Operational policies
Overnight Care
Confirmation of a Booking
A Dog Sitting booking is not confirmed until a Client has filled out a client questionnaire & paid their entire booking fee upfront by the due date.
Overnight Care bookings are only confirmed when payment is received. 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 3 days of the invoice being created will risk being cancelled.
If the Client fails to make full payment for their booking within 3 days of their booking being created, or 7 days for Wedding clients, their booking will subsequently be cancelled. If they still require their booking dates, it is their responsibility to make payment in order to lock their booking in
Cancellation Policy
We have a flat rate Cancellation fee of 25% for any cancelled bookings, unless in the following circumstances:
If <72hrs’ 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 <80hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Regular Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Dog Sitting Fee for the cancelled period.
If <80 hrs’ notice is given for a cancellation of any scheduled service during Peak Period, the Client may be charged up to 50% of the Dog 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 email to hello@gypseatails.com
If the Client cancels their reservation outside of the Cancellation Periods, they will be charged the flat rate of 25% for any cancelled bookings.
New Client Meet & Greets
Every Gypsea Tails Client receives a complimentary Meet & Greet before Services commence. New Dog Sitting Clients will not have a Meet & Greet scheduled until full payment has been made for their first booking.
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:
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.
25% Late Booking Fee for less than 1 days’ notice for ANY Period.
Dog Walking & Adventures
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 Whatsapp 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.
Vacation Policy for Regularly Scheduled Outings
If your Dog is locked in to regular outings with Gypsea Tails (i.e. once a week or fortnight) & 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 & 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 can cause changes to our schedule and shift your dog’s scheduled outing time.
Unless an exact time has been requested & confirmed with Gypsea Tails, clients will be given an estimated time (such as early morning, mid morning, midday, etc) for when their Dog’s outing will be scheduled.
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.
Gypsea Tails Clients
As soon as you book with us & use our services you become a Gypsea Tails Client.
Gypsea Tails Tribe
Gypsea Tails uses a number of local woman who assist Gypsea Tails with services. If you use a Gypsea Tails Tribe member for your Dog, all future bookings will still have to go through Gypsea Tails via hello@gypseatails.com & cc in tribe@gypseatails.com. It goes against our company policy to reach out to one of our helpers to ask them to look after your Dog outside of Gypsea Tails.
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 Gypsea Tails then we will show up.
If the weather is extreme (hot, cold, stormy) we may shorten your Dogs outing to protect both the Dogs & our staff, spend time with your Dog 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, & 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 & 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 Dogs ability to attend their regularly scheduled outing.
Please let us know if your Dog has difficulty in any type of weather & would prefer that we spend time with your Dog 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 & shade on hot days, & our vehicles are equipped with towels to provide all Dogs with a rough dry for rainy days.
Anti-Social Behaviour
Dogs which display extremely anti-social and/or aggressive behaviour during a group outing may be returned home immediately at the discretion of Gypsea Tai;s 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.