To ask this about housesitting etiquette

[libertybonds]

We are looking after a variety of plants and animals for friends of friends while staying in their (very nice) property.

They have asked us to contribute to the cleaner, which is £100/week

They would probably have the cleaner come anyway as they want to maintain the relationship. But it's true that the cleaner will be tidying up the house while we are there creating a normal level of dirtiness from showering, kitchen use, etc.

Would you contribute? How much?

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.

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

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?

This is perfect, very well written.

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.

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

@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.

We didn't see the "request" to pay for the cleaner after we leave until we were here. It was buried in a long list of things to do.

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.

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?

@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?

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.

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.

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.

@BowlOfNoodles I see it in the same way as contract terms only being enforceable if they are fair. Yes, OP could have handled it better but I would just accept the consequences of them thinking she has backtracked. It sounds like she was non-committal rather than explicitly agreeing.

I think it's actually OK to say no.

"Hi we agreed to cover the cost of the cleaner whilst we are there despite the fact we probably don't need it. But we don't think that paying for a cleaner after we leave is reasonable given the circumstances "

My issue here and my very main issue is the 3rd friend they've gone out of their way to please both friends you get a holiday in a gorgeous house, you get a pet sitter. Now imaging the home owners telling the 3rd friend that op and her husband left their house looking like shit and refused to help with getting a cleaner, after they read our list of expectations!! ( if they don't consider ops cleaning profession level, £100 pw sounds like ALOT of cleaning ) the go between friends left feeling regretful and awkward.

I'd point out that animal sitters charge X amount per visit and that you were doing it for free, so you certainly won't be paying for their cleaner.

'But we don't think that paying for a cleaner after we leave is reasonable given the circumstances'

I was going to say how reasonable or not this is depends on the whole timing thing of the cleaner's visits and the OP's departure.

But I've changed my mind. If the owners really did say 'would you like the benefit of the cleaner while we are away' (my emphasis) then I think the OP could reasonably refuse to pay for the post departure clean. Because it's not for their benefit, it's for the owners'.

Except that you would assume they’d be paying for their cleaner while they’re away anyway, standard practice.

I’m going away in September. My cleaner will be due to come on two occasions while I’m away. I will give my paid dogsitters the option of her coming or not. If they want her to come, I will obviously be paying.

If they prefer her not to come, I will still be paying her and she’ll get a couple of bonus weeks holiday pay from me. This is both the decent thing to do - she needs to be able to depend on her planned income to do this job, and she’s available to work - and what we need to do to retain good cleaners round here. 🤣

TBH regarding agreeing to the cleaner beforehand, I'd just say "I thought you were joking" and refuse to pay.

OR

Leave the place a complete shit tip and make that £100 not cover a single room.

Cheeky fuckers.

Ah, sorry had missed that.
Oh well. Make the most of it and hope you enjoy your stay.

I entirely agree that it's standard practice to continue paying a cleaner whilst away. They rely on the income and it maintains the relationship.

But the owners have been somewhat sneaky and palmed off this expense onto the OP under the guise of a 'benefit' the OP is 'invited' to pay for herself. And the OP basically accepted that.

She's already said she's decided to stump up for the cleaner's visits while she's there.

Dear xx. The pets and plants are all fine. In return for us looking after them free of charge while you enjoy your holiday, we feel it's more than reasonable for you to cover the cost of your cleaner on both occasions. Thanks. '

I think a lot of posters are misunderstanding the cost of the cleaner. It's not a single £100. It's £100 per week and the OP is there for 'a few weeks'.

I can well understand the OP's feelings about all of this. The reality of looking after someone else's pets and house can be quite onerous and it sounds like they are.

The OP, perhaps naively, was anticipating a free holiday in someone else's nice house in a nice area and she's finding herself several hundred pounds out of pocket in cleaning fees and has the stress of the pet/plant/house responsibilities.

She's been taken advantage of. But can't get out of it now because it's all underway, she didn't really read the small print and doesn't want to upset the apple cart with their mutual friends.