POLICIES
YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY REVIEW THESE POLICIES
MEET & GREET: Complimentary and required for ALL NEW clients. Plan to schedule your Meet & Greet no less than one week prior to your departure date.
NEW CLIENT MINIMUM: Charlotte City Pets requires every new Client to schedule a minimum of three (3) pet care visits. Existing clients may schedule single visits at any time.
PAYMENT: Fees are earned upon acceptance of pet visit reservations and are due on or before services are rendered. New clients are required to pay in full at Meet & Greet for the first booking. Accepted forms of payment are cash, check, or credit card. Checks can be written to Charlotte City Pets. If payment is not received by the time of service, a $25.00 late fee will be added to your invoice and scheduled service will not resume until we reach you and a payment is made.
SCHEDULING: Service requests must be made through the Charlotte City Pets portal charlottecitypets.petssl.com/account, by emailing info@charlottecitypets.com, or by calling (980) 337-0607. Service requests are not confirmed until you receive an email from Charlotte City Pets. Service requests time-stamped less than twenty-four (24) hours in advance are subject to a Late Booking Fee. See NON-HOLIDAY CANCELLATIONS for midday dog walk cancellation policy. Services requested via text cannot be accepted.
SHARED RESPONSIBILITY ASSIGNMENTS & THIRD PARTIES: Charlotte City Pets accepts no responsibility for your pets and property if third parties (and their pets) are invited to enter the premises prior to, during, or immediately after pet care services have been rendered. Maureen can tell stories about bad things that have happened to pets and property resulting from the best intentions of third parties, including neighbors, friends, and family members. If you are uncomfortable, we can talk about it. For the safety of all, Charlotte City Pets must be notified of all third parties given access to your home before scheduled service begins.
KEY POLICIES: For all services, Charlotte City Pets will not access home through a concierge, or by calling Client or a third party, or contacting the leasing office.
Dog Walking and Puppy Care clients are required to provide one set of working keys/fob/card at the initial Meet & Greet. If you cannot provide the keys/fob/card when we meet, the pickup fee is $20.00.
Cat Sitting, Pet Sitting, and Overnight Care clients have two options:
1. You can provide one set of working keys for Charlotte City Pets to keep in a secure lockup, a practice which worked without issue for 27 years of pet sitting in Philadelphia. Or Maureen can leave your keys/fob/card behind on the last scheduled visit. However the fee to pick up and drop off keys/fobs/cards is $20 each way.
2. Utilize a lock box. The key(s) will be retrieved and returned to the lock box at each visit. In such cases Maureen would ask that your Emergency Contact(s) also hold a copy of your keys in the event the lock box malfunctions. If a garage code is offered to gain entry, you will be responsible for any additional fees incurred due to malfunction or power outage.
VISIT POLICY: For your pet’s safety and well being the minimum requirement is one visit per day for cats and two visits per day for dogs while you are away from home. This requirement does not apply to Dog Walking and Puppy Care service.
VISIT TIME FRAMES: Pet care visits are scheduled first come, first serve and every effort is made to accommodate all service requests. Visit times adjust according to weekday, weekend, and holiday demand, the needs of the pets, the number of scheduled visits per pet, and the number of pets scheduled on any particular day. The typical day begins with dogs at the top of the morning visit schedule, followed by cats. Afternoon schedules prioritize dogs and puppies. Evening visits begin with cats and end with dogs and puppies.
• Early Morning Visits: 7 am – 9 am
• Morning Visits: 9 am – 11 am
• Weekday Dog Walking Service: 11 am – 4 pm
• Afternoon Visits: 12 pm – 4 pm
• Evening Visits: 5 pm – 9 pm
ADDITIONAL CLIENT PETS: All Cat Sitting, Pet Sitting, and Overnight Care fees include up to two cats. There are added fees per visit for each additional pet.
AGGRESSIVE & HARD-TO-CONTROL DOGS: Charlotte City Pets reserves the right to refuse service if your dog behaves aggressively toward Maureen or toward passersby. Non-aggressive but unruly or fearful dog behavior can be challenging on-lead particularly if the dog is large. Charlotte City Pets reserves the right to refuse service if the dog’s combined height, heft, and pulling strength put Maureen at a serious disadvantage.
GUEST PETS: It is essential that Maureen meet guest pets before service is provided. Guest dogs, in particular, can be unpredictable. Maureen has been cornered by otherwise lovable animals because they had never met her, could not know she was expected, and felt threatened by the intrusion. A fee of $20 will be charged for a guest pet Meet & Greet scheduled days before service begins.
