar and the sitting interface. I wish that I could set my distance willing to travel according to the service. I won’t travel 10 miles for a 20 minute walk, but I would for an overnight sitting.
My biggest complaint is the app is a joke if they really think we’re worth nine dollars minimum to drive to the clients house on our own gas and walk the dog. I can’t make money if I’m spending it all on transportation. But we’re expected to pay money if we want to raise our rates by a few bucks. There’s not much room for negotiation with the clients. I can put in how much I would like to be paid, but sometimes I’m told it’s too much. Then I have to guess how low I have to go because it doesn’t tell me how much the client wants to pay. Also I don’t get to talk to clients at all unless they book me, which means I can’t negotiate or even meet them beforehand to see if it’s a good fit. It’s dangerous for people to click the “I’m on my way” button and pick one of the random amounts of time while driving. Because we don’t always live five, ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes away. And most of the time, the owner isn’t home anyway. I like how you can see comments from previous caretakers. Very helpful in getting an accurate picture of the dog. I like the gps tracking during the walk so I don’t get lost.
Rover is such a better app. I was very excited for this opportunity and hoping for more dogs to walk, I live in an amazing area with a lot of foot traffic and dogs but this app is unreliable. I paid 45 dollars to get a background check and waited for approval but after almost a month I haven’t had one booking. I spent hours on my profile and recommendations but it’s impossible to get a booking. Wag is useless. Someone requests for a caregiver/boarding? Better send your request in within two seconds of receiving notification or it’s gone. Someone needs a walk? It’s over 9 miles away and the payout it 10 bucks for 30 minutes of walking and a waste of gas to get there. Someone needs you to drop in? Don't worry! It’s really far away and not worth it. Download Rover honestly. They have free background checks occasionally and people have to request you rather than the other way around. It’s so much more active on there and I get many requests throughout the week from different people. I’m extremely upset I wasted money on this, it’s literally impossible to get a booking and with how much gas has been I’m not willing to travel so far for nothing. I love animals but it’s a waste of an app and time.
This app is convenient in someways but the frustrations with it out weigh the positives. I have recurring walks at 10 am and 3 pm but still get notifications for walks overlapping with those times. Constantly. There’s always the on demand walks or the $4 boost walks that I get spammed with when I’m on my way to a walk. Like…. If I put in the app that I’m on my way somewhere I shouldn’t be getting a barrage of notifications about other walks I could take. Make it make sense!!! I keep notifications on so I can book walks as they pop up but I have to weed thru ones that conflict with my schedule. The same thing happens with sittings. I get notifications for sittings happening the same time/overlapping. Also, I get violations because the owner didn’t change the time for a walk but it isn’t clear that if I don’t “shop up” on time I get penalized. It’s super frustrating!!! I understand there have to be penalties for not showing up etc, but wag needs to do better about making their policies clear for the dog owners and walkers. I wanted to be a dog walker so I could make my own schedule but at this point it’s almost not worth it and Ive only been doing this for three weeks.
Wag seems like an app that doesn’t care about its dog walkers too much. I was double booked for a walk, when I arrived there was another dog walker bringing in the dog from a walk. I didn’t have an option to cancel the walk without being penalized for cancelling and it going against my rating and my ability to book services. The pet parent as also unresponsive. I had to act like I did the walk for it to not count against me but I was scared the owner would leave bad review luckily they did not. But someone else may not be this lucky. Also, I had a walk request to walk a pit bull with no notes. Once I got to the neighborhood it was literally the ghetto and when I tried to park there was broken glass next to the parking spot because someone had broken someone’s window. Of course I am not going to do a walk there for my own safety but I could not cancel the walk without being penalized. Wag needs to advocate more for their walkers as that’s the bread and butter of your revenue. Hopefully no one is hurt or dies in the job because they are so scared to cancel a walk so they are not penalized. Because at that point it’s going to cost you more in a law suit than it is to pay some developers to add these features.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience as a pet caregiver for Wag! over the past five years. The opportunity to care for and spend time with so many wonderful pets has been incredibly rewarding. Recently, Wag! introduced their new Vet Chat service, and I must say it has been a game-changer. As a licensed vet tech, being able to utilize my expertise and provide an additional level of support and care for the pets has been truly humbling. The Vet Chat service allows me to address any concerns or questions pet owners may have, ensuring their peace of mind and the well-being of their furry companions. Based on my positive experiences, I fully intend to continue serving as a pet caregiver on Wag! I highly recommend the platform to both pet owners and fellow caregivers. Thank you, Wag!, for building such a great service and for valuing the contributions of dedicated caregivers like myself.
