What happens after you send a booking request

Booking a dog sitter or walker through The DoggyDesk is simple, and you only pay the price you see. Here is what happens, step by step, after you send a booking request.

1. Pick your dates

On your sitter’s booking page, tap your drop-off day and then your pick-up day, and choose whether each is before 2pm or after 2pm. Add your dog, or dogs, and you will see the price for your stay. You need a free DoggyDesk account to see prices and send a request.

Dog owners pay nothing to The DoggyDesk. The price you see is the price you pay, with no booking fee.

2. Send your request

If your sitter takes card payments, you will be asked to secure the booking with a deposit, which is normally half of the booking total. Your card is held for the deposit. That means the money is reserved on your card, but not taken. Your card details go straight to Stripe, the payment provider for your dog sitter or dog walker, and never touch The DoggyDesk. You will normally see your sitter’s or walker’s name on your card statement, because the payment goes to them. The DoggyDesk never holds the money you pay them.

You also choose how to pay the rest: by card too, or in your own way with your sitter (cash, bank transfer or card). If your sitter does not take card payments, you simply send the request and agree how to pay with them directly.

3. Wait for a reply

Your sitter has up to 72 hours to accept or decline, and your dashboard shows that you are waiting for them. If they decline, or do not reply in 72 hours, the hold is released and nothing is charged. Depending on your bank, the hold can take a few days to disappear from your statement.

4. Your booking is confirmed

When your sitter accepts, the deposit is charged to your card and you get an email to say you are booked in. If you chose to pay the balance by card, your sitter can charge it to your saved card from the last day of the stay. Otherwise you settle it directly with them.

When your sitter is paid

Card money from your booking is paid to your sitter’s bank the day after the booking ends.

If plans change

• Before your sitter replies: you can cancel and the hold is released. Your money never moved.
• In time: if you cancel inside your sitter’s free-cancellation window, your deposit is refunded to your card in full, automatically. Refunds usually appear within 3 to 10 working days.
• Too late: your sitter decides whether to refund or keep your deposit. You are warned before you confirm.
• If your sitter cancels: you always get all of your money back.

Your sitter’s cancellation policy is shown on their booking page before you book, for example “Free cancellation up to 3 days before drop-off”. It is saved with your booking, so it cannot change after you have booked.

Booking months ahead

If your booking finishes more than 87 days (about three months) away, nothing is held or charged at first. Your card is saved securely with Stripe and the deposit is taken closer to the date. We email you three days before it happens, and if you cancel before then your saved card is simply removed.

Booking a weekly walk?

One deposit covers the whole series. Once your walker has accepted, cancelling a single week in time refunds that week’s share. If you cancel a week too late, your walker decides whether to refund it.