Policies
General
Applicable to all variations of services provided by Sit Stay Play unless otherwise stated.
Meet & Greets
Meet and greets are free and available to all new dog walking and pet sitting clients if desired prior to a service commencing. If our staff arrives to a scheduled meet & greet but is unable to complete the introduction for any reason, a $30 inconvenience fee will be charged.
Booking Confirmations
A booking is only confirmed when a client has paid 50% of their invoice price or full payment with private dog training consultations, invoices will be emailed to your nominated email address. It is your responsibility to ensure the invoice is paid to confirm a booking. Invoices that have not received a deposit payment within 7 days of the invoice being issued will risk cancellation.
Dog Training Programs - An invoice for the remaining 50% due will be issued 5 days before service and will be due day before service. Our Cancellation policies still apply. If the remaining amount has not been paid on due date, your service is at risk of cancellation. This is dependant on when program is booked. Our 10 session programs can be paid with a payment plan once discussed with trainer.
Dog Training Consultations - If you are booking in for a 2 hour dog training consultation, full payment is required. You will have 7 days to pay the invoice once sent. However, Bookng is not confirmed until Payment is made.
Wedding Pet sitting - A booking is only confirmed when a client has paid 25% of their invoice price or full payment. Invoices will be emailed to your nominated email address. It is your responsibility to ensure the invoice is paid to confirm a booking. Invoices that have not received a deposit payment within 7 days of the invoice being issued will risk cancellation. Full payment is required 14 days before wedding date.
Pet sitting - A booking is only confirmed when a client has paid 25% of their invoice price or full payment. Invoices will be emailed to your nominated email address. It is your responsibility to ensure the invoice is paid to confirm a booking. Invoices that have not received a deposit payment within 7 days of the invoice being issued will risk cancellation. Full payment is required 14 days before pet sitting date.
Short Notice Bookings
Any bookings made within 14 days of the scheduled visit must be paid in full with a receipt/confirmation of payment sent to Sit Stay Play before the booking is confirmed. If full payment or receipt/confirmation of the full payment is not received before the service commences, the booking may be cancelled.
Invoices & Payment
Once an invoice has been sent, you will have 2 days complete payment (this is for our weekly clients). Sit Stay Play will contact the client regarding any unpaid invoices and send daily invoice reminders via email. After a reminder is provided, Sit Stay Play may charge late fees for any unpaid invoices. Payment is due according to Dog Training Pricing. Unless a date has been communicated and agreed upon between the client and Sit Stay Play, late fees for unpaid invoices will be charged as below:
7 days overdue: 10% surcharge fee
3 days overdue for a recurring walking service: 5% surcharge fee
7+days overdue: $15 fee per day
Cancellations
Our cancellation policy refers to cancellation of a recurring or individual service. Cancellation time periods are:
Within 24hrs of any scheduled services, the client will be charged up to 100% of the service invoice.
Within 48hrs of any scheduled services, the client will be charged up to 75% of the service invoice.
Within 72hrs of any scheduled services during peak (public holiday) periods, the client will be charged up to 100% of the service invoice.
If you are cancelling a dog training consultation session within a 5 day period of your session, a 50% fee of the full payment will be charged
Group Class
If you are cancelling or rescheduling your training spot within a 72 hour period of the class date, your payment will not be refunded and you will forfeit your spot. If you want to reschedule you will have to rebook with another full payment.
Peak Periods are considered as the NSW holidays here and the long weekends associated with them.
Outside these time frames clients will not be charged for the cancelled appointments, or they will be credited for the full amount already paid . This does not include 50% Booking Deposits that have been paid to secure a booking. 50% Booking Deposits are non-refundable even if notice is provided outside of our cancellation periods.
If the client forgets to cancel but doesn’t require the service or the dog cannot be reached or retrieved when our staff member arrives, the full-service fee may be charged.
Weather
We endeavour to carry out all services in unfavourable weather so assume if you have a service scheduled with Sit Stay Play that we will carry out the service. Whilst we do our best to monitor the weather forecast and notify clients of extreme weather which may affect an upcoming walk, it is ultimately the client's responsibility to cancel or reschedule if weather is going to affect their pets service from proceeding.
In extreme weather events we may shorten your pet’s walk, carry out the service in an alternate suitable location that can circumvent the extreme weather, or attempt to reschedule the walk to a more suitable day or time. We reserve the right to cancel any walks that are unable to be rescheduled that same week.
If you wish to cancel due to extreme weather our cancellation policy may apply. We will determine the applicability of the cancellation policy depending on the immediacy of the extreme weather.
Key Management
If we require keys for your upcoming booking, we provide three options:
Provide a spare set which can remain with a member of staff for the duration of your service booking.
Safely place the keys in an agreed upon location on your property for us to retrieve.
