The Après Pooch E-Newsletter (December 16, 2010)

In this "E-Newsletter"

* Holiday Calendar
* Cancellation Policy

* We are BUSY BUSY BUSY and booking up fast!
* But we're working on expanding to a new commercial facility in Mammoth, which should allow us to take more than our current 4-dog maximum for daycare.

* We're also hiring for Independent Contractors to work with us to provide dog walks.  I'd love to do them all myself, but I only have two arms and two legs, and your pups deserve more than I can do myself in one day!

* How to confirm service (Google Checkout)

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Holiday Calendar & Cancellation Policy

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your support in the past two years.  And for trusting us with the care of your pets.  We've got an email list of 250+ clients and growing!  I'm so proud to be able to do this work, and I'm amazed with the growth we've experienced in 2010.  The recession continues to sting, but for many the bite would be worse if they had to leave their pups at home when going on vacation to Mammoth.  Locals, I haven't forgotten you, either.  You help me make this work during the off-seasons!

Growing Pains

We're going through several changes, and this email is one of many to come to to let you know what's happening.

Last year, I loved how flexible my schedule could be.  I enjoyed being able to take last-minute reservations and to "pencil in" clients who were going to "see how they felt in the morning."  Unfortunately, with my current 4-dog max at my in-home daycare, and with the explosion of requests from new clients (I received six just this morning!), I simply cannot provide the flexibility of last year.

Because of the high demand this year, there's simply no way for me to guarantee a space for the pups without confirmation.  If we continue to work off the system of "I'll pencil you in on the 23rd and see what happens," for any clients who request daycare for the 23rd afterwards, I'd have to say "Nope, sorry" to them.  Since we're full already. 

And if you cancel last-minute, I could have helped out that other client!

I'm meeting with multiple potential Sitters and Walkers this Sunday to hire a few great people to help me.  More details to follow in a later "e-Newsletter".

What about the weather?

We all love Mammoth for this crazy snow we get ... and yet ... it can really disrupt our plans, too!  It's the nature of the beast, I suppose.  I understand the hesitancy to book specific days in advance.  What if the weather is horrible and we decide to leave town early, or just to stay indoors and keep our pets with us?

Below you'll find our cancellation policy.  We feel that it's fair, as we've tried to take into consideration circumstances such as weather that are out of your control. 

Standard Cancellation Refund: 10+ day notice: 100% / 2-9 day notice: 75% / 24-48 hour notice: 50%
Holiday Cancellation Refund: 25+ day notice: 100% / 10-24 day notice: 75% / 2-9 day notice: 50% / 24-48 hour notice: 30%

* I just added the holiday 24-hour notice refund.  So that's a change to your existing service contract.  :) 

Please check out the Holiday Calendar to the right!  Our holiday dates are pretty similar to the mountain's "blackout" dates.  You can click on any holiday to add it to your google calendar so that you're prepared.

OK, so how do I confirm service?

Remember having to pay cash last year?  :)  Yeah, it wasn't just a hassle for my clients.  Keeping accurate accounting records was quite a struggle for me.

So, this year, I've signed up with Google Checkout to process credit card payments online.  The procedure will be:

* You contact me and make a request.
* I check my calendar & letcha know if I'm available.
* If available, I email you with the total.
* Then I send a second email from Google Checkout with a link to take care of payment.
* Make sure to double-check the dates/times/services!
* Click on the link (if you're not signed up with google, you just have to do it once; they'll even save your info so you don't have to enter it in every time!)
* I'll send that wonderful Confirmation Email.  You're all set.


6 to 10 feet of snow this week.  Are You Ready?  Are You Coming?