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Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

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Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#41

Post by gonehome »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #11
jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

Rover.com is doing pretty well [1] with a similar service. In my area at least, these dog sitters (and, I assume, these dog walkers) are young, and take it on temporarily as an alternate source of income. They may not stick around for long, and you'll soon be looking for another. Also, their schedules may change frequently - your preferred walker/sitter may not be available on the date of your vacation or other cause…

My sister does rover and it suffers from the same issue the parent comment talks about (which is also the reason homejoy probably failed).

As soon as she builds a relationship with the person they transact outside the app.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#42

Post by Bartweiss »

bko wrote: post #14
jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

Not necessarily. If you have a dog walker he may not always be available. I have been with pet owners and they would leave a bar early because of their dog. They may be using that as an excuse but I think there may be a market for flexibility. Especially when it comes to spontaneous work happy hours.

The second problem here is trust, though.

I know it sounds a bit odd to trust strange drivers more than strange dog-walkers, cars aren't exactly safe, but it's pretty true. For someone to take care of my dog, I'd want at a minimum for them to meet the dog with me present and go over some basic care instructions.

So: yeah, I've left events I genuinely wanted to stay at to go take care of my dog. But my general solution to this is "ask a trusted neighbor to come by"; since trust and familiarity are required, I'd probably still end up going out-of-band even if I had to keep in touch with multiple people.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#44

Post by Bartweiss »

iskander wrote: post #5
jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

Dog boarding, on the other hand, is pretty irregular. So rather than Uber I think the correct analogy should be AirBnB.

Yep; it's a way better case for a coordination website. That site is Rover, which to my knowledge is doing just fine. (Wikipedia suggests they cleared $30 million in revenue last year.) They offer dog-walking too, but are probably a bit safer because the boarding offer is a good incentive to just stick around and use one site for everything.

(Rover also provides insurance on each deal, a very un-Uber approach that's actually more protective than most low-tech arrangements.)

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#45

Post by Bartweiss »

brianwawok wrote: post #24
sbilstein wrote: post #18

It's been a mixed bag with Wag. The app quality is not great, buggy and major usability issues...but also the walk report card warms my heart. I was worried about trusting my dog to strangers but it wasn't too bad with Wag. Overall most of the people were decent but I'd occasionally get some really bad walkers who wouldn't fill out the report card, or walk the dog for 90 minutes instead of 30. My partner and I decide…

My dog got abused at doggy daycare. Paid to play, but instead locked in a cage all day, and multiple shock collars put on his neck to try and get his barking to stop (not approved by me). So not sure this really applies to wag vs not.. but double and triple check the references of your doggy daycare..

Jesus. I've always been a bit paranoid about this; at the moment I'm sticking to my vet's dogcare program, which seems more reliable.

This would be a nontrivial concern for me with Wag. Uber rides have plenty at risk also, but at least I'm present for those. (And in one case, I have in fact gotten out early for safety's sake.) Coordination services are that much less convincing when the buyer and seller aren't both present.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#46

Post by askafriend »

jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

This is exactly what happened to Homejoy. They couldn't close the loop consistently. There was reportedly a ton of drop-off from the initial transactions.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#47

Post by brianwawok »

Bartweiss wrote: post #45
brianwawok wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My dog got abused at doggy daycare. Paid to play, but instead locked in a cage all day, and multiple shock collars put on his neck to try and get his barking to stop (not approved by me). So not sure this really applies to wag vs not.. but double and triple check the references of your doggy daycare..

Jesus. I've always been a bit paranoid about this; at the moment I'm sticking to my vet's dogcare program, which seems more reliable. This would be a nontrivial concern for me with Wag. Uber rides have plenty at risk also, but at least I'm present for those. (And in one case, I have in fact gotten out early for safety's sake.) Coordination services are that much less convincing when the buyer and seller aren't both p…

Ya exactly.. with Uber it's just yourself for risk.

Wag is one stop closer to "I trust you with something import to me, don't break it". I guess the ultimate test would be "uber for babysitting".. some stranger stops by and picks up your kid and takes them to the park.

Where you value your pets varies a lot by culture. But I value them much closer to my children than myself.. which would make Wag a nogo for me.

Edit - Not to make you paranoid, but my event happened at my vet. Turns out my vet abused 100s of dogs. No criminal charges. She is under review to MAYBE have something happen to her license. Or maybe have some additional oversight. After abusing and killing many animals.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#48

Post by neaden »

iskander wrote: post #5
jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

Dog boarding, on the other hand, is pretty irregular. So rather than Uber I think the correct analogy should be AirBnB.

I'm not sure that that is true. I always board my dog with the some place or a friend.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#49

Post by solaarphunk »

jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

This is literally why AirBnB is getting beaten in China - the Chinese competitor realized people are going to do this, and is happy making a little less money and acting as more of an introducer.

Re: Wag, the ‘Uber for Dog-Walking,’ Is Drawing Uber-Like Scrutiny

#50

Post by subpixel »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #11
jedberg wrote: post #2

Here's why I'd never invest in the Uber for dog walkers: Once someone finds a walker they like, they'll just do a deal with them. Dog walking isn't like needing a ride. Usually when you need a ride, you need it now, and you don't care who provides it. With dog walking, it's usually at a scheduled time each day, and you care a lot about who is providing the service. Dog walking is not a good candidate for the Uber mod…

Rover.com is doing pretty well [1] with a similar service. In my area at least, these dog sitters (and, I assume, these dog walkers) are young, and take it on temporarily as an alternate source of income. They may not stick around for long, and you'll soon be looking for another. Also, their schedules may change frequently - your preferred walker/sitter may not be available on the date of your vacation or other cause…

Also: Rover offers insurance. This probably has an effect on customer retention.
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