Operational Policies

Confirmation of a Booking

A Pet Sitting booking is not confirmed until a Client has signed the Portal Policy and paid their entire booking fee upfront by the due date listed on their invoice, which is either within 14 days of the invoice date, OR for bookings starting in less than 14 days, by 5pm in 2 days’ time.

Booking Invoices will be sent to the Client but this does not technically mean the booking is confirmed. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure payment is made to confirm a booking; though we will do our best to send reminder emails to help make this happen. Invoices that have not received payment within 14 days of the invoice being created will risk being cancelled. The Client will be notified of this potential Cancellation.

If the Client fails to make full payment for their booking within 14 days of their booking being created, their booking will subsequently be cancelled. If they still require their booking dates, it is their responsibility to create another Service Request through the Time To Pet Portal and make payment in order to lock their booking in. A 10% reinstatement fee will also apply to reinstate the new booking.

Cancellation Policy

We have a flat rate Cancellation fee of 25% for any cancelled visits, unless in the following circumstances:

• If <24hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled services during any period, the Client may be charged up to 100% of the Pet Sitting Fee for the cancelled period.

• If <48hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Regular Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Pet Sitting Fee for the cancelled period.

• If <72 hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Peak Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Pet Sitting Fee for the cancelled period.

Peak Periods are considered as the holidays below and the Long Weekends associated with them:

School Holidays, New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Bank Holiday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day.

We request that any Cancellation notices be made via the Time To Pet Portal.​

If the Client cancels their reservation outside of the Cancellation Periods, they will be charged the flat rate of 25% for any cancelled visits.

If the Client is home during a scheduled visit and neglect or forget to cancel and a Pawz & Me Team Member arrives at their home, the full service fee may be charged.

In the event of a Pandemic or Epidemic, all Cancellation Policies will still be applicable. ‘Epidemic’ means a sudden development and rapid spreading of a contagious disease in a region where it developed in a simply endemic state or within a previously unscathed community; and ‘pandemic’ means a form of an epidemic that extends throughout an entire continent, even the entire human race.

New Client Meet & Greets

A Meet & Greet will not be scheduled until a Client has made full payment for their booking.

Late Booking Fees

Late Booking Fees are as follows:

• 30% Late Booking Fee for bookings made between 1st Dec – 10th Jan with dates within the same period (eg making a booking on 5th Dec for 23rd-27th Dec).
• 20% Late Booking Fee for less than 3 days’ notice for ANY Peak Period. Peak Periods are considered as the following holidays and the Long Weekends associated with them: School Holidays, New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Bank Holiday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day.
• 20% Late Booking Fee for less than 1 days’ notice for ANY Period.

Scheduled Visit Time Requests

Clients can request specific timeslots when making a booking request via the Time To Pet Portal. However please note that timeslot requests are just that – requests. Bookings will be created with your time request in mind, though please note that we write our staff roster and finalise our schedule 2 weeks in advance and when doing so, attempt to work to these timeslot requests as closely as possible.

Timeslots can be quite broad in their range of time, so if you have a more defined time in mind that you’d like to request your visits/outings to be, then we highly recommend mentioning this in the Notes section when making your booking request.

Our schedule timeslots are as follows:

• <7am: Before Dawn (After Hours)
• 7am-9am: Early Morning
• 9am-11am: Morning
• 11am-2pm: Midday
• 2pm-5pm: Early/Mid-Afternoon
• 5pm-6pm: Late Afternoon (After Hours)
• 6pm-8pm: Evening (After Hours)
• 8pm onwards: Late Evening (After Hours)

After Hours Fees

Any bookings that specifically request any After Hours timeslot will be subject to a time-and-a-half (x1.5) After Hours fee.

New Client Meet & Greets

Every Pawz & Me Client receives a complimentary Meet & Greet before Services commence. New Pet Sitting Clients will not have a Meet & Greet scheduled until full payment has been made for their first booking.

