My mom has had the same puppy sitter ( I'll be calling her sitter instead of using her name) for 8 1/2 years. We've been using her since the day we moved...3 years ago. Our puppy sitter gets paid $14/day to come let our dogs out at noon. It takes about 5-10 minutes of her time. When we take vacations where we can't bring Bonnie and Clyde, we pay her $25/day to puppy sit. Her only added responsibility is to sleep at at our house with the dogs and bring in our mail. Again, not a bad arrangement. Seeing as she has her own family we certainly don't expect for her to stay at our house 24/7.
Our puppy sitter and her husband have been having some financial problems for about a year now. I tried to get her husband a job at the Chamber when our Data Analyst left, but it didn't work out. I hear about their problems in great detail via notes that we leave for each other. While I've always felt bad for their situation, my own plate is quite full and I didn't really want to be burdened with her problems as well. There were numerous times that she asked to be paid early or even via cash (instead of check). Within the last 4 months, it's really started to annoy both me and my mom. At the end of June she told us that they were going to be moving in with her parents in North Carolina some time in July or August. On one hand I was relieved...I wouldn't have to hear about someone else's personal problems anymore. On the other hand I was upset...who was going to let our dogs out now?
We had already lined her up to watch the dogs while we were in Wisconsin last week and she promised that she would stay through then. Her last day was to be July 27th, the day we got back. My mom started to frantically search for a new sitter, but in the end we decided to use the daughter-in-law of one of my co-workers. So, we left for vacation knowing that our dogs and home were in good hands while we were gone and we had someone lined up to start on Monday. Yeah!
When we got home Sunday night, the house seemed just fine. But then some things came up that really got us upset. Apparently, our sitter's dad came down from NC the weekend we left and moved all of their belongings from their home back to NC. So she and her husband, along with their 3 kids, moved into our house for the week. This was not pre-arranged with me. We came home to find that there was NO food in the house. We had purposely made a trip to the grocery store the night before we left so that there would be certain things available when we got home. Like juice for the boys. Our fridge, freezer and pantry were pretty much cleaned out. Things that we hadn't even opened yet were gone! They used Jameson's diapers for their son, there were over 12 messages on our voicemail from their family, they used all of the bubble bath, shampoo and body wash that we had for the boys and we found they practically used all of our toiletries as well. Oh, and our bedroom TV doesn't work so I'm not sure what happened there. There were also piles of doggy doo outside of the gate going into the backyard. Big piles...nothing that Bonnie and Clyde would have left so we also think their dog stayed with them as well. Jason and I were both livid!
On Wednesday, I went to get the steamer out to make broccoli and noticed the coffee pot had been thrown in the cabinet. We don't drink coffee. We have it for friends and family that come visit. I really didn't care that they used it, but they didn't clean it. There was coffee all over it and when I opened up the tray for the filter, there was still one in it with moldy coffee grounds. Gross! Then I went out to do some laundry. I had done ALL of our laundry before we left so both the washer and dryer should have been empty. In the washer I found stinky towels that they had washed but never put in the dryer. When I opened the dryer I found more clean towels and some of our clothes...clothes that were not dirty when we left. I'm still in shock that they had the nerve to wear our shirts!!!
So in the end we paid our sitter $225 (they cashed our check the Saturday we left so I can't even put a stop payment on it) to move her family into our house, eat our food and live off of our utilities for 9 days. If it weren't for the fact that she is now living in NC, I'd press the issue. Hopefully I have found all that is to be found and I can just get past this. This weekend I will be cleaning our house from top to bottom to hopefully rid ourselves of the feeling that we've been completely violated. I don't think I've ever felt so taken advantage of.
So far we're very happy with our new puppy sitter. Randi is only a year older than me and is a stay-at-home mom to a daughter and son who are exactly Ayden and Jameson's ages. She seems agreeable to do overnight visits so we'll be set for future vacations.
Thanks for listening to me vent. My poor mother has been hearing about it all week but has been very supportive by just letting me get it all out. How would you have felt if you came home to this sort of situation? Am I blowing it all out of proportion or would you have felt taken advantage of as well?
Friday, August 1, 2008
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7 comments:
OH-MY-GOSH!!!!!!!!! I would be completely outraged!!!! I can't believe people actually did that and thought it was OK. How unbelievably rude and creul!!!! You're right, your family was totally violated and YOU paid for it. How rediculous. OH-MY-GOSH!!!!
OH my goodness, Jamie. You have every right to feel the way you do. It was basically a robbery without them taking personal items. I just can't believe people would stoop so low to use your place like that. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. Cleaning this weekend will help to get it out. Physical work usually does that. See you Sunday.
The NERVE of some people! OMG! It is the rudest thing I have ever heard. The gall of some people. At least she didn't abandon your dogs to fend for themselves, but really, she could have called you to explain her dilema. I am shocked.
This is crazy. My eyes just kept getting bigger & my mouth hanging open while I was reading. I'm sure you check the house to make sure things weren't missing, too. I honestly think I'd hunt her down in NC!
Jamie, I am speechless. And that is a hard thing to do to me. How could people think that it is okay to stay at your house? And then to use your things? You came home and sleep in your bed on sheet that had been slept on by someone else. You can have them arrested on Thief of Services. I think. You need to look into that. Of course it may cost more than it is worth. I am still in shock over this.
The puppysitter-who-shall-be-nameless has been watching my dogs for 8-1/2 years. When we first met, her two youngest children weren't yet born. She was always responsible and stayed in our home many times while Doughboy and I were away. We never had any problems. She stayed overnight as recently as a month ago when I went to the Kenny Chesney concert in Pittsburgh. We didn't have the problems that Jamie did (although her children and husband swam in our pool which I offered before we left). She and her family have fallen on bad times recently. Desparate times call for desparate measures. She used bad judgment when staying at Jamie's home, but this is out of character for her. While I can't excuse her actions and the liberties taken while Jamie and her family away, please know this isn't typical. I feel badly for her and know it is very difficult to lose everything. They lost their jobs and home, and are forced to move in with her parents until they can recover. This could happen to anyone nowadays.
OUTRAGE is the word that best describes how I would feel. She violated your trust, stole from you and hurt your feelings. One can only hope that the stress of her situation has not caused her to just throw in the towel and from here on out abuse the kindness of others. Just count your blessings for the security you have in your life and know that you are the type of person who would always do the right thing no matter what. I would, however, feel bound to call her - I would need some closure to this unfortunate incident.
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