Mad Paws Reviews 

Think very carefully before booking through Mad Paws.

I thought I was doing the right thing by choosing a sitter with great reviews and repeat clients. Unfortunately, my experience has been deeply distressing and has left both my animals and my holiday in turmoil.

The sitter arrived 90 minutes late on Thursday evening. The next day, we discovered via our home cameras that they had left our animals locked inside for over 8 hours—despite reassuring us that someone would be present 24/7. Upon their return, the sitter brought multiple friends into our home carrying large bags and cartons of beer.

When we contacted the sitter and asked the guests to leave, they first denied anyone else was there, then became abusive over the phone. After reluctantly removing their guests, the sitter abruptly quit via text, saying they were “worried they wouldn’t get paid.”

We are now two days into a 10-day trip—1400km away from home—and have already missed the main event we travelled for. Our seven animals were left completely unattended for 14 hours. We’re now forced to cancel the rest of our holiday, losing thousands of dollars in flights, accommodation, and pre-paid activities.

Mad Paws has been utterly unhelpful in resolving the situation. They claim to “find replacements” in emergencies, but when it actually counts, they do nothing. I called them at 10am—12 hours later, there is still no solution. Editing to add: it has now been 35 hours since the sitter walked out and MadPaws management have failed to do anything to help. The is an RSPCA issue.

We paid $2200 for a 10-day stay, booked six months in advance, and yet when things went wrong, customer service placed us in the “too hard” basket. They are more than happy to take your money, but when your pets’ welfare is at risk, you’re on your own.

Please think twice before trusting this platform with your animals. Our pets deserve better—and so do we.

Great website and lovely people to deal with

Have tried three times now, unsuccessfully, to find a sitter for my dog. I recently contacted 2 sitters who, predictably, didn’t give me the courtesy of a response. I subsequently received an email from madpaws indicating that I needed to contact more people if I was to expect a response, and providing me with a list of other options which, of course, aren’t really options at all: my dog is dog-reactive and not to be trusted around other dogs (and this is clearly stated in my pet profile) yet their suggestions were all for sitters who have dogs at home.
In their email they blithely tell me that they have noticed that my requests have received no responses yet their reaction is that I need to do more. If these witless types don’t have the good manners to respond why does the company not sanction them, perhaps by booting them off the platform?
Further, filling out their forms online is quite hard work as you grapple with the user-unfriendliness of their site. Too much hard work for me - have given them a chance but will now move on.

The website itself is atrocious. Lots of bugs and you can't pay a petsitter/carer without leaving a review! Feel like I'm being held hostage.

Your actual experience with pet carers, etc. will depend person to person but the quality of the platform itself is shocking. Highly suggest looking into alternatives

Robley Helpers has really enjoyed using this app, we do occasional pet sitting through this app in the tahmoor -Fairfield region we have 2 locations but all owners we have hosted have been great with minimal property damage. All clients whom have booked and confirmed booking have been really happy. Thanks again to this app, only thing can’t fault on is approx 20% of fees app takes so with tax and super out of it only get 61% but I understand app owners need to make money to pay their staff as well. Even the customer service was great when we were needing to update some details.

I live near to a Mad Paws minder. The dogs appear to be left alone much of the time. They understandably spend a large part of their day barking at the back door or gate, stressful for both the neighbours and the dogs. Not sure how this can be monitored but be careful who you leave your dog with.

Very disappointed with Mad Paws. I used pet sitting service for a week. The sitter ignored lock instructions, locked herself out, and I had to cover locksmith fee. Worse, she left my home overnight without telling me and only admitted it after being caught on my return. She said she had to go the party while she was clearly accepted the job to pet sit.

Mad Paws downplayed the seriousness of leaving pets alone and refunded only one night without properly investigating. They reduced the booking and paid the sitter without my consent. Obviously after one week they pay automatically as their “policy”. It’s clear they don’t prioritise pet safety or customer trust. I won’t be using them again.

I had a lovely experience with Madpadws when I made an enquiry everything felt so smooth and professional. I’m especially grateful for Angel’s support; was incredibly kind, responsive, and helpful throughout the whole process. Thank you for making everything feel easy!

Turns clients and sitters against each other by not allowing sitters profile up on the search bar if clients put bookings in archive when the sitters have no power to access this. SCAM - DONT USE

Fast response and my suggestion will be considered.
Thankyou :)

Customer service was excellent, March in particular who helped me through a difficult customer. They are an asset to your company and should be recognised for their work. Been with Mad paws for about a year and was fully supported by your staff, very happy pet sitter here

The customer service rep knew her stuff, answered really well and provided a link so that I could see exactly where to direct me.

I had a query regarding requesting payment. My query was answered within minutes and all was worked out.
Thank you.

I’m a sitter and had trouble with my bank details. I requested the pay to the wrong bank account number. Anne helped me resolve my mistake in not even 12 hours. Their app is easy to use too!

The admin area once I got through to them were great and fixed my issue straight away. On the other hand I experienced one of the online support team which was asking me questions which were no relevant regarding my bookings. in the end I just turned my computer off.

Good for getting work.
However, MadPaws takes 20% of whatever you earn, plus they charge the person booking a hefty fee!
Seems pretty greedy to me.

Eg. Customer booked and paid $915.00, I was then notified it would be an $825.00 job.
I then only got $660.00 in the bank.

Customer paid: $915.00
I received: $660.00

NO GOOD!

The app is pretty glitchy. If you’ve used it for more than a couple minutes you’ll know what I mean.
The app has issues letting you type in some areas, gives the incorrect postcode which can’t be adjusted, is laggy when you press the back button, etc.
the support person who I reached out to was able to help me though, but kind of annoying as if I want any changes I’ll probably have to go back through support.
For a previous issue I also had to email multiple times to get to a resolution, as my initial email seems to have been ignored or miss-read, because if read properly the issue would not have needed multiple emails back and forth to fix.

Have had great experience for last couple of year. But this week my payment would not go through the site, I talked to someone on the chat online and he sorted it by bank transfer. This morning my sitter tells me it still shows as unpaid, I have now tried for four hours to contact madpaws. The online chat says its connecting you but never does. The call line - even for emergencies- just hangs up on you and tells you to use the chat online. I have emailed, three times and no response. Very frustrating and a waste of a morning, will go elsewhere next time.

Being a first time user of Madpaws I was unsure of finding someone close to Christmas to walk 2 dogs....

However, I was lucky to find KATIE in my local area.

Katie has a great rapport and kindness and both dogs looked forward to each walk.