What Would You Do?

My daughter house sat a few weeks ago for a home owner who had eight pets (5 dogs, two cats and fish) for a very reduced rate for 5 nights. The owners left her a note and said they didn't have time to go to the bank but would send her a check in the mail as soon as they got back. The check never came and the owner's wife has not returned any of our daughter's phone calls. Daughter is now away at college and is now out some much needed pocket money. The funny thing is another client owes her money as well for housesitting there dogs. They promised they would mail her a check as well, it's been several weeks with no check. What would you do if your child was in this situation? My daughter appreciates any opinions or advice on how she should handle these two situations with her clients.

This is a tough one, so sorry it happened. i have a friend that does housecleaning that has happened to her as well. I think the only thing you can do is start asking to get prepaid. I am sorry but that is a crummy thing to do to a young woman in school. That was alot of animals to take care of.

It is possible that they came home to some personal crisis that has distracted them, in any case this could be a face saving strategy for your daughter to suggest. I'd have her write a courteous letter reminding them and enclose a SASE. If that gets no response a personal visit would be in order. From now on she should require at least partial payment in advance.

I'm so sorry, too......and, unfortunately, it might just be an "out of luck" situation for your kiddo. However, it might not be. She should probably continue to call and remind these customers that she hasn't gotten their checks - a lot of times it's just a matter of what their priorities are (out of sight, out of mind, etc.). Of course, she can only bug folks for so long before it becomes evident they're really stiffing her. In the future she might either ask to be prepaid and/or draw up a simple signed contract which would at least give her some sort of recourse in small claims court if it came to that.

It's sad to think that our neighbors are SO inconsiderate to say the least (even if they just "forgot" to send a check)!

There is a possibility that maybe the family is in crisis. My daughter is trying to give them the benefit of the doubt but is very upset that the wife hasn't returned any of her calls. If I was in this situation and owed someone money, I would at least call the person up and let them know that I was dealing with a crisis, hadn't forgotten them and would personally make a concerted effort to pay the person back ASAP once crisis has been taken care of. I have tried pming this person but they haven't responded or opened up their PM's so there is a possibility there may be something going on. Or, their ignoring my pm's because they know why I am pm'ing them.

My daughter told me last night that she will no longer house/petsit/babysit without getting payment upfront or directly after performing the services. My husband and I feel bad for her because she was doing the services at a very low price, commuting to and from Conifer to Bailey and also spent the night each night at the families request. The price she was going to get paid was just about half the amount of money she paid for the gas . What a price to pay for trying to to give a person a break. :bash :bash

Either have your daughter (if she can) visit the house in person or send a return-receipt-requested letter to the family with a SASE explaining that she understands sometimes people forget or things happen...but if they could please send her something it would be appreciated. Without leveling a threat, I'd also have her say something to the effect that if she doesn't receive any kind of communication from them, she will let others know that this family isn't to be trusted and wouldn't recommend anyone housesit for them... In a small community, a lot of times, word of mouth really gets around and if this family has one scintilla of decency and cares at all about their reputations, that might do the trick.

ComputerBreath wrote: Either have your daughter (if she can) visit the house in person or send a return-receipt-requested letter to the family with a SASE explaining that she understands sometimes people forget or things happen...but if they could please send her something it would be appreciated. Without leveling a threat, I'd also have her say something to the effect that if she doesn't receive any kind of communication from them, she will let others know that this family isn't to be trusted and wouldn't recommend anyone housesit for them... In a small community, a lot of times, word of mouth really gets around and if this family has one scintilla of decency and cares at all about their reputations, that might do the trick.

Thank you for your advice. I think this is a great idea. May i ask, what is an SASE? Just curious. Thank you!

self addressed stamped envelope.

Having done similar work, if she does not get a response form an invoice and the SASE, then her next letter should be notice that she is giving them 10 days to pay the debt - and NOW you want a certified check or money order - or she will be consulting a lawyer. Doesn't matter if she decides to not follow through on that - the threat of legal action in enough for many people to get them jumping.

I'm betting they thought since she was a college kid - just looked at her as a kid - that they could get away with this.

I don't buy family crisis - we've had more than our share in the past 7 years, and I still paid our bills. I even took them on the plane and did them several times, so the gas bill got mailed from SLC at least once. That probably confused the company if they even looked at all.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions/advice. We were able to download a free invoice template on line and my daughter is going to send it with a formal letter. She is going to send it today with returned receipt. Hopefully, this will motivate the owners to pay her or at least return her call and let her know if there is a crisis that has precluded them from paying her. Thanks once again. She truly appreciates all the responses.

Try the formal letter first... if that doesn't work I could offer the services of "collection agent" if necessary. My friends and I aren't the "friendliest" looking lot and never have an issue with getting payment on balance due.










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