Does this sound like "drama"? Idk what to expect!

Question

A lady I know asked my to house-sit for her, taking care of her house, 3 dogs, and 2 cats, house plants, mail, etc for 12 days. She proposed $200 and at the time, it sounded low but I didnt want to argue, rather I thought of it as more of a favor. Although I have 3 dogs and a life of my own, and I also live 25 miles away.

When I got there, her dogs "skimmed" the counters in the kitchen and ate up a lot of my food, the cats vomited 4 times (I called and told her about it and she said, oh yeah they do that. Whoops I didnt tell you...) the neighbors let themselves in to "check" on things one Friday night (there were no parties or anything like that). And when I left, I left the house much cleaner than it was when I found it.

The day she got back into town, I emailed her that I wish I would've addressed this sooner, but that i felt like I deserve more than just $200. (I spent more than that on gas driving home and back and on food). Oh also I didnt sleep very much the entire time, b/c her dogs barked and snored loudly throughout the night, which she also didn't warn me about.

In the email I sent her, I quoted some prices of what she wouldv'e paid, had she boarded the animals. I told her that for the 2 labs (big dogs) it would've been $456 plus tax, and they would've been kenneled a majority of the time, and be without human contact. And that price would not have even included the other 3 animals in the house.

She emailed me back and said, "I have a couple questions for you: I noticed that the bedside table had been moved; was there something wrong that the furniture had to be moved" and "Did you have guests stay in one of the upstairs bedrooms?" I told her that I stayed up there one night, in attempt to sleep soundly away from animal noises.

I still have her key, and yesterday she emailed me and said, "could we meet up today at Starbucks" I assume she wants her key back. She has yet to say anything more about how much she'll be paying me.

I'm kind of unsure, and therefore nervous, as to how our conversation will go, and I'm wondering why she wanted to meet me in such a public place, whereas every other time we've met, it was at her house.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Sometimes it helps to have an oobjective point of view. Thank you for any ideas/ suggestions, etc!!!

Answer 1

Unfortunately you have no leverage in any negotiation.  When you meet, restate your case as calmly as you can; after that you'll have to rely on her good nature and possible desire to use your services again.  But if all she'll do is pay the agreed $200, you're stuck.  Remember, experience is what we get when we don't get what we want.  Place value on the lesson learned and move on.

Answer 2

Our petsitter charges $20.00 per visit for our two cats and she doesn't stay at the house.  She plays with the guys for about an hour, waters the plants, picks up the mail and newspapers, cleans their litter and feeds them.  We have her visit once a day.  Additional critters cost more and since dogs require more outdoor trips, there are additional charges for multiple visits.  This has been the norm with every petsitting service we have hired in whatever State we have lived so you might want to mention that.

Answer 3

I say she took complete advantage of you...We board our cat (in NY) when we go away.  We went away for a week and it cost us $227.00.. and they didnn't have to clean up vomit.   It sounds like she is just looking for reasons not to pay you more,,I mean who cares if the nightstand was moved...maybe u dropped something or better yet....tell her you moved it when you were cleaning.  I personally would not make a big deal of it if she didn't pay me extra, but tell her that you feel totally taken advantage of, especially because she "forgot" to tell u about the vomiting and the snoring, etc.just chalk it up to the fact that some people are just not that nice and wouldn't do it for her again.  I am sure you are not the first house sitter she has had that won't go back!!

Answer 4

I don't know..just show up at starbucks, and give her honest answers and tell her you deserve WAY more than 200 bucks (cleaning up cat vomit? YUCK!) I'd take a minimum 500 JUST for that job :) lol..

Answer 5

I think you should have done your homework before you accepted the job.  You knew how many dogs and cats she had before you accepted.  She already knows that it costs more to board the pets at a kennel, that's why she asked you to do it.  You should probably have gone to her house to assess the situation before you agreed to the price.

I think you should just give her her key back and never house sit for her in the future.  Put this down as a lesson learned and hopefully you don't repeat the same mistake in the future.

Answer 6

ewwwwwww!!! cat vomit!! she should pay way more!

Answer 7

yeah that was not really worth your time. Plus you did not make a profit. I understand where you are coming from but i am not sure she is gonna go for a change in the payment now. this was probably something you had one shot at negotiating upfront. I am sorry. Just go. There won't be drama and even if she makes it just calmly state your case. At the end of the day she has to pay you that 200 bucks and if thats all you get ...then yeah...like the others said you will have learned from this.

Answer 8

I am currently house sitting and I understand having to take care of the animals. They have 2 horses, 1 golden retriever, and 2 cats. I think that the best thing you can do is give her the key back, and if she asks you how it went, mention in a calm, but detailed manner, everything extra that you had to do that was not listed when she gave you the price quote. Unfortunately, I think that house sitting is just a bad position to be put in and you might just have to cahlk it up to lesson learned