This app has never been intuitive or been good about thinking about the obvious things that walkers want/need. However, it has gotten much better than it was a few years ago. I would like to be able to set different mile radiuses for walking and boarding for my notifications. For example, I would like notifications of walks within 1 mile but boardings within 10 miles. Also, I consistently get notifications for bookings that are over the 10 mile radius I have set: seems obvious that this shouldn’t happen. There should be a way for NYC walkers to not see walks from NJ, thinking of it in terms of miles doesn’t work here. Just because it’s technically within 10 miles doesn’t mean I’m going to figure out how to talk public transit to a different state. Also when you book a boarding, your ability to see the start and end time goes away, so unless you preemptively screenshot everything you request you’re screwed. It should be mandatory for owners to list the age of their dog.
I requested a reoccurring service, 2 walks per week. The address that is given is in the middle of a bridge. I tried calling/messaging the pet parent multiple times for an actual address since the instructions say to knock someone will be home. These walks we’re supposed to start mid April but the pet parent has not reached out in any way. I tried contacting support through the app and it only tells me to contact the parent. Calls go through as not phone number disconnected and messages go un responded. Now I am unable to request any new services bc I have been “canceling” on the pets and I have done over a 100 services with over 95 of them being over 5-stars, but wag support has been giving me 1-star reviews for a no show. We should have better support when these issues come to be at the moment I have to wait 19 days to be able to request new services but I don’t think I’ll be able to bc I can’t get rid of that reoccurring walk. Other then that I’ve had a good experience but it is not fair pet parents have all the decision making.
Walking dogs for money is fun. Wag adds A LOT of extra bells and whistles that get in the way of walking dogs for money. Expect to be very limited, expect to be babysat by an App every step of the way, expect to fill out endless reports that don’t mean anything and don’t go anywhere, and if there is a problem with the App and your Acceptance Rate drops, good luck because Wag will both refuse to reverse the percentage drop, and refuse to allow you to get a new account. I don’t want to fill out a report why the dog didn’t pee. I don’t want to fill out a report about why the Dog Parent’s house is locked or unlocked. My advice is to copy and paste a bunch of words into the reports just to meet the character minimum (oh yes there are character minimums). I look forward to the day I can steal all my clients, book with them directly without Wag at all, and get rid of the nearly 50% cut that Wag takes from each walk. I could not possibly be more displeased with the way this App is structured. The term “feature creep” describes Wag very well; it’s clear someone in the company has way too many “good ideas” and nobody tells that person to calm it.
I signed up for Wag as a way to get some more business with my pet care business by adding in walks when my boarding and drop ins were slow on my Rover account. This app seemed to be more focused on dog walking rather than boarding or drops in appointments So far I have been very disappointed. The opportunities pop up and if you don’t respond super fast they are lost. Then to make matters worse, you can request a service and you still may not get chosen! It’s up to the pet parents to “accept” you. It’s possible that a pet parent may request two walks in a day and two different people may give the walks. That’s very inconsistent service and it confuses the pet. How can a pet sitter build a relationship with the pet if different people are coming all the time?? Also I got very little communication from the pet parents and when I was in need of immediate help I got no response and a bad review because they didn’t respond!! The only reason I may hold on to this app is because I paid for my background check and I want to make that money back. Once that happens I am gone and strictly a Rover pet sitter.
