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!

They're obviously taking the piss! But this is a good lesson to discuss beforehand

Yabu.

They’ve taken the piss wholesale.
I’d be expecting £50 a night.

To look after a family friend dogs? Now that's a piss take!

I don't understand people like this. They've taken advantage now so they'll have to move onto another unsuspecting kind person. If they'd paid properly, they wouldn't have to worry about their dogs every holiday. And they've soured a friendship

No doubt they'll be back for another holiday, thinking they have found right mugs to take advantage of.
No way would I tolerate this.
It was your home that was used.
I would be concerned that your son finds this acceptable.

Friends don't behave like this.
CF's do.

I’m taking the piss in a hypothetical situation am I?
I think £25 per night per dog to be walking, feeding, cleaning up is fair. I pay more than that when I go away. Maybe I value people’s time more than you do - what a piss take!

Prior to this, what was your relationship like with these friends OP?

This was my thought too. They certainly won't have anyone lining up to do this favour a second time - and no matter whether your son enjoyed it, OP, it's still a big tie and responsibility.

If they do ask him again, he needs to be up-front with his costs to start with - and I would think at least double what they paid should be the starting point.

It's such an odd amount. Even if they did it on the cheap - did he stay there so that in their head he was gettng a bonus of somewhere to live for 2 weeks rent free? - why 125 for 14 days? Surely at the very least a round number of $10/night was right?

Definitely lesson learned I'd say.

Did they provide the food or did your DS have to buy it?

As friends (and your son doesn't have to be registered or pay insurance) I would have thought £250 to be reasonable. I've given a friends son £80 for three nights staying at my house. But big big mistake not agreeing a price up front! Just decline in future.

Well, lesson learned - DS needs to be clear upfront about how much he's charging, but you've also learned that your family friends are CFs.

It will bite them in the bum though, because good dogsitters are hard to find and now your DS won't sit for them again. When you find a sitter that's reliable, you should treat them well so they have your dogs back again!!

Yes, this. I walked a friend’s dog daily for a year because his house was close to my workplace. Not a transactional situation.

I wonder whether there was a bit of a mismatch between how you all saw it. They thought you were doing them a favour as friends and just gave your son a bit of cash as a nice gesture (perfectly normal- I’ve had friends’ dogs to stay for free). You thought your son was providing a paid service and should get something like market rate.

The lesson is to be upfront about all this. No professional dog sitter would agree to a job without stating terms, which probably helped convince your friends that this was basically a favour.

I agree they've taken the Michael but as others have said it's a lesson learnt if no fees were discussed at all beforehand. I think he would be within his rights to raise it and say he was expecting more but understand why this would be an unpalatable conversation for him to have. They may be thinking 'DS likes the dogs and works from home anyway, it's no skin off his nose or in fact it will save him on utilities! Seems a good setup!'

@thepariscrimefiles the pet owners provided the food

@nootcoffee husband of the couple and my husband are quite close and have been for years. The wife and I are friends, but not close friends. Dinners together a few times a year together but DH spends time with other husband a few times every week. We were actually on the trip with said couple while son was watching dogs.

so actually… very close if you went away for a fortnight with them

my guess is that they think of you as an extension of family and just thought your son would enjoy it

but clearly you don’t see it like this

Have they known your son since he was a child and see it as him earning a bit of pocket money ‘which is nice for him’?

At approximately $5 a day per dog it’s absolutely insulting. However it’s a good lesson to him for the future and also as a young man in a corporate job it’s also an opportunity to speak up and say it’s a lot less than he was expecting.

What’s the worst that could happen- they don’t ask him again?!

Piss takers. What awful people.

Always establish the fee upfront.

Definitely CFs

Sorry they behaved like this. Sounds like they're going to struggle to find anyone to look after their dogs again.

It's not a gift! They said they'd pay him. It's a fee for services rendered. He should have agreed the fee in advance and won't make that mistake again but that doesn't make it a gift.

I don’t think there is any such thing as a fee set by one party and unknown to the other until after the service has been rendered. You’re right that gift is the wrong word if ‘we will pay you’ was said but a fee would be agreed in advanced. It’s a bit of a mess but hopefully DS will be more aware in future.

I think it was on the scabby side, but I would shrug it off and just say no next time they ask.