Keys

If a key is required to access your pets AND you are requesting multiple visits per day, you will now be required to have a lockbox or other suitable key storage option at your property to ensure your keys stay safely secured and are easily accessible to our staff for all of your visits.

State and Cleanliness of Pet Owner’s Home

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 Pawz & Me 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.

If an insect problem is developing due to an untidy household, we will contact the Client for assistance regarding the issue. We can also recommend and organise a local Cleaning Service for the Client to ensure the Client returns to a newly cleaned home. If this offer is accepted, the cost will be invoiced directly to the Client.

Poo Patrol

We request that all pet poo in the home or yard be cleared before our visits are set to commence. If we arrive to a first visit and excessive Poo Patrol is required, a cleaning fee of $10+GST will be added to the Client’s invoice.

Cancellation Policy

Should you need to cancel or makes changes to a scheduled outing, your cancellation request must be in by 5pm the day before the scheduled outing in which you wish to cancel or make a change to. We request that these Cancellations be made via the Time To Pet Portal, not by text or email. Should we receive a request later than this we may be unable to accommodate your request and we reserve the right to charge a fee of up to 100% of the Service amount.

Should you wish to cancel your dog’s regularly scheduled outings, we require 2 weeks’ notice.

Invoice Payment

Regularly scheduled outings do not require any deposit to be secured in our schedule. Casual bookings (i.e. any outing that is not locked in on an automatic, regular schedule) require full upfront payment within 14 days to secure the outings. All Invoice balances are due by 3 days after the last Service shown on the Invoice is complete.

Vacation Policy for Regularly Scheduled Outings

If your dog is locked in to regular outings with Pawz & Me (i.e. once a week or fortnight) and you would like to go on vacation where our services for your dog are not needed, your regularly scheduled day and service spot will be guaranteed for up to 3 weeks.​ Should you not need our service for more than 3 weeks your regularly scheduled spot cannot be guaranteed. Available openings for our service are first come first serve.​

Times & Schedules

All clients with regularly scheduled days, for example Tuesday and Thursday of every week, will get priority for scheduled slots over clients with irregular outing schedules. Regularly scheduled days are always guaranteed, however we do not guarantee exact times for any scheduled outings. Many factors such as weather, cancellations, and traffic can cause changes to our schedule and shift your dog’s scheduled outing time.

Unless an exact time has been requested and confirmed with Pawz & Me, clients will be given an estimated time (such as early morning, mid morning, midday, etc) for when their dog’s outing will be scheduled, which will display in the Time To Pet client portal.

Time Requests: We reserve the right to schedule Services that fit in with our schedule for the current period, and, as mentioned above, will do our best to determine this schedule based on the requests of our Clients. Any bookings that specifically request any After Hours timeslot will be subject to a time-and-a-half (x1.5) After Hours fee.

Weather Policy

We are well equipped to weather the elements and conduct outings in all kinds of weather. It doesn’t matter if it is pouring rain or scorching hot, we will be out there and doing our jobs to the best of our ability. Please assume that despite any weather conditions, if you have a visit scheduled with Pawz & Me then we will show up.

​If the weather is extreme (hot, cold, stormy) we may shorten your pet’s outing to protect both the dogs and our staff, spend time with your pet in a different way to protect them from the harsh weather, or attempt to reschedule the outing to a more suitable day or time. Please be aware that finding a suitable reschedule time for multiple clients can be extremely difficult, and we reserve the right to cancel any outings that are unable to be rescheduled that week.​

Whilst we do our best to monitor the weather forecast and notify clients of extreme weather which may affect an upcoming outing, it is ultimately the Client’s responsibility to cancel or reschedule if they believe weather is going to affect their dog’s ability to attend their regularly scheduled outing.

Please let us know if your pet has difficulty in any type of weather and would prefer that we spend time with your pet doing something other than an outdoor activity. Should you want to cancel due to extreme weather our cancellation policy will apply.