I love how easy it is to connect with people who need their dogs walked and the app is super user friendly. I do think that Wags takes a bit too much a of cut of my pay for the amount of driving and walking I do for them. I think in my area it would be more fair if I was able to get paid ~.50 cents per minute of walking. Then that would cover my gas mileage and time spent getting to and from each location. I also think that the emergency cancelation shouldn’t hurt the walker unless they cancel in under 24 hours. I got locked out for canceling a week before. Lastly, sometimes the walks get backed up when walking back to back and there is no way to not be punished if you are delayed because you are walking dogs for wags. I wish there was a way that we could request to delay a walk 30 mins and the owner can agree to it or cancel the walk or look for a new walker asap. I hope this helps improve the app for all of the dog walkers out there!
Lack of support in the app is unsafe and an ethical issue
If you walk for Wag you’ll be an independent contractor. Ultimately Wag uses this as an excuse to provide you zero support unless you’re facing a dire emergency. You get selected for walks based on a score they won’t disclose to you, and they won’t provide a list of what helps/hurts your score. Parents will ask things of you that will hurt your score, and there’s nobody you can talk to at Wag to get help for that. Wag only provides a chat bot that sends you articles to read, you’ll never be able to contact a real person to help resolve issues. It’s all under the guise of “empowering business owners” since you’re a contractor, but really it’s them reaping as much profit as they can while hanging you out to dry. I’ve had parents request things that I need help with as well as animal welfare concerns and have never been able to get ahold of Wag. As a dog parent I would never, ever put my dog on this app knowing the absolute void of support Wag gives its walkers. Ultimately this is dangerous and unethical, and the app’s inability to connect you to real people is a massive issue.
PLEASE DO NOT APPLY OR PAY APPLICATION FEE IF YOU HAVE A WORK AUTHORIZATION BUT YOU ARE NOT FROM HERE! OR IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN YOUR RECORD THAT THEY MAY NOT ACCEPT YOU ABOUT! Please do not bother wasting your time or pay for background if you have a work authorization to work in the u.s but not a resident or if you have a criminal record. they will not accept you and you pay for basically nothing. they will not give you a copy of your background check either even if you paid for it. I’m so disappointed, I have a work authorization to work in the united states. I have a clean record to but they did not accept me because it was not allowed. Then they still decided to take my money and run a background knowing they didn’t accept my id or my social. Then they tried to explain to me that it’s in their policy. I’m so disappointed because i’m not currently working (i’m currently still looking for a job) and they decided to keep my money. i paid the background check and along with $20 extra option so they wouldn’t take forever to over view. I just want my money back what i wasted! :/
I’m first and foremost a student, just wanted to make some extra cash. This is a great app to do just that! I think it really started to pick up around this holiday season, which I’m guessing it the “high” season for dog walking given lots of ppl go away or just need the extra hand with their dogs. I’m not sure if this could be a dependable full time gig, but I really have no complaints about it. I get to request the dog walks, which basically allows me to set my own schedule - choosing what days/times I want to work. The flexibility is the biggest pro! I’ve had a good experience with the app so far, and once I started it’s like I hit the ground running. Highly recommend this gig for someone with the time - who wants to work their own schedule, and looking to make quick extra cash. It’s worth the shot :)
I’ve been doing wag for about 8 months now and have made a fair amount of money off of it. I’ve only ever had issues with the app once and they got solved quickly. There’s a background check for caregivers before they can start services, and everything is self priced within a set range the app gives you. I do wish that there was an option in the app for pet owners to select that indicates that they will be going on the walk too (such as if they are disabled and can’t walk their dog without help). Other than that, the app has a good layout and helpful tips for caregivers when needed. One thing the app doesn’t really cover when you first sign up is the wag lockboxes. I had trouble the first time knowing what they were and how to open them, so maybe info on that could be an addition to the app in the future? Overall, I love this app and all the pet owners, and their pets on here are great :)
I have had many years of experience with Wag! Many years ago I walked away from Wag! after an animal was ill upon arrival. I called Wag! to not have any support, only “stay with the animal.” I struggled to reach the family who was out of the country. The animal is vomiting blood and collapsed. I ended up paying hundred of dollars out of my own pocket to save the animal. She would have died otherwise. Fast forward a few years later and I struggled to get into my old account. I created a new, but asked to pay for for a background check (I get that, though $39 is a lot for a background check). THEY HAVE ALSO GONE TO EMAIL ONLY, SO NO LIVE PERSON! Then you have to wait at least 2 days for a response. When I was finally able to get into the old account, I reached out to Wag! for a refund on the background check. They told me “no refunds, no exceptions.” I sent another email to follow up and they just ignored it. I should never have given this company another chance. THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE THAT MAKE THEIR COMPANY RUN! It’s like they are an insurance company. They are great until you need them.
