My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag • Hacker News Board

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#121

Post by dbg31415 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:53 AM UTC

lostlogin wrote: post #75

idontpost wrote: post #7

Incredibly stupid decision to respond this way by Wag. How bad to you have to be at PR to screw this up? It's not hard. Liability in the case of harmed pets is extremely limited, so you just pay it all and apologize profusely. There's no way the bad press will be worth saving a couple thousand maximum. Absolute idiots.

Missing from the discussion as far as I can see is mention of the walker’s behaviour. I don’t know what rules Wag have, but calling the owner as soon as possible and stating what has happened is a pretty basic thing to do. Deliver the bad news to those that need it as quickly and accurately as you can, with updates when appropriate. Not answering then lying is not ok, and whatever Wags’s rules are this shouldn’t have…

From what I know about Wag, it's sort of like Uber pool. You don't get your dog walked alone, a dog walker has the option to walk as many dogs as they can to maximise their profit. Add to this a matching algorithm that doesn't pair a consistent walker with your dog every day, and you get a situation where a new walker is pushed into taking more more responsibility than they probably should. This inherently puts dogs in an unsafe environment.

I can see a dog being excited, put with other dogs he doesn't know very well, and one dog breaking loose... running into the street while the walker holds on to the other 3 they are walking... total shit show. You want a consistent dog walker, you want someone who will put time in to get to know your dog, and you never want unfamiliar dogs around your dog unless it's properly supervised.

The whole situation, in my opinion, is prone to disastrous outcomes. Can you imagine if AirBnB booked multiple families to a site at a time? We'd all flip out. But it's OK for our dogs... likely because when we're at work we don't know what goes on, out of site, out of mind.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#122

Post by quickthrower2 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:55 AM UTC

chuinard wrote: post #41

ValleyOfTheMtns wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dropped my 2 year old son at day care this morning. Should I have not had a child if I can't look after him all day, every day?

Not really the same comparison. That human will eventually be able to take care of itself and do a lot more for this world than the dog ever will. Pets don't always make sense, and I tend to agree with parent. Or maybe Wag should just connect you one-time with someone reliable in your area. It seems stupid to have strangers all the time with your dog. As the top comment mentioned, people used to just get someone reli…

So don't own a dog unless you can take them for a walk every day without fail for the next 15 years without using a dog sitter / walker.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#123

Post by idontpost » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:57 AM UTC

labster wrote: post #120

astura wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is basically a side effect of the "gig economy." One can even just sell their account (and good will) when they decide to quit dog walking. Pretty scary when you really think about it. Also heard of uber drivers hiring illegal immigrants to drive under their uber account, not sure of the credibility of these reports.

Why would anyone care if an undocumented immigrant drove your uber? As long as they're licensed and insured, they're just as qualified as any other driver.

1) Some people would care because they think undocumented immigrants are subhuman. 2) Other people would care because Uber is sketchy enough with out random sub-sub-sub contractors being added into the mix, regardless of their immigration status. 3) Still other people would be bothered by the obviously minimal pay a sub-sub-sub....sub-contracted undocumented immigrant would be paid.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#124

Post by ars » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:57 AM UTC

labster wrote: post #120

astura wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is basically a side effect of the "gig economy." One can even just sell their account (and good will) when they decide to quit dog walking. Pretty scary when you really think about it. Also heard of uber drivers hiring illegal immigrants to drive under their uber account, not sure of the credibility of these reports.

Why would anyone care if an undocumented immigrant drove your uber? As long as they're licensed and insured, they're just as qualified as any other driver.

Under someone else's account? How exactly would they be insured in that situation?

It's also IRS fraud, there is no background check, the list of issues with this is just huge.

There are plenty of reasons to care - undocumented people are a legal liability for both the passenger and Uber.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#125

Post by ncr100 » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:58 AM UTC

Trust is not bought or rightly earned through 5 stars.

Our technology is being used to perpetuate tragedies.

We have no ethics organisations, for encouraging ethical usage of Computer Science.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#126

Post by doodliego » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:58 AM UTC

idontpost wrote: post #7

Incredibly stupid decision to respond this way by Wag. How bad to you have to be at PR to screw this up? It's not hard. Liability in the case of harmed pets is extremely limited, so you just pay it all and apologize profusely. There's no way the bad press will be worth saving a couple thousand maximum. Absolute idiots.

This bullying, cover-it-up response toward customers is telling. If I was an early investor, I would be worried that this symptomatic of larger scales issues of deceit regarding metrics and finance. Sociopathic behavior is a huge red flag.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#127

Post by j16sdiz » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:59 AM UTC

labster wrote: post #120

astura wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is basically a side effect of the "gig economy." One can even just sell their account (and good will) when they decide to quit dog walking. Pretty scary when you really think about it. Also heard of uber drivers hiring illegal immigrants to drive under their uber account, not sure of the credibility of these reports.

Why would anyone care if an undocumented immigrant drove your uber? As long as they're licensed and insured, they're just as qualified as any other driver.

Does insurance cover when illegal immigrant drive the car?

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#128

Post by ars » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 5:59 AM UTC

dbg31415 wrote: post #34

I went on a few dates with a girl who was a walker for Wag. She had just moved to the town I'm from, and she was between jobs. She had a background as veterinary assistant, was great with my dogs, and seemed over qualified for the work. One day she was upset and I asked her why. She said it was because Wag had terminated her employment and deleted her profile, with over 100 high reviews. (She had been very proud of t…

Why did she report it to Wag? Why even involve them? Report it to the local government. What's Wag supposed to do here anyway?

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#129

Post by gig3m » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 6:00 AM UTC

labster wrote: post #120

astura wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is basically a side effect of the "gig economy." One can even just sell their account (and good will) when they decide to quit dog walking. Pretty scary when you really think about it. Also heard of uber drivers hiring illegal immigrants to drive under their uber account, not sure of the credibility of these reports.

Why would anyone care if an undocumented immigrant drove your uber? As long as they're licensed and insured, they're just as qualified as any other driver.

At least in Texas, illegal immigrants cannot get insurance (for themselves) or a driver's license.

Re: My dog was killed on a walk with a walker ordered through Wag

#130

Post by baroffoos » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 6:01 AM UTC

usaphp wrote: post #43

baroffoos wrote: post #14

There is obviously fault to be attributed to the walker by lying about what had happened but I think its worth thinking about how many animals are killed by cars on a regular basis. We probably all know someone whos pets were killed by cars and the local wildlife is regularly splattered across the roads. I think we need to seriously slow down the speed of our roads to avoid killing so many pets and endangered wildlif…

> I think we need to seriously slow down the speed of our roads to avoid killing so many pets and endangered wildlife. You don’t need to drive fast to kill a dog running under your car. Even 20mph is enough to seriously injure a dog. Speed limit is not the problem here. Maybe auto pilot will fix the reaction time for the car needed to stop before the accident occurs

Slowing down gives you more time to see something coming and hit the brakes so you don't hit the dog at all. No auto pilot can stop the car faster than its stopping distance. Lowering speed makes the stopping distance much smaller.