Bad Day at Work in Diary
- Nov. 5, 2014, 5:02 p.m.
- |
- Public
I’ve just had my first minor spat with a customer. About six weeks ago he paid for me to look after his dog for the day, then cancelled at the last minute and asked if I could do it next day instead. I said yes to keep him sweet, but then he cancelled again just before I was due to collect the dog, and he said I could keep the money.
Tonight he sent me a text asking if I could have his dog tomorrow for 10 hours. I told him my price and said I normally only do eight hours but I’d do 10 for him. He shot back with “To be honest, if I’d been made aware of a credit deadline I would of (sic) used it…“
Firstly, he told me I could keep the money so he shouldn’t be complaining. Secondly, ALL other pet sitters charge for any cancellations made with less than 24 hours notice, which is something I’m now doing and have in my terms and conditions. Did he really expect me to keep his money in credit indefinitely, for an indefinite amount of care sessions cancelled at the last minute? I can’t run a business in that way and I’m sure most other businesses don’t allow it either, pet sitting or anything.
He agreed to pay half price sigh I’ve got to keep him sweet though as he says he’s probably going to need me more often in the future. It’s a tough line to tread; making sure your customers are happy versus earning enough money to pay the bills.
I took out the two huskies for the first time today and they pulled me so much I was dripping with sweat within five minutes and almost threw up with the effort. I ended up just sitting down on the ground to try and get my breath back. And that was only a 30 minute walk; they want me to walk them for an hour three times a week starting next week. I’m not sure how I’m going to cope. I’m going to persevere and see if I can get them to calm down a bit, but if I can’t then I don’t know if I can do it :o( Between them they weigh almost the same as I do but they’re stronger than me and it’s constant pullpullpullpull jumpjumpjump yankyankyank with no respite, not to mention when they get tangled up or one of them goes behind me so my legs get tangled in the leads.
A bad day at work, I hope tomorrow is better.
It was may last roller derby session tonight before my next attempt at the safe to skate test on Friday. This will be my third attempt and I just hope Gemma Witton doesn’t get in my way again as she’s the only reason I failed the 23 laps in 5 minutes…! They don’t really give us any chance to practice this so I don’t know how we’re supposed to improve but I’ve been trying to get a few laps in when I can. To get 23 in 5 we need to average 13 seconds per lap. I’ve been counting in my head and I think I’m doing about 11 seconds per lap, so as long as I can keep that up for five minutes, that works out at 27 laps so I should have plenty of leeway! As long as I don’t fall or someone gets in my way…
I sound like a proper wingebag today. I still need to write about our trip to Manchester.
Babe In Toyland ⋅ November 06, 2014
Sorry about your bad day at work. At least you gained a positive from your awkward customer and it's not going to happen again! Are you not a member of any forums where you can whinge at and share tips with other pet sitters?
Bomb Shell Babe In Toyland ⋅ November 06, 2014
I've had a look around but I can't find an active one.
Hypnotica ⋅ November 06, 2014
Can you speak to the huskie owner and explain the problems and say you might need to be paid for 2 hours to take them out separately? Maybe offer a discount on the second hour?
Bomb Shell Hypnotica ⋅ November 06, 2014
That's a good idea. They have halti harnesses which we're going to try as that reduces the pulling. I also suggested longer leads; the ones they have are so short I'm almost stepping on the dogs/ tripping over them! So I'll how it goes with those changes first :o)
Camdengirl ⋅ November 06, 2014
Yuck - he sounds delightful. In that instance I would probably remind him of what he said about keeping the money because of late cancellation (so he knows he is in the wrong) and then butter him up with the half price offer as a one off.
For the huskies - I'm not sure if you are allowed, but how about a halti? The poor things are probably just needing a run! The other thing you could try although it is knackering is doing hill climbing with them - it will at least slow them down and they can give you a pull up the hill?
Bomb Shell Camdengirl ⋅ November 06, 2014
Yeah I said I would do it this time, but I'm going to tell him when I see him later that I can't do credit anymore. As I'm getting busier now, I might have to turn down a customer if I can't fit them in and then if someone cancels and expects credit, I'm the one losing out through no fault of my own!
Great minds think alike, I just said to someone else that they have haltis for them and we're going to try them on the next walk tomorrow; I don't know why they didn't offer them to me to start with! They also have longer leads which they DEFINITELY need because the ones they supplied are so short I was almost stepping on the dogs/ tripping over them.
No hills around here sadly ;o)
wintergrey ⋅ November 06, 2014
Who needs the gym when you can wrestle Huskies around!
Have you got a note in your terms and conditions about late cancellation fees? He can't book you in and then cancel last minute, as you might have passed on other work already and won't be able to fill your day on short notice.
Hope today is better!
~Twinkle~ ⋅ November 06, 2014
Good luck with your safe to skate test x
Canadian Lass ⋅ November 06, 2014
don't know if anyones mentioned it.. but have you looked into a double lead?? it would help with tangling lead lines and keep them both in front of you, and Gentle leaders (muzzle or body based) will probably help ALOT! the double leads wont work well with the muzzle based gentle leaders though...
just a few personal things I found helped out :)
Bomb Shell Canadian Lass ⋅ November 07, 2014
Yeah everyone's mentioned haltis lol! (Our equivalent of a Gentle Leader). Turns out they actually have them but didn't think to mention them to me! So we're going to try them today. They also definitely need longer leads as the ones they gave me are far too short so I'm spending my time trying not to step on the dogs' heels, which makes it more stressful. So we're also trying those today.
I looked at a few lead splitters online but they had mixed reviews, most of them had some good reviews, but all of them had a few people saying that they broke the first time they used them. And these are people with much smaller dogs! So I'm not sure I want to risk that happening :-/