Mirrani's Pet Sitting

Cancellation of Care

While I understand that travel causes all sorts of unusual complications, it is my hope that families also understand the complexity of making a reservation for my time with their pets. When a schedule is made for the care of your pet, there are often times when I am required to turn other families away who are hoping for care at that same day or time. This happens the most around holidays, but can occur at any time of the year. Often, if I am not given enough notice, those families have made other plans and I cannot fill the new vacancy in my calendar. In the same light, it is difficult to advertise a sudden vacancy to be filled. For this reason, I strictly follow these cancellation policies, unless cancellation is due to sudden, severe illness, natural disaster, or other unforseeable event:

Daily Walks/Regularly Scheduled Care

If you have a regular schedule in my calendar, either on a daily basis, weekly basis, or have random dates scheduled each month in advance, I require 24 hours notice prior to cancellation. If less than 24 hours notice is given for any of the reserved dates, families will be charged in full for the canceled appointment.

Multiple Visits/Unlimited Care

If I will be making multiple visits to your pet per day, or coming to your home over the course of several days, the following charges will apply to any part of the schedule that changes:

• Notification within 7 days or less - families will be charged 15% of the total owed for all dates changed
• Notification within 3 days or less - families will be charged 50% of the total owed for all dates changed
• Notification within 24 hours or less - families will be required to pay the full price of care for all changed dates

Overnight Care

If I will be living with your pet, the type of care alters the fee due to the complexity of scheduling and arranging care. In these situations the following charges apply to any part of the dates that are altered:

• Notification within 10 days or less - families will be charged 50% of the total owed for all dates changed
• Notification within 5 days or less - families will be charged full price for the first 2 dates that have changed, and 50% of the total owed for all other dates changed
• Notification within 48 hours or less - families will be required to pay the full price of care for all changed dates

Holiday and Summer Schedules

Because of the busy nature of the holiday season and summer vacation months, I am often forced to turn away families who are hoping for dates in my schedule that are already filled with other appointments. (In this case holidays and my summer schedule follow the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School Calendar. Please check their calendar for exact dates.) Should you need to alter the schedule arranged for any type of care on any of these days, the following charges will apply:

• Notification within 4 weeks or less - families will be charged 15% of the total owed for all dates changed
• Notification within 3 weeks or less - families will be charged 25% of the total owed for all dates changed
• Notification within 2 weeks or less - families will be required to pay the full price of care for all changed dates

Holiday "Squeeze In" Care

In this instance, a "Squeeze In" appointment is any request made less than 4 weeks in advance on a major holiday where I already have a full schedule. Short notice arrangements not only remove me from my family activities, but also cause other families to perhaps have a shift in the time of care in order to account for new routes taken between households. While I honestly do want to accept every pet's need into my schedule, hourly rates will increase by $5 for holiday “squeeze ins” and all other types of care will increase by $10 per date “squeezed in.”

The easiest way to avoid this extra fee is to send notice of your needs in advance, however I do understand that emergencies do arise. In an emergency situation this "squeeze in" fee may be waved at my discretion.

Payment Policies

Preferred Payment Methods

I accept cash, check, or payment through paypal. Please be sure to make checks payable to Mirrani Houpe. If you are sending money through paypal, please use mirrani at earthlink and not the email associated with this page.

Failure to Pay

I do not believe in accepting prepayment for services I have not provided, therefore, payment is due after the final date of care given to your pet. For families who have been away on consecutive dates, payment is expected within one week of your return. If payment has not been made after that time, I will be unable to work with your pet until the debt is paid. For families with regularly scheduled care or random dates that are scheduled monthly, payment is due by the end of each week, regardless of the number of days that care is provided. In these cases, payment must be made by the Wednesday of the following week or I will be unable to provide furter service until the debt is paid.

Additional Pay Rate Information

Multiple Animal Households

Households with more than one type of pet will be charged for the care of the largest pet and an additional $5 per species. Households with multiple animals of the same type may be charged an extra $5 per individual under some conditions. These additional charges are decided using the following criteria:

• Appointments lasting a half hour will be charged $5 per species after the largest animal, regardless of complication of care or the number of animals in the household. This includes aquarium pets.
• Appointments lasting an hour will be charged $5 per species after the largest animal, regardless on complication of care and number of animals in the household. This includes aquarium pets.
• Appointments of either type will be charged an extra $5 per animal if extra care is required for that animal. This includes, but is not limited to giving medications, regular clean up from illness or housebreaking, special medical conditions that require extra care, and behavioral issues.

Transportation

While I do not charge to transport animals, I do add a $3 fee per 15 miles traveled between my home and yours or between clients homes. This includes travel to your home and travel away from your home. I am willing to drive up to 30 miles to a destination, but longer distances are negotiable for an added fee.

A cost of $5 per hour may be charged for transport and delivery to any appointment for your pet. For emergencies, this cost is charged at my discretion. It is my policy to remain with your pet for as long as is required, however the decision to stay is ultimately made by the pet owner. The $3 travel fee applies only for scheduled appointments and is waved for emergencies.

Other Circumstances

I reserve the right to request additional payment for the following, regardless of the number of animals I am providing care for in the home:

• Any animals with extreme special needs.
• Large breeds.
• Puppies, or other animals that are not house broken.
• Animals with difficult behaviors.
• Any exceptional circumstances not listed here.