I KNOW this in none of my business but is this reasonable?

[momtoboys]

Friends of our family went abroad for 14 days and asked one of my sons (young adult) to watch their 2 large dogs for themwhile they were gone. He took care of them at our house - waked them twice a day, played with them in the garden, fed them, cleaned up after them and treated one for the last week for a would caused by allergies. They had told him they would pay him for the service but no amount was discussed (mistake #1). They returned and gave my son an envelope with $125 (US). $125 for room and board for two weeks in my opinion is a cheeky amount to pay. If they had to board them in our area it would have been well over $1,000 (not that I think that they should have paid my son that much!).

Is this an unreasonable amount?

AIBU - It is a reasonable amount
YANBU - this was not enough compensation for the services rendered

Putting on my flak vest!

Imo they intentionally took advantage, telling them they took advantage won't change the outcome.

Absolutely not enough money! We pay our dogsitter 100 for a weekend or 300 for a full week here in a cheapish European city. That's ridiculous.

But - totally your son's fault for not agreeing a rate in advance. Lesson to be learned.

I would have thought a minimum of £150 so nearer $200 if done as more of a ‘pet is in with the family’ set up,

It’s a gift not a fee which would and should have been discussed in advance. Your son will hopefully learn from this experience.

It’s not reasonable or unreasonable given that it wasn’t previously discussed. If your son wanted at least a certain amount then he should have said so.

Out of interest…. how old? and does he work? study?

This is an important lesson for your son to learn to negotiate terms before agreeing to something. It's done now, he knows for the future.

I pay £22 a day for a cat sitter to visit twice a day to feed three cats and do their litter trays. So I would expect someone to charge more if they had them at their house and were providing medical care.

I think that around £500 would have been more in line with what I would have paid in their situation. I wouldn't pay the same amount that I would for professional boarding, but around 50% seems reasonable.

I paid a neighbours teenager £30 to feed my cat in our home for 3 days so by comparison, Yes they were taking the mickey as a dog needs much more attention. For a teenager I would agree with another PP that £150 (£10 per day) or $200 ish would have been fairer.

They have clearly taken advantage of your son but since they didn't agree an amount in advance there is not a lot you/ he can do

If they ask again then he would be wise to say no or agree a price in advance

I've voted YABU because it's a good lesson for your DS to learn, you clarify T&Cs before you say yes. I paid £350 for nine days boarding, so they are CFs. He thought it was a business transaction, they thought favour. Next time he says it's more work than he realised and set his rate.

Yes they took advantage of you, your home and your son.
They are not your friends and they would definitely hear about it from me, as it is my home that was used and my son.

A lesson for your son and you!

I would certainly give a heads up to those they might try and use similarly in future.

He's 23. He has a good, full time corporate job. He usually works from home 2 days a week, 2 days in the office and he has Fridays off. He worked from home all of the days he had the dogs so he didn't leave them for an extended period. He was the only person there so it really wasn't an "in the family" situation.

If no amount was discussed then it's partly his own fault for entering into such a vague agreement. He can say it's not enough after the event but frankly there's little point. It seems like they were clearly fine with taking advantage, and he did not adequately ensure he'd be paid an acceptable fee.
To compare him to a professional dog sitter/boarding kennels isn't quite accurate in terms of cost. But I can see why you feel it's a bum deal.
He just needs to know to decline next time.

Just an update to my first post. My son is not going to say anything to the couple, nor will I. He realizes he should have made things more concrete upfront and is OK with what has happened. I am the one who has stewed on it and I just wanted to know if I was being unreasonable being miffed. Thanks

They're mean and have taken full advantage. Shame on them. They know full well the price of pet care.

I'd get on the phone to them and say that you're not happy with the very low payment.

How old is your son?

I think they should have paid him a bit more and yes, he should have agreed an amount in advance (although if they then didn’t pay that 🤷‍♀️). I think he should be careful about doing favours and expecting payment as for a service provided. People can change their attitude to suit themselves. All goes well, he takes great care of the dogs and they thank him and throw him a few quid for the favour and he feels a bit ripped off but, if something had gone wrong, dog got injured, hit by a car or something, then they might decide he was providing a service and want to hold him accountable. It’s a fairly long time to take responsibility of someone else’s pets. I would tell him this for the future if he hasn’t already realised it.

It's a casual arrangement helping out friends, not a business he is running. I think the money was a fine amount.

Absolute piss take on their part (and they know it) especially as your son didn't go to the office like he normally would. As you've said though, not much you can do about it now unfortunately. Some people just take advantage of others' generosity. 'No good deed goes unpunished' as the saying goes.

Holy moly, @momtoboys You had the dogs at your house?
My friend charges £50 PER 24h at his house PER DOG and only has a maximum of 3 dogs together if they all get on .

Your friends are cheeky as heck

75 dollars a week for two large dogs?!

They had a total bargain 😛

Exactly.
My friend dog sits in his own house ,but things like “ Who pays if an accident happens” need absolutely setting in stone in writing.

A dog walker sub contracted an Italian Greyhound out to a stranger and the Iggy was allowed off lead and ran into traffic and lost a leg.

Legally a mess.

Thankfully the beautiful little dog survived- but it would have been thousands to treat him.

Presumably your son didn't have insurance and didn't have to pay for the food. I would have given a bit more but not that much more.

Its less than $10 a dayfor 2 dogs.

Disgraceful behaviour.

Next time your son needs to ve cleari a dvance on paent or just decline

I wouldn't be annoyed. It's not a commercial transaction or contract for services. It's a case of friends of the family asking their friends for a favour and the money offered to your son is a token of their appreciation and goes some way to mitigate any expenses and time invested. The rest is goodwill.

If you are going away, be sure to ask them to look after your house, ducks, dogs or whatever. And when you return, as a token of appreciation, offer them what you consider a reasonable acknowledgement and contribution towards any expenses.

Also, it depends how the arrangement was made. If it was ‘I’d love to look after Rover while you’re away’ your friends might have thought they were doing him a favour. My sister had friends who begged to take her dog on holiday with them!

@momtoboys it's a lesson learned. You've every right to feel they took the piss. But if he wants to do dog sitting he needs to set fees. And maybe pass on some of it to you if he's choosing to do it from your house!