Beach & Park Adventures: All Beach & Park Adventures include access to fresh, cool water and shade on hot days, and our vehicles are equipped with towels to provide all dogs with a rough dry for rainy days. Beach Adventures also include a Bath & Blowdry which includes shampoo, condition, flea & tick treatment, and basic blowdry.

Anti-Social Behaviour

Any dogs which displays antisocial behaviour during a group outing will be reprimanded and placed in a time-out until they display social and friendly behaviour with the other dogs present. Dogs which display extremely anti-social and/or aggressive behaviour during a group outing may be returned home immediately at the discretion of the Pawz & Me staff of which the dog is in the care of. In any of these circumstances, the Client will still be charged the full Service Fee, and alternative arrangements may be made to implement behavioural training or a one-on-one style of service with the dog instead.

Doggy Daycare Farm Adventures: Waiting at Pick-Up & Drop-Off Time

If our Staff are required to wait for you to arrive to drop-off or pick-up your dog who is scheduled for one of our Doggy Daycare Farm Adventures, a fee of $5 per every 5 minute increment of waiting will automatically be added to your invoice.

Confirmation of a Booking

A Wedding & Event Pet Assistant booking is not confirmed until a Client has signed the Portal Policy and paid a non-refundable booking deposit of $350 per pet on their booking. Booking Invoices will be sent to the Client but this does not technically mean the booking is confirmed. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure the booking deposit is paid to confirm a booking; though we will do our best to send reminder emails to help make this happen. Invoices that have not received a deposit payment within 14 days of the invoice being created will risk being cancelled. The Client will be notified of this Cancellation via email and in the Time To Pet Portal.

Invoice Balances are due by 7 days before your Wedding/Event date.

‘Last Minute’ Bookings

Any booking made with less than 1 months’ notice will incur an additional 10% late booking fee.

Cancellation/Rescheduling Policy

We do not charge a fee to reschedule a booking date, we simply request that you check our availability for the date in which you wish to change your booking to to ensure we are still able to fit you in for your new date. If we are unable to fit you in for the date in which you wish to reschedule to and you still choose to reschedule and forfeit your booking with Pawz & Me, you will receive a refund of all monies paid minus the $350 per pet booking deposit.

Should you wish to cancel your booking altogether, you have until up to 7 days before your Wedding/Event date to cancel and receive a refund of all monies paid minus the $350 per pet booking deposit. No refunds will be provided on any booking that is cancelled with less than 7 days before the Wedding/Event date.

Any changes to your booking can be made up until 7 days before your Wedding/Event date. If you choose to add extras onto your booking after this time, payment must be made in full on the day that your changes are made and your new invoice is emailed to you. If your Wedding/Event date is less than 7 days away and you choose to remove any parts of your booking that would reduce the overall price, you will not be refunded the difference. It is for this reason that we recommend making any changes to your booking before 7 days prior to your Wedding/Event date. We will reach out to you roughly 3-4 weeks before your Wedding to confirm all the details, and we recommend that you utilise this opportunity to do a final confirmation of all details of your day, to avoid this being an issue later down the track.

Late Night Driving & Providing Accommodation

For the safety of our Team members, a $200 Accommodation fee will be charged for any booking where our Staff are required to drive after midnight.

Meet & Greets

Your chosen Wedding Pet Assistant Package may include a complimentary Meet & Greet. If not, we can provide one at a cost of $60. For clients outside of a 20km radius of the Pawz & Me office in Camden, a travel fee of $1/km plus any road tolls incurred will also be charged. We are more than happy to meet Clients at a location within this 20km radius, such as a park or café to discuss your big day further. Alternatively, let’s chat over Zoom!

