top of page
Our Policies

These policies and our prices are subject to change without notice.

​

FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION*

This free consultation is required for all potential clients before we can schedule any visits to care for your pet(s). This meeting gives us an opportunity to meet you and your pet(s). We’ll discuss their daily needs, health, and where you keep pet supplies like food, treats, and toys. We’ll also guide you to our new client registration form where you’ll create a profile for each pet that we’ll care for, and sign our terms of service. Finally, we’ll discuss which services would best fit your needs, our schedule availability, and home access protocols.

​

VACCINATIONS

Some pet vaccinations are a choice, but a few of them are necessary for your pet(s)’ safety, the safety of other pets they may come into contact with, and for the safety of people the pet comes into contact with. Dunes Pet Sitting requires the following vaccinations to be up-to-date at the time of every visit:

  • RABIES

  • Dunes Pet Sitting will also accept up-to-date titer reports from your veterinarian for these same vaccines in lieu of up-to-date vaccination reports.

 

SCHEDULING

GENERAL

In order to accommodate as many of our clients as possible, we ask that you schedule your services as far in advance as possible.

Due to the nature of the home-to-home traveling service that we offer, we are unable to schedule exact times for each visit. Instead, our services are booked in larger windows, around 3.5 hours in length, to allot for route optimization (which reduces service prices), the possibility of unexpected traffic, emergency pet needs, and more.

NEXT DAY

Things like last minute trips happen; please contact us by 4:00pm for next day service. 

SAME DAY

Emergencies happen too; when our schedule allows it, we are happy to accommodate scheduling same-day visits for a $5 surcharge.

 

PAYMENTS

Dunes Pet Sitting accepts all major credit cards and debit cards. You can make your payment anytime before 4pm the day before your first visit. Failure to submit full payment by 4pm the day before the first visit of the service period may result in removal of your pet(s) from the schedule until payment is made.

You may also pay via cash during your initial consultation, or it may be left in your home for our collection during the first visit of the service period. Please contact us to identify cash payment as your preference, so that we do not cancel your service due to non-prepayment.

We do not accept checks at this time.

 

VISITS

Your scheduled dog walking and/or pet sitting visits are inclusive of all services rendered at that time.

If you are traveling or out of town: dogs require a minimum of 3 visits per day, and cats require a minimum of 1 visit per day. If your pet(s) are home alone, more frequent visits helps us keep better check on their health, allows them to relieve themselves in an appropriate place in a humane timeframe, and increases their comfort, reducing the likelihood of them acting out.

Cats must remain inside during pet sitting visits as they are not likely to immediately return from outside to a pet sitter with verbal cues. However, if your cat can be walked on a leash, or enjoys time outside in their carrier, we are happy to take them outside in those ways. The cat owner must demonstrate that their cat is trained and comfortable in these scenarios during the initial consultation.

 

HOLIDAY VISITS

The holidays are important to us all, and some of our employees will delay spending time with their loved ones to ensure your pets are cared for while you are away. To reward them for being so giving, we pay them extra on select days on and around each holiday. A full list of dates and associated Holiday Care Fees can be seen in this section (please note that these fees are charged per visit in addition to all other charges and fees for each visit).

HOLIDAY CARE FEES = $5 FEE PER VISIT

  • NEW YEARS HOLIDAY DATES

    • Dec 31st - Jan 2nd, 2023

  • EASTER HOLIDAY DATES

    • April 9th, 2023

  • MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY DATES

    • May 27th, 2023 - May 30th, 2023

  • INDEPENDENCE DAY HOLIDAY DATES

    • July 4th, 2023

  • LABOR DAY HOLIDAY DATES

    • Sep 3rd, 2023 - Sep 5th, 2023

  • THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY DATES

    • Nov 22nd, 2023 - Nov 26th, 2023

  • CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY DATES

    • Dec 24th, 2023 - Dec 26th, 2023

  • NEW YEARS HOLIDAY DATES

    • Dec 31st, 2023 - Jan 2nd, 2024

Please note that the Holiday Care Fee amount and dates are subject to change.

