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

All_Ears

As money was not mentioned before the arrogant couple left, they cannot come back and demand any money from you, regardless if it seemed to save you money. I would have immediately challenged this by saying that you have saved them far, far more by them not having to puts their cats into a cattery, so THEY should be paying YOU for your service. Also, as no mention of rent being paid by you prior to the agreement between the 2 parties, it  is, I believe illegal to charge rent as it is a legal transaction covered by a number of laws. Also the question of what may happen while the cats are in your care is a consideration which should have been agreed upon before they left e.g. suppose a cat had fallen off something and broken its leg. Who would be responsible for the vet's bill and if you had to pay the bill, would you a) have the ability to pay and, if not, what would then happen to the cat, c) if you did pay, would the couple be be prepared to pay interest on that outlay that you have made? Sorry, but both parties seem naïve in this matter. In any case I would stick to my guns and refuse to pay. After all who wants to be associated with colleagues like yours? And what if they swan off again for a few months are they going to demand money likewise?

Top_lady_2

You don’t owe them anything,  it maybe true it was nearer for work but you were doing them a favour . If I was you I would say, I will knock it off the cat sitting fee you owe me.
 There’s going to be bad feelings from them if you don’t pay , so if that worries you then pay but take control by calmly telling them you thought you were doing them a favour and hadn’t realised they were expecting you to pay for the privilege, don’t let it turn into a discussion, otherwise your control could be lost ,then keep them at arms length.
You will never feel the same about them again no matter what you do.

Missy15

Who looked after your home whilst you were at theirs? I guess you had to go back occasionally to keep an eye on it, and probably pay travel costs for that. 
Definitely cattery costs would have been astronomical on top of a 3 month trip, so I would certainly tell your colleagues to take a hike, as you have saved them a fortune. Where I live I pay £10 a day for 1 cat, so that's £900 as a minimum!

primrose_penguin

Like others say, what a cheek. You did them a big favour, they could just swan off for 3 months without having to worry about their cats or whether their house was safe. What about where you were living before, you do not mention that, surely if you left a property to cat/house sit you would have some ongoing expenses of your own. I think at the least they would be very wise to say thank you very much for taking care of our house/cats whilst we were away, but that doesn't seem likely as they sound totally selfish, I agree with what JReacher1 said, they have probably overspent and they are trying to use you as a means to get some money back. I wouldn't worry about work I would think they would be too ashamed to tell anyone they expect YOU to pay THEM for looking after their cats/house. I would not give them one penny and would totally ignore their request. If they continue to try and get money from you I would show them all these posts on the MSE Forum.

TiggMogSpats123

You should tell this moneygrubbing pair of chancers to sell their brass necks and get their £500 that way. There was no agreement beforehand for this, so tell them to get lost.

victorian_lady

Oh dear! So much we don't know here! If they asked you to pet and home sit, I'd say you owe them nothing, unless you agreed to pay them rent for the privilege of carrying their property. 

mitchec6

If this £500 payment wasn't discussed and agreed before you started the housesit, I really don't think you should pay.  

Did you ask them why they were springing it on you now?

I think your  friends are taking advantage of you.  If they needed to get someone in to feed their cat it would have cost them a small fortune for 3 month. You save them that. 

pops5

Wow that's cheeky. I don't think it's reasonable to specify you pay them AFTER they have gone away! I've heard of house sitting for free, for some kind of reciprocal benefit. But they want you to pay them to do them a favour? They were getting their cats looked after and a lot of peace of mind. And I presume you're still paying council tax, internet, standing charges on all your utilities etc by not being in your other property. I definitely wouldn't pay anything. But it's awkward, I understand the dilemma! 

kpnut007

I do housesits and I get pocket money daily for caring for pets. Under no circumstances would I pay them. And if it was not agreed beforehand, then they should not be putting you in such a position now. I suggest you check Catteries locally and find out how much it would have cost them to home their pets for their time away. 

Mariamare77

They would have paid thousands of pounds if they had to hire someone to feed their cats or house sit for them. Your commute fees is not their business. There is a website called trustedhousesitters.co.uk where people can get house sitters for free, you might want to tell them about it. Regardless of being colleagues these two are just cheapskates, trying to extract money from you, do not pay them anything.