I haven’t had much issues with the app itself. Other than in the city sometimes I the app may not get enough signal for you to start the walk or contact the owner for accessEven though I have enough signal for other apps to work. Otherwise the app is good but my issue is with a compensation. What they pay the walker is very little compared to other dog walking apps and compared to the high fees they charge the owner.I still tried to book walks nearby if possible so that at least I’m not spending too much time driving just for very little money. However, it can still take me 20 to 30 minutes with traffic. To top it off they recently changed the cancellation fee to $5 so even if you drive 30 minutes and check in for your walk the owner can literally cancel while you’re at the property which happened to me today. That’s why I’m no longer using Wag and sticking to another company that has been more considerate of its walkers when it comes to pay and cancellation fees.
I have been with wag for 3 years and I used to be able to get support anytime I had issues up until recently, I wasn’t paid for a service because the pet owner canceled a walk that I did because she pressed the wrong button and I never got paid for that service and today, I try to call emergency because there’s no other way to get support that apps help center can’t answer my question because I’m talking to a robot. Anyways, I can’t end a walk because, I forgot to end it last night before I got home. And I never do that and I can’t end a walk to begin a new walk, it’s frustrating when I have a problem that will not be fixed because I’m feeling neglected by wag support team. The emergency line just hung up on me without directing me to another call.
Wag! Didn’t help me at all when I got scammed through their app. They basically said that it was my fault that I was scammed and they won’t reimburse me for the over $200 that was stolen from me. To be a pet caregiver, you need to pass a background check but at the same time, just about anyone can sign up to be a Wag! pet parent. This means that anyone pose as a pet owner and can request a boarding at your place. If you accept this request, this person can have access to your address meanwhile it isn’t guaranteed that this person even has a pet!!! The app is not safe nor secure and they don’t even have a real support number or chat that you can talk to. When I tried calling a support number, it was either a robot or it was a real person who then hung up on me. Wag! doesn’t care about its users at all and only cares about the money. They even take 40% of everything you earn. So, they obviously have the money to reimburse their caretakers but they just don’t care enough. You can make MUCH more money doing dog walking privately.
Wag is probably favorable to people looking for walks, but they care so little for the walkers. Rover is so much easier for caregivers!! I tried to reach customer service today, and I had to call 3 different numbers and eventually pretend to be a pet parent to speak to an actual human being. I was blocked for 4 hours from booking new walks because a pet parent cancelled a walk. Even when I got to customer service, they were unable to remove the block. The communication with pet parents is sub-par. It is funny to me that when you start a walk, you have to click through several screens of “I’m on my way” then “I have arrived” then “I have access” then “start the walk” but when you end a walk, all the info disappears. If you accidentally end it (or a pup ends it with his paws) you lose access to the info from the pet parents or access codes. And then good luck getting in touch with customer service to open it back up again!!
