WWYD? Re: Pet sitter

[xjillianpaige]

I would have told her that I knew from the security cameras that she was lying, paid her two thirds, not used her again, and warned people not to use her.

I think that seems unfair. She's a kid, not a business owner with a yelp page. Let this be a learning experience and hope that, one day someone asks her for help and she does it right because she learned about what happens when you don't.

 

[MataHari22]

OP, I think you pretty much did the right thing and that's probably how I would have handled it, except that I probably would not have given her the entire amount since she missed part of her obligation. As for the people saying that they would have just paid her and never used her again, I cannot disagree more with this. I was the General Manager of a QSR for 7.5 years and I managed many 15-18 years olds. They need to be held accountable and believe me, they are better when you hold them to a high standard and expect more of them. She will either learn a valuable lesson or she will keep screwing up, and she won't learn to be responsible and have a work ethic. I hope it's the former.

 

[ronandannette]

I just meant that other teens will hear that OP interrogates you if you take the job. The teen was wrong though for not walking dogs properly but she may put her spin on this to friends.

So what? Who cares? I wouldn't even consider hiring a random neighbourhood teen again if I was the OP.

OP, I think you pretty much did the right thing and that's probably how I would have handled it, except that I probably would not have given her the entire amount since she missed part of her obligation. As for the people saying that they would have just paid her and never used her again, I cannot disagree more with this. I was the General Manager of a QSR for 7.5 years and I managed many 15-18 years olds. They need to be held accountable and believe me, they are better when you hold them to a high standard and expect more of them. She will either learn a valuable lesson or she will keep screwing up, and she won't learn to be responsible and have a work ethic. I hope it's the former.

 

[MinnieMouse84]

I think that seems unfair. She's a kid, not a business owner with a yelp page. Let this be a learning experience and hope that, one day someone asks her for help and she does it right because she learned about what happens when you don't.

I wouldn't make an announcement or publicly shame her. I'd just mention it to people I knew who had pets if they were looking for a sitter. I don't care how old she is. This is our fur babies' LIVES we're talking about. If she's going to take care of them, she should absolutely be held to the highest standards.

 

[Mirielle]

OP...I think you managed the situation well. The girl has every right to know WHY she won't be hired by you in the future, and as far as micromanaging...so??? It's YOUR home, YOUR dogs, YOUR money and YOUR right to handle things as YOU see fit. You don't need to tiptoe delicately around a 16 year old who didn't hold up her end of the deal.

 

[okeydokey]

Perfectly handled. You let her know that if she accepts a job she needs to do the job. It is a great learning experience for her.

And you paid her the full agreed up[on amount, so that is actually a win for her.

 

[LisaR]

Thanks everyone for all the feedback! I've been on the Dis long enough to know not to ask a WWYD question if I didn't truly want honest opinions. If I was looking for everyone to agree with me, I never would have posted.

On the drive home, I really struggled with how I would handle it. In the end I thought about my own kids who were 16 not too long ago and what I would have wanted for them in that situation. If I knew my kids had three jobs scheduled, have been paid in full for the first job, but they suddenly weren't wanted for the other two jobs, I would wonder what the heck happened. I would at least hope that they knew exactly what happened even if they didn't share it with me. I am hoping she learned from it and I did learn from all of you. I appreciate the suggestions and the other ways to approach the situation. I do believe I was very calm, non threatening, and I was very brief and to the point. I'm wordier when I type compared to when I talk!

There is one thing I adamantly disagree with that a few people have brought up. Some have suggested that I might need to loosen the time constraints that I set. I went over the times with this girl on two different occasions (email and in person). I specifically told her to let me know if a certain time didn't work out so we could work on an alternative. She was scheduled to come over four different times. Of those, three times gave her a one hour window and the other time was "anytime before 8am." I spread the times out so my dogs wouldn't go too long without a bathroom break. Because she ignored the times, it is likely my dogs went 16 hours without going out and the other time they only went 2 hours and 45 minutes before going out again which was totally unnecessary. If she had a "real" job, they wouldn't give her the flexibility I provided and allow her to come in anytime between 5 and 6pm. She lives five houses away from me. This was hardly a hardship on her and if those one hour windows were too inconvenient for her, she never should have taken the job. As the "employer," I do get to set the times and the rules even if they are completely unreasonable (which I don't think they were). She has the opportunity to decline the job.

On a positive note, two of my favorite college kids are coming home just to cover my upcoming week long trip in a few weeks. They are splitting up the week. They have been dog sitters for me since both were 13. Yes, 13! The job is easy enough that a 13 y/o can do it. They will be rewarded very well for their time, I assure you. I have one last trip set up for December and then we are done traveling until probably this time next year. I think some of my college kids will be home already in December so I should be able to find someone. That will give me a year to work on finding some new people.

