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

Angelica123

That's so incredibly cheeky. Obviously, we don't know the whole situation - like were you paying rent somewhere else in the 3 months? Who was paying for the cat food in those 3 months? It sounds like they hadn't anticipated how expensive travelling for 3 months would be while keeping up with all their usual bills. However, if the expectation was for you to pay to stay there - then that should have been set at the get go so you could decide if you wanted to take up their offer on their terms. It is not fair to retrospectively change the terms. 

The lesson here is that as uncomfortable as it is to talk about money - it is so much easier to lay out everything in advance rather than make any assumption. I think everyone agrees that you shouldn't pay - I think the challenge is how to navigate the conflict without affecting your work environment. Yes, you could counter with a bill for services rendered for cat sitting - but I think that approach will just put backs up. I think just re-instate your understanding that you would stay at their home in exchange they had the security of knowing their house and cats were looked after. Certainly, never do any further favours for them! You could consider compromise and give them a token amount towards bills (especially if you were more liberal with utilities use than you would have been in your own home). 

whyhaveone

This is the first time that I have posted on this forum - I signed up as I am so outraged by this!
There is no way that you should be charged for cat and house sitting in their house whilst they were away, it is dispicable that they are asking. The reality is that they will have saved as lot by having you in, unless you were extravegant with things like water and electricity.
There is a lession to be learned here, and that is have a written agreement signed by both parties. However, do not be bullied into paying them.

janelouisestockdale

Putting two cats in a cattery for one month would probably be more than £500. So your “friends” are pulling a fast one. You should send them a bill for looking after their cats to counteract the £500 they are expecting from you. You could add to it your fees for keeping their property occupied and secure while they were away.
Where I live we pay people to come into our homes and look after our pets not the other way around. 

brizzie_2

Find out how much they would need to have paid for pet boarding whilst they were away. Now you know how much they saved by having you sit. Cheapest of the cheap cattery £12 a day per cat. So starting point £1080. Since there was nothing agreed beforehand this is where the negotiation begins. They owe you £1000 (mates rates). Shortly after that it either goes "only kidding" or you never speak again, which is probably not a bad thing if they are serious. Do not under any circumstances hand over a single penny.

BHeath2Bay

You said this couple were "colleagues", not friends, so there should be no repercussions at work due to you saying "No" to their outrageous request for payment, Clearly any financial issues should have been discussed fully before they left, but since this didn't happen, they have no right to raise any after the event. You presumably continued to pay rent/mortgage on your own home whilst living rent-free in theirs, but you have saved on your commuting costs; however, several other posts have pointed out the costs the couple would have had to incur without your agreement to house- and cat-sit for them. Just tell them "No way!". I'm sure they'll soon get over it, and your/their other work colleagues will probably be right behind you if they try to bring it up at work.

BMW51K

Present them with a similar sized bill for looking after the house and cats, itemising all the parts - e.g. feeding, cleaning the house, looking after the bins, etc. The laugh with them at the stupidity of the situation, and have a drink together.

gillbra

Just say no!  They have got an absolute cheek asking you to pay for staying and looking after their cat, when this was not discussed at the outset.  Tell them if they had said that at the start you would have declined their offer.  We go away for 2 weeks and ask our friend's son (20) to look after our dog by staying in our house (I know they are more needy than cats).  We pay him the going rate (£20-25 per day) as if the dog were with a private boarder and even leave some food and beers!

ejb1959

My local cattery charges £20 per cat per night (less per cat if there are more than 1). Your 'friends' were away for a couple of months, lets say 60 days, so that would have cost them £1200 for just 1 cat!
They must think you're stupid asking you for money, tell then to take a hike.

GingerTim

You should refer your colleague to the answer given in Arkell v Pressdram.

Solimene

Personally i think they were lucky you made yourself available to look after their flat and cats.  A very generous present to you on their return is the very least you could expect, not a request for 500 quid - Outrageous!  
If they expected you to pay, they should have asked you first and you could have declined the favour.