I absolutely love Wag!!! I have been with Wag for over a year now!! Wag has been so rewarding for me!!! The instant connection with animals and the love and respect we have for each other is absolutely AMAZING!! It truly is awesome to meet a new pet and to become friends and to trust each other!! Being a animal lover it sooooo easy to do Wag!!! I know I am taking care of someone’s pride and Joy ( their precious baby) and to totally respecting their home and privacy!! I have so much FUN AND GET SO MUCH ENJOYMENT OUT OF WAGGING!!! I am so grateful to have Wag in my life!!! I have the opportunity to make a difference in an Pups life and help ease the pet parents mind that they are in great hands!! I am someone who cares loves and respects their needs!! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WAG IS ALL ABOUT!! I am so thankful to be a part of SOMETHING SPECIAL!!!!!! I AM PROUD TO BE A PART OF WAG!!!! Sincerely & Best Wishes Traci ( SUPER DOG WALKER)
I’ve only been using the Wag! app for about a month now and so far I love it. It’s easy to navigate and your profile is customizable based on your availability and capabilities as a caregiver. I like being able to communicate with pet parents via the messenger app and send photo along the journey of our walks so parents know what’s going on and when. I started this app because I was feeling depressed and my therapist said I should do things that make me happy. Being around animals is a huge serotonin boost! And I get to make money while I boost my mood, what more could I ask for. There are several different kinda of walks or caring a person can do and you get to set your own prices. Just be mindful, pet parents also set their limits too and that can prevent you from getting work.
One of the best things that I have ever signed up for!
I was looking for extra income and came across this app. It’s so perfect for me because I love animals!!! Not only will you get paid to spend time with animals but you get to exercise too! Haha! Pay me to walk (exercise) with a cute pet? What a dream! So it’s the best of everything I need right now. The app is so easy to set up and use. Very user friendly. Once you’re all set up it’s so easy to book walks etc. You create your own schedule! Definitely a great source of extra income! It doesn’t even feel like “work” because I get to spend time with a cute pet and exercise at the same time. I highly recommend this app to anyone who is a pet lover and is looking for additional income. It’s a dream come true! Definitely 5 stars!!
Absolutely zero customer service. There is no way to contact a human being. It should not be this hard to *contact* help when you need it. Especially because the app is very buggy. The app wont let me set up my profile trouble and there is 0 help. They took my money for the background check and there is no help to get set up or to help with this buggy app. So I basically paid $45 to get stuck with a crappy app that I can't use. On top of that the chat bot is one of the most awful chat bots I've ever encountered. It just sends you in circles with no useful information. If I have this much trouble, just trying to set up my profile & getting help. I can't imagine what would happen in the middle of a walk. wag is already proven that they aren't willing to provide even the most basic support. I can't imagine what would happen if I needed help in the middle of a walk. It just doesn't seem worth it. I will be telling anyone that is willing to listen how awful wag is.
There are times where when you say you are there and about to start walking the dog. The app glitches and restarts saying you have not arrived yet. Makes the parent assume you are not there or running late: I would sometimes have to restart the app just to make it work again. And when you are done walking the dog you have to write a small report , and I have had moments where it wouldn’t let me type anything .. and I would know what to do in that situation so again I would have to restart the app and hope that it didn’t make me restart everything. Overall I love how easy money I can make and how you can choose your time and days and what dogs to walk or baby sit. There are glitches throughout but overall it is a good side job. You do get paid weekly and that is what matters.
The house was nasty and I felt unsafe. So I brought my boyfriend with me to stay. I went to use the restroom and there were bugs running all over the bathroom floor (in both bathrooms) I fed the dog an hour earlier than the schedule because I had a family event later that evening. The kitchen was moldy also. The dog had slipped out of the harness while we are outside and we had to chase after him to get him. There was medicine next to the schedule that said give the dog every 8 hours so I did just that. The owners also came back early so we did not end up spending the night. With that being said, the owners have filed multiple complaints about how I did not follow the feeding schedule. Fed the dog old medicine, and will be suing me if their dog gets sick. You guys must background check your workers but don’t take any insight into the people who you are sending these animal caretakers too. It’s pretty pathetic. (I am a full time college student and this is one of my MANY side gigs to make ends meet)
I’ve been a Wag! walker and actively using the app for about a month. So far it has been a really great experience. Prior to a drop-in visit the app kept crashing every time I would try to view the booked visit, meaning I couldn’t see the address, pet parent notes, access information, etc. luckily I had saved the visit in my calendar and could still contact the owner through the in-app messaging without the app crashing so I was able to complete the visit. However, I wasn’t able to log it in the app. I called customer support on my way home and within 10 minutes my walk had been fixed from a no-show to completed and everything was back to normal. I highly recommend Wag! and their app.
