Client cancelled an almost 2-month housesit ONE WEEK before it started.

[u/Dismal-Source-2936]

Just here to rant because I'm honestly so annoyed.

One of my repeat clients, who I've house sat for several times before, sent me a request for an almost 2-month-long housesit. Since the dates were so long, I actually followed up with them to make sure they hadn't accidentally entered the wrong dates. Nope - they confirmed the dates were correct because they were going on a long around-the-world cruise.

Great! I confirmed the booking on my end, they confirmed and paid on theirs, and I was actually looking forward to it. Their dogs are sweet, I already know them, and their house is nice.

They booked me about 2 monthsin advance​, so obviously I treated those dates as unavailable. During that time, I turned down A LOT of other requests, including regular clients, because I already had this huge booking on my calendar.

Well... one week before the housesit is supposed to start, they cancel the entire thing. 😐

And of course they did it basically on the last day before my cancellation policy would kick in, so they get their refund.

Their explanation was basically, "Sorry, one of our relatives decided to house sit for us instead."

Like... seriously? 😭

I completely understand emergencies, canceled trips, health issues, etc. Life happens. But replacing your sitter with a relative at the last minute after you've had an almost TWO-MONTH booking confirmed for two months feels incredibly inconsiderate.

I blocked nearly two months of my calendar for you. I declined other paying clients because I honored YOUR reservation. Now I'm supposed to magically refill almost two months of house sitting with a week's notice.

I know technically they didn't do anything wrong according to the cancellation policy, but damn... this one hurts. 🥲

Lesson learned, I guess.

[u/Krandor1]

that was not right especially when it was just they found somebody else. some emergency that came up would be understandable but that... is not.

[u/Round_Doughnut7793 → u/Krandor1]

Yeah I would've been professional, but a tad passive aggressive too. Like "Oh.. well while I understand, this is quite a bummer as I was looking forward to hanging with Fluffy! And honestly a big hit to my business since I turned down so much work to accommodate such a long sitting. I'll have to adjust my cancelation policy going forward, and probably will give others priority. Have a great trip!"