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

Edina_Typhoon

I'd find out how much a local house-sitting service would have charged, draw up a bill for your 'friends' and show them how much you saved them.  Were you also having to pay rent/bills on your own place while you did them this favour (at their suggestion, not yours)?  

stu12345_2

forget the argument about the going rate of a cat sitter., looking after a healthy cat is easy, I've had cats for 40 years.

remember the classic gift you see at Blackpool gift shops, a mug that states " thanks for looking after my cat"

my question is did the person pay for gas, electric, water at the owners house when they cat sat or was it paid for by the owners that were traveling .
I assume direct debits came out of the owners bank account and the only overhead the cat sitter had was their food and cat food.

LondonLindsey

How completely bizarre. 

For all the reasons others have given, this is not an acceptable request and absolutely should have discussed with you beforehand. 

It is difficult for you as you are work colleagues so a measured response (rather than what is in it head right now) is what is needed. Just say you were pleased they felt able to trust you rather than have to pay a cattery, but they did not clarify you were expected to pay them, and that as you were not looking for rental properties at the time, you can’t pay them for helping out. 

Then breathe. Good luck. 

john_evmk

Unbelievably cheeky of them to ask. Having you mind their house whilst they were on their travels would have given them peace of mind. You minding their cat would have saved them a fortune (it's £100 a week where I live to have a cat in a cattery).

Unless there was a prior agreement that you would pay anything, the answer is no. Share the answers on this site to your dilemma if it helps.

They might not be best of friends at work after this but as long as they remain professional and polite, there will be no issues. If they are anything other than professional and polite, that's for your employer to deal with..

stu12345_2

LondonLindsey said:

How completely bizarre. 

For all the reasons others have given, this is not an acceptable request and absolutely should have discussed with you beforehand. 

It is difficult for you as you are work colleagues so a measured response (rather than what is in it head right now) is what is needed. Just say you were pleased they felt able to trust you rather than have to pay a cattery, but they did not clarify you were expected to pay them, and that as you were not looking for rental properties at the time, you can’t pay them for helping out. 

Then breathe. Good luck. 

good reply, but change the phrase to won't pay from can't pay, as can't pay assumes you are skint, where as won't pay means you feel you are not due to pay them.

shazzamma

Wow. Just wow. You were doing them a favour and happened that you also benefited. I would say you really would have reconsidered if they had told you upfront they were going to charge you...along with all the above comments re home insurance/cattery fees etc of course!

jan140160

Do not pay them a penny, as everyone says a cattery or daily visits cost a fortune and you were looking after the house too. Do you really care what they think now you know what they are like? They were so lucky you agreed to do this for them and not ask to be paid, irrelevant that you saved money on commuting.From someone who put 1 cat in a cattery @£100 a week I wish I had a friend like you!

SStitanic

You should pay them absolutely 0. 
They don't have a leg to stand on, shouldn't have over spent on their hols whilst there should they lol. 

ROBSTAR70

I had to read that twice thought it was a typo. No way should you be paying them . I'm sure you still had to pay your own rent whilst looking after their property and pets. 

CGS01

Based on the information provided I’d be telling them to get stuffed.