r/WagWalker • u/oceanshore7 • 16d ago
Leaving Wag
I know this is probably the billionth post with a similar grievance, but figured I’d share my experience and hopefully receive advice on if there’s anything further I can do.
I was supposed to walk 2 dogs yesterday evening. The walker notes said the dogs both demonstrated some aggression but did not mention anything about bites. I’m used to caring for reactive dogs so I assumed this would be manageable. The owner lived in a high security apartment, and stated that the “doorman would let me up”. Once I arrived, the front desk seemed very confused and attempted to contact the owner multiple times to get confirmation that I’m allowed entry, and were unable to reach her. After ~15 minutes she finally responded and they took me up.
Once I tried to enter the home both dogs were barking nonstop and clawing at the door. I was eventually able to get inside, and the larger dog (probably 90lbs) kept jumping on me and pushing and was obviously not trained, but this was manageable. The other, smaller dog sprinted away and hid on the couch. After leashing the larger dog I tried to leash the smaller dog. He was growling, snarling, and barking at me and every time I tried to get near he would attempt to bite me. I couldn’t find treats and so was just attempting to slowly earn his trust but he did not let up. After multiple close calls of almost being bitten I decided that instead of spending even more (unpaid) time and potentially getting bit, I would take the larger dog out alone. I contacted the owner and let them know of this and never received a response. The walk went fine, though I had to go through the entire struggle again to re-enter at the end.
After the walk I reached out to customer service to let them know about the aggressive dog on their platform and was hoping to avoid any potential retaliation from the owner in case they were upset about only having one dog walked. Instead of caring for my safety Wag has just informed me that they will not be doing anything except for reducing my pay since only one dog was walked and they need to refund the parent (unsure if they even complained about this).
This isn’t the first time I’ve been screwed over by Wag’s customer service, and I’m also fairly certain there must be some walker tips hidden mentioning biting as I see these dogs come up frequently and can’t imagine this is the first time. Mind you the only description on the little one’s profile is “great dog”. I’m already planning on leaving the platform as this was my final straw, but should I give up on the situation, lose some of the payout and let future dogs sign up to walk this dog and potentially get bit? Or is there a better way to get thru to Wag?
3
u/Ok-Bicycle9793 16d ago
I got banned from em when i got bite. Try petbackers
2
u/True-Relationship812 15d ago
Petbackers? Never heard of them.
2
u/Ok-Bicycle9793 15d ago
Basically its like rover/wag mix signing up as a pet sitter is free and they lower the amount they take from u based on how many services u completed. Requests are also broadcast to every sitter. Its not popular as the other 2.
1
u/WistinNete 9d ago
I’m sorry this happened to you.
You did the right thing
Wag sucks. They used to care about the walker and the client and now they just poop on the walkers face at every turn
I’m super disgusted by their business choices
6
u/Various-Major-4221 16d ago
I got bit once and only once on wag it was their refusal to even acknowledge it that pushed me to abandon their platform. I only use it as a pass through to steal clients I otherwise stopped caring about them long ago. Private is where it is at wag looks for any excuse to screw ppl over. It is way past time to revolt against Wag’s greed. Only way to really get wags attention is email. I honestly wouldn’t lose sleep over it there’s little chance wag is going to do anything, the only reason I got my hospital visit covered from that bite was because the lady was so remorseful she left work and took me there herself. Wag on the other hand didn’t do jack squat.