Drop them to our one of staff member’s home residence or an agreed upon meet-up location.
Please advise if any other arrangements are preferred.
Dangerous Behaviour & Emergency Events
The client will be liable for any medical/veterinarian expenses and damages resulting from injury to a member of our team, other persons, or other entities. The client agrees to indemnify Sit Stay Play in the event of a claim by any person injured or claiming injury or damages to their animal by the pet. The client must disclose any past aggressive actions by their pet. If any unwelcome behaviour is exhibited we may refuse or terminate the service. We require that all pets are up to date with their vaccinations so as not to pose a danger to other animals.
Pets which display extreme aggressive behaviour during a service may be returned home, or the service ended immediately at the discretion of the Sit Stay Play staff of which the dog is in the care of. The client will still be charged the service fee in any dangerous behaviour event.
If the client's pet experiences an emergency event whilst under our care (e.g. pet bites us or harms another, the pet requires immediate medical attention, escapes our care etc.) an Emergency Event fee may be charged. This will be charged at $50/hr for the duration of emergency service that is provided by our staff outside of the normal scheduled service.
Dog Training
Consultation
If you are booking in for a 2 hour consultation, full payment is required. Payment is due according to Dog Training Pricing. You will have 7 days to pay the invoice once sent.
A booking is only confirmed when a client has paid their invoice price, invoices will be emailed to your nominated email address. It is your responsibility to ensure the invoice is paid to confirm a booking. Invoices that have not received a deposit payment within 7 days of the invoice being issued will risk cancellation.
Travel Fee
Travel fees apply for in home training sessions outside the 25km radius of Eschol Park. A flat rate of $15 will be added plus, 0.85cents per km over the 25km radius from Eschol Park. Eg if you are booking from Picton Travel fee: $15+2x(0.85cents X 15km). 2* is to an from = $55.50 travel fee
Dog Training Programs
3 session program: You will have 3 months to complete all 3 sessions from when you have your first private session. Once it has been 3 months, your private sessions will expire.
5 session Program: You will have 5 months to complete all 5 sessions from when you have your first private session. Once it has been 5 months, your private sessions will expire.
10 session program You will have 12 months to complete all 10 sessions from when you have your first private session. Once it has been 12 months, your private sessions will expire.
Walk and Trains
5 session walk and train Package: All 5 sessions must be completed in 5 weeks from 1st session
10 session walk and train Package: All 10 sessions must be completed 10 weeks from 1st session
Dog Walking
Temporary Service Hold
If you use our dog walking services on a regular weekly or bi-weekly basis and would like to go on vacation or require a break from the service, we will put you on a temporary service hold so your normal scheduled time and spot will be guaranteed for up to 3 weeks. If you require a longer break from our service we may cancel or reschedule your future walks.
Scheduling
Unless an exact time has been requested and confirmed with Sit Stay Play, clients will be given an estimated time for when their dogs will be walked as we often group dogs together and travel times can fluctuate when dog pooling. Any drastic changes to the scheduled walk time will be either cancelled at the client's preference or rescheduled to another time that suits both the client and Sit Stay Play.
Damages and Cleanliness of Pet Owners Home
Prior to the pet sitting period, a thorough assessment of the pet owner's home will be conducted to evaluate the condition of the furniture and flooring of the household. Any existing damage or pre-existing conditions will be documented and agreed upon by both parties.
The pet owner must disclose any known behaviours or tendencies of their dog that may pose a risk of furniture damage.
The pet owner should provide details about any specific furniture items that are particularly valuable, fragile, or irreplaceable.
The pet sitter and the pet owner should maintain open communication throughout the pet sitting period to address any concerns or discuss preventive measures.
Pet Owner's Responsibility:
The pet owner is responsible for any damage caused by their dog during the pet sitting period.
The pet owner should take appropriate precautions such as crating or confining the dog in specific areas to minimize the risk of furniture damage.
Providing suitable toys, scratching posts, or other items to redirect the dog's attention away from furniture is encouraged.
Pet Sitter's Responsibility:
The pet sitter will take reasonable precautions to prevent furniture damage.
The pet sitter cannot be held liable for any unforeseen incidents or damages caused by the pet during the pet sitting period.
We are a Pet Care service, not a cleaning service. Our staff are committed to leaving no trace of their presence by leaving a Client’s home in the same state as they initially arrived in. It is our duty to clean everyday mess created by pets such as faeces, litter trays, mess leftover from pet food, and any mess created by the Sit Stay Play’s staff during their visits (e.g. dirt brought in from shoes). Whilst we will endeavour to hand-over a tidy household back to the Client upon their return home, cleaning general mess within and outside of the household is not our priority. Therefore, time will not be spent by our Staff on household chores such as sweeping/vacuuming floors, cleaning dirty surfaces, cleaning dishes and other dirty items left by Clients, etc.