Cancellation Policy For Clients | BABYSITTERS OF BOULDER LLC

CANCELLATION POLICY

TO CORRECTLY CANCEL A BOOKING

A booking is considered confirmed when a babysitter has been assigned to your request and the email confirmation has been sent to you. To cancel, please cancel your booking in your online account. If you cannot access you account you may contact the agency directly by phone.

We understand that in a short notice cancellation you might contact the babysitter directly to be sure they get the message right away. You must still contact the agency too at (303) 749-1168. Please do not send a group text as our business phone line does not receive group texts.

If your child or anyone in your home is sick, please notify the agency directly to determine if we can safely send you a babysitter and so we are informed about any exposure to contagious illness.

YOUR CANCELLATION PAYMENT TO THE BABYSITTER This policy will change in 2023.

The cancellation payment is not a penalty. It is the babysitter's wages for the reservation of their time. 100% of a cancellation payment goes to your sitter. When we book a babysitter we are telling that person to reserve their time exclusively for our family. Babysitters are paid for the reservation of their time even when it turns out that we cannot use it:

if canceling with less than 48 hours notice: 50% of the booking's total is due to your sitter, with a 3 hour minimum; the sitter will always receive at least 3 hours of pay, regardless of the booking's length
if canceling in advance with more than 48 hours notice: $25.00 due to your sitter
if canceling when the sitter is on their way or has arrived: payment in full for the booking
a 7 day cancellation/change policy for holidays, overnights, travel, events, weddings, and multi-sitter bookings (see below)
payment becomes due as soon as the booking is canceled and must be received within 24 hours

AGENCY PAYMENT CREDIT

your payment of the $21.95 booking charge will be credited to your account and credits do not expire
payment for overnight bookings ($35.00/overnight) is retained as charged and is not credited or transferrable
surcharge for short notice reservations ($15.00) is retained as charged and is not credited or transferrable
deposits for events, weddings, or travel nanny reservations are retained as charged and are not refundable, credited, or transferrable

HOW DO I MAKE THE CANCELLATION PAYMENT TO THE SITTER?

First, the agency will confirm the correct amount due. Next, you can pay the babysitter directly via Venmo, Apple Pay, Zelle etc. if you know their information. Otherwise, we can process your payment using your card on file. Our credit card vendor assesses a charge of 2.9% + 30 cents per transaction.

CAN I CHANGE/MODIFY MY SIT RESERVATION?

Yes, you can modify a confirmed booking. Please bear in mind that if you shorten a confirmed booking with less than 48 hours notice, you will still pay your sitter for the full length of the original booking. If you modify a booking in a way that causes the scheduled babysitter to decline, the scheduled babysitter will be due a cancellation fee:

Example 1: A parent books an 8 hour sit. A few days before the booking, the parent shortens the sit to 3 hours. The scheduled provider declines this shortened booking. A $25.00 advance cancellation payment is due to that provider.

Example 2: A parent books a 8 hour sit to go skiing. The day before the booking, the parent realizes they need a 12 hour sit. Their assigned babysitter is not available to stay an extra 4 hours. The parent can keep the sit the way it was, they can book a second babysitter for the extra 4 hours, or they can release the babysitter they have and request a new babysitter who can stay for 12 hours. If the parent releases the assigned babysitter, the cancellation payment for less than 48 hours notice will be due to that babysitter.

CANCELLATION: HOLIDAYS

A seven (7) day cancellation and change policy applies to all holidays below:

Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
New Year's Eve (all day)
New Year's Day
Valentine's Day (after 4:00 pm)
Easter
4th of July
Labor Day
Memorial Day
Thanksgiving
Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving)

CANCELLATION: EVENTS and/or MULTIPLE BABYSITTERS

The agency reservation payment for an event is not refundable, transferred or credited. Once an event booking has been confirmed, the reservation payment will be retained as charged. All payments to a babysitter have a 3 hour minimum:

client cancellation with 10 days notice or more: client pays 25% of the booking's total value to the babysitter(s)
client cancellation less than 10 days notice: client pays 50% of the booking's total value to the babysitter(s), with a 3
client cancellation less than 72 hours notice: client pays 100% of the booking's total value to the babysitter(s)
for changes that result in needing fewer babysitters, the client will pay a percentage of the booking's total anticipated wages to the babysitter(s) who is no longer needed, with a 3 hour minimum. The percentage due will be based on the the number of days notice provided (see above).

