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Charging for stays over 24 hours?

I need advice on how best to let one of my repeat clients know I am changing my policy for stays over 24hours needing additional charge for daycare on additional hours. I have gotten to the point where I only take repeat clients as I have wanted to slow the business down some and make it more manageable, so I have been very loose and flexible on stays with a morning drop off and a pickup in afternoon and evening. But notice her in particular will always do it not just once in a while like the rest of my clients. Also they always tend to be weekend stays only where most of my other clients are longer stays. So most recently she has been doing instead of a 2 day stay for the weekend from Friday morning to Sunday evening, she has been doing 1 day stays from Sat morning to Sunday evening after 20% fee to Rover its literally $28 for what I consider pretty much to whole weekend, so its not worth it and I have just been saying I am booked. One of the reasons it is also not worth it is the dog is a handful, he is high energy and difficult to calm down and chill, and having the whole weekend like that can be too much sometimes. Also not every dog appreciates all that energy lol especially when they are timid, so it can be extra work and attention just to make sure he doesn't upset another dog. He also doesn't listen to me if I need him to go somewhere else so I always have to find creative ways to make him do what I need, he will get aggressive if you try to just pick him up and move him when he is trying to get his way, for those reasons he doesn't really work out well at other sitters. So now my client is coming back as it has been difficult to find a sitter and I feel bad so I am thinking of taking him but I can't do it for a one day stay so how do I bring up that my policy is changing in regards to the fee especially since I didn't charge her in the past for additional time over 24 hours?

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I have a sentence in my profile stating that I bill in 24 hour increments, a morning dropoff and pickup the following evening equals one overnight plus a day of care. Before I accept a request, I ask for dropoff and pickup times and then edit the booking to include the terms above. It's helped!

2 Answers

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I agree with Jennifer's comments and want to suggest an additional option because even if she paid you for two full days, it sounds like the dog is not a good fit.

So, if the dog's home is close enough and you're willing, it seems a better option would be to discuss drop in visits/walks with her. You could say you're at your max for boarding and can't accommodate him at your place, but want him to have good care and are willing to give him one on one time at his home, which it seems he may be more comfortable with.

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Thanks Deb, didn't think about that option for drop in's but I think that does make even more sense as he isn't a good fit for the dogs I will be having that weekend.

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I realize it's difficult, but this is a business, it is not personal. Add it to your profile and tell her you need to charge her for the second day because you are giving two days worth of work to her and her dog. You have the right to ask for proper payment PLUS the dog needs to be covered by Rovers insurance for the correct amount of days. Stop overthinking and worrying about coming off wrong or trying to save the client (especially if you keep refusing her) and just tell her what you need to tell her. Either 1) she will agree to it and you are both happy, 2) she'll say no way! and find another sitter (which is fine!), or 3) she'll ask you for a discount, in which case maybe you drop her to 1.5 days if you want but that would then be your decision on if you want to keep her on as a client.

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Thanks Jennifer you are right I am overthinking it and will just put my terms out there, I think partly because it is not a great fit anyways.