 

CANCELLATION OR RESCHEDULING

When you book a visit with us, we schedule the necessary amount of time for a member of our team to complete the services you’ve requested. If you need to cancel an upcoming visit please do so via call or text. We will send you a visit cancellation confirmation and you will be charge, credited, or refunded according to the guide below:

CANCELLATION DURING NON-HOLIDAY PERIODS:

  • If you cancel by 3:59pm the day before the service(s) is/are to be performed, there is no cancellation fee.

  • If you cancel between 4:00pm and 11:59pm the day before the service(s) is/are to be performed, you are responsible for paying a late cancellation fee of 50% of all services booked for the following day.

  • If you cancel a visit after 12:00am on the day of service, or if we arrive and the service(s) is/are no longer needed, the full visit rate will be charged for that day, be sure to make it known to us whether you do or do not continue to need our service for the remainder of your scheduled visits with us to avoid further cancellation fees.

Frequent cancellations may result in removal from an ongoing schedule.

CANCELLATION DURING HOLIDAY PERIODS:

  • Notice of 14 or more days before first date of service: a 100% credit will be applied to the customer’s account for use during the next 365 days.

  • Notice of 7-13 days before first date of service: a 50% credit will be applied to the customer’s account for use during the next 365 days, and a 50% late cancellation fee will be applied.

  • Notice of 0-6 days before first date of service: a 25% credit will be applied to the customer’s account for use during the next 365 days, and a 75% late cancellation fee will be applied.

  • If services have commenced and one or more visits are canceled, no credit will be issued for those unused visits.

COVID-19 AND OTHER ILLNESSES

By now, we are all aware of the risks of COVID-19 and other illnesses that have been going around, and how they may impact each of us individually. At this point, we are no longer making exceptions to our cancellation policy for illnesses.

 

HOME ACCESS PROTOCOLS

Your pet’s safety is our top priority during our service period. This starts with ensuring that we have guaranteed entry into your home via TWO methods.

PRIMARY ACCESS METHOD

Our sitters retain a primary access method from the following list:

  • A Physical Key

  • Keyless Entry Codes (Keep in mind that batteries die, home power can go out, and software systems have glitches.)

  • Alternate option: customer has a wall-mounted combination lockbox for secure key-storage outside their home; our sitters will not take the primary access key with them.

EMERGENCY KEY

  • Our office retains a single backup-only physical key for your home that we use only in case of an emergency (e.g. our sitter gets into an accident and cannot make it to your home on time); another employee will use the backup key to care for your pet(s).

GATED HOMES AND COMMUNITIES

If you live in a gated home or community, access must be established and confirmable during the initial consultation.

  • Digital gate codes

  • Gate remotes (two)

  • Gate cards/fobs (two)

  • Our company name registered with the gatehouse attendant.

ALARMS

  • Many of our clients have alarm systems. Your pet sitter will arm and disarm these systems as you wish. Be sure to put alarm details in your pet(s) care profile and discuss its use during the initial consultation.

 

SUPPLIES

Please have enough food and other supplies on hand to ensure that your pet does not run out while you are away. If we arrive for service and there are not adequate supplies, such as food, we will purchase the needed supplies and clients will be billed for the cost of the supplies plus $25 for time & travel expenses.

Medication Administration

We currently administer only oral and topical medications, provided your pet accepts them willingly. If your pet(s) will not allow us to safely administer the necessary medication(s) we will not be able to schedule your pet(s) with us at this time. 

 

SUDDEN PET ILLNESS

Just like people, pets get sick; if we believe that something is wrong with your pet(s), we will call you immediately to discuss our concerns. If you are unavailable, we will call the emergency contact you’ve provided us. If the emergency contact is also unavailable, we will contact the veterinarian that you provided us information for in your pet profile.

