Terms of Service

The small print.

Definitions

1. “Agreement” means the Service, Work, Order, acceptance and the following Terms of Service.
2. “Service” means the services that Activdogs will undertake as described by a Packaged Service Description or a Statement of Service.
3. “Work” and “Works” mean all of the written materials created by Activdogs as part of a Service.
4. “Provider” means Activdogs, and it can also extend to Steven Symonds.
5. “Client” means the individual or Individuals who requested the Service.
6. “Order” means the Client’s request for a Service once it is agreed upon and confirmed by Activdogs.
7. “Commencement” means the agreed date and time of the start of the delivery of the Service.
8. “Packaged Service” means a standard predefined and repeatable service offering that Activdogs will perform as described in a Packaged Service Description.
9. “Packaged Service Description” means the predefined training courses described in promotional material and the Activdogs official website.
10. “Statement of Service” means the verbal or written outline description, agreed upon by both parties, which specifies the Service to be provided.
11. “Amendment” means any alteration to the Work.
12. “House Sitting” refers to looking after your dog in your home while you are away.

 

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Service apply to all sales and services by Activdogs to exclude any other terms unless otherwise agreed in writing.

1. By requesting a Service(s), the Client automatically agrees to and accepts these Terms of Service.
2. Activdogs reserve the right to update these Terms of Service at any time with immediate effect.
3. These terms and conditions shall prevail over all terms and conditions of your customary practice or any previous course of dealings the Client has had with Activdogs.
4. These Terms of Service apply to all Services and all Work created by Activdogs. Services and Work are only supplied in strict accordance with these terms and conditions.
5. These Terms of Service shall be subject to English Law.
6. The contents contained in the Statement of Service (verbal or written) or the Packaged Service Description (written), together with these Terms of Service, form the Agreement between Activdogs and the Client relating to the Work.
7. Each clause of this Agreement is independent and operates separately in its own right.
8. By agreeing to these Terms of Service, your statutory rights are not affected.
9. Should Activdogs decide to waive any of these Terms on an individual basis, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining clauses or commit Activdogs to waive the same clause on any other occasion.
10. The laws of England shall govern this contract, and both parties shall submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Guarantee

1. Activdogs may create Work as part of a Service. This Work is solely for the use of the Client. The Client may use the Work only in its original form and only for its original use for the animal named and described within the Work.
2. Behaviour and training services cannot be guaranteed with any animal.
3. Activdogs shall create a behaviour and/or training programme to the specifications of the problems assessed at the first training session and make reasonable amendments to the training and/or behaviour programme accordingly. Where significant amendments are required to the training and/or behaviour programme, Activdogs reserves the right to adjust its fee to reflect the additional Work.
4. The training and behaviour programme is specific to the dog(s) that the programme has been designed for and should not be used in part or whole with any third party.
5. The Client shall agree not to distribute, share, publish, sell, destroy, deface, alter or part with Work created by Activdogs or permit it to be given or done by any third party.

 

General

1. Services undertaken by Activdogs are charged to the Client at the agreed amount.
2. The Client is solely responsible for booking subsequent services (where applicable as part of a Packaged Service). Activdogs will not be responsible for following up with the client to ensure subsequent services, as part of a packaged service, are booked within the agreed timeframe.
3. Delivery of an Order will be deemed complete if the subsequent Service (where applicable as part of a Packaged Service) is not booked within thirty-five days of the preceding Service.
4. Once Activdogs accepts the request for a Service, the full fee of the Order becomes due, except where the Order is cancelled or rearranged with more than 72 hours notice (see: Cancellation and Termination) before the Commencement of the Service.
5. Should the Client opt to not book, or otherwise fail to attend or engage, in one or more Services, within a Packaged Service, Activdogs will not offer any refund or reduction to the agreed fee.
6. Deadlines set in the Agreement will not affect Activdogs’s right to be paid.
7. Ownership of any Work shall not pass to the Client until all charges have been paid in full.
8. All Work created by Activdogs for the Client is to be used for the sole purpose for which it was created. The Client does not have the right to resell Work created by Activdogs or repurpose it without written consent from Activdogs.
9. Activdogs is entitled to assign any or all of its rights and obligations included in this Agreement to third parties.
10. Activdogs will not be responsible for creating Work that in any way contradicts any existing Legislation and, in particular, the Trade Description Act 1968 and the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
11. Activdogs reserves the right to refuse to enter into an Agreement at its discretion.
12. Activdogs cannot always guarantee to start Service immediately.
13. If no timescale has been agreed to complete a Service, Activdogs will not be responsible for any losses to the Client if the deadline is not met.
14. Once a Service meets the terms of the Statement of Service or Packaged Service Description, any modifications to the Service will be considered an amendment to the Agreement and charged accordingly.
15. Amendments to the Agreement may incur an additional charge beyond that of the original invoice.
16. Both Activdogs and the Client must accept all amendments to the Agreement.
17. Amendments to the Agreement may exceed original deadlines agreed by Activdogs and the Client.