I’ve had so many problems with this app. There are random glitches every week. Today the app won’t load. The help section loads fine though. I’ve had several days where I’ve called and they’ve had to start and stop my dog walk. Like I’ve had to call or chat each time I needed to do something in the app. Once you’ve started a walk or drop in you can no longer see the dog profile, so if you don’t study it before hand you have no idea anything about the dog, if it’s a girl or boy and medical information. You have to rely that the owner put it in the description of the walk. And drop in visits and sitting you can’t even see what the owner says about the sit or drop in visit anymore once you’ve started it now. Also when people request me it automatically cancels. So i can’t get requests from people who want me to walk there dog. It’s ridiculous. They need to get some better people to help with this app.
When I first started Wag they had easy support access for walkers and flexibility but now it’s a nightmare as a Walker! The accuracy of how far away a walk is is terrible yet you get penalized for cancelling a walk. Walkers use these apps to have their own schedule! We barely get paid anything and on top of that have to use our own cars and supplies, to upside was supposed to be flexibility and now they have completely taken that away. They make money thanks to their walkers yet treat us like garbage. We don’t even have a support team to call anymore of something goes wrong! We’re in the middle of a pandemic and instead of making changes to HELP their walkers they are making it more difficult. I have a lot to say about what a terrible company this is but an Apple review is not the place for that. I can’t wait until they push their walkers to the point of striking, that way they learn that they are nothing without the people doing the actual work.
I had a big issue with one of the pet owners yet all I could do was “flag” them. Nothing was asked of me about the issue. And I can’t call or email anyone to talk about it. Wag would definitely want this person removed from the app but oh well. To add to my long list of issues with the app, it often doesn’t actually go through the first time you request a walk. I had a preferred request for a walk and I requested it immediately. Went back to the homepage to see my request didn’t go through. I requested again but by then, it was filled. Not only did the owner not get their preferred walker (me), it also cost me $20 lost. To respond to the developers response: that’s a lie. All you can do in app is hit “flag pet parent” which does nothing. They don’t ask for an explanation, and they do nothing about it. The website is the same thing. There is zero way to get in contact with a real person for help on this app. They don’t care about your safety.
I have been a top dog walker in my area with wag! for several months now with consistent five-star ratings. The other day I was given a negative review by a client that made false accusations about me, which will affect my ability to book future clients when they see my profile. I went through the process of disputing this rating, and even noted that I had video/photo evidence to back me up. Within 24 hours, I was told by support that their policy is to support the pet parents regardless of whether or not the review is truthful (because this is their personal “experience”) and it would not be taken down. I was not even able to submit my own evidence. This company clearly does not want to advocate for/support it’s dog walkers despite the fact that we give wag! a significant percentage of our earnings. Extremely disappointed and will be seriously reconsidering my future with this app/making this experience known to potentially new wag! users and dog walkers in the future.
I overall love the app it has been super easy to use and a great way for people to get started since you can request services when people post them rather than the other way around and never get picked like other apps. Three things I wish the app included: 1. Owners could set a time frame for a walk rather than one specific time in case say you could do 12 but not 12:30. 2. I wish you could message an owner you’ve never walked for prior to requesting the service to ask any questions before committing 3. I wish the details about the service and the comments left by other caregivers was shown to you before you request the service because that could change my mind about whether or not I am comfortable with a difficult dog, home access issues, parking, etc
The app is pretty great. Wag! is constantly encouraging feedback, but still has yet to implement a lot of pet parent and caregiver requests. If you buy into the pro status it might send you a notification when you open the app that it is having trouble verifying your status as pro which means you will not be the first to receive notifications of service requests. Kind of defeats buying the pro status. The app will often crash or be slow to load during a service regardless of what network you are on. If you have access to wifi during a service it works pretty well. So overall pretty nice app, but has some bugs and such that have yet to be resolved.
