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

#281

Post by syshum » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:43 AM UTC

Rapzid wrote: post #164

ravenstine wrote: post #16

I was going to reply with a reply about this being "statistically bound to happen", until I read this: > If we wanted to be compensated we had to agree not to tell anyone what happened, we could not leave any negative reviews, we could not make posts on social media, we could not hold Wag or the walker responsible, and only then would Wag reimburse us for Winnie’s cremation. When we responded that we would not sign t…

I'm really torn on this.. That's typical settlement stuff. They are of course free to go to court and leave all the negative reviews they like?

You should not be torn, nor should NDA's and prohibition on negative review be "typical settlement stuff"

That is a problem in society today, and why many of these companies get away with massive amounts of bad behavior. We has a society view it acceptable for these corporations to pay off their victims with hush money, instead of actually holding them accountable for their bad actions

Here Wag is not stepping up, doing their right thing, or making the victim whole. They are (or were attempting to) pay off their victim to silence them. That should not be viewed by anyone as ethically right

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

#282

Post by swish_bob » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:43 AM UTC

Fomite wrote: post #51

sonnyblarney wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wag are jerkoffs it seems, but it's still 'statistically likely to happen'. Accidents happen in all things, so I think it should boil down mostly to whatever the reality is there. ... though Wag has shown some bad form obviously.

Given it's statistically bound to happen, Wag should have been able to anticipate this in a way that was not , if not the worst approach, arguably pretty close.

A cursory google indicates it's not even that uncommon. There appear to be quite a few "Wag killed my dog" stories going back a number of years.

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

#283

Post by mynameishere » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:48 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #253

Sholmesy wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has lost friends and family members, as well as pets, it feels the same. I see this dichotomy quite a bit in the public discourse, regarding dogs especially, where 1/2 the world treats dogs as family and the other half thinks they are some play toy/object. We have been living with wolves/dogs for a long time now, we're responsible for how they have evolved, and part of that is how they have evolved to…

I appreciate you responding and explaining your perspective, even though we may disagree on the issue. > 1/2 the world treats dogs as family Do you think that half the world, if given the choice between saving either their dog or a stranger's child in a disaster situation (e.g. a house fire), would choose their dog?

Dude, you're arguing with crazy people. Just forget it.

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

#284

Post by horatiocain » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:52 AM UTC

jopsen wrote: post #256

To be fair aren't most dog walkers paid extremely little? (Below minimum wage even) Many of these services like uber are effective means to underpay people. It has upsides too, such as people having a job (beats having no job). But I'm not surprised the walker didn't want to confront the client. Clients are very unlikely to be calm reasonable people in this situation.

> To be fair aren't most dog walkers paid extremely little? (Below minimum wage even)

IDK what your source is on this one but the last time I got one it cost like $40 for a person to walk my dog and leave a little paper note that they pooped.

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

#285

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:54 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #253

Sholmesy wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has lost friends and family members, as well as pets, it feels the same. I see this dichotomy quite a bit in the public discourse, regarding dogs especially, where 1/2 the world treats dogs as family and the other half thinks they are some play toy/object. We have been living with wolves/dogs for a long time now, we're responsible for how they have evolved, and part of that is how they have evolved to…

I appreciate you responding and explaining your perspective, even though we may disagree on the issue. > 1/2 the world treats dogs as family Do you think that half the world, if given the choice between saving either their dog or a stranger's child in a disaster situation (e.g. a house fire), would choose their dog?

[deleted]

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

#286

Post by sametmax » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 9:55 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #245

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Absolute idiots Agreed. You do three things in a crisis: 1) Acknowledge the problem. You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family. "We're opening an investigation" is a chickenshit message. 2) CEO needs to speak. Personal call from the top. If a dog is seriously injured or killed while on your watch, the CEO must make the call. This shows seriousness to the customer. It also ensures top brass feels the pa…

There was a comment that is now removed that said: > Spoken like someone who's never lost family. in reply to the parent's comment that said: > You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family." My comment will probably be flagged as well, but fine, I'll sacrifice some karma to show my support. I lost my mother due to cancer when I was eleven and I personally find it offensive when someone tells me they know "w…

Suffering is subjective, contextual and personnal.

