Complaint Review: Top Tails Pet Sitting

Incident Details and Timeline:
We scheduled Top Tails 24 hour pet sitting service to arrive at 12:00 on Thursday 6/16/2011 until 12:00 on Sunday 6/19/2011 (72 hours). The 24 hour service included a pet sitter on premises in the home to walk and care for the pets while the homeowners were away. Pet sitter would be present in the home for 24 hours with the exception of possibly stepping out for 1-2 hours MAX.


We left at 07:28 on 6/16/2011 and armed the alarm system. We spoke with Top Tails owner Tanya Grant at approximately 10:00 AM to confirm the service and Ms. Grant assured the homeowner that she would be onsite at 12:00 as scheduled and was looking forward to the time with the dogs. Ms. Grant said she would call if there were any problems.


At 13:00 the we noted that Top Tails had not arrived at the home as scheduled. We  contacted Top Tails office who called Ms. Grant and then made a return call to the me and advised that Ms. Grant was running late and would be there soon. 


Ms. Grant arrived at 13:47, nearly two hours late from the scheduled start time. Ms. Grant entered and exited the premises briefly and then the front door closed at 14:35. We assumed that Ms. Grant was inside with the dogs and went about our day. 


At 17:00 we became concerned again because the front door had not opened again. The dogs were scheduled to have dinner at 18:00 and a walk soon after. At 20:00 the we began calling the Top Tails office and left several messages. We contacted the Concierge at out building, the concierge went to the town home and rang the bell. The dogs were barking inside, however no one answered the door. The concierge returned an hour later and rang the bell again and again there was no answer. The concierge checked the homeowners parking place and there was no vehicle parked there (no one was home).


We called a friend and at 22:45 he drove to our townhouse and met with the concierge. He and the concierge walked to the town house and found that Ms. Grant had just arrived and was walking the dogs. This was confirmed by the security log entry indicating the front door had opened at 22:29. 


Our friend advised Ms. Grant that we had been trying to reach her all evening. Ms. Grant said that everything was fine. He advised Ms. Grant to call us immediately to account for the 8+ hours that she was not at the property. 


We began monitoring Ms. Grant via the security camera and noted the following:


- A strange dog was in the house. We never discussed or approved having other animals in the house. 


- Ms. Grant was wandering about the house looking in the cabinets.


- A bottle of ORileys White Chocolate liquor was removed from the refrigerator and contents consumed by Ms. Grant


- Ms. Grant put on my wifes house slippers and wore them about the house. 


- Ms. Grant also put on a pair of running shoes belonging to my wife and wore them about the house. 


- The dogs were relieving themselves in the dining room and living room


- Ms. Grant did not clean up the mess, rather she haphazardly put down paper towels and pushed them around with her feet and then left them there and went back to sleep. 


- The most serious matter was when we observed Ms. Grant entering and exiting the storage area and master bedroom. Both rooms are tied to the alarm and she was provided with clear instructions not to enter those rooms where we keep our valuables.


Not having the ability of reaching Ms. Grant, observing the behaviors above and having knowledge that the secured areas of the storage and master bedroom were breached, I was forced to book a flight home immediately to confront the situation in our home. Arrangements were made with USAIR at 01:45 on 17-JUN and a seat was ticketed for flight 1472 at 06:30 on 17-JUN (JAX to PHL).


At approximately 09:30 I contacted the Philadelphia police department for assistance in responding to the alarms that had gone off in the home and in contacting the occupant, Tanya Grant, who had been unresponsive despite many attempts to reach her.


At 09:50 the police made contact with Tanya Grant in response to the alarm sounding. Ms. Grant stated that everything was ok. The Police asked her to open the door to confirm but she refused stating she was not dressed. The Police gave her an opportunity to dress herself and come out, but after several minutes of no response from her the Police decided to breach the front door that was secured with a chain. The Police entered the home and found three dogs inside, two belonging to the homeowners and one belonging to Ms. Grant (still unclear if this was her personal pet or if she was sitting for another customer). I secured our pets and the Police conducted a search of the home. No other occupants were in the home, just Ms. Grant and the unknown dog. The first floor living room and dining room were considerably soiled (urine and feces). Urine soaked paper and cloth towels were left in the kitchen sink. Feces were found wrapped in napkins placed inside the pantry on the shelf next to food products.


I was asked to verify that important personal property was present and undisturbed. Ms. Grant was at the time wearing my wifes running shoes. Evidence of the slippers, running shoes, and liquor were present, but nothing else was disturbed. 


Ms. Grant collected her belongings and was escorted off the premises by Police and I was allowed access back to our home. The Police filed a formal disturbance complaint, which is on file with the Philadelphia Police Department. I contacted Ms. Grant via email and telephone requesting a refund for services not rendered and damages, but she has ignored my request.