Caught a client red-handed trying to gaslight me into working an unbooked Memorial Day overnight 1 hour before arrival. 🚩What would you do?
Hey everyone, I need to vent and get some outside perspective. I’m an independent pet sitter, and I’m 99% sure I’m firing this client this week, but I want to make sure I’m not crazy.
The Background:
I have a client, "Sarah.” She’s been a client for over a year and goes away frequently and for longer periods with her family. She has booked me for summer dates in July and August. Historically, she is a slow payer.
I always have to send Venmo requests and follow up with "checking in" texts just to get invoices settled.
A couple of weeks ago, a different client flaked, so I politely reached out to Sarah to see if she still needed coverage for May 22nd–25th. She told me no, her niece had it completely covered, and she only needed me for one single overnight: Tuesday, May 26th to Wednesday, May 27th.
The Ambush:
Tonight (Memorial Day, May 25th), at 7:00 PM, she drops this text on me out of nowhere. For context, my usual arrival time for her house is 8:00 PM:
"Hey, just wanted to touch base. Make sure you’re headed over there tonight and tomorrow night. I think we fly home around seven Wednesday again just had dinner and their visit so they should be happy to see you. Door code is the same ***** Hopefully my niece left everything nice for you in the guestroom."
I panicked for a split second thinking I messed up my calendar. But I checked my data, and my memory was 100% correct. Her niece was supposed to be there tonight.
The niece clearly flaked last-minute to enjoy the holiday evening, and instead of Sarah being honest and asking for an emergency favor, she tried to gaslight me into thinking I was already scheduled so she could squeeze an extra night of holiday labor out of me.
My Response:
I refused to let her rewrite reality or ruin my holiday night. I also knew if I just said "no," she could try to negotiate or guilt-trip me. So I deployed a tactical boundary and replied:
"Hi Sarah. Oh no it looks like had a little mix up on dates. 😮 Our dates were just for tomorrow the night of the 26th, to the morning of the 27th, to take over after your niece finished up. I’m so used to doing multiple overnights that I definitely remember this one was only for one night! 😅 Since it’s Memorial Day, I’m actually out of town at a friend’s place for the night (over an hour away), so unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to even cover tonight. I look forward to seeing X and X tomorrow night!"
Her reply was incredibly flat and casual: "Oh, OK. Well, I will get them covered and plan on you coming tomorrow night."
No apology for the "mix-up," no screenshots to back up her claim, nothing. If it was a genuine mistake, she would have argued or checked receipts. Tonight, she just folded immediately because she knew she got caught trying to manipulate me.
But the sheer entitlement of trying to trick me into this one hour before arrival on a major holiday has left a terrible taste in my mouth.
I plan to wait until my overnight tomorrow is over, secure my payment, and then possibly send a professional cancellation text wiping her from my July and August calendar.
What are your thoughts? Would you drop her immediately after this? How would you handle this?