Ask Auntie Linda, Straight Talk from a Straight Shooter

Dear Auntie Linda,  We were going to be out of town for the holidays, so we got a young man who grew up with our son to and whose parents are our best friends to housesit and care for our dogs.  We’ve known him for years and felt comfortable having him stay even though he’s college age.  We paid him well to watch the dogs  and maintain the house.  The neighbors told us later he had a girlfriend over the whole time, though he told us he wouldn’t have strangers in the house.  They had to call the police on a loud party.  We got a frantic call that one of our Dachshunds had to go to the vet with a broken leg on Christmas Eve.  Evie is an older dog and not able to move fast enough to get out of people’s way.  I suspect she was kicked or hurt by rough play at the party the neighbors complained about. A good bit of alcohol is missing from our cabinet and we can tell someone was in our bedroom.  We are very upset about the way things went.  We foolishly paid Jerome before we left, knowing he needed the money for Christmas.  We tried to reach Jerome, but he won’t return our calls.  Should we tell his parents? We feel he should make good on damages.  Mad

Dear Mad,  If this guy is in college, he is responsible for himself.  I’d make a point to let him know what a rotten job he did, but unless you are willing to sue, he is not likely to make good.  I wouldn’t hesitate to tell his parents about the bad experience if they asked, but they aren’t responsible. However, they don’t need to recommend him to anyone else.  He may just be a kid who exercised bad judgment, but I’m sure you won’t need his services again.  If anyone asks you for a recommendation, be sure to say there were problems. Auntie Linda