Skip to main content

Cancellations and Refunds

Australian Consumer Law

This Policy and any related return and refund rights we offer you apply in addition to other rights and remedies you may have under law including under the Australian Consumer Law.

How Refunds Are Issued

Most refunds are issued based on the payment method used at the time of purchase.

Definitions

Customer – the entity who has engaged Pet Cadet to provide services, and has paid a sum of money equal to or greater than the cost of the least expensive service offered by Pet Cadet.

Staff Member – any person who is employed or contracted to Pet Cadet to deliver services to Customers on behalf of Pet Cadet. This includes the business owner(s).

Services – being dog walking, dog training or pet sitting, occurring at any location.

Pet – The dog or other animal assigned to (or belonging to) the Customer on the Scout For Pets app.

The Premises – the agreed location in which the Services are to be delivered, recorded in the Scout For Pets app.

Customer-Supplied Equipment – may include a leash, harness, coat, medication and food.

Cancellations

The Customer shall give 48 hours notice of cancellation of a booking, in order to receive a full credit towards another service, or a refund less payment processing fees. Cancellations which occur inside the 48 hour window before the agreed date and time of a booking, incur a $20 cancellation fee, which is deduced from the amount paid for services. If a refund is requested, any balance remaining after the cancellation fee is applied, will be refunded to the Customer. It is not possible to cancel a booking within 30 minutes of an agreed date and time, and these Services will be billed in full.

Refund Timelines:

It may take 1-5 business days after we receive the request to process your refund. Once we have, we’ll email you to let you know that we have processed your refund. If we haven’t let you know, we haven’t received or processed your return yet.

After we’ve received and processed your refund, you can expect to receive your refund in the following timelines:

  • Visa/Mastercard – up to 10 working days
  • Paypal – up to 8 working days
  • EFT – up to 5 working days.

Your refund is strictly processed using the same method you used to pay for your order.

Fees and Charges

Both Paypal and our credit card gateway for VISA and Mastercard, as well as Google Pay and Apple Pay merchants do NOT refund the credit fees charged. Depending on the payment method used, fees are usually around 1.5%-2.5%. EFT payments incur no fees for either sales or refunds. Any merchant costs will be debited to the Customer’s account in the event of a refund.

Package Discounts

If a package deal is paid up-front, the price per walk, training session or pet sitting may be billed at a reduced rate. If a customer refunds a partial package but has received any portion of the walking, training or pet sitting, then any services supplied will be at single service rates, deducted from the total amount paid as individual services, and then the balance will be refunded, less payment processing fees. For example, if a customer requesting a refund has received a 15% discount on services because a monthly package was purchased, and any number of services were supplied, the discount is removed from the services supplied, and the additional cost is charged to the customer before the refund is paid. The customer agrees to these terms when making the payment.

Services Delivered

There are no refunds on services delivered. If a dog walk, dog training session, or pet sitting arrangement has occurred or been attempted, there will be no refund available for those services. There is no refund available for any costs associated with providing those services. Services Delivered is defined as: “a Pet Cadet staff member has arrived at the Customer’s premises at the agreed time and day to deliver the Services”.

Difficulties in Delivering Services

Services are deemed to have been provided if the Pet Cadet staff member attempts to provide services, and the customer has prevented the staff member from doing so, either by accident or on purpose. There is no refund on services delivered. Examples may include but are not limited to:

  • The Premises at the agreed location is not able to be accessed at the agreed time on the agreed day.
  • The Pet is not at the agreed location at the agreed time on the agreed day.
  • The Customer cancels the booking within 30 minutes of the agreed time, on the agreed day.
  • The Pet is not able to have services delivered due to ill health or injury, as identified by the Staff Member.
  • Any Customer-supplied equipment needed to deliver the services is not available to the Staff Member on the agreed time and day, at the agreed location.
  • The risk to the Staff Member presented by providing the Services exceeds the acceptable limit according to a risk assessment.

A credit may be available if a customer is able to provide evidence of extenuating circumstances, which prevented the Customer from notifying the service provider that services will not be able to be delivered by the Pet Cadet staff member on an greed day and time. A request must be made in writing to Pet Cadet in these instances.

Should difficulties in delivering services arise due to personal, logistical, or environmental circumstances preventing the staff member from delivering services, the customer shall receive a credit for the percentage of services not delivered (up to 100%) and those services will be delivered at an agreed day and time, at the same location (pet walking and training) or a refund will be issued to the customer (pet sitting).

Risk Assessment

The Staff Member is trained to assess the risks to themselves, property and the Pet. Should the risk to the Staff Member, the Pet or any other person be unacceptable, and the Services cannot be delivered due to this risk, the customer will be contacted regarding the unacceptable risk. On matters of risk, the Staff Member’s decision is final.

Urgent Communications

Should there be any reason why the Services cannot be delivered (not including reasons related to the Staff Member’s inability to provide the Services), the Customer will be contacted from the agreed location at the agreed time, by phone three (3) times, and by one text message sent via SMS to the Customer’s provided mobile phone number. The following alternative limited Services may be provided at the discretion of the Staff Member, should the pet be unable to receive the agreed Services:

  • Indoor or outdoor pet training
  • Indoor or outdoor pet socialising
  • Short-term pet sitting
  • Indoor our outdoor play-time
  • Basic pet environmental conditions, diet and exercise written report (sent via email to Customer)

If the Pet is not accessible, the Staff member will wait at the agreed location for a period no greater than half of the duration of the booking, and then the Staff member will leave the premises, noting the Service as fully delivered. The Customer will be notified in writing within 24 hours. The Customer is not eligible for a refund of the cost of the Services.

Our Commitment

Our commitment to you, the Customer, is to deliver quality services, which meet your expectations, on-time and within budget. To avoid occasions where the Customer may feel as though Services were not adequately provided, please do the following:

  • Ensure that access is provided to the Staff Member on the agreed day and time, and
  • ensure the pet is at the agreed location on the agreed day and time, and
  • ensure the pet is able to be walked, trained or sat, and
  • ensure that Customer-supplied equipment is available at the agreed location, and
  • notify Pet Cadet if there are any reasons as to why the Services may not be able to be provided, and
  • please be reasonable about the types of Service which can be provided for certain pets.

Unfortunately if there are barriers in the way of delivering the Service at the agreed time, on the agreed date, at the agreed location, the Customer is not entitled to a refund. Please contact Pet Cadet in writing if you believe that you are entitled to a credit in these instances. A credit is issued at the discretion of Pet Cadet.

Communications

All communications regarding refunds are strictly in writing. Please use the contact form on this website, or our email address to request a refund. There is a contact link at the top of every page, and in the mobile site top menu.

Abuse and Harassment

No Pet Cadet Staff Member will be subjected to abuse or harassment in the performance of their duties. Should this occur, the Staff Member will leave the agreed location immediately, marking the Services as fully delivered, and the Customer will be notified in writing within 72 hours regarding any refunds of pre-paid Services owing. The Customer will not receive a refund for any Services delivered.