Overnight Stays

The Client must provide Pawz & Me Staff with a suitable sleeping and living arrangement for all Overnight Stay services that are booked with a Wedding & Event Pet Assistant Service. Absolute minimum requirements are as follows:

• A bed (not an inflatable mattress) with clean linen
• A clean bathroom with hot water and fresh towels
• Food provided for the pets (if you would like them to be fed)
• A home that has been cleaned to a suitable standard
• A kitchen with working appliances

Key Pick-Ups & Drop-Offs

We do not provide a complimentary key pick-up & drop-off service. If we require keys for your upcoming booking, we provide the following options:

• Provide a spare at your Meet & Greet (if you have chosen to include a Meet & Greet)
• Hide your keys in a safe place on your property for us to collect upon our arrival to your pets
• Drop/mail them to our office at 19 Barsden St, Camden NSW 2570

Please keep in mind, entrance to our office is generally only available during standard business hours or unless a member of the Pawz & Me team is still present at the office in order to let you in to the main door. Please inform us if you intend to drop keys to our office so we can ensure the building will be open for you. ​If you absolutely require that we pick-up/drop-off your keys at your property personally, a fee of $1/km will be charged.

Confirmation of a Booking

A Pet Taxi booking is not confirmed until a Client has signed the Portal Policy and paid their entire booking fee upfront by the due date listed on their invoice, which is either within 14 days of the invoice date, OR for bookings starting in less than 14 days, by 5pm in 2 days’ time.

Booking Invoices will be sent to the Client but this does not technically mean the booking is confirmed. It is the Client’s responsibility to ensure payment is made to confirm a booking; though we will do our best to send reminder emails to help make this happen. Invoices that have not received payment within 14 days of the invoice being created will risk being cancelled. The Client will be notified of this potential Cancellation.

If the Client fails to make full payment for their booking within 14 days of their booking being created, their booking will subsequently be cancelled. If they still require their booking dates, it is their responsibility to create another Service Request through the Time To Pet Portal and make payment in order to lock their booking in. A 10% reinstatement fee will also apply to reinstate the new booking.

Cancellation Policy

We have a flat rate Cancellation fee of 25% for any cancelled booking, unless in the following circumstances:

• If <24hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled services during any period, the Client may be charged up to 100% of the Pet Taxi fee for the cancelled service.

• If <48hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Regular Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Pet Taxi fee for the cancelled service.

• If <72 hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Peak Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Pet Taxi fee for the cancelled service.

Peak Periods are considered as the holidays below and the Long Weekends associated with them:

School Holidays, New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Bank Holiday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day.

We request that any Cancellation notices be made via the Time To Pet Portal.​

Unpaid Invoices

Pawz & Me will attempt to contact the Client regarding any Unpaid Invoices and send daily Invoice Reminders via email to the Client. Once these steps have been taken, Pawz & Me reserves the right to charge late fees for any Unpaid Invoices. With the exception that a date has been communicated and agreed upon between the Client and Pawz & Me, late fees for unpaid invoices will be charged at $5 per day that the payment is not received. We will endeavour to contact you regularly to inform you of your overdue invoice, but ultimately it is your responsibility to keep track of all your invoices and their due dates via the Time To Pet app.

Late Booking Fees

Late Booking Fees are as follows:

• 30% Late Booking Fee for bookings made between 1st Dec – 10th Jan with dates within the same period (eg making a booking on 5th Dec for 23rd-27th Dec).
• 20% Late Booking Fee for less than 3 days’ notice for ANY Peak Period. Peak Periods are considered as the following holidays and the Long Weekends associated with them: School Holidays, New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, Queen’s Birthday, Bank Holiday, Labour Day, Christmas Day, Boxing Day.
• 20% Late Booking Fee for less than 1 days’ notice for ANY Period.

Inability To Access Pets Fees

If a member of the Pawz & Me Team arrives at your home but is unable to access your pets, you may be charged up to 100% of the Service Fee. These scenarios include but are not limited to:

• Failing to leave a key for our staff
• A door or gate is broken and unable to be used

Meet & Greets & Staff Job Allocations

Complimentary Meet & Greets are available to all new clients to meet pets and discuss all of their requirements before Services are scheduled to commence.

If a Pawz & Me Staff Member shows up to a scheduled Meet & Greet and you are not home or available, a $30 inconvenience fee will be allocated to your first Invoice to reschedule another Meet & Greet. ​If you request a Meet & Greet with extra members of the Pawz & Me Team who may be allocated to your scheduled Services, we will charge $30 per additional Staff Member requested.

