To think this is a ridiculous price?

[VibesCurator]

First time getting a housesitter for my 2 dogs as a family member who used to watch them moved away. I got quoted £40 total per day by a sitter, AIBU for thinking this is ridiculous?

I'm not boarding them, the sitter would be staying in my house using my gas and electric. I have replied to them as much, but now that I am looking around at more sitters, it seems like an average price. How much does everyone else pay?

You’re living in La La land! Most dog sitters charge £50 upwards. Why on earth would someone want to leave their own home to stay in a strangers home with all the responsibilities that come with it for £20? Plus they’ll have their own insurance if they are a professional, DBS checks and first aid courses, fuel ect.

30 but I suspect 40 is more typical. They need to do the walks, be there all the time etc?

Is this a wind up? I hope so.

who on earth would give all that time for £20??

Would it be feasible to invest in purchasing a slave? It might be a bit more up front but would save on the £20 (or £40) a day.

My boarder is £35 per night in her house, kennels about £30 a night, so looking after 2 dogs and your home for£40 seems a bargain.
I love her attitude too, you said she was overpriced, she responded perfectly.

Oh and you aren’t paying her to “cuddle with dogs” you’re paying her to give up her life for the required number of days.

Good luck finding a better option.

Christ 😂 does it matter? She’s trying to be diplomatic to say you cheeky cow, try some other mug for less

She’s calling you tight, which is fair.

She's calling you out as a cheapskate. Not broke. There's a difference. And she is being polite. £40 might be a lot to spend per day, but it's not a lot to be paid per day.

I am SE London and would bite their hand off for that price for my dog

Would you go to work all day for £40?
It's not always about how difficult the job is but you're paying for her time.
A driving instructor is £30 an hour.
I paid £28 an hour for a math tutor for my kid.
£40 is actually cheap! Tey the dog kennels and you will find they are extortionate.

Only read the first page of replies.

My response is that's a bargain !!!

£40 for someone to live in and care for the dogs for 24 hours !!!

I am about to pay a neighbour's daughter the very same, but she wont be staying in the house, she will come in 4 times and feed / walk them, I figured £10 per walk
and on top of that she will get £5 for feeding the cats twice a day ( same visits as feeding/walking the dogs ) so £50 per day for 2 days = £100

As she is under 16, min wage doesn't apply.
and I think she will be very happy with £100.

Regardless of if it's just "sitting around" your paying for her time to be there - £40 a day is incredibly cheap! What on earth are you complaining about - they'll have their own house and it's an effort to go to someone else's to watch their dogs.

That's actually quite cheap. We paid £50 per day (24 hours) for our dog (just the one dog) when we went on holiday. Where we live, it costs around £15 for an hour's walk for one dog, so if you have two dogs, a couple of walks per day, feeding, caring for them and keeping your house safe, all at their inconvenience - it's actually a very fair price!

Nope, she’s calling you cheap.

YES!
Broke or really bloody tight! Honestly cannot believe this post is real. You can’t think much of your animals or your house if you think they are only worth £20 a day!!!!

Bless her, what a nightmare for her, to be told she is worth so much less than the minimum wage. Sounds like she has escaped a nightmare!
you can’t get a dog walked for 45 minutes in London for £25 and it’s NOT just a London thing as there was something on the BBC over Christmas about a woman who took dogs out for trips in a minibus and she was charging £26 for 3 hours in Bradford or somewhere like that, but was taking 25 out at once.

Her prices DO NOT reflect the level of car 2 dogs require, she is being far too generous with you, she should be charging a lot more.
If she worked all week days at the £20 per day you suggest, she would earn £400 a month! Does that really seem reasonable to you????

Sorry, but you sound very entitled and incredibly stingy. Someone should give up their whole day to look after your home and animals for free should they? Get a grip

perhaps you should charge them for the pleasure 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

this cannot be real!

Yes.
Or mean 😀

I pay £17 a day for one cat, and being a cat, he doesn't need to be walked.

But the rest of the time they can’t be out earning more money. I think they are undercharging. They will have their own bills to pay.

Oh OP, you skinflint!
C'mon, would you stay in someone else's home for £40 a day?
Even without added responsibility of dogs!
I wouldn't.

We’re £50 per day and happily pay that for someone to stay with our dogs, walk them 3 times a day and care for them. Yes she’s calling you a cheapskate because you are. You can’t expect someone running a business to work for shit pay, I’m wondering if you’d have asked a tradesperson the same question? You’re paying for a service.

Snatch their hand off. £40 total per day is a bargain.

Given they will be looking after your dogs all day and night and not only between 9am and 5pm, that's less than 85p per hour per dog.

Ha ha! A good reply which was way more polite than it needed to be.

Yes, she’s calling you either broke, or massively entitled and with no respect for other peoples’ time. Possibly both.

I think she’s probably correct. Is this thread a wind-up?

I think it’s insulting to say all a professional house sitter does is sit & cuddle dogs all day. They have to sleep in someone else’s bed for god sake, I would bloody hate that.

This week my neighbours have had a flood from the water tank in their loft, my work colleague has been having endless issues with her boiler. There’s endless bloody power cuts in our area. She’s minding your house too. Who knows what could happen when you’re away? Hopefully nothing. Not everyone could rock up to a strangers house and live there for a week. Especially a house that two dogs live in - she is away from her home and family. That’s what you’re paying for. She has no idea what she’s walking in to. If she’s lucky her clients will have lovely homes, but they might be horrible. I’m guessing you’re not living in some lavish pad, if you’re quibbling over forty quid.

She has to protect herself too.

If I were you I would go back and say ‘Having done some more research, I appreciate your rates are very reasonable indeed. Apologies for the misunderstanding.’

Seriously your dogs should be biting tge sitters arm off for this price. I can't find someone to feed my cat if Im away.