In this day and age of all the extra fees, you may wonder why any pet sitter would charge extra for short notice and/or cancellations, right? It’s certainly not something we like to do but it is a necessary evil. Here’s a peek into why we have short notice and cancellation fees for our pet sitting service at WestFetch:
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We’re not quite there yet………
Yes, we are human, and while we are available for service 365 days a year, we do need personal, vacation and sleep time just like everyone else. That said, we organize our schedules around your’s to ensure we have the appropriate coverage. For example, if we get a call/email/text on Friday with a pet sitting request for that weekend, we’ll likely cancel or work around our own personal plans just so you can enjoy your plans without a worry.
- We only have so many time slots available thus we have extra pet sitters for extra availability. Over the years, we’ve learned we’ll get last minute requests all the time and, unlike a solo or part-time pet sitter, we’ll be there for you nearly all of the time. We can’t guarantee every time but it’s pretty rare we say “No” to an existing client (trust us, we hate it as much as you do). With this extra capacity does come an extra cost. You may be thinking “Well, that’s your choice to carry that extra availability, so it should be a cost of doing business”. Yes, that is a very valid point. It is indeed our choice because we are driven to be a full-time, professional and always-available pet sitter.
We squeeze as much as we can in the slots we have available and work hard to keep times prioritized by client preference
And with that, we actually absorb the majority of these extra costs and pass only a small portion to those who actually use it. We think the extra comfort and peace of mind is worth the little bit more for those times you need a pet sitter on short notice.
- We love planners!! We want to encourage you to plan ahead as much as possible. We’re not asking for weeks ahead but just 72 hours….although we really appreciate those of you that do plan that far ahead (thank you to our planners!!). If it is an emergency situation, of course we will not charge extra in those situations.
- We also have the 72 hours cancellation notice for the same reasons listed above (our personal schedules, limited time slots available, etc). Again, we understand emergencies arise and we will not charge in such situations. But please remember, we are dedicating those time slots for you and only you and last-minute cancellations do cost us money and we have likely already altered our own personal plans.
- Along with planners, we love our regular clients. Our weekly midday clients have the ultimate flexibility in their weekday midday walks. They can change, cancel and add a midday weekday visit with NO EXTRA CHARGES, short notice or cancellation. So if you’re looking for a way to avoid the extra fees, become a regular 🙂 (added bonus of qualifying for our discount plans too)
I hope this helps pull back the curtain so you can understand why we have our short-notice and cancellation policies. We’re certainly not this billion-dollar corporation trying to squeeze profits for our quarterly reports and shareholders. It’s all a part of WestFetch being the best and most reliable pet sitter in Tampa you can find.
