To ask this about housesitting etiquette

We pay our house sitter - lovely house in the countryside, v little to do other than be there and feed the dogs (not even walking dogs) - free to eat and drink from a well stocked fridge/ freezer/ wine rack etc - these people are taking the mickey!

That python doesn't feed itself.

Perhaps it has.

This

OP hasn't been back for a while. That python doesn't feed itself.

Just to add- 17 year old neighbour has lived between out houses since 3, the cats adore her and there is a local contact for vets/emergency who she knows well- before anyone picks apart our arrangements! They are also a band of ragged, adopted felines no one would steal and let themselves in and out. Living their best lives 😂

My teenagers get paid to look after pets at friends’ homes. Admittedly they are paid generously, but my son looked after two dogs from Friday-Sunday and got £150. My daughter looked after those same dogs for a week and got £400. The cleaner arrived that week as scheduled and nobody was asked to contribute.
I’d tell your friend that you can’t contribute, but you’ll respect their decision and, if they’d prefer, you won’t come to stay. See what they say to that!

What @floofsMum said. They are massively taking the piss. I totally understand wanting to keep the peace but I would not be too worried about the mutual friend, assuming they are a reasonable person. Pet sitting (it is not house sitting- you are caring for their pets and plants) is usually paid. FFS, I pay my daughter's 17 year old friend next door to come in and chuck cat food down when we are away! No litter trays, crates to clean etc etc (we foster cats as well, and they are moved out). Assuming you do not want to do this again no reason not to burn your bridges! Let them pay the cleaner when they get back and if they kick up a fuss, send an invoice for pet care and ask they take it off the bill. I would also link details of reputable pet sitters with their charges. They may bad mouth you for a bit but does it really matter?

I'd tell them to piss off - they are incredibly cheeky

Stop watering the plants and tell them you’ve took the dogs hostage and they have to pay you £200 for them back. Obviously joking but I’d threaten to just go home with the dogs and leave their house because I don’t want to feel like a customer staying at an AirBnB

I know a pet sitter. She gets PAID to stay over and look after animals. Price dependant on numbers and types. When animals have been seen to then rest of time is hers. She is expected to leave the house as she finds it. If a cleaner is employed, then that is down to the home owner; if she needs to be in the house to see the cleaner in and out then that is charged as well if it is outside the time when she would be looking after the pets. She is fully insured and has a reputation to keep so it is in her interests to leave it clean and tidy.
So, you are saving the home owners money by doing this and I certainly wouldn't pay for a cleaner except if I was treating it as a holiday. Then not having to do the work and worry about how I left the place and how the owner might react if not to their "standards" would give me peace of mind.
On another tack, you need to clarify the situation if you have any kind of accident and cause damage to the property. Or if something which was outside of your control was to occur. I don't think you would be covered by their house insurance as you are there to "do a job" which was "advertised" so could be on a bit of a sticky wicket.

How much cleaning is going to happen for £100? I think you have got this the wrong way round - keep the interim clean while you are there and which will benefit you. Maybe even pay the cleaner direct yourselves (do you think it's actually going to be that much?) They can pay to come back to a shiny house if that's what they want.

The reason they were looking for house sitters now becomes clear. It’s a demanding job they want doing for free! And on top of that they want you to pay a cleaners fee!
This is how they own a naice house!
I would do the house sitting and forget about the fee (If asked I would ignore). Doesn’t sound like you’ll do it again so I wouldn’t even worry.

They are taking the mick. You are saving them a fortune if they don’t need pet sitters and as you say would have had the cleaners there anyway. I’m paying a pet sitter £600 to look after my dog for 2 weeks!

Op..the owners need to pay for house sitting...I'm shocked you doing it for free! Sil and bil is paying hundred or so for someone to feed their cats for a week...you need to charge for your time..

You don't pay the cleaner...that's the owner of the house. Are they paying you to house sit. Yanbu.

I pay my housesitters for house sitting for us!! I would never dream of charging them for anything, I’m astonished that anyone would think this was a reasonable thing to do!

I would LOVE to stay in Suffolk, if I can just convince my husband to look after our own dog.....cats.....DD while I come and explore new walks with your dog!

I desperately need to know what (and how many) animals you’re taking care of, and how often you’re having to clean cages.

I dont understand all the "keeping the peace" with the mutual friend comments. How about the friend keeping the peace with you. I'd message them and say on reflection and seeking others opinion you find it rather cheeky they are expecting you to pay for the cleaning you have created by caring for their home and pets. Its been a lot more indepth than you were originally lead to believe and you find it beyond cheeky and rude.

I wouldn’t pay a penny and be invoicing them. I’d be telling the friend how cheeky they are as well.

Id also have cancelled the minute the cleaner issue came up. It’s their house not yours. Let them pay the hundreds it would cost to employ a house sitter.

This is madness. I pay house sitters, I don't charge them.

Send them a video of the house before you leave so they can see how you’ve left it. You don’t need to pay for their cleaner

Sorry but that’s just not on. People pay for house sitters and pet sitters. If the are paying you say £50 a day to look after their property then maybe contribute but if they aren’t paying you then they are really cheeky.

I think it depends if they asked you to house sit and care for their pets and plants they should pay you.

If you asked to use their fancy home and they said yes if you watch the pets and pay for the cleaner (in lieu of rent) then let's be honest £100 is cheap

So true! And you are actually there on-prem, so you have the upper hand. You can start sending them texts like "are there supposed to be sparks coming out of the aga? That's normal, right?" "The men who came to haul away your art were jolly nice and I offered them all tea. They said they'd be back next week for the rugs per your order."