You want me to what? (petsitting annoyance)

[Dreamstalker]

I'm catsitting for a woman who's a friend of a friend...after this I'm starting to get the distinct feeling that she's taking advantage of me.

She calls me up the other day: "I'm having an open house on Sunday, can you do me a favor and take the cat out of the condo?" I can, but that will be an extra charge (transporting the cat and bringing him to our place; she claims he is leash trained but I doubt that, besides if something does happen and he freaks out and runs...). The cell number she gives me doesn't work (sounds like it's a prepaid phone that ran out of minutes), so I call back on the number she called from.

Which is someone else's phone... As soon as she hears me say anything (I'm not allowed to finish my sentence) she says "Great so you can do both days?"

*record scratch*

Both?! You only mentioned Sunday.

Turns out she wants me to do this today as well. "And maybe Monday too." She then starts playing the "bad connection" game, so while I know what I told her I have no way of proving she heard it or is even paying attention. Plus berates me for not calling on her cell number, talking over my trying to tell her that the number she gave me Does Not Work. I was considering calling our mutual friend, but the friend would be unlikely to agree to taking the cat plus I have no way of getting in touch with her (cat lady).

So now I'm locked into this. I'm still not sure if I should bring the cat back here (controlled environment, plus I'm not totally wasting 2 hours) or just sit on the porch of the house with him in the carrier.

I've adjusted my invoice to include 2 of these last-minute requests and am charging my normal daily rate (I'm tempted to double it for today's instance being as it was truly minimal notice). If she balks I'm ready to walk away; I already made one concession for her which I did not have to.

Not the best time for her to pull this (see my blanket-fort post).

[depechemodefan]

So this is the first time you are going to catsit for her or you've done this before?

I have a feeling she will screw you out of money somehow. She probably start thinking "but everyone loves kitty, they should be paying me to allow baby be with them."

Hopefully kitty doesn't run off and gets picked-up by animal control.

[Kristev]

My advice, double your charges for her tricky changes, and do what's best for the cat - the controlled environment.

[UncleImpy]

I'm not sure I understand. WHY are you 'locked into this' because of a bad phone connection?

[gremcint]

I'm not sure I understand. WHY are you 'locked into this' because of a bad phone connection?

because then they'd have to leave the cat alone during the open house.

[UncleImpy]

But that's Dreamstalker's problem...how?

[protege]

She calls me up the other day: "I'm having an open house on Sunday, can you do me a favor and take the cat out of the condo?" I can, but that will be an extra charge (transporting the cat and bringing him to our place; she claims he is leash trained but I doubt that, besides if something does happen and he freaks out and runs...).

I had an outside cat, Kitty. He *loved* to be outside on the farm. At home, in the 'burbs? Not so much. Kitty hated his harness and leash. Just as well, since he *hated* being outside...even on the porch, he'd throw a fit. Too many strange dogs, cars, and other "undesirables" in the area meant that he was now an inside kitty

[EricKei]

I'm not sure I understand. WHY are you 'locked into this' because of a bad phone connection?

Simple. The SC can claim that she did not hear anything Dreamstalker said clearly...especially things that involve extra fees. Of course, she could also say that she believes DS agreed 100% to her requests, that came through loud and clear ~_~

[PepperElf]

I've adjusted my invoice to include 2 of these last-minute requests and am charging my normal daily rate (I'm tempted to double it for today's instance being as it was truly minimal notice). If she balks I'm ready to walk away; I already made one concession for her which I did not have to.

Tell her you warned her during that phone call... the one where she claimed "bad connection". ... see if she suddenly heard everything you said.


and i see i'm not the only one suggesting this.

[Blade_Raver]

First and foremost, is communication via email/TXT possible? Try to get the communication down on a recordable medium if you can.

[Dreamstalker]

I've catsit for her before; prior to last week she had no issues with my rate.

because then they'd have to leave the cat alone during the open house.

Exactly, and the cat loves to try and get outside. I guarantee that if he did escape I'd be the one to get yelled at no matter what.

She doesn't have an email address and I'm not sure if her cell phone (when/if it works) can accept texts <_< This is the woman who also forces me to make an extra trip to get paid...all my other clients trust me enough to leave payment.

Due to the storm tomorrow that open house is not happening and in fact she's coming back later today. What we did last night was just bring the kitty over here (I didn't want to chance him on the leash); mom was working so we couldn't take him back to his house until 10, but he seemed happy just to have someone around and be in a larger apartment with lots of stuff to explore. We figured that as long as I was forced into it I had the right to make an executive decision regarding what I felt was safe for the cat.

I am charging her for this on the invoice, as well as for the food/litter I had to buy the other day (unrelated).

[EricKei]

I would say, start making her pay in advance -- 50% up front, if not all of it. Especially with making you come back out just to get paid >_> What is her excuse for that nonsense, anyway?

[Dreamstalker]

I have no idea what her reasoning is...

[Salesmonkey]

Do you have a contract that you make your clients sign? It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just list your policies about payment, emergencies, etc. It will save you a bunch of hassle. You might want to include something about a "mechanic's lien" in there too.

[Dreamstalker]

I don't have a contract currently, but probably should draw one up especially after this (I have a couple clients who know my policies already and so probably don't need it, but now that I'm putting myself out there more it would definitely be a good idea).