Help I've got to tell someone I won't be able to house sit!

March 14, 2008 1:37 PM

[House sitting filter] Currently house sitting about to start another house, but wait the current house wants me to stay longer. And of course the other household is already gone help! Please note they both have pets.

I am currently house sitting for someone who I have house sat before. I was to house sit from the 7th until the 17th. I just got a call that she will be back today and that she wants to leave again on the 17th. I had no idea that she would leave again.

My only problem is that I will start house sitting for someone else that day and wont be able to anymore for current house. The new house was an emergency due to the person they were going to have house sit for them bail out on them. And like I said I had NO idea the current house would want to leave again.

How do I politely tell her I wont be able to do it. It wouldn't be such a hassle if I wasn't working full time and starting a 3 credit course next week. Please note they both have pets, that must be walked and fed each day, plus the households prefer that I stay at the house and spend the night each day.

I was thinking of checking on both houses daily if she can't find someone.

Thanks in advance!!

posted by redfusion to human relations (14 comments total)

Just tell her you are double booked and that you need more notice in the future.
posted by BobbyDigital at 1:40 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]

I should also add that it will be a face to face meeting. She thinks I am at work today, but due to the Spring Break Week, us staffers just get today off. I would call and let her know now but she just got on the plane and my cell is cutting in/out due to the house being behind a mountain +sun, which is why I didn't get the call earlier.
posted by redfusion at 1:44 PM on March 14

Do you have a friend/coworker you can trust and enlist as an "employee"? Tell the emergency person that you can't do it yourself, but you can vouch for X, who will be happy to act as your representative. You can add that you will be checking in on X and the pets daily to make sure everything is going well. Pay X 80%-90% of your fee.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:50 PM on March 14

I should add that I know a lot of people who housesit on the side here on the Cape, and this seems to be the standard "double-booked" practice.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:53 PM on March 14

I have to admit I don't really understand the question. You can't house-sit for them. How to tell them you won't be able to house-sit? "I won't be able to house-sit for you."
posted by loiseau at 1:54 PM on March 14 [5 favorites]

"I'm sorry, but I'm scheduled to begin housesitting for another client beginning the 17th. If you can't find another housesitter in time, I'm happy to regularly check in and feed the pets, but I'm afraid I'm not available to spend the night."

You can leave her a voicemail message saying something like this, or just tell her when she gets there. No reason to feel bad about it. I'm sure she'll understand that you're not necessarily going to be free on such short notice.
posted by lampoil at 1:56 PM on March 14

I wish, but honestly I don't know very many people. She does have previous other sitters that she could call. But like me its very short notice. This is the first time something like this has happened to me, I normally would say no to other person, but it was an emergency. What a way to learn, the hard way. I'm up in Alaska.
posted by redfusion at 1:56 PM on March 14

The owner of house #1 can't possibly expect that you're available on such short notice. You already have an obligation to start at house #2 on the 17th - so tell House #1 exactly that. She'll be fine without you.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:11 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]

You still seem to believe this is your problem. It's not. It's your client's. You didn't double-book yourself, she wants dates that you've already booked. I assume you've never given her a right of first refusal on your time, or told her you'll be there anytime she might need you.

You need to speak with her as soon as you can, and explain what the problem is, and add that the best you can offer is to check on her pet. You might say also mention the course you're taking, and say that you appreciate her business, but you've made a commitment to the other customer for those dates, so that's where you're going to have to be overnight.

Then, (this is important) stop talking and let her respond. Don't go on being apologetic, you've got nothing to apologize for. Hand her the problem along with your proposed solution, and wait for her to decide.
posted by beagle at 2:12 PM on March 14 [2 favorites]

"You might also mention", I meant.
posted by beagle at 2:13 PM on March 14

Thank you so much everyone!

That last comment I made was directed at Rock-Steady, I just forgot to add the tag. Still learning the ins and outs of board systems...

As beagle hinted at, I am a very over apologetic person and have issues with correct wording and rambling when very nervous. So you words of wisdom will help very much.
posted by redfusion at 2:19 PM on March 14

Hope everything works out for you. When you tell the person, try not to say too much. lampoil's suggestion would be a good script to literally memorize and recite, and then, like beagle said, clam up. If you housesit often, and you don't know people you could use as a backup, you may want to reach out to other housesitters in the area and try and put together some sort of loose coalition so that you can cover for each other from time to time.
posted by Rock Steady at 3:14 PM on March 14

Tell your client that you can't do it as *soon as possible* -- that way they have more time to try to find someone else.
posted by amtho at 5:05 PM on March 14 [1 favorite]

Seconding the plan of employing someone. Seriously. Your business is doing so well that you are no longer personally able to meet client demand for your service. Traditionally in business, that's the time to employ people.

This time, think of it as the friend doing you a favor and the 10% you take (might want to increase that) as a fair share for setting it up. However next week, you might want to consider looking over your business plan etc with a view to employing people: how much to charge, who to employ (people like yourself ideally) and how to go about getting them (how did you get into it?), what your responsibilities are with regard to payroll records, insurance, etc.

The bottom line is, at least two clients think you're good enough at this to make a business out of it, if you want to.
posted by aeschenkarnos at 8:35 PM on March 14