Thanks again for all the feedback. I really do appreciate it. While many of you gave me some things to think about, I am satisfied with the way that I handled it.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Unfortunately this is why I just can't bring myself to hire the numerous pet sitters in my neighborhood. I only have 1 animal, a cat, but he's a handful. I have no doubt that there are capable youths in my neighborhood but it's really just a trust thing. He also still has all his claws.

My mom, who is not a cat person at all, has actually been the best pet sitter ironically. She cleans his litterbox on the days I ask (it's a covered litterbox that you roll to clean so you aren't actually scooping) and if she notices it is full she'll clean it even on the days I didn't write down (when out of town it's every 3 days the litter is cleaned and that's usually just right with him). She feeds him his 1 can of wet food a day (two other feedings are dry food from an automatic feeder) and she makes sure that the water level in his water fountain is at the right level.

My mother-in-law, who absolutely loves cats and has 7 of her own!, is good just not as good as my mom. More or less it's because she doesn't go the extra step that my mom does with just making sure everything is good even if it wasn't on her list versus my mother-in-law's list.

In regards to the OP I do think I would have paid the full amount. It's hard to withhold full payment if the pet sitter isn't an employee of a pet sitting company where there is a bit more wiggle room as far as satisfaction. I probably would have withheld my comments to the 16 year old and actually spoken to her parents. I would have informed her parents calmly as to what went on and advised that I would not be using her services in the future. The pet sitter being a minor would be why I would have spoken to her parents instead of her. Not all families will have security cameras and the thing is you are intrusting your animal's well-being with the pet sitter.

 

[luvsJack]

If you weren't happy with her services, you were under no contract to use her again. I would have just paid her (since she did actually do the job) and been done.

I can't imagine being so restrictive about times and such. We have three dogs and we usually board them at the vet's office but when I have used a sitter, its usually "come in the a.m., feed water and walk. come in the early p.m. and walk. Come before bed and walk" Well actually ours aren't "walked" as much as they are let out in the yard to run for a bit but same thing. The only thing I ask specifically is that they play with the dogs each evening. Most sitters I have used either had another job or went to school so restrictive times could be an issue. I don't look at pet sitting as a formal job for most teens or college kids. With those instructions, I have always come back to happy, healthy pets who are usually happy to see the sitter when he/she comes by to get paid.

Hope you are able to find someone that makes you and your pets happy.

 

[nkereina]

As far as the time thing goes, did you specify to her why coming at those certain times was important? Perhaps she took it as those being just guidelines or examples. If she didn't fully understand the importance of those specific time frames from your perspective, she may have thought nothing of coming an hour late or whatever the case was.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

As far as the time thing goes, did you specify to her why coming at those certain times was important? Perhaps she took it as those being just guidelines or examples. If she didn't fully understand the importance of those specific time frames from your perspective, she may have thought nothing of coming an hour late or whatever the case was.

I totally see where you are coming from but at the same time if someone who hired you says to be at your house at a certain time it is your responsibility to do it-the reason why doesn't really matter and for that matter for that someone to lie to the person who hired them.

If the pet sitter cannot adhere to the times the OP gave her that's fine no biggie but she needs to tell the OP that to begin with before accepting the job so the OP can hire a different person. Once you accept the job you need to do as the owner, who is paying you, asked even if you don't think it's a big deal to be 30 mins late or an hour late.

 

[wilkeliza]

I totally see where you are coming from but at the same time if someone who hired you says to be at your house at a certain time it is your responsibility to do it-the reason why doesn't really matter and for that matter for that someone to lie to the person who hired them.

If the pet sitter cannot adhere to the times the OP gave her that's fine no biggie but she needs to tell the OP that to begin with before accepting the job so the OP can hire a different person. Once you accept the job you need to do as the owner, who is paying you, asked even if you don't think it's a big deal to be 30 mins late or an hour late.

Or yah know not lie about the times. She could have just responded back to texts with my apologies I got held up at home this morning or was out late last night at the football game so I didn't make it until X and Y times.

 

[camreesmom]

I think that you were right to say something about why you were not satisfied. A PP said it perfectly, "it's not like she was doing you a favor." This was someone that you were paying to do a job and the requirements were made perfectly clear before the job was accepted.

DD20 pet sits for a couple and has been for several years now. They know that she is trustworthy and they schedule her way in advance because they have been very happy with how she cares for their pet. I would definitely expect them to say something if they weren't satisfied.

