Sudden cancellation I'm not very pleased

[PissedOffPetSitter]

I was booked for a job from 23/12 to 14/01. The guy has gone to his home country to visit family. When I went today there was someone in the house. I assumed he'd got back early and decided to contact him but I got a text from an unknown number which turned out to be his girlfriend.

She said he's not able to talk to me but has asked her to tell me to drop the keys off tomorrow because as she's there I'm not needed. I've lost £160 with this. I'm so cross.

I can't really expect him to pay. I've gone over and above with them before and I'm so annoyed.

I'd want to hear the jobs cancelled and who to give the keys too directly from the person who hired you not some random from an unknown number who you "believe" is his girlfriend

Were they happy with how you've been looking after their pet? My first worry would be they're concerned with care.

( I would up the price. Going slightly higher than average tends to attract better clients.)

No 🙄 As I said, I’m also a pet sitter and have contracts in place so this doesn’t happen to me!

My point was that without a contract OP cannot legally force this man to pay her anything.

There is not a chance I'd be handing keys over to a stranger I'd never met, without confirmation and direct request from the client.

Get yourself some useful T's & C's asap - cancellation policy, refund policy etc etc!

People are so rude! Definitely get some t&c in place.

Don't hand his key over to a random who just tells you she is the GF!

I’d message him now to check it’s actually real. What if she’s just squatting there! Or he says oh she’s not responsible for the pets please carry on! Don’t stop unless you get confirmation. And then say you’ll need full payment or at least including today. And he can come and collect the keys.

I wouldn’t be cancelling I would be doing my job unless I was told direct by the person hiring me

She could be anybody, dont do anything without speaking to him directly.

His girlfriend can't cancel a service he booked on his behalf, that doesn't make sense. And you can't give HIS keys to her, she could be anyone.

My pet sitting service makes me pay up front. You need something like this with conditions made clear in the contract and at the very least a large deposit.

There is a contract. The contract is verbal but that doesn't make it not a contract.

He contracted for your services and he has not cancelled, a person who has no authority to cancel the contract has tried to but there is no reason for you to believe an anonymous text.

You are owed your money at least until he contacts you himself.

I would bill him for the lot.

Surely you can only accept a cancellation from the customer?
Why arent you contacting him to confirm?

OP, you absolutely cannot hand over keys to a house to someone you don’t have a contract with, even if your contract with your client was just verbal, especially when she says you can’t speak to him. I would text him immediately about the situation. You can text her and say that unfortunately, due to safety considerations, you can only return the keys to the person who made the reservation.

This could be an ex, a squatter, a roommate he kicked out but didn’t change the locks. I would not do anything until I heard directly from the client.

And yes, make sure your contract going forward includes cancellation terms and also a caveat that no one but the person who booked the service can break the contract. Do you need any help making the contract? I’m sure MN can help.

I would say you’ve turned down other jobs and I think he’ll feel guilty. He’s already feeling guilty that’s why gf doing his dirty work. Agree with texting him directly

I echo those saying only he can cancel.
Has he paid you for the days you’ve already worked?
I think you should tell him he can collect his keys when he’s paid his bill, including your visit today, ( unless you don’t want him at your home). It’s cheeky to ask you to make an unpaid visit to return them.
It’s a shame you can’t bill him for the remainder of the booking.

I wouldn’t be giving anyone but him the keys

this sounds very fishy.

Would anyone else be concerned about handing keys over to the girlfriend without express permission directly from the owner?

I think I would want to say that my contract is with the oowmer and could he please contact you directly with further instructions, otherwise you will retain the keys to return to him personally and continue attending the house to feed and fuss pets as per your contract. If she didn't let me to do that, then I whould contact the owner to advise them of the situation.

I think that any changes to your agreement need to come from the owner, not second hand through a third party who may not be trustworthy.

Bad luck OP, as you say, lesson learnt. But even without a deposit or cancellation policy, I think you could reasonably ask him for some compensation for cancelling at zero notice. And I agree that you should only hand back the keys to the person who employed you, not a total stranger. She may not be there legitmately, so I'd keep trying to contact him directly and hang on to the keys until you do.

He owes you all or a chunk of the money - you have the keys!! Of course you’ve turned down other jobs as well!!

You need to hear direct from him. Dh is in a band and 2 weeks ago someone called the venue to tell the landlord the band was cancelling their New Year’s Eve booking. They weren’t and it was malicious jealousy from another band. Thankfully the landlord contacted dh through their usual means of contact and asked what had happened so dh was able toto resolve things fast. People are malicious and have agendas you have no clue exist.

Oh that's so shite! Time to start making people pay in advance (when they book) or at least 50-60%. And you were going over Christmas too. What a shit. I'm so sorry @PissedOffPetSitter

Very happy. I've taken him to the vet when they were away before. This only started with this woman on the scene.

You can’t enforce it but it doesn’t hurt to write him and tell that due to short notice cancellation and you making arrangements to be available for this job you expect a compensation for short notice. Eg 50%
try to guilt trip him basically
make up that you declined other jobs
etc

doesnt Hurt to ask!

Agree to pet sit for him again. Then cancel on the day! Karmas a bitch!