I reviewed with Ms. Lee the specific needs for my 6 guinea pigs & two elderly dogs; she knew that I was leaving Sun morning return the following Sun by noon specific dates/times were reviewed on 9/19 as it determined her fee) I also provided info for feeding schedules, medications, & info on the home, & that my daughter, Christine, would be coming by on Tues & Thurs to refresh the guinea pig cages, & bring more greens since Ms. Lee was not entirely familiar with guinea pigs Day of departure: As agreed, I notified Ms. Lee via text that we had left home at 9 am - she was to be at my home by noon Sun to begin her employment By 2:30 I had not gotten a response from Ms. Lee & began calling without success - she did not answer my or Christine's calls or texts; we were unable to leave msgs so I asked my daughter to go let the dogs out since Ms. Lee was, now over two hours late with no notice of why Christine said that Ms. Lee called her around 3:30 that afternoon & said that her work had run late, & she assumed we'd not left home yet According to Christine, Ms. Lee said she "figured it would be ok to be a few hours late & she was having cell phone issues & that was the reason we could not leave her voicemail She did not arrive at my home until around 4:30 or 5 that evening I didn't confirm arrival from her until our boat was sailing away from the pier Tues: Christine came to my home with fresh greens & discovered things were not as they should be Lights were left on all around the home, my previously clean kitchen was dirty, & the thermostat had been set to 65 with the fan running The weather for my area the week we were gone was a consistent temperature around 60 during the day, w/ gray overcast skies & chances for rain I should also mention that guinea pigs, being small animals with fragile immune systems, should not be exposed to temps below 68 for any extended period of time Christine, being familiar with the way things should be, returned things to normal, refreshed the cages, & went on her way Wed: Ms. Lee contacted Christine via phone to ask two very specific questions - what was the security code for the alarm company should they call & need verification, & how many cherry tomatoes should she feed each guinea pig This information could be found in the paperwork I had left for her to review It became clear at this point that she had not bothered to review any of the info that I had provided, however she WAS sure to retrieve her fee which was stapled to the packet of info I had left for her Thurs: Christine contacted Ms. Lee via text to ensure that there were enough greens for the guinea pigs to carry them through at least my return on Sun Christine wanted assurance that I would not have to run errands on the day of my return from vacation - she was not thoroughly confident in Ms. Lee's capabilities. Christine was assured by Ms. Lee that she had counted the servings & that "Thurs PM - Sun AM is 6 servings and [she] had 9" My daughter arrived on Thurs to refresh the cages & noted that the lawn service was at my home to mow the lawn & treat it with weed killer A notice was left on my door with specific instructions "not to let animals walk on the lawn for at least 6 hours after treatment at 1:45PM" & based on the way things were going, I have concerns that this directive was not followed Sat: I sent an email to Christine & Ms. Lee notifying them that we had left port 2.5 hours late & there was a potential for a late arrival Ms. Lee contacted Christine around noon on Sat wondering how late she should stay Christine was under the impression that Ms. Lee still understood her departure date was Sun, because of the conversation on Thurs regarding greens for the guinea pigs Later that night, around 9:45 pm, my daughter realized that Ms. Lee had left my home thinking I was late returning on Sat. based on text msgs Ms. Lee told my daughter that she was confused about my return date/time & said she'd stayed 4 hours later than contracted at which time Christine stated that if Ms. Lee was confused then she could have contacted any one of our emergency contacts & the issue would have been clarified Christine was also sure to mention that, while Ms. Lee "stayed late", that it should really only count towards the several hours she was late upon arriving her first day Because of the observations & conversations between them throughout the week, Christine was understandably concerned about the quality of care & competency of Ms. Lee Had Upon my departure from the port to head home on Sun, I sent Ms. Lee a text message indicating I was heading home; I have not heard from her since. read more
