Cheeky babysitter?

[fairyholly]

Hi mumsnet. I don’t go out very often so I’m not sure if this is normal.

I used an app to book a babysitter. I’m a single parent and it’s a rare treat to go out without the kids. Didn’t have friends or family available.

An experienced babysitter with lots of reviews put herself forward for the job. I could see she was about 30mins away but I thought no issue as she’s put herself forward and I checked with her beforehand re the location etc. her hourly rate was within budget so all good.

When I arrived back, after a quick conversation it came out that she expected me to pay for her uber home.
I did not realise she did not drive, and assumed she had transport due to accepting the job. This cost me over £30. I felt too awkward to say no and obviously I couldn’t leave her late at night without a way to get home.

Is this standard or AIBU to think it was a bit cheeky?

It would have been better had she mentioned this prior to accepting the job

I really think she should have mentioned that up front before agreeing to take the job! I would have said no.

This cost me over £30. I felt too awkward to say no and obviously I couldn’t leave her late at night without a way to get home

It wasn’t as though she had no way to get home though? She could have taken an Uber and, if had no $, could have funded it from the babysitting money you had just given her? I wouldn’t have paid it, as it’s her problem and she needs to build it into overall rate to be agreed upon front, I.e. increase her hourly rate to cover transport expenses.

It's quite standard to do that here but it should have been agreed up front

Agreed.

It should have been agreed up front!

Thanks for the different perspectives. I have used the app previously and never had that situation before (although as I said not very often as it’s rare I can afford to go out, and I try and use family or friends to help when I do).

If she had mentioned it when she put herself forward for the job, I could have factored it in. There were other sitters who put forward for the job, and I could have weighed it up if I knew.

Do you review the sitter? If so, then mention it in a review, but don’t give her a negative one if you thought she was good other than that. How did she get to you?

If she drove would she have expected her petrol money to get home?

She got a bus, which I wasn’t aware of when she arrived.

I wouldn’t leave her a negative review, she was very good otherwise kids all happy.

I would leave a factual review and mention this. It’s a lot of extra money and I wouldn’t be happy at all - but like you would probably pay up at the time.

Well - leave a factual review; it's bad business on her part not to clarify charges up front.

I think personally it should be factored into her hourly rate, or she should state for sits over x distance away, there will be an extra charge of y amount.

I wouldn’t have been so bothered if it was a short uber ride home, but the amount was significant to me.

I would put in the review that she wasn't upfront about additional costs for transport. It's not negative. It's honest.

Oh ! She should have said in advance !!!

DD1 belongs to a babysitting website, she has her hourly rate ( and it varies according to time of day / night ) and her petrol requirements i.e. £5 for local and £x for different towns.

Did she ask you to pay her bus fare to get to you?
I appreciate it was a difficult situation and I’d likely have done what you did. She did have her fee for babysitting, and if it hasn’t been specifically agreed in advance that you would pay extra for an Uber I think she should have paid for it from her fee.
If we used local teenagers for babysitting we always made sure they got home safely, but I would have expected a professional adult to make her own arrangements.
Other posters are kinder than me. I would point out what is tantamount to blackmailing me to pay an extra £30 as being a very negative experience.

No she didn’t. I assumed by her putting herself
forward for a job 30 mins away that she had transport and that she was happy with the distance.

Paying less than £10 for an uber or taxi for someone locally is different to over £30 extra.

I used to have a friends teenager daughter babysit occasionally years ago and I’d of course pay for an uber back or drop her home and factor that in.

Absolute piss take. Should have mentioned it up front.

I think that's well cheeky!

It could be seen as manipulative to put you in that situation. Which is why I said - write the candid review but put the most positive spin on it, which is that she will destroy her business base if she doesn't advertise herself honestly upfront.

Wow just another reason not to use a sitter for me personally, I thought it was only teenager babysitters who expected a lift home, even paying for the people would be crazy to me.

I’d rather wait until my kids are older than spend all that on a babysitter or take a day off during the day. But then different for a single parent I know.

Paying Petrol* that should have been but too late to edit

Yea 100%, I don’t do it very often as it’s pricey for me as it is! It was a good friends big birthday, which I of course wanted to attend so I’d been budgeting for it.

You should've refused. It's not your responsibility to pay for her Uber. Why could she not use public transport? And it's not reasonable anyway to expect that without telling them before they book you.