Care 4 Creatures Pet Sitting – Company Policies
RESERVATIONS:
Reservations are made on a first-come, first-serve basis. We advise all clients to book services as far in advance as possible and re-confirm your reservations a few days prior to service so we know you are still going away. Please make sure we have replied before leaving town to avoid the possibility of missed messages.
FEES/PAYMENT:
Pet Sitting & House Sitting services are to be paid in full on the first day services begin. We reserve the right to cancel services if this payment is not received.
Payment may be made by email money transfer, cash, or checks made payable to Care 4 Creatures. Rates are subject to change. A handling fee of $40 dollars will be charged on all returned checks. A finance charge of 4% per month will be added to unpaid balances after 30 days. In the event it is necessary to initiate collection proceedings on the account, client will be responsible for ALL attorney’s fees and costs of collection.
Because House Sitting is an exclusive overnight service and we decline other reservations that coincide with yours, we will ask for a 30-50% deposit at the time of booking for services longer than 3 days. If services are canceled, this deposit is non-refundable.
HOLIDAY FEES:
There is a $10 per day surcharge for the following holidays: Easter, Canada Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day. ($25 extra per day will be added for overnight services.)
LAST-MINUTE FEES:
We do not charge for last-minute reservations for our regular clients, however, if you are a FIRST TIME client, we may not be able to accommodate your last-minute service requests unless there is time for an in-home consultation.
CANCELLATIONS:
Cancellations are normally tolerated for pet sitting visits, however, we do ask that you please notify us as far in advance as possible for any changes in your service. At least 48 hrs’ notice is appreciated. If you request to terminate our services after your booking has already started, no refunds will be given. If we show up for a visit and you are home, you will incur the full charge for that day. Deposits for House Sitting are also non-refundable.
IF WE HAVE TO CANCEL:
This rarely happens, (perhaps twice in the last 20 years) but if we need to cancel your booking (or any part of your booking) in the event of our own personal injury, illness, or emergency, we will contact you immediately and refund 100% of any money paid.
If you are already away and can not be reached, we will contact your emergency contract, but reserve the right to utilize additional help and backup sitters, including trusted friends, employees, or independent petsitting contractors to take over duties as outlined in your service agreement. Please notify us in advance with any questions or concerns with this arrangement.
Length of pet visits may be occasionally shortened due to personal illness/emergencies or inclement weather (blizzards, thunder, hail, heavy rain/winds, extreme temperatures). In these cases, the normal rates will still apply.
*Claims of negligence that involve an Independent Contractor hired by C4C on your behalf will be the responsibility of the Independent Contractor.
EMERGENCY VET CARE:
In the case of your pet’s illness, C4C will attempt to contact you using the emergency contact numbers you provided. All clients must provide accurate information and sign our vet release form prior to services rendered. If you cannot be reached, we will seek emergency veterinary care as recommended by the veterinarian on your vet release form. You will assume all responsibility for any veterinary bills, no matter how they are incurred. We recommend that you notify and leave your credit card on file with your veterinarian in case of an emergency.
EMERGENCY CONTACTS:
On the rare chance we may get locked out of your home or something happens to our copy of your key while you are away, we ask that you provide at least ONE emergency contact who has a copy of the house key. Contact information that is left inside the house is of no use in this situation, so please provide this information beforehand so you are not held responsible for any inaccuracies. If no emergency contact can be provided a second key can be provided by lock-box, hidden on the property, or in-person to us.
APPOINTMENT TIMES:
With the exception of overnight house sitting services, we provide most of our pet sitting visits during the late afternoon or early evening hours. We do not currently offer more than one visit per day as we do not offer visits in the morning hours. We do our best to arrive as close to your preferred times as possible but cannot guarantee those times as things often come up in our daily schedules. Please let us know if you will be arriving home early from a trip or in the evenings so as not to have us walk in at an unexpected time.
SHARED VISITS:
Sometimes clients request that visits be shared between C4C and their own friends, neighbors, or relatives. Although we do make exceptions to allow this, we do not recommend job sharing as this constitutes a greater risk to the security of your home and to your pets. Please know that if access to the home is granted to additional parties, we can not be held responsible for any unlocked doors, missed feedings, loss or damage of property, or the failure of those parties to sufficiently care for the animals in their charge. This includes injury, illness, or the escape of pets.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE:
Please leave food, medications, treats, cat litter, bags, (etc) where we can easily see them so we don’t have to search. Please email us with your emergency contacts if we do not already have them as leaving them on the table will not help if, for some reason, we can’t get in. Please leave payment along with any additional instructions and confirm that we (or your emergency contacts) have a copy of your house keys. Please ensure the house is safe and secure in terms of doors, windows, closets, open drawers, electrical/heated appliances, etc, and anything picked up that could be dangerous to your pet. It is also good to always leave an extra water dish and let your vet and alarm companies know we will be caring for your home and pet(s).
