Hugely increased electricity bill

[LonArcvarden]

Hello everyone, I have just returned from six weeks away to find that my cat sitter has increased my monthly bill from an average of £130 to over £400. I had asked her to use the delay on washing and drying but this was ignored as when I returned she had just put a wash and spin dry on. I had also asked her to use two heaters, hoping she would use one at a time, instead of the central heating as this would be cheaper for one person, but it seems she had people staying and helped herself to two other heaters without asking me. I also left her enough logs to cover her stay. She left loos grubby and unflushed, two beds unmade, floors unmopped and unswept, bins unemptied, fireplaces full of ash and no milk in the fridge. Her point of view is that there were a lot of chores to do (feeding the cats, sending three things in six weeks, waiting for an engineer, hoovering before she left), but these things don’t feel like much to me for a free home for so long. I have asked her for £300 to partly cover the huge leap in my bill but she hasn’t replied. I would love your thoughts on this.

[Oreganus]

I’d set really clear guidelines next time, down to which settings you expect people to use, so it doesn’t feel awkward later. I’ve had a couple of sits where energy use surprised me too, and it helped to spell things out gently in advance. If your supplier allows it, something like the octopus energy refer a friend info can also take the sting out of bigger bills, since the credits can soften any unexpected jumps.