EDIT: ABSOLUTELY DO NOT USE GUARDIAN PET SITTERS EITHER IN BLOOMINGTON. JUST ARRIVED HOME TO DISCOVER THAT THEY NEVER SHOWED UP DURING OUR TEN DAY TRIP!!!!!!!! (See my last comment on this blog post)
We’re pretty annoyed right now. We’ve been looking for a petsitter in Bloomington, Indiana since we travel frequently, and need someone to take care of our animals when we’re away. So we found a local petsitter named “Amanda West” who advertised on the IU classified boards, and has a web site with “references” (probably fake, there’s no name/number/address under them). We asked her to come over to our house to meet the cats, and she agreed to a time and date.
When that time came around, we waited, and waited. Finally, after over an hour, I checked my email to get her phone number, and found an email from her saying something had come up, and she needed to cancel. The email was sent ten minutes after she was already supposed to be there. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and suggested a new appointment the next day at 7.30 pm. She replied within minutes to confirm. So whatever came up that was so urgent, she was on the internet at 7.10, and again at 8.20. Perhaps her urgent matter didn’t take very long, but since I had originally suggested she come over at 7 OR 8, she would obviously have been welcome to come over after she was done with the other thing.
So today, we waited again. 7.30 went by. Then 8 pm. 8.30 pm. and so on. Finally at 10 pm, I sent Amanda an email saying we don’t need her services anymore, because if she’s not responsible enough to show up for an appointment twice in a row, then she is not responsible enough to take care of animals. No response thus far.
So if you’re looking for pet sitting services in Bloomington, Indiana, and you love your animals, I strongly recommend that you find someone other than Amanda West!
(She would probably just taken the money and never come to see our animals, because it would be ‘too much trouble’, or ‘something would come up’.)
Thanks for posting this. I was considering using her services this weekend, but after reading this I will not. Do you recommend any other petsitters?
Hi Megan,
I have not found any yet, but I need to start looking for someone, because Thanksgiving is getting closer… I don’t remember the names now, but I did find two pet sitting companies online that seem to be insured/bonded, so I’m guessing they’re pretty reliable. They seem a little on the expensive side though, in comparison with our previous, excellent, petsitter in Oregon…
It’s hard finding someone, I want to make sure I really find someone who is reliable, and who can continue coming, so it’s not a different person every time.
Good luck!
I am not sure if you are associated with the university or not, but I posted an ad on one of their websites (OneStart) and got multiple replies. I found a woman who will take my dog into her home and is charging $25 for the weekend. If you’re interested, I will let you know if everything goes well.
Thanks, let me know how it goes! I was also thinking of just going through OneStart and seeing if I could find someone good! Have fun on your trip! I’m leaving for the weekend to go to a conference, but luckily my husband will stay home this time to take care of our babies.
I had an almost identical experience with her this evening when she was supposed to come meet my cats. She sent me an e-mail two hours after she was supposed to come saying she couldn’t make it. I told her we didn’t need her services anymore. Sigh.
I’ll be using Bloomington Pet Pals. I’ve used them before and have been very happy with their services before and even though they’re a bit expensive, they are very professional and friendly.
I’m not at all surprised. She later contacted me, threatening to sue me for publishing this, being very rude. (I guess her consultation with a lawyer didn’t go too well haha)
I just got new petsitters, for our Thanksgiving trip. We hired Guardian Pet Sitters, and they were also very professional and friendly. Our cats seem to like them right away, and I gave them a key to our house so I can use their services on short notice in the future, if I ever need to. They’re also a little more expensive, but very reasonable ($16 for three cats and a ferret, per visit).
Thanks for leaving your comments here, I’ve gotten a couple dozen hits for this post, for people searching for information about her, so I hope we’re helping people make an informed decision!
Thanks for the informative post…I was thinking about using her services but I’m going to look elsewhere. I don’t want to chance it.
Actually – I’m a graduate student at IU and have used Amanda’s pet-sitting services on multiple occasions. She has always been professional and prompt when taking care of my dogs and cat. Both of my dogs are high energy large breeds, and we’ve never had any issues with not walking them enough or accidents inside. In fact, during the semester I have weekly scheduled walk times for my dogs with Amanda – since they enjoy getting out with her when I’m not home during the afternoons.
I’m surprised that she would not have shown up twice – perhaps there was some sort of emergency that she felt uncomfortable sharing with someone she had not before met? Have you ever missed a job or appointment? Although I sympathize with your disappointment, I also think your post might be slightly unfair. While I think you could rightfully criticize her here for missing set times to meet, it’s perhaps a little spiteful to insinuate that she would therefore be completely indifferent to your pets. I assure you from experience this is not the case.
As far as the recommendations on her website – I happen to have been one of the reviewers. If you contact Amanda directly, she will give you a my tel. number.
One other thing I shoudl have mentioned above. Amanda is involved with our local shelter – and does volunteer there weekly I believe. Please see her recent letter to the editor of the Herald Times.