 

[nkereina]

I totally see where you are coming from but at the same time if someone who hired you says to be at your house at a certain time it is your responsibility to do it-the reason why doesn't really matter and for that matter for that someone to lie to the person who hired them.

If the pet sitter cannot adhere to the times the OP gave her that's fine no biggie but she needs to tell the OP that to begin with before accepting the job so the OP can hire a different person. Once you accept the job you need to do as the owner, who is paying you, asked even if you don't think it's a big deal to be 30 mins late or an hour late.

I don't disagree, but I was more asking how the times were conveyed. If it was "please come around between like 5 and 6" then if I'm the teen, coming a little before or after that doesn't seem like much of a big deal. I'm just wondering if the importance of the times were understood, whether the teen would have better adhered to them or paid more attention to them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Or yeah now not lie about the times. She could have just responded back to texts with my apologies I got held up at home this morning or was out late last night at the football game so I didn't make it until X and Y times.

Totally agree. Had she come clean then the owner might have been able to tell the pet sitter I really need you to come at the times requested. Lying multiple times is where you lose that sympathy I might have had for running a tad off the times.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't disagree, but I was more asking how the times were conveyed. If it was "please come around between like 5 and 6" then if I'm the teen, coming a little before or after that doesn't seem like much of a big deal. I'm just wondering if the importance of the times were understood, whether the teen would have better adhered to them or paid more attention to them.

I hear what you're saying but really though this is the teen's job though. She willing put her services out there. I'm positive that in my neighborhood there are plenty of pet owners and parents for that matter who do things all sorts of different. But a pet sitter or a baby sitter needs to be able to adapt to each person.

It's not really the person's job to question why the person who hired them wanted them at a certain time. If the teen felt it was too restrictive on the times and rules, such as walking the dogs separately, then the teen could have absolutely passed on the job. However, she accepted the job and thus needs to do as the owner asked. She could have texted the owner or called her and asked if it would be ok to come at "X" time rather than the required time otherwise she's going against what she was hired for.

From the OP's first comment:
The first day she arrived in between the window of 5pm and 6pm (at 5:30) with no problem
Still on the first day she was supposed to arrive between 10pm and 11pm but never showed up
Second day she was supposed to arrive at 8am but didn't arrive until 9:30am
Still on second day she was supposed to arrive at 1pm but showed up at 12:15pm

She also lied about coming on the second time frame on the first day and about coming at the requested time on the second day and brought another person over without the owner's permission.

So all in all she didn't arrive for one part she was hired for, she arrived an hour and a half late to another part she was hired for and then she arrived 45 mins early to one part she was hired for. She was also given multiple chances to back out of the job or to ask questions. Me personally as a pet owner I would have been able to shrug off coming late or early for ONE time but not showing up at all and coming late one time and early another time is unacceptable.

 

[BLAZEY]

You may have issues getting another local teen to do pet sitting in the future the way you spoke to her if word gets around that you didn't pay! She did feed and walk your dogs. She may not have shown up at the very specific times you specified but if you want that kind of detail hire a professional! I pet sat as a teen, it was once in the morning, later noon (4-6pm with a walk or play in the yard) and once later to check before bed. Food & fresh water were given at the first 2 visits of the day. I never let a friend/ sister in the home but would bring one to go on the walk of play in the yard.

 

[wilkeliza]

You may have issues getting another local teen to do pet sitting in the future the way you spoke to her if word gets around that you didn't pay! She did feed and walk your dogs. She may not have shown up at the very specific times you specified but if you want that kind of detail hire a professional! I pet sat as a teen, it was once in the morning, later noon (4-6pm with a walk or play in the yard) and once later to check before bed. Food & fresh water were given at the first 2 visits of the day. I never let a friend/ sister in the home but would bring one to go on the walk of play in the yard.

Um the OP paid her and paid her in full even though this young woman missed an entire appointment.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I love it! She lied to you and mishandled your beloved pets. Pets have no voice! They can't tell you what went wrong

You did her a favor. You gave her the opportunity to be honest. She chose to lie and not hold up her commitment. I hope she learns from this in the future

 

[Aliceacc]

I think I would have used the cameras in a very different manner.

You used them to CATCH her doing a poor job. But your pets weren't being well taken care of in the meantime.

I think I would have used them to PREVENT her from doing a poor job. I would have told her up front that I had cameras and that I would know when and how often she was caring for my pets. And the very first time she didn't show, I would have been on the phone.

I agree that it shouldn't have been necessary. But I wouldn't be looking for the moral high ground, I would be looking for good care for my pets. Letting her know she was being watched would have accomplished that.