For future services, please let us know if there are any new pets or changes in routine, alarm codes, keys, or emergency contact information before leaving on a trip.
UPDATES WHILE YOU ARE AWAY:
We will not typically contact you while you are away unless there is a problem. However, we welcome you to check-in and contact us for updates by email or text anytime and as often as you like. We will happily respond to any inquiries asap. We do post regular photos on our Instagram (@care4creatures) as it is a fun and convenient way to check in on your pets while you are gone.
ALARMS/SECURITY SYSTEMS:
If you have a security system, we can provide you with a 4-digit code. We prefer not to use your code for security purposes and because it makes codes easier to remember. Most security systems allow additional codes to be programmed. If you do not know how to program our code, please contact the service department of your security company. (You would have to do this anyway if you gave us your code as anytime you give someone access to your home, you are required to update your security company.)
NANNY CAMS:
Surveillance cameras are commonplace and we welcome our clients to use them if they so desire. We do ask you to please be upfront and inform us of their whereabouts (hidden or not) for privacy/ethical reasoning. Laws state that all surveillance must be limited, meaning audio is turned off, recordings not kept, and cameras not placed in intrusive locations. As with any relationship, trust is very important to us. We do not mind being filmed — in fact, it can offer support if any issues/incidents arise during our service period — however, we would like to know about it. Please feel free to ask us any questions you have about this!
SNOW REMOVAL:
During the winter months, please make arrangements to have snow shoveled/plowed to ensure we can park along curbs and in driveways and walk on walkways without risk of injury. Please consider that we quite often go out in inclement conditions to make sure our client’s pets are well taken care of. Winter driving often takes more time, so getting stuck and having to shovel out cars can be quite the hassle. Unfortunately, (because of prior personal injury) we do not offer snow shoveling services.
AGGRESSIVE/SICK ANIMALS:
We do not provide care to acutely ill/terminal animals or those with uncontrolled medical conditions. Nor do we take care of aggressive animals under any circumstances. We reserve the right to cancel your services if we feel we can not safely manage your pet. Please provide us with accurate information concerning any potential illness or behavioral problems/instances of aggression on the part of your pet(s). By requesting our services, you agree to hold C4C harmless in the event that your pet is destructive to any person, animal, or property in your absence.
ARRIVING HOME:
Please contact us via email/text when you arrive home so we know all is well. Doing so will give us peace of mind and avoid any additional charges for unnecessary visits to your home.
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR KEYS:
Unless otherwise arranged, C4C will retain your house keys after the end of your service. This arrangement makes it convenient and efficient for future reservations and serves as a reliable backup should you ever need us in time of emergency. A key pick-up and drop-off charge of $15 will apply for future services if you do not wish to allow us to keep your keys on file. For your security, names, codes, and addresses will never be placed on key tags and all keys and information will be properly secured.
If you live in an apartment/condo complex that has a fob that needs to be returned after every service period, we do require that you be responsible for drop/off and pick up each time pet sitting services are needed. We have a lock box on our property for convenience to our clients.
ADDITIONAL EXPENSES:
Any additional expenses incurred during the course of a booking must be paid within 7 days of the end of the booking. This may include: purchasing additional food or litter, emergency home repairs, additional visits, etc. All purchases will be supported by receipts, and a $20 fee will be charged for any necessary shopping trips.
Any extra time required due to pet emergencies or cleanup of damages due to the behavior of the pet(s), will be invoiced at the rate of $10.00 per half hour. This includes, but is not limited to: veterinary trips; pet illness; excessive clean-up resulting from pet incontinence; complications administering medications; wait time for emergency home repair. By choosing to use C4C, client agrees to be responsible for all expenses incurred and reimburse C4C within 7 days upon return.
EXTENDING SERVICES:
If you need to extend our services, we can usually do so and try our best to accommodate. We can not guarantee this, however, so please let us know as soon as you can in such cases so that alternate arrangements can be made if needed. Payment for any additional services must be provided within 7 days upon your return.
Thank you for choosing us to take care of your precious “creatures”. We hope to have a long and lasting relationship with you and your pet(s).
CONTACT US TODAY TO BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION!!