I had the same experience…she couldn’t make a appointment and let me know AFTER it was suppose to take place, didn’t give me a reason. Very unprofessional, I understand that things come up but don’t waste my time by not letting me know, a simple text, e-mail or call would of sufficed. Anyway I decided not to go with her, I took it as a indication how she ran her business.
This is so weird! I’ve been using her for YEARS (since like August 2006) and I’ve never ever had a problem with her (I was googling for her site so I could get her pricing again when this popped up). She’s always been on time, courteous, and my dogs really love her. That’s my biggest thing–I want someone that really has a relationship with my dogs. I don’t want someone who has a million clients. It’s also obvious that she actually cares about doing this because her prices are so low. So, while I’ve never had a problem with her rescheduling for meetings–I would think it’s worth rescheduling. I know that she just recently graduated, but before I know she was a full-time student working at the MCHA and stuff. I don’t know, I just don’t get why it seems some of the people here value being on time for a meeting knowing it’s just one girl over the quality of care for your pets. It’s sort of like deciding you like Wal-Mart better than Bloomingfoods because they’re more professional. Anyway, just wanted to speak up and tell anyone else looking at this that some of these reviews are really off base.
Great, “Sam”, but a quick check of your email address suggests that you are in fact a dog sitter yourself by the name of Sandy Jones, and so probably a friend/colleague, rather than a client of Amanda’s.
THREE different people had the same experience with Amanda, that’s hardly a one time problem (and if you read my original post, you’ll see that I DID give her another chance, and the same thing happened, and when I contacted her after that second time, she never even responded).
Unlike you, “Sam”, I feel that the safety and well-being of my pets is just a little more important than a grocery shopping decision. And are you seriously suggesting that someone who is this irresponsible is still better than a local “company”, simply because that couple (a husband and wife) actually got bonded and insured, unlike Amanda?
Hardly a Walmart-Bloomingfoods comparison. More of a “Bloomingfoods versus a bum on the street trying to sell you an apple” type of deal, in my opinion.
Oh my FUCKING god!!
Just arrived home from a 10 day trip to Argentina, to discovered that our petsitters NEVER SHOWED UP!!
TEN goddamn days!!!
They had even confirmed in writing which days/dates they were to come over!
And this company, Guardian Pet Sitters LLC, is even a licensed/bonded company whose owners are board members of NAPPS (National Assoc. of Prof. Pet Sitters). What the hell!
I called them, and the guy said he does remember the email and dates, but has no idea why they didn’t end up on the schedule. He was very sorry, blah blah. I told him we’re going to make a claim against their insurance or bond or something, we’re not sure yet what action to take.
Thank god our babies are okay, but not thanks to them! After this whole deal with Amanda, as described above, I’ve been very paranoid about petsitters, so I started leaving huge quantities of food and water out, so they had just enough for the whole ten days. (I also leave the bags out, so they could scratch them open in an emergency)
The litter box was nothing but a huge pile of cat crap, I’m amazed they didn’t start peeing on the carpet (or maybe we just haven’t discovered it yet).
Un-fucking-believable though. Licensed professionals, confirmed in writing, just DON’T SHOW UP for TEN days!!
I’m done with petsitters, I’m paying friends from now on to come over and take care of our babies.
Please contact me if you need any further assistance with your pets. I ensure quality care, because that is what every animal deserves.
aneal19.wixsite.com/amandaspetcare I am small and locally owned and operated but making you and your pet’s life easier is my goal.
Unprofessional.
I hired Amanda West off of google maps. I called her and she scheduled a visit to familiarize herself with my dog and my house. She called after 9pm, to which I told her it was too late. She came the next day. I hired her for two visits on a Saturday and one visit on Sunday, for a total of $30. I left her $40 and a note to leave the change. I returned on Sunday, to find that my dog had urinated by the back door. She hasn’t done this since she was a puppy. Amanda left me a $5 and a note that I had a $5 “credit” because she didn’t have the proper change on her. She also left the empty bag of dog food on the floor (as opposed to putting it in the trash. I contacted Amanda West and told her that I would like my change as I did not wish for a credit. She stated that she was not going to waste money on stamp or gas to return it, that I could come to her if I wanted my money back. In addition, she stated her job was not as a bank teller. She gave me her address (which I believe is one of her clients) as 507 S Lincoln Street Apt 1. When I arrived, she left a check under the door mat. The name on the check wasn’t hers. When I inquired, she said it was her husband’s account and that she had signature authority.
Amanda West is beyond unprofessional. Do not use!
Hi! I am Amanda Jewell and I own and operate Amanda’s Quality Pet Care in Bloomington, Indiana. I want to make clear that I am niot associated with this person at all in spite of the fact I do advertise on IU Classifieds. I offer in home pet care at affordable prices. I can provide references of every kind and professional poortfolio of education and accomplishments to match.