Key Pick-Ups & Drop-Offs

We do not provide a complimentary key pick-up & drop-off service. If we require keys for your upcoming booking, we provide three options:

• Get a spare set cut which can remain safely and permanently at our office
• Hide your keys in a safe place on your property for us to collect upon our first visit to your pets
• Drop them to our office at 19 Barsden St, Camden NSW 2570

Please keep in mind, entry to our office is generally only available during standard business hours or unless a member of the Pawz & Me team is still present at the office in order to let you in to the main door. Please inform us if you intend to drop keys to our office so we can ensure the building will be open for you. ​If you absolutely require that we pick-up/drop-off your keys at your property personally, a minimum $20 fee may be charged.​

Unplanned Emergency Visits

If the Client’s pet requires immediate attention from Pawz & Me that does not fall within the Pet’s usual scheduled House Visit appointment (e.g. the Pet escapes and Pawz & Me staff are immediately required to retrieve it; the Pet is ill and requires immediate attention and/or transportation to a Veterinary Hospital), an Unplanned Emergency Visit fee will be charged. This will be charged at a rate of $60/hr beginning from the moment the Pawz & Me staff leaves their usual schedule to visit the Pet, to the moment they are able to return to their usual schedule before the interrupted visit.

Unplanned Emergency Vet Visits: Should any pet require emergency veterinary treatment whilst under our care, we will make all reasonable efforts to contact the Client. If the Client is not reachable, we will take appropriate actions, including obtaining veterinary care at their discretion. We are not responsible for any veterinary fees that result from this action, and will invoice The Client for our time in accordance with the Unplanned Emergency Visits policy above.

Vaccinations

Pawz & Me requires that all pets are up to date with their vaccines. We also ask that your pets be seen at least yearly by a veterinarian so that the health of your pet can be guaranteed to be safe around other animals.

Reactive/Aggressive Pet Policy

The client will be responsible for all medical/veterinarian expenses and damages resulting from injury to a member of the Pawz & Me Team, other persons, or other animals by the pet. The Client agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Pawz & Me in the event of a claim by any person injured, or claiming injury to their animal by the pet. The Client also agrees that it is their responsibility to notify Pawz & Me of any dog that has caused an injury to any human or other animal. If a dog has a history of biting or other aggressive behaviour, Pawz & Me reserves the right to refuse service.​

Social Media

Photos and footage of your pet may feature on our social media pages and website. If you do not wish for these to be shared, you must inform us in writing.

Insurances

Pawz & Me has Public Liability Insurance of up to $20,000,000. This means that damage to any person, pet, or property within our care due to our own negligence will be covered under our Public Liability Insurance. However, this does not cover for any damages to a person, pet, or property which is out of our control. Some examples are as follows:

Our Public Liability Insurance will cover if… Your dog is hit by a car whilst being walked by a Pawz & Me staff member, and requires surgery and intense rehabilitation.

Our Public Liability Insurance will not cover if… Your dog suffers a heart attack whilst in our care, and requires surgery.

Our Public Liability Insurance will cover if… A Pawz & Me staff member accidentally leaves the kitchen sink running and floods your house, causing damage to your floors.

Our Public Liability Insurance will not cover if… A pipe bursts in your home due to an underlying issue whilst you are away and Pawz & Me are caring for your pets, causing damage to your floors.

Loss of Keys: Pawz & Me’s Public Liability Insurance Policy extends to cover liability for the cost of replacement or alteration of keys and locks and the cost of appropriate additional temporary protection of premises following loss of keys entrusted to Pawz & Me as part of our business activities by any third party, up to $5,000 in any one occurrence.

Contingent Care, Custody & Control: Pawz & Me’s Liability Insurance Policy extends to cover veterinarian bills for pets in our care to the maximum amount of $50,000 per pet. If the Client wishes to utilise Pawz & Me’s Insurance, they will be charged the $500 excess.