To ask this about housesitting etiquette

You still haven't clarified the timing of the cleaner's final visit in relation to her previous visit and your departure OP. It does make a difference.

Yes but they sent op a list of shit before she arrived including the cleaning plans so it does look unreasonable to proceed then after the stay say actually no thanks.

Don't pay the cleaner. What do you think they are going to do? They're not friends of yours anyway and surely if it gets back to your mutual friends you could explain and they'll understand your point of view because there can't be more than two people in the world who think this is a reasonable request.

@libertybonds I think it is not reasonable for these people to ask you for a contribution at ALL. However, you agreed that you would like the cleaner to come while you were there, instead of saying no, you'll be happy to do your own tidying up/cleaning while you are there. So it's too late now to tell them no now, as it will be too late for them to cancel the cleaner while they are away.

While it is still very unreasonable for them to ask you to pay for the cleaner the day after you leave, since you have been staying there to help them out, there is more sense in that one since you would expect booked accommodation to be cleaned after each set of guests before the next ones arrived.

Your question was actually about how much to contribute? How many weeks are you staying at the house for - because if the cleaner charges £100 a week, that is a hell of a lot of cleaning ( depending on the location of the property of course). Is she coming in every day for a couple of hours or what?

What are the actual mechanics of paying for the cleaner? Are the owners continuing to pay her while they are away by, for example, bank transfer? Are they therefore expecting you to reimburse them by leaving a wad of cash on the worktop or making some kind of online transfer to them?

Or are you paying her cash when she comes each week?

How wild is the list? Are you doing loads more than pet care? Well from the couples perspective you know about the cleaning and accepted by turning up.

@libertybonds How far is this house from your house? How much will it have cost you to get there and back? (Twice, at that, as you came for a familiarisation visit.)

They are wanting YOU to pay THEM to do a favour that should be costing them a substantial amount of money, and is putting a lot of responsibility on you. You are not ‘on holiday’ as people keep saying, it’s a huge inconvenience for anyone to walk away from their normal lives at someone’s else’s convenience.

You don’t know this people directly. Great opportunity to practice pushing back on people who take the piss.

Why do you need to keep the peace? Stand up for yourself and tell them no to paying for any cleaner.

We pay our petsitter and are glad to have her!
I leave her food/tell her ro help herself to anything.
If I had a cleaner she would not be asked to contribute a penny.

This is perfect, very well written.

See you did have time to back out of it that ship has sailed now! You can't pull them up on something you had full knowledge of. How long Is the full stay?

Hello XXX

Hope you're enjoying your break. All well here - plants and pets thriving.

We feel that we were railroaded into accepting to contribute to a cleaner. Whilst we are happy to housesit/plant care//animal care for free, to be out of pocket whilst volunteering doesn't sit well.

If that means you cancel the cleaner, that's fine. We are clean and tidy people and it's not odds to us if a cleaner comes or not.

Best
XXX

Right, well it's really a shame you didn't cancel on the day they sent rhe nessage, next time try to follow up straight away, as it makes handling issues much easier. You can still refuse to pay as it wasn't agreed. I would let them know now (say you only just noticed); say that you are uncomfortable they have added unexpected costs and say you'll leave immediately if they prefer. It's fine to out them on the back foot, that is what they've done to you.

Fine. You aren't even there yet, so just say on reflection it won't work.

this

Definitely don't pay after you've left. They are really cheeky. Doesn't mean you have to do their bidding. You've probably saved them £1000s

We are now being asked ex post facto to give the house owners money for the cleaner for the day after we go.

As I said, this isn't 'unreasonable' in the context of your agreement to pay for the cleaner for the duration of your stay if the timing is such that this visit will be cleaning a week's worth of your use of the house.

If the cleaner comes on say Friday, you leave Saturday, and they want you to pay for the cleaner again on Sunday you'd have good reason to say bollocks to that politely decline.

If however the cleaner comes on Monday, you leave the following Sunday and she's in on Monday again it makes you look a bit unreasonable when she's doing a week's worth of housework you've 'created'.

I'm sure you're no messier than the average person OP. It's not a judgement on you. As a PP said, you expect any accommodation to be properly cleaned after previous guests, whether they are clean and tidy or not. It is their home and they no doubt want to return to it in spotless condition.

I absolutely think they are tight cheeky fuckers but you've got yourself into a hole and I don't think there's a way of getting out of it now without coming out looking like the unreasonable ones and having to navigate a drama which may damage your relationship with your intermediate friends.

Can't you ask them to deduct it from what they were going to pay you?And yes they should offer to pay you. You've not been on holiday in their home, you've been working. You've saved them a huge amount of money and stress.

Either way, I wouldn't pay for that final clean.

Just say asking to pay for the cleaners makes you feel unhappy so you are leaving to go home today. Ask what they want done with the keys so someone can come feed the pets.

I bet they will change their mind about you having to pay

Clearly the owners aren't bothered about keeping the peace, so why would you? They know exactly what they're doing.

Don't be a doormat. As suggested by others, say you'll substract it from your pet & house-sitting fee.

Find out market prices. Most petsitters charge at least £40 for 1 night, with additional costs for anything more than breakfast/dinner e.g. walks. You said it's hard work, do they have more difficult pets like dogs & horses?

This still isn't clear. Had you arrived to house-sit? If you only "committed", i.e. said you would do it, but they changed the terms then just say "The unexpected extra costs to do you a favour doesn't work for us, so we'll cancel the arrangement and let you find someone it suits."

They're not there for a holiday! They shouldn't be paying a bean.