Our Policies for Residential Properties

Pooch Scoopers provides dog `waste removal services to residential and commercial properties. When the customer agrees to have us service their property, they are agreeing to accept our policies and terms of service listed on this page. Services may be canceled at any time with a minimum of 48 hours notice. Please read these carefully before our services are employed.

Dogs

Dogs must be kept indoors, kenneled or otherwise safely restrained while services are being performed, for both their safety and the safety of our employees. Customers will promptly notify us if the number of dogs in the household changes.

Pricing

Pooch Scoopers pricing is based on the size of the yard, number of dogs and frequency of the scoop visits. Yards/scoop areas larger than 1/8 acre (about 75x75 ft) will be $10 per additional 1/8 acre.

Billing

Recurring Scoops:

Pooch Scoopers pre-bills on a monthly basis for the upcoming month. The customer credit or debit card will be charged on the first day of the month for that month’s upcoming services. The monthly charge will be the same every month. We calculate the monthly charge by averaging out the cost of 52 weeks of services (or whichever frequency is chosen) across 12 months. Sales tax will be added to the cost of services. If service stops or starts in the middle of the month, the monthly bill will be pro-rated for the actual services received that month. Initial cleanings and recurring cleanings not billed at the first of the month will be charged automatically at the completion of the service.

Bills must be paid on the first of the month for service to continue. If the card is declined, the customer will be notified. If the payment issue is not resolved before the scheduled scoop day, the customer property will not be serviced until payment is made. Depending on when payment is made and how long it’s been since the yard has been scooped, back-charges or one-time scoop fees may apply to resume service. This is at the discretion of Pooch Scoopers and will vary with each individual situation.

One-Time Scoops:

A single cleaning (without scheduling a recurring scooping service) requires a deposit of $45. This will be charged to the customer credit or debit card before the service is performed. Any remaining charges will be charged to the card when the service is completed. Any unpaid charges due to a declined card will be given a grace period of 30 days to be paid. After 30 days, the remaining amount due will be turned over to a collection agency.

New Customers

Any newly recurring scooping service that’s scheduled may be required to have an initial clean done, depending on the amount of waste that’s accumulated in the yard. This will be an additional charge. For example, for a newly scheduled weekly scoop it would be expected to have about a week's worth of waste in the yard. For a monthly scoop, it would be expected to have about a month's worth of waste in the yard.

Physical Obstacles to Scooping

Obstacles in the yard that may prevent a thorough scoop include leaves, snow, ice, tall grass and other debris. The customer understands that if any of these are present, some poop may be missed in the scooping service provided by Pooch Scoopers. Poop can be impossible to see among a lot of leaves, debris or very tall grass. Poop that is frozen or hidden in snow or ice may be impossible to remove until it has warmed up and melted. The missed poop will eventually be scooped in future visits when ice and snow have melted, grass is mowed and leaves or other debris are removed. If a customer yard remains in an unkempt state, we cannot guarantee we will be able to continue to scoop all the poop at every visit.

Yard Access

Pooch Scoopers must have safe access to a yard at the scheduled scoop time to perform service. If a customer yard is fenced with a locked gate, a gate code or key must be provided to the scooper. If safe yard access is blocked by snow, a frozen gate, a dog left out in the yard or some other obstacle, we may have to skip service that week if no one is home to remedy the situation. When we get to the property and discover we cannot access the yard, we will call the phone number provided to see if the homeowner can immediately resolve the problem. We cannot wait for someone to come home. If we must leave and come back the same day to scoop, we can only do so if we are still in the service area and a $5 additional fee will be incurred. If the scooper is made to wait to access a yard, a $5 additional fee will be incurred. If a scoop is missed through no fault of Pooch Scoopers, a refund will not be given under any circumstance.

Weather

Pooch Scoopers provides dog waste removal service year round. We do our best to work in all types of weather, however there are occasions when we may not be able to scoop. These would include, but are not limited to, heavy rain, lightening, accumulations of snow, very hot weather, high heat indexes, extremely cold temperatures and very low wind chills. If a customer yard is extremely muddy and scooping is damaging the yard, we may have to skip that week’s scoop.

If adverse weather causes us to miss the customer’s scoop day, no refund will be given unless the customer scoops their own yard and informs Pooch Scoopers. Otherwise, we will return the following week and scoop that week’s waste and all of the waste we missed the previous week.

Pauses in Service

Customers will notify us if the dog(s) will be absent from the yard for an extended period of time and service needs to be paused. No charges will accumulate during this time. If we aren’t notified and show up on the scheduled scoop day, customer will still be charged for that service.

Holidays and Vacation Time

There are holidays throughout the year where Pooch Scoopers will typically not be working. These are New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day following, and Christmas Day. If the customer’s scoop day falls on one of these days, we will skip their service that week. We are also closed the week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. We typically take 1-2 weeks of vacation during the year, and customers will be notified if that happens. There are no refunds for a missed scoop due to a holiday or our vacation time. Monthly billing will not change as we will have to scoop double the amount of waste when we return on the next scheduled scoop day, scooping all of the poop from the prior and current weeks. However, we will credit an account for the value of the missed service if a customer chooses to scoop their own yard during a week we miss because of holiday or vacation time. Please let us know if this is the case.