AIBU to be upset with our recent housesitters?
I would be very grateful for some advice on using house sitters. We have just returned from a two week holiday and used house sitters for the first time to take care of our dog and cat. We were a bit stuck for pet care because our usual places were not available so we ended up having to give housesitting a go. Our usual dog walker recommended his sister and neice and said that they do this often. We met both the mother and daughter, who seemed nice, and it was agreed that either one of them or both would stay each night. Just before the holiday we were asked if it would be ok for a 15 year old friend to sit with the pets for a few hours one day as both the mother and daughter were working. We agreed to this.
The drama is that we looked at the camera footage from our driveway and became aware that a man stayed with the daughter for the whole second week. We were never told about this man and feel upset that we were not asked if it would be ok for him to housesit. We can see that he was left alone in our house for up to 3 hours on one occassion.
We have now raised our concerns with the sitters and they have completely dismissed our concerns. They have said that the boyfriends of both women often sit with them. They consider these men to be part of their "team" and it never occured to them to tells us. Is this OK?
We are upset about this and feel that our trust and privacy have been violated.
The timing is bad as my mother died just before the holiday. They are aware of this (because it meant them staying one extra night for me to go home to Ireland plan the funeral) but have offered no condolances.
To add insult to injury, we decided to just pay them and move on from this experience. They payment was a verbal agreement. We understood that payment would be per night but they have come back asking for an extra payment because they understood it to be payment by the day.
Is it usual to pay per day or night?
Any advice welcome.