Payment

1. An Order invoice for the full fee of the Service in its entirety will be issued at the point of booking or once the request for the Service has been accepted.
2. The Client shall pay Activdogs the full fee of the Order no later than the date specified by the payment terms on the invoice.
3. Activdogs expects payment in full by electronic bank transfer, cheque or cash.
4. All quotes and tenders are valid for thirty days.
5. A fixed late payment fee of £35 will be added to the full fee of the Order to cover the additional administration costs of recovering outstanding payments.
6. Interest will be charged per day on all payments received outside of payment terms at the rate of eight per cent.
7. Additional correspondence with the Client required in the administration of an outstanding payment will be charged at £30 per item.
8. Whilst outstanding payment is due Activdogs reserves the right to withhold the designs, services or goods.
9. Any payment returned by the bank or card company will incur a £10 admin charge as well as any charges made by the bank.
10. In cases where collection proves necessary, the Client agrees to pay all fees (including all legal fees and court costs) incurred by that process.
11. All administrative fees to third parties and the time taken to organise collection will be charged to the Client irrespective of any quoted amount set out in the quotation with its specifications.
12. If for any reason whatsoever Activdogs are unable to provide an agreed Order following these terms and conditions, our liability shall be limited in its entirety to a proportional refund of any fees paid by you for the Service or product.

 

Cancellation And Termination

1. If the Client cancels an Order for a Service with more than 72 hours notice before Commencement, there will be no fee. However, if a booking is cancelled with less than 72 hours notice before Commencement, a cancellation fee will be due. The cancellation fee will be equal to the total fee for the Service.
2. If a Client postpones an Order with less than 72 hours notice but rebooks a Service within 14 days, the cancellation fee payment shall be used as a credit against the new Order. 
3. Should the Client postpone an Order for a second time, the Order will be considered as cancelled.
4. Should the Client cancel an Order that had previously been postponed, the notice period will not apply, and a cancellation fee will be due. The cancellation fee will be equal to the total fee for the Service.
5. If the Client cancels an Order after the Commencement of the Service, Activdogs will not offer any refund or reduction in the fee.
6. Activdogs reserves the right to cancel or change an appointment at any time by notice with immediate effect, without cause.

 

Activdogs may terminate any Agreement at its discretion:

1. If the Client fails to pay, which has become overdue, the Agreement is deemed to be cancelled.
2. If the Client breaches any of the terms of the Agreement.
3. If Activdogs discovers that the Client’s use of the Work is unethical, misleading or morally corrupt.
4. If the Client is found to be using abusive methods whilst engaged with an agreement including, but not limited to, e-collars, prone collars, rattle tins, aversive sprays, lead corrections, and physical punishments.
5. If the Client’s use of the Work or participation in an agreement is in any way harmful to Activdogs or its reputation.
6. An Agreement will be deemed cancelled, without notice, if there are more than sixty days from the first training or consultation without the Client’s contact.
7. No refunds will be issued.

Activdogs reserves the right to terminate any agreement where it is deemed that progress with a training plan/programme is unachievable due to an insufficient level of engagement, cooperation or other factors beyond the control of Activdogs. In this event, the decision to refund either all or part of the fee is solely at the discretion of Activdogs.

ACTIVDOGS’S LIABILITY

Activdogs shall have no liability under any circumstance whatsoever to the Client for financial loss or loss of profit.

Activdogs will not be held responsible under any circumstances whatsoever to the Client for lack of time, effort and circumstances from the Work.

In no event will Activdogs be liable to the Client or any third party for damages or losses how so ever caused.

Activdogs will not be liable for any loss, injury or liability to the Client or the Client’s Dog.

Handlers and/or keepers remain responsible for their dogs at all times and are advised to ensure they have adequate pet or household insurance cover for liability in the unlikely event of damage or injury caused by their dog to property or a third party.

COMMUNICATION

Activdogs’s preferred method of communication is email. However, documents can be sent by traditional post; if no email address is available, this will incur a postage fee to send reports to the Client at the current postal rate and packaging.

Activdogs will endeavour to reply to all communications within five days and provide training plans within ten days. Wherever a delay in meeting these timescales may occur, Activdogs will do its utmost to communicate a revised timescale. These timescales are strictly for guidance only and do not constitute any form of guarantee. 

Activdogs shall not be held responsible for spelling or typing errors in any documents.

Signatures are not required to start a contract; verbal communication, email or other exchanges are legally binding.

COPYRIGHT

All material, both text and images included in documents, are the property of Activdogs.