LEASH POLICY: For the safety of all pets, dogs are not permitted off leash except in their own home or secure back yard.
PET ACCIDENTS: Accidents happen and when they do, Charlotte City Pets reserves the right to charge $5 for every additional 10 minutes over and above the scheduled visit time for necessary care of your pet(s) and home. Based on decades of pet care experience the list includes, but is not limited to, the following: cleaning varied surfaces to remove vomit, hairballs, housebreaking accidents, or pet incontinence due to age or illness; cleanup resulting from counter surfing or trash basket raiding pets; cleanup related to destruction of household items from active play, digging, or chewing; searching for pets that escape confinement; wait time for emergency home repair. Other fees may apply.
LOCKOUT SERVICE: If you lock yourself out of your house, Maureen can bring your keys/fob/card to your home. This service is not guaranteed as it depends on the time of day and Maureen's availability. Please keep in mind she may not have the keys/fob/card on her and must retrieve them from her lockup. The fee for Lockout Service starts at $25. Other fees may apply.
NON-HOLIDAY CANCELLATIONS: If you need to cancel your service request before care begins, give Maureen at least 24 hours notice and you will receive a full refund and/or credit. If canceled the same day, or if you forget to cancel in time, or if access is denied due to circumstances beyond Maureen's control, you will be charged the full amount of the visit. There are no refunds, partial or otherwise, if you return home early. The time was reserved specifically for your pet(s) and cannot be resold.
If you need to cancel a midday dog walk, call Maureen before 8 a.m. at (980) 337-0607 and you will not be charged for the walk. If the dog walk is canceled after 8 a.m. or you forget to cancel, you will be charged the full walk fee.
HOLIDAY CANCELLATIONS: Holiday service cancellations received at least 14 days prior to start of scheduled service will be held as credit or refunded in full. Cancellations received less than 14 days before a holiday will be refunded for 50% of the scheduled visits. No refunds will be given on holiday service if service is canceled less than twenty-four (24) hours before the scheduled start, if canceled after service has begun, or if you return home early.
HOLIDAY VISIT SURCHARGE: Charlotte City Pets provides service on all holidays. You are encouraged to book far in advance as holiday schedules fill up quickly. The following days will include a $5.00 per visit holiday surcharge:
• New Year's Eve & New Year's Day (12/31 and 1/1)
• Easter Weekend (Fri–Mon)
• Memorial Day Weekend (Fri–Mon)
• 4th of July Weekend (Fri–Mon)
• Labor Day Weekend (Fri–Mon)
• Thanksgiving Weekend (Thu–Sun)
• Christmas Week (12/23–12/30)
By default regular dog walks are not scheduled during holiday periods, though Maureen is happy to accommodate regular Dog Walking and Puppy Care clients if service is requested well in advance.
OVERNIGHT CARE: Availability is limited. To guarantee service, a 50% deposit is required at time of booking with the balance due on or before the first day of scheduled service. If you cancel more than 7 days before the scheduled start date, your deposit will be refunded. If canceled less than 7 days before the start date, the deposit is forfeited. If you should return home early, you MUST notify Charlotte City Pets at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance to receive a 50% refund on the remaining scheduled stay(s). A $20 surcharge will apply for every Overnight Stay scheduled during holiday time frames.
PET ERRANDS: If you should forget to resupply your pet(s) food, litter, or other supply needs before leaving town or run out of pet supplies while you are gone, Maureen can do the shopping. You will be charged for all extra visits, shopping expenses, in addition to a Pet Errand Fee.
PLANT WATERING: Watering large numbers of house plants or watering outdoor gardens is time consuming and will be charged as an add-on service. The $20 plant watering fee is based on factors such as number of indoor plants, size of outdoor garden, rainfall frequency, and availability of watering can or garden hose.
ADMINISTERING MEDICATIONS: Charlotte City Pets will administer pill and liquid medications mixed with food or given orally to pets willing to tolerate the handling. No subcutaneous injectables and no service to pets with contagious illnesses.
SEVERE WEATHER: In the event of extreme flooding or hurricane, you will be notified as early as possible that scheduled visits may be delayed or canceled giving you time to approve potential delays or make other arrangements.
CONTACT FORMS: Forms are for contact purposes only and strictly confidential. Charlotte City Pets does not sell or distribute contact information to anyone.