CANCELLATION: OVERNIGHTS or TRAVEL

Babysitters carefully arrange their schedule to reserve their time for a family's overnight or travel booking. Once an overnight booking or travel booking is confirmed:

client cancellation with more than 10 days notice: client pays 25% of the booking's total value to the babysitter
client cancellation with 10 days notice or less: client pays 50% of the booking's total value to the babysitter
client cancellation less than 72 hours notice: client pays 100% of the booking's total value to the babysitter

CANCELLATION: ILLNESS (child or family member)

There are no exceptions to the cancellation policy. In some cases we can ask your scheduled babysitter if they feel comfortable coming depending on symptoms, however, the babysitter is not obligated to come. The cancellation payment is not a penalty to the client. It is the babysitter's wages. Childcare workers cannot be subject to losing their wages because someone else is ill and we cannot obligate babysitters to expose themselves to illness.

WHAT IF A SITTER COMES TO MY HOUSE SICK or BECOMES SICK DURING MY SIT?

We expect clients to notify us in advance about sickness, and clients deserve the same courtesy. If a sitter is feeling under the weather but well enough to work, they should notify the agency and you of their symptoms in advance, so that you have the chance to decide if you are comfortable with them coming. Wearing a mask may be a great solution. Communication is key. Example: a sitter who has seasonal allergies making them sneeze is not a sick sitter.

If a sitter arrives at your home sick and did not let you know beforehand, you have the right to send them home and pay only for any time that the sitter worked. If a babysitter unexpectedly becomes sick during your sit and must go home early, you will pay only for the hours that the sitter worked and you will receive a booking credit for your reservation.

CANCELLATION: EMERGENCIES

Although we cannot harm the childcare worker by waiving the cancellation payment due to them, we may be able to help you in some other way through emergency family relief funds and nonprofits in our area. Consideration of emergency circumstances or rescheduling are at the sole discretion of the agency.

Let's consider this question from the other side: if your workplace had an emergency and asked to not pay you, would that be realistic for you or would you still be depending on your pay?

CANCELLATION: BAD WEATHER

Snow and hail are part of living in Colorado. Babysitters must still be paid if a client is cancelling due to weather, the road to a ski valley closed, etc. In the case of severe weather warnings, we may make a good faith effort to reach out to you about cancellation in advance so that you can avoid a larger cancellation payment. Ultimately clients and providers are responsible to follow the weather forecast and make a decision as they see fit.

CANCELING WHEN THE PROVIDER IS ON THE WAY or HAS ARRIVED

Canceling when the sitter is already on their way or arrived requires payment in full to your sitter. Example: a client forgot about the booking, child became ill while the provider was on the way, parent thought the booking was tomorrow, etc.

This policy will change in Summer 2023.

FAQS

Why is there a cancellation fee for a booking canceled in advance?

We instituted this policy because bookings made in advance had a higher cancel rate and this caused our team members' schedules to be less stable and less organized. This had a negative ripple effect for our clients. The cancellation payment helps to keep our job board organized, especially in our busiest months.

My child is sick and I am cancelling to be courteous of the babysitter's health. Do I still owe a cancellation payment? Yes, babysitters still receive partial payment paid for the reservation of their time.

Can I reschedule instead of paying a cancellation charge? Rescheduling is not in our policy because it means that the childcare worker is reserving two days in their schedule for one day of pay. This usually does not make financial sense for the childcare worker. If the childcare provider specifically wants to reschedule we can do that.

I didn't know 48 hours ago that I'd be sick so I could not cancel in advance. Can I pay the smaller advance cancellation charge instead? That is not possible because the timing of the cancellation financially impacts the childcare worker. A short notice cancellation reduces their ability to rebook other paid work.

I had an emergency. Can the charges be waived? It's an understandable question. We cannot harm the childcare worker by waiving the pay that they depend on, however we may be able to help you financially in another way. Please contact us at (303) 749-1168 