Activdogs holds the copyright of all Work created.

ADVICE

Activdogs encourages clients to contact their veterinary surgeon before putting any training plan into effect if they are concerned.

The information and any treatment suggested consist of Activdogs personal views and are based on the information given to Activdogs by the Client or person responsible for the dog(s) and or Activdogs own conclusions resulting from personally gained evidence of the animal and the related behavioural problem.

Training plans, for the most part, will not be successful overnight. This requires a good deal of patience. Activdogs cannot guarantee that this will work, as each animal is an individual case, nor is it possible to foresee if another problem may arise as a result of the Service. All programs are specific to an identified dog and should not be tried on any other animal unless explicitly recommended.

Revised 11/01/24.

HOUSE SITTING

The following terms apply to House Sitting and are in addition to the Terms above. Nothing in the House Sitting Terms supersedes the Terms stated above.

Booking:

Enquires for House Sitting are considered provisional until the House Sitting paperwork is completed to an appropriate standard and returned. Once the House Sitting paperwork is completed, returned and the deposit paid the booking is considered fixed and the terms of service are agreed to.

Security

All keys when not in use will be kept in a secure place. Keys will not be marked with any client details but may be identified by your dog’s name.

Activdogs will not be held liable for any break-ins or vandalism on your property during your use of our services.

Payment

A non-refundable 20% deposit secures your House Sitting booking. The remaining balance is then due 14 days before the start of your booking. If the balance is not paid within 72 hours a reminder will be sent out. If the booking remains unpaid for more than 24 hours of the reminder being sent out then the booking will be cancelled and the slot(s) will be released with no refund of the deposit.

Cancellations

To cancel or alter the dates of your House Sitting booking if you give at least 30 days’ notice then you shall just forfeit your deposit. If you give 14-30 days notice then you shall forfeit 50% of the total fee and if you give less than 14 days notice then you shall forfeit 100% of the total fee. Please note there are no refunds if you collect your dog(s) early. If you need a key returned to you then there will be a further charge of £10.

Please note there are no refunds if you arrive home early.

Insurance

1. Activdogs is covered by public liability insurance. However, Activdogs cannot be held responsible for any damage, breakages or general wear and tear unless we have acted negligently.
2. It is agreed that it is the client’s responsibility to ensure that the property, its contents, and pets are adequately insured throughout the booking as we will not accept liability for any damage to the property caused by your pet(s).
3. Activdogs will care for your animal as you would, and whilst we will make every effort to ensure your pet is well looked after in your absence, Activdogs cannot be held liable for any loss, injury or death to a pet either inside or outside of the home whilst in our care.

Miscellaneous

1. The client must provide all items necessary for pets to be adequately cared for in the client’s absence. (ie, food, medication, poo bags etc). Should pets require any additional supplies whilst in the care of Activdogs these will be purchased and added to the bill.
2. The client must provide Activdogs with the name and contact number of someone capable of making a decision relating to the pet(s) in an emergency. If the contact is not available Activdogs reserves the right to consult with a veterinary surgeon and then make a decision which is in the best interests of your dog (or other animal).
3. Activdogs will not be held liable for any illnesses or injuries your pets may suffer whilst using our services nor for the death of a pet.
4. The client is fully responsible for any damage to the property of Activdogs caused by their dog during a House Sitting. The client agrees to pay any damage costs within 72 hours of their return.
5. The client is responsible for any veterinary bills, no matter how they are incurred, whilst pets are in the care of Activdogs.
6. We recommend that cats be kept indoors whilst in our care so we can ensure their health and safety.  However should you wish for your cat to have free access to a cat flap we cannot be held liable for any disappearance, injuries or death.
7. We shall always try and start the House Sitting as near as possible to the time slot you request but we reserve the right to visit outside of the allotted time slot in case of any situations or problems that may arise on other visits
8. Activdogs will not accept bookings for any pets with aggressive tendencies.
9. If Activdogs reasonably considers a pet to be dangerous, aggressive or uncontrollable we reserve the right to place the pet in the nearest suitable boarding kennels/cattery at the owner’s expense, if the owners can’t arrange early collection of the pet themselves. Visiting a cat in their own home may also be considered if it is viable to do so. There will be no refunds whatsoever for any extra that may have been paid for boarding compared to House Sitting.
10. We recommend that dogs be kept on their leads whilst being exercised but should you request your dog to be let off then we cannot be held responsible for the loss, injury or death of your dog.
11. Activdogs cannot be held responsible for any third-party injuries, damage or loss caused by your dog how so ever they are caused.
12. Should we deem an environment not to be safe for your dog to be let off their lead then they will remain on their lead.
13. If we cannot access your property due to a faulty key or lock, then there will be no refund for the cost of the visit.