OT The right thing to do

[Karen]

Greetings

This is a sensible group on Usenet, so I thought I'd ask here.

My daughter is paying her way through college by babysitting. She has 4 different families she baby-sits for regularly. She took on an assignment for a new family through a referral. She normally doesn't take any new assignments on, because the families she sits for, treat her very well.

The family has 2 children, and the parents are both doctors. They also have a pet dog. Within 1 hour, my daughter noticed the dog had one of her less than a week old sneakers in it's mouth, ripped to shreds.

She paid for these with her money, they ran her $75. The parents refuse to pay for her sneakers, saying she should be responsible for her sneakers. She left her shoes at the door, because they have a very nice new home.

I say the people should have warned her about the dog being a chewer, and should take responsibility for their pet.

Needless to say, she learned a lesson the hard way.

What do you say?

[norminn]

Is this a puppy or a fullgrown dog? A pup I would expect to chew. Sounds like fullgrown if it tears shoes to shreds. If it tore her shoes, I would expect that it does damage to the owners' belongings, too. Very odd that they did not warn her. There are several choices, and you probably have them in mind: Isolate the dog or put her belongings away when there to avoid future damage. The thought that bothers me most is whether if the dog damages the owners' belongings while your daughter is there, will they hold her responsible. I think it would be a good idea to give notice and depart from their employ. Since your daughter was considerate enough to leave her shoes at the door, it is pretty trashy to avoid responsibility for damage their dog does.

[aemeijers]

Write it off as an expensive (at her income level) life lesson, and manage to always have a previous commitment if they want to hire her again. (They probably won't, if they had words over the shoes already.) Don't say a word to the people who referred her- she doesn't want a reputation as a difficult-to-please sitter. And if she sits at any other houses with puppies, put the shoes in the coat closet and close the door. Can't blame the dog- that is how dogs investigate interesting new smells. (Hmm- this is interesting. Wonder if it is food? 3 categories for dogs- stuff that can be eaten, stuff that can be humped, and stuff that needs marking.)

-- aem sends...

[Oren]

4th category for dogs - stuff that can be dug up and eaten later.

My dog is in denial. He never says a word.

[Tegger]

"Karen" wrote in news:hjdh9o$gev$ [e-mail]:

They are total and complete jerks. It may hurt your girl financially (in the short term), but she has to dump them. She should not accept shoddy treatment. If she does, it will get worse, not better over time.

They are doctors, you say? Pity their patients.

We have a 12-year old daughter (nearly 13!). She no longer has a babysitter, but over the course of the last 12 years we've been through a number of babysitters from great to horrible. And through being in the babysitter loop, we've also had our (in)direct experiences with some very seriously wacko parents.

What we've learned is that wacko parents will not suddenly repair themselves, but will remain wacko forever. And they'll whack the babysitter in the process.

Babysitters can, and should, "fire" their worst customers. The wackos are NOT looking out for her, but for themselves.

Frankly, such bad customer behavior baffles me. Babysitting is a service industry. The quality of the service is completely dependent -- from minute to minute -- on the mood and motivation of the babysitter. We went out of our way to pay MORE than required. We'd round /up/ billable care hours, give gifts on special occasions, take the little one back early if we were home early, look after the babysitter's house when they were on vacation, etc. All so as to ensure the best care we could get from the provider of the moment. That some parents won't do that is very, very puzzling.

What's more important? $75 for chewed-up shoes, or your child's care? Think about the mind that would choose the former.

[Karen]

wrote

Hi,

Thanks for the response.

It's a full grown dog. My daughter has over 250 hrs of voluntary service at the local veterinarians as part of her requirements, and is planning on becoming a vet. She asked her questions about their pet, if she should know anything about it, aside from letting it out. One of the family's pet has diabetes, and she has to give it a shot. Another family's pet has seizures, so she likes to familiarize herself with all aspects of the pets, along with any children's special needs.

She will not be going back to this family. She pretty much was doing it because of the strong referral. The family has tried to coax her back, but refuses to acknowledge any responsibility on their part. They seem to believe it's a one-way street, and try to make her feel obligated to them for child care.

[John Grabowski]

*I'd say that family just lost a very competent babysitter. Tell your daughter to drop the account and chalk it up to experience. Let them get someone else. If they ask she should tell them why. She should also warn other babysitters of her experience.

[Karen]

"aemeijers" wrote

Hello.

Thanks for your input.

You're correct, you can't blame the dog, and she's not attempting to.

[Bert Byfield]

You are incorrect. This is a place to discuss home repair, not chat about whatever.

[shortT]

These two doctors have plenty of money and they should not think twice about covering the cost of the shoes, if they were decent people which obviously they are not. It is also their responsibly, like you said, to warn her of anything unusual about the house. Now if your daughter was told to be carefull because their dog likes to chew things and she left her shoes lying around then she would be responsible.

[ransley]

I say yer Trolin

[casey]

Your daughter sounds like a responsible adult. Shame she had to encounter people who want to shrug their responsibility.

[casey]

Idiot! If you don't know what OT stands for, then don't read the thread.

[Tegger]

"Karen" wrote in news:hjdj5u$oi6$ [e-mail]:

No no no no. Venus flytrap. Vampire. Stay away.

[Jack Hammer]

Correct me if I am wrong but. Your post is not about home repair either. Is it?

[Bob F]

When they call back really desperate, let them know she would be happy to help them out, with payment up from for the damage and the service.

[Ralph Mowery]

Also double the old rate.

[Steve Barker]

I'd say the next time i baby sit, the dog 'accidentally' drinks some antifreeze and dark chocolate. Not my responsibility to watch what the dog eats.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, My daughter used to baby sit as well. She is a doctor now. Anyhow, that was 75.00 lesson and don't ever she baby sit their kids or you become their patient. I don't like people like that. When our kids grow up wife stayed home postponing her career advancement in nursing. After kids were in Jr. high she went back to work. If they are decent people damage should be paid for. If the dog chew one of their shoes, they more likely would blame your daughter for negligence.

[Tony Hwang]

Hmmm, Wonder how good doctor they are being like that?!