What If a Pet Sitter Asks Me to Pay in Cash?

What should I do if a Pet Sitter asks me to pay in cash?

Say "No thanks".

Some Pet Sitters offer to pay in cash, trying to entice you with a discount.  This is called “Tax Evasion” and is illegal in Australia. Unfortunately, the price of paying cash and accepting service from a solo Pet Sitter means that

1) They have no support network to rely on to replace them if they have to attend to a family emergency and can’t complete the booking. 

2) There’s no trace of agreement for services. What happens if you want a refund? 

3) There’s no accountability or incentive for them to even carry the job through to completion diligently every day.  Solo Sitters can just say no, and become uncontactable.

4) There is no third party keeping them accountable or contactable. Remember, con artists usually con people because they initially come across as nice people.

You are able to make an anonymous tip off report about them to the Australian Taxation Office.  You can also inform PetCloud's Support Team and we may choose to permanently deactivate their profile.

What if my sitter says "PetCloud takes 20% of my earnings, let's just do cash"?

It doesn't stack up:
  1. Sitters set their own prices. PetCloud does not set rates. Every sitter chooses what they charge, knowing the platform service fee in advance, and is free to factor it into their price. The rate on their listing is the rate they chose.
  2. The fee is likely to be tax deductible for them. The platform service fee is a cost of earning income, so it is likely to be claimable as a business expense. The real cost to the sitter is lower than it sounds. (Sitters should check with their accountant or registered tax agent.)
  3. The fee is what brought you together. It pays for the advertising, training, payment protection, accountability, mediation and support that connected you with your sitter in the first place.

A sitter who asks for cash is asking you to give up your payment protection, mediation support, wants no accountability, vet video consults and review rights so that they can avoid a fee they already agreed to. If this happens, please let our Customer Service team know.  👉 Submit a Support Ticket