Money Moral Dilemma: Should I pay my colleagues £500 for looking after their house and cats?

MSE_Kelvin

This week's MoneySaver who wants advice asks...

Two colleagues, who are a couple, were going travelling for a few months and asked me to house-sit for them and look after their two cats. We didn't discuss money, but they presented it as a way of reducing the cost of my commute (which was true) so I agreed. When they returned, they asked me to pay them £500, saying it wasn't much for three months' rent. I'd assumed that if anything, they'd want to give me something for looking after their house and cats. I don't want to pay, but also don't want to make things difficult at work. What should I do?

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DE_612183

need more info - if it reduces cost of commute - what about where the poster was living before?

this smacks of not enough talk beforehand of what was included ( electricity water etc ) and what wasn't.

I can't see either side of this entering into an agreement without talking through first

Fletchkov

What ? Wasn’t it agreed before they went ?  To get someone in to feed a couple of cats is around £10 a visit , how many days were they away? Were you homeless at the time?  Did it inconvenience you in any way ? I’d be totally up front with this and say you thought they needed a house/cat sitter and it worked both ways, you didn’t agree on money changing hands. I’m with you on the fact that most people will not charge for a cat /dog sitter and usually pay them or bring a thank you gift at least . They’ve got a cheek ! 

Unwell2023

Did they leave their house well stocked with food then? Money if you had to take animals to an emergency vet? Tell them to look into cattery prices which doesn't come cheap at generally over £100 per week. Personally I'd want paying if I kept someone's cats from harm be it emotional or physical for such a length of time.

Cheeky pair. (unless their home was damaged in anyway or not left as found)

An Employer shouldn't be bothered with personal problems outside the workplace  

JReacher1

Ha this is ridiculous.  If they had paid someone to look after their pets for three months then that would have gone into thousands of pounds.  Asking you to pay them £500 is just crazy.

They've obviously spent more than they expected too when they travelled and are trying to make some quick money back.

stu12345_2

I once rented my flat out to a mate, whilst I courted a new girlfriend who lived miles away, I got a job in her town. his rent money paid my mortgage, cheap flat, cheap rent,  ex council flat i bought in Scotland. it wasn't done via the books or a tenancy agreement.

I had a cat, he looked after it for me, cat food. I got serious with new girlfriend, and I said I was selling up and going to live with her permanently.he became nasty and stopped paying me rent .
 one day  I said he had to go I had a buyer. he owed me about 2 months of rent by then.
I went to flat expecting an argument, but he had gone, left me an old acoustic guitar and a note saying  I fed your cat and watched her for 6 months, that should cover the missed rent .
we never spoke again and I never saw him ever again.

maisie_cat

A start point would be 3 months cat sitting @ 250 = £3250.
Assuming that you saved or avoided housing costs then offset whatever your housing savings were x 13 weeks.

Flugelhorn

I think I would laugh and assume they were joking! 
tell them you saved them £££ while you were away.

subjecttocontract

What's the problem with saying NO ?
Perhaps tell them you want them to pay you £500 for the extra work and that cancels it out.

IvonH

It appears that this was your (so-called) friends' idea - you did not ask to house and cat sit for them.
If they had asked a house sitting agency for someone to live in and look after their house and their cats, it would have cost them a lot of money.
They also saved on building and contents insurance because, if you are absent for months at a time and leave your home empty, you need to inform your insurance company and may not be covered for break-ins or damage while you were away.
So, the way I see it, you don't owe them anything, particularly since this money was not mentioned or made a condition before they left.
On another issue, these don't seem to be friends.  Friends don't behave like this.  You may be better off cutting them out of your life.

Peter_Vince

No.  That wasn't part of the agreement.  It wasn't mentioned beforehand, and had it been, you may well have declined.  Did you really save over £500 on your commute?  They have saved by not having had to put their cats in a care-home while they were away, AND had a security guard at their home.  Flipping cheek - say no!