Suffering linked to attachment to something can be great, not matter the something. It's the attachment that matters, and it's not produced by the nature of the thing, but by the experience the person had of the thing.

It's created suffering anyway, so the amount you generate is up to you, and is not related to the loss.

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

#287

Post by HeavyStorm » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 10:00 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #245

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Absolute idiots Agreed. You do three things in a crisis: 1) Acknowledge the problem. You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family. "We're opening an investigation" is a chickenshit message. 2) CEO needs to speak. Personal call from the top. If a dog is seriously injured or killed while on your watch, the CEO must make the call. This shows seriousness to the customer. It also ensures top brass feels the pa…

There was a comment that is now removed that said: > Spoken like someone who's never lost family. in reply to the parent's comment that said: > You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family." My comment will probably be flagged as well, but fine, I'll sacrifice some karma to show my support. I lost my mother due to cancer when I was eleven and I personally find it offensive when someone tells me they know "w…

I really don't belive the parent meant it like that. He said "like", which means similar, and to many people it is.

Losing a cousin is different to losing a father, which is different to losing a grandfather. And all that is completely different to losing a child, right? And everyone responds differently.

So you took offense because you decided he was comparing dogs with mothers. Certainly he was not; and that was not the point, after all.

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

#288

Post by beaconstudios » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 10:01 AM UTC

thomasec wrote: post #151

We had a similar (but thankfully, less serious) thing happen with Rover. We booked a dog sitter for 4 days with a woman named "Leslie". When we showed up to "Leslie's" place, the lady who we met did not match the person in the photo, and barely spoke any english. We were on our way to the airport, so I really didn't have a choice at that point but to leave our dog (I realize now I should have done more vetting, or me…

> These services like Wag and Rover have literally one job, and that is to make sure you trust the individuals watching your pet.

I think this is where the key incentive misalignment is. These companies are rent-seeking, meaning they have a strong incentive to lower marginal costs. Vetting has to be the largest component of that so it's likely to be cut (or just dropped entirely). But the vetting is the entire point of the exercise, so what you end up with is a company that pretends it vets people but (I suspect) doesn't really. So the profit margin is bolstered by false advertising.

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

#289

Post by oldgradstudent » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 10:04 AM UTC

onion2k wrote: post #165

oldgradstudent wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We do have Wag's side of the story. No, you don't. You only have someone's claims about Wag's side of the story. It sounds authentic, but Internet is full with authentic-sounding false stories.

Is it more likely that someone is lying on the internet about their dog being killed, with no one they know replying in the comments to call them out, or that a startup is catastrophically bad at PR and just basic human empathy? The principle of Occam's Razor applies here.

You are making inferences about the situation after hearing one side of the story. As reasonable as it is, it is still coming after hearing one side of the story.

And no, Occam's razor does not apply.

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

#290

Post by trhway » Fri, Jan 18, 2019, 10:05 AM UTC

throwaway713 wrote: post #245

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Absolute idiots Agreed. You do three things in a crisis: 1) Acknowledge the problem. You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family. "We're opening an investigation" is a chickenshit message. 2) CEO needs to speak. Personal call from the top. If a dog is seriously injured or killed while on your watch, the CEO must make the call. This shows seriousness to the customer. It also ensures top brass feels the pa…

There was a comment that is now removed that said: > Spoken like someone who's never lost family. in reply to the parent's comment that said: > You killed someone's dog. This hits like losing family." My comment will probably be flagged as well, but fine, I'll sacrifice some karma to show my support. I lost my mother due to cancer when I was eleven and I personally find it offensive when someone tells me they know "w…

>we just have a totally different set of moral axioms and are fundamentally incapable of seeing the world in the same way.

yes, definitely. I think what you're doing - dismissing the pain of others - is cruel and completely lacks empathy. I'm sorry that life treated you in such a cruel way, yet it doesn't excuse your emotional cruelty toward others. Note: i did lost members of immediate and extended family, including my father and our cat, to cancer, so i know the pain.

Just step back and think what you're doing here - people from the original post are heartbroken by the tragic loss of their dog, and the commenters express their condolences and empathy toward the grieving family ... and here you rush in with your pain and start shouting that their pain is incomparable to yours. I only hope that your actions here make at least your pain easier even if just a bit, otherwise it is just senseless.