So, I left this weekend to go up north for my first baby shower. Besides the actual party, everything was a total disaster. I hired someone to watch my dogs while I was gone. It was a teenage boy of a friend. I had him come over in advance, told him the rules, and wrote them all down.
Well, the problems started before I left. On Thursday Toby (the teenager) was supposed to come over and check on the dogs around 4-7 in the evening. I left to go to the store at 11 and when I returned at 12, his mom was there eating a frozen meatloaf meal I bought for her son during his stay.
Then, she text me on my trip saying the dogs pooped on the floor, but most of it was on the puppy pad and only a little got on the carpet. I told her the dogs should not be on carpet, except at night time when Toby is sleeping. She said the dogs must have opened the bathroom door and got on the bedroom carpet. Whatever.
Well, I get home yesterday and notice that the laundry soap is out of place. I go to move it and the bottle is nearly empty. It was a brand new bottle when I left. I can't imagine what my electric bill is gonna look like.
Then I walk inside to notice that the door I specifically said to KEEP CLOSED is wide open. I go in there to look for the cat and when I lift up the pull out bed, there is cat vomit all over the brand new white carpet. I rent my home and this is NOT good. So I clean up the stain and try to move on.
I go into my bedroom and the smell is overwhelming. I look around and the new tan carpet in my bedroom has 11 bright yellow urine stains on it. They are all dry and there is no hope of removing the smell now. And one of the stains is nearly 7 inches wide. My dogs are not 7 inches wide - it must have been her dog that peed on my floor. Awesome.
Then, yes, it gets better, we notice the switch that is labeled "Do NOT Touch" has been flipped, and apparently a lot of times because the surround sound system is fried and now the tv doesnt work. I go into the bathroom where the dogs should have been kept and there is black hair dye all over my white counters, back splash, yellow walls, and toilet.
But there is more...the dogs were supposed to be watched for 1 evening, 2 days and 1 morning. I don't know how that equals 12-17 meals being eaten from my home, but whatever. All the quarters and dimes are missing from the change jar too. I get up this morning and there are a ton of urine stains on the patio outside too. Were my dogs ever let out?
Am I getting too upset about all of this? She keeps calling me and texting me about how was my trip (it was horrible) and how are the dogs, and now she says Toby wants to know if he did a good job - it was his first job. Um, her son is in school and shouldn't be out for another hour or two.
I'm pretty sure that she was taking care of my dogs and feeding her family while she was there doing all of her laundry. And that reminds me - her hubby works in concrete and it ruins their washer all the time. I bet hers was broke and that's why she was using mine. I hope my washer and dryer isn't trashed too...I haven't tried to use it yet.
I don't want to talk to her or see her. If she didn't have my house key, I would just drop off the money in her mailbox and run. At this point, I might just do that and change the locks. I don't know what to do about the situation. I feel like I shouldn't pay Toby what I was going to pay. Instead, pay him what's left over after renting a steam cleaner (which will only remove surface stains, and not the urine that has soaked and dried into the padding).
I don't want to talk to her about what happened because I don't think it's Toby's fault and I don't want to get him in trouble. Plus, I think she is just going to make up a ton of excuses and it's not going to help anything. I don't see how either of us will benefit from me talking to her about it.
What would you do? How much should I pay her/her son? There is evidence of someone being there and the dogs did sleep in bed with someone. It's not like nothing was done...it just wasn't done well and there is a ton of damage done to the house that I rent. I take very good care of my home and went to extra lengths to make sure the house was in prisitine condition before I left. Now my home looks like no one has taken care of it for a month. It's disgusting. I will have to replace the carpet before Ava is born because she can NOT be exposed to nasty urine and feces like that.
Sorry this is so long and not in the appropriate forum, but I'm just so mad and need advice on what to do.