In the event that our sitters, or the veterinarian believes professional medical attention is necessary, you authorize Dunes Pet Sitting to transport your pet(s) to, and potentially leave your pet(s) with, the veterinarian that you provided us information for. The fee for pet transportation is $1 per minute of travel, plus $1 per minute of any check-in/check-out processes.

By contracting Dunes Pet Sitting to care for your pet(s) while you are away, you agree that any and all resulting veterinarian bills are your financial responsibility as the pet owner.

 

SEVERE WEATHER

The Grand Strand encounters many different types of weather, and most of it is very comfortable and safe. However, severe weather does still happen here; things like hurricanes, tornados, flooding, severe thunderstorms, and more can all impact the ability of our sitters to safely travel and care for your pet(s).

We monitor the weather constantly to ensure we are fully aware of any severe conditions, current and upcoming. Most days service will go on rain or shine, but in the event that severe weather is expected or spotted, our employees’ safety takes top priority.

When dealing with the predictable severe weather, we follow a strict 24 hour rule; e.g. if a hurricane is expected to directly affect our service area, we will cease all services a minimum of 24 hours before the expected impact. In this situation, we will notify the pet owners a minimum of 24 hours ahead of any such shutdown. This notice will include making an attempt to reach the pets’ owners and emergency contacts, with a request for them to collect the pet during our last scheduled service before our severe weather shutdown. When the severe weather clears, or if it never comes to pass, we will return to regular service. This involves contacting both the pet owner and the emergency contact to determine the location of the pet and when services can resume. Any missed services due to severe weather are credited to your account for use in the next 365 days.

Dunes Pet Sitting is not responsible for any damage done to your home by severe weather, natural disasters, or a pet in distress during severe weather, etc.

 

GENERAL LIABILITY WAIVER

From time-to-time, pets will become ill, injured, infected, etc; this is just the nature of being a living creature. Often, issues like these can be (or seem to be) asymptomatic for quite some time, and only become evident to you (or others) when you (or they) haven’t seen your pet for a little while.

Dunes Pet Sitting is not liable for any medical issues your pet(s) are found to have during our care (nor following our care) unless it is 100% verified by camera footage that the specific medical issue was directly caused by a Dunes Pet Sitting employee.

Dunes Pet Sitting is not liable for any damage to your home and other property by your pet(s) before, during, nor after our service period. You are responsible for providing your pet(s) a safe and comfortable space to stay in while you are away from them, and we agree to replicate those conditions to the best of our abilities within the service window that you have scheduled.

 

THIRD-PARTY LIABILITY WAIVER

We understand that some pet owners have family and friends nearby who can provide some level of assistance to their pet(s) while the owners are away, but that these persons may not be available during 100% of your time away, and thus you may have interest in using multiple parties to cover the entire duration.

Due to the general risks that you as the home and pet owner are liable for, we strongly suggest that you do not use multiple parties to care for your home and pet(s) while you are away.

As with all situations, and especially in the situation that you use a combination of Dunes Pet Sitting and other persons or entities to care for your home and pet(s) while you are away, Dunes Pet Sitting is not liable for any issues that are unable to be 100% verified by camera footage of the specific incident taking place at the hand of a Dunes Pet Sitting employee.

This includes, but is not limited to unlocked doors, pet injuries, property damage, incorrect feeding or medication administration, stolen property, or lost keys (lost keys entrusted solely to Dunes Pet Sitting and kept in solely Dunes Pet Sitting’s possession are our responsibility, and we will replace them, or reimburse you at the rate of $4 per lost key).

If third-party care givers do not show up as promised, Dunes Pet Sitting will cannot be held responsible for any resulting injury(s) or illness due to the third-party’s negligence.

It is the client’s responsibility to provide Dunes Pet Sitting with any pertinent contact information for third-party care providers for emergency use.

​

*Our free initial consultation requires a $20 deposit, applied to your second invoice.

bottom of page