I’ve been walking dogs with Wag on and off for around 6 months and for the most part it’s been really fun and a great way to get exercise and walk dogs. But, the app has some serious problems and doesn’t prioritize caregivers fairly. For example, before taking a walk you should be able to see past caregiver notes about the pet to help gain more information on the animal. Some owners are not detailed and it’s just helpful to have other notes in place before you take on a job thoughtlessly. I would also like to see more flexibility in place for caregivers on cancellations because why is a 24 hr ban even helpful? It doesn’t really make sense to me personally. Also I’ve encountered numerous app issues with the “on my way” button not functioning correctly and not being able to start a walk because of this. Do better wag and start caring about your caregivers more.
This app is a cruel joke. I wasted extra money to get priority and it’s gotten me nowhere. I only get notifications for jobs at least 6 miles away or far more, you can’t choose your own rate and will have to lower it constantly in order to even be able to reach the client. They take 40% of your earnings (until we all sue them) and care so little about their sitters, if you dial the selection on their phone line for “sitter” you get a voicemail message and it hangs up. We have to pretend to be owners in order to get them on the phone. Wag will actually mark against their own sitters’ ratings themselves when you “no-showed” but actually cancelled. Clients have to be the one to cancel the booking or else it counts against your rating, so if they don’t do that then you’re screwed and wag doesn’t accept perfectly reasonable explanations. just use rover for now and discretely poach every single client you can until they find a reason to remove you.
I’ve been a caregiver on Wag for a while now and I’m so lucky to work with the wonderful families in LA caring for the best pups in the world ^_^ The app can be glitchy at times but for what it’s worth the improvements I see and the willingness of the support team to help makes the difference. ❤️ Update 12/25: A pet parent informed me that the videos that I upload to my caregiving services timelines have no audio of what is happening in the actual video. This is definitely a huge miss. Often times the video is being sent to report real time status with the pups and the parent needs the audio to discern what to do. If the developers could please allow the videos sent in babysitting and boarding videos to maintain the original audio from the caregiver that would make a huge difference.
As a long time side hustler; I truly feel that Wag! is superior to services such as Rover.. primarily because they do insure and bond (at least the used to with 40%) Rover does not.. and they actually take a much larger cut. Personal experience; I’d rather stick with Wag! and have done so.. The downside many new walkers may not know is that it isn’t popular everywhere and more rural communities are less likely to be booming with walks. Which leads to my not overly enthusiastic feelings about the paying for better or more walks etc.. if you aren’t in an area where there are many walks; they will not magically increase. I think it’s important for new walkers to recognize the latter. It’s a good little side hustle and I’ve had plenty of regulars (who tipped well enough to make it worth it.) Happy walking 💕
I’ve been using Wag for a few months now- it’s a great side hustle and I’ve met some amazing dogs. But there are a few things that would make the experience SO much better for caregivers. 1. The fact that our messages with pet parents disappear after 10 days. I often will want to message a past client who I expect will need a walk and offer my services/tell them I’m available on our regular day but not our regular time/etc. 2. We should be able to accept a request but ask for a 30 min time change. Often times I’ll have a regular client request a walk for, let’s say, 1:00. I’ll have another service that ends at that time but I would have loved to walk their dog at 1:30. Adding a feature where we could accept their request on the general feed but only if the timing changes slightly. Or get rid of the cancellation penalty, or something. It’s just infuriating when I see my usual clients requesting walks and I can’t tell them why I’m not accepting. It makes me look unreliable and the dogs don’t get the walks they deserve. 3. This is minor and more of just a cool suggestion but it would be cool if we could see our progress towards the achievements we get. Thanks, please consider implementing some of my ideas!
As dog walkers who are the ones utilizing Wag to maintain Wags professionalism and name, it can is commonly frustrating that it is almost impossible to find a way to contact the support team. We are helping maintain the Wag reputation, but yet we do not have a support system that helps us maintain our own reputation. Having more access to communicate with clients as well as modify bookings at no additional cost to the client are absolutely necessary to maintain trust and flexibility. When we ask for help, we are told to go to the help portion where we talk only to an AI that has limited vocabulary on the help we actually need. There are more difficult situations we have to deal with outside of how to book an appointment and reschedule. Please give your sitters better resources to access both by searching Wag’s database and calling in.
I have gone through the process through the app. All worked well until it was time get my background check. I paid for the background check and was sent a link through the app. THE LINK DOES NOT WORK. I have contacted, 3 times, Wag support - by email. I have contacted, twice, Wag support by phone. I get no answer to my emails. When I call on the phone I get a voicemail that says there is no one available to take my call and to please leave a message. Wag has my money but through the app, link, email and phone, I am unable to complete my application. I’m to the point where I think this is all just a scam to get my $40 (which by the way is NON-REFUNDABLE). Wag, I am not impressed. Update- after a little more than a week of back and forth “try this/try that” I have finally gotten in to my Wag account. It really shouldn’t be this hard to apply. None of the support members seem to know what the issue/cause was but at least it’s fixed.
I only give it 2 stars because of customer service and potential life threading situations. Pet parents are no required to do any type of background or detailed information on the dogs. I’ve been attacked by a dog who was supposedly “ very sweet” and “ never but anyone before” I’ve walked and worked with dogs for over 5 years and the way the dog presented itself was very aggressive and I know it wasn’t the first incident. Wag! Does not protect you in any way. You will have to take the pet parent to civil court if you choose to. The pet parent will and can just create another profile even if they’re banded from that account. Second- customer service You will get an auto generated message nonstop for hours before being able to speak to a person. You can’t email, call or text anyone. There’s very rare times those options are available. If you have any issues you’re in your own. Third - the app take 60% of your pay. Outside of all that it’s easy when there 0 issues. Protect yourself, don’t go in the house until you’re sure the pet is calm, and friendly. Don’t expect to make all of the money on your profile. But it’s literally so fun and if you get the chance to have repeat clients , makes life easy .
The app is not helpful, it will push you to a screen you can’t get out of if your not careful. I.e. ending walks. Since you are disposable as a pet caregiver you cannot rate the pet owners or get any fair warning about them. Some are pretty nice and others are dreadful (verbally abusive and demanding) - there is no way to know until you are already there. It’s very hard to get a booking in the first place. The app will send you bookings for times you are already booked to walk another dog. The app does not allow you to set a better schedule for availability. If one pet owner gives you a bad review all your hard work up to that point is out the window. It’s their word and yours doesn’t matter. I lasted 3 weeks. Also, it has you set your rates and then takes 50% off that so it’s comical in a bad way. Wag does not care about the walkers. The app is glitchy. Beware. In 3 weeks I made $250 and that was hit and miss. Getting a walk is difficult.
Love dogs? Get paid for it! Caring for dogs is what you do best. Connecting pet walkers, sitters, and trainers with a nationwide community of pet parents is what we do best. Build your business and become your own boss with Wag!. Why Wag!? BE YOUR OWN BOSS Set your own schedule and manage your services. If you need help, support is standing by and available to you 24/7. DOG LOVE Spend your time brightening the lives of pups GET PAID Earn competitive money and get 100% of your tips! Payments handled securely via Stripe GIVE BACK Wag! donates money from 30 minute walks to feed shelter dogs BECOME A PET CAREGIVER Our sign-up process takes just a few minutes. Most Pet Caregivers are activated and ready to start providing services within 3 days. Have dog training experience? Offer your specialty service on the Wag! platform for the potential to earn even more. *You must be over 18-years old to apply and legally authorized to work in the United States, and must pass a comprehensive background check. NEED MORE CONVINCING? We’ve been around the block. Our community of 150,000+ Pet Caregivers nationwide are dog people, and it shows. Pet Caregivers with Wag! have a trusted record of experience with over 10 million pet care services across 4,600+ cities. We’ve donated over 10 million meals! A portion of our proceeds from the walks you book help to feed shelter dogs in your area. Making Pet Parents happy is what we do best -- 99% of Wag! services result in a 5-star review. Wag! Sitting, Walking, Boarding & Training services are available in over 4,600 cities in all 50 U.S. states.
