Left dogs alone for longer than the max 4 hours and owner is furious
Hi,
I’d like to have some advice on how to respond to owners texts after they discovered I left the dogs alone for 4hours 20minutes.
In the care instructions on Rover they say the dogs can be left alone for max 4 hours.
This is the second time I housesit for them.
The first time they were meant to go for holiday but that was cancelled last minute. They decided to keep the booking and use me for ad-hoc day out they had on these days instead. As they were then calling me for the day, I would specifically state if on that day I had to go out for few hours. They also texted me all the time they were on their way back and told me I could leave as they would be back in the next couple of hours.
Today I left the house for a 3 hours meeting but then ended up being out for 4 hours and 20 minutes as the meeting ended later and I got lost on my way back.
I got 2 separate messages from the two owners.
Partner A states I’m not a nice person as I left the dogs for five hours and they cannot use me again.
Partner B explained why they checked the door camera, how they expected me to check with them when I leave the house (they’re abroad and their response time has been affected by that) as I did so last time and that I undermined our trust relationship.
Their dogs are really lovely and I have sticked to the assignment as best I could.
I have drafted a message where I explain why I thought I could be out of the house for 4 hours without asking for permission and apologise for the 20 minutes delay.
Also, should I offer a refund? Any advice on how to handle this situation would be greatly appreciated!
EDIT: booking was meant to finish tomorrow, but they came back a day earlier and they had said I could get the full fee. This was before they discovered the issue.
Also, should I mention anything about the review? I do mainly housesits. It would really affect my reputation if they’d write that I leave the dogs alone for longer than agreed!