How do I politely decline a client with red flags?
I have a lady messaging me and she says shes elderly.
Her messages are always jumbled almost like a slurred keyboard. Which could absolutely be because shes elderly sure but its a red flag.
Plus...
She wants to book her tiny dog 10lb with me for a week. (I have a 55 pound Australian Shepherd.) I messaged her back reminding her politely that I have a larger dog, and told her my dog was very gentle with small dogs. I asked her how her dog does with dogs of such a vast size difference, that I would make sure he was comfortable, that they could be safely separated if she decided to book with me of course but did she have any advice for me on her dogs personality with larger dogs.
She replied back that she wasn't sure of her dogs confidence level around other dogs, and she wasnt worried will actually be in town the whole time and wants to stop by and visit him and maybe pick her dog up from time to time.
I let her know that due to COVID 19 I'm not providing in house visitations but she was welcome to pick up her dog to take him out anytime during his stay.
Then she responded that she did not feel comfortable using a middle man, that its not as personal and if I could give her my phone number so we could talk.
So I feel I have two options:
Assume she really is an older lady and try to work with her even though its against my policies. (I have my Rover set up so that they cant call until they make a booking. So I would have to set up a phone appt time and change that preference just for her during that time...arg)
Trust my gut. saying shes uncomfortable with a "middle man" and asking for personal information is a red flag to me #1. #2 Shes already being a pain asking for visitations, wanting to put her tiny dog into a home with a 55 lb dog for a full week without knowing how her dog does with big dogs (I wouldnt do that to my dog!), and pushing for my phone number even though I clearly am not reachable by phone until a booking is made.
Even if she is who she says she is...I see her being an annoying client already. Which even if I'm super kind to her and go out of my way to accommodate her needs, that could bite me later if she writes a bad review saying that I was hard to reach by phone or something.
I'm leaning towards declining her request but I've already seemed bubbly about watching her dog before I knew she was going to be irritating. I also already said I was available before she started asking for things outside of my policies.
How do I decline her now in a professional way? In your experience How do ...