We ran out of pet food half way through a long sit. Searched everywhere via Google and visiting numerous stores and couldn’t find the same food.
We ended up going to a pet store with empty bag in hand and asked what is most similar.
Never reimbursed by owner even though promised.
How would you handle?
We decided to just eat the cost. It wasn’t the money but the principle.
Note that the sit was not enjoyable (pet was great though!). HO misrepresented the house and amenities.
I only ran out on one sit and the owner contacted a realtive to bring extra around. But Like I did nhere I woujld have contacted the owner and had they not had somebody to bring a round I woujld have asked them to arrange delivery and pay with their card. I always check that there is enough food now before the owners depart and so far there always has. I hope you mentioned this in your review.
How would I handle? I would have no problem repeatedly asking to be repaid.
If the HO left a review for you, you can respond to it and mention the lack of reimbursement. No time limit for that and a good warning for future sitters.
Did you include these facts in your review?
Future sitters should be aware of such things, so they can discuss with the HOs prior to deciding whether to accept a sit there.
Ugh, that is so annoying! Like others have mentioned, please be sure you mention it in your review and if you didn’t, respond to the HOs review of you. Supplying pet food for the entire sit should not be difficult and if it it runs out, Amazon and Instacart are available for HOs to have pet food delivered.
Excellent point!
With Amazon, Chewy, etc., it is super easy for the HOs to have anything delivered to their home while sitters are there. No excuse for running out of something essential to their pet’s care.
If it bothers you, I’d just ask them to repay you with a cash app or such.
I’ve had various experiences with dog food running out. In one case, the host repaid me in cash as soon as they got home, unasked. In another, the hosts had food delivered by Amazon at their expense. In another case, I bought fresh chicken, which was routinely eaten by the dog. I didn’t bother collecting, since the cost was negligible to me.
One thing you did not mention in your original post is whether you have asked them for the money or not? If it is a matter of them mentioning they will reimburse you at the outset, but then they never sent it, it is possible they simply may have forgotten and it isn’t intentional. In that case I may be inclined to follow up with them.
If it is a matter of having directly asked for the money one or more times, and they either have said they will send it or have not responded, I probably wouldn’t keep following up. It wouldn’t be worth it, and it would feel better to just let it go. I am not a big fan of doing things strictly on principle if it would cause me stress, aggravation, difficulties or inconvenience.
Ultimately there is no right or wrong answer, it really depends on each person’s perspective. Though of course giving you the money back is the right thing to do.
I can only recall one time we had to buy food with our own funds and it was because the scheduled delivery of a new bag was delayed. So they asked if we could pick up something at the store in the meantime and they reimbursed us right away once we let them know the cost of the food we bought.
This is why I refuse to pay for vet bills and won’t take a sit unless they have a card on file or they are reachable to pay the bill over the phone. Next time just contact them and ask them to transfer funds to you before you purchase more food and feed them people food from their freezer if they don’t respond. That’s what I’d do instead of be taken advantage of. Then I would call TH and have them contact PP if they don’t respond. I would contact TH now and talk to them. Hopefully they will put a hold on their account till they pay up.
It being negligible to you has nothing to do with it. They are taking advantage of the sitter and their behavior should not be tolerated!
I don’t think they were trying to take advantage. They were hosts who were generous and went above and beyond otherwise. They just forgot.
Besides welcoming me with a meal and other treats, they had brought tea up to my room even though I barely had time to introduce myself to the wife after the husband had picked me up at the train station. I had had to rush upstairs to jump on a meeting since I telecommute and there was a time difference once I’d arrived in the U.K.
They were lovely and thoughtful, introducing me to friends who then invited me to afternoon tea and a lecture on separate outings. They fulfilled my daydream of living in a lovely British village. Their house was pristine and they had a regular cleaner come weekly.
They even gifted me with rum from their tropical vacation, which was more expensive than the chicken.
I treated them to dinner on their return. They were lovely people, including driving me to a hotel in Cambridge, where I did sightseeing.
We still keep in touch.
I wasn’t talking about you persay. [quote=“Maggie8K, post:11, topic:65749, full:true”]
I don’t think they were trying to take advantage. They were hosts who were generous and went above and beyond otherwise. They just forgot.
Besides welcoming me with a meal and other treats, they had brought tea up to my room even though I barely had time to introduce myself to the wife after the husband had picked me up at the train station. I had had to rush upstairs to jump on a meeting since I telecommute and there was a time difference once I’d arrived in the U.K.
They were lovely and thoughtful, introducing me to friends who then invited me to afternoon tea and a lecture on separate outings. They fulfilled my daydream of living in a lovely British village. Their house was pristine and they had a regular cleaner come weekly.
They even gifted me with rum from their tropical vacation, which was more expensive than the chicken.
I treated them to dinner on their return. They were lovely people, including driving me to a hotel in Cambridge, where I did sightseeing.
We still keep in touch.
[/quote]
OK, but you realize you replied to my original comment? So it seemed like you were referring to my hosts.
To me, sitting is about matching with folks ideally. And using your judgment, depending on whether you feel friendly or not with the hosts. For people I feel friendly with, small amounts of money aren’t meaningful. But everyone decides for themselves, of course, because subjectivity is involved.
Disregard above as I started to respond and then something happened. I’ll respond here. I wasn’t talking about your situation. I was responding to your statement that it was in essence a small cost for your financial bracket so unimportant to you. I think that is irrelevant. The OP put money out of his pocket for something that should have been provided. I commend him for sticking up for himself and I think he should continue to take all means to recover that money even if it means taking them to small claims court. He requested them to reimburse them and they haven’t. I assumed he has asked them more than once and they are back home. Taking advantage of a sitter should not be tolerated.
I did not put all this in. I wrote one sentence and TH posted all this stuff and doesn’t let you delete. It went haywire.
The approach you suggest seems excessive and more taxing on the sitter than necessary, but such reactions and choices are subjective and individual.
If the OP has actually asked for payment (which they didn’t mention) and the host hasn’t paid, I’d just mention it in the review.
I also think you can’t compare buying some chicken for you/dog because it’s a nice extra, vs. running out of dog food and having absolutely nothing as a backup, therefore must buy.
I’d have notified the HOs that food was getting low before running out and ask how they can get more delivered. There are still places where delivery isn’t common/used, but that way, if I were left to take care of it, it would already be discussed how they would arrange payment.
I’m an HO with most sits being 1 month+ and the amount of extra food and litter I buy before a sit is ridiculous. I’ve been home for 6 weeks and only now have to run to the pet store. I would be mortified if a sitter had to get more pet food while I was away!
That dog didn’t eat dog food. She routinely ate chicken and some sort of cheese (vaguely think it was like feta, crumbly) and blueberries. She was a year old and it was funny, because she would bury her bully sticks.
If i were in this situation i would be asking the home owner to order on line and have it delivered, it is not acceptable for a sitter to be put of pocket to feed their pet. I would tell them im not in a financial position to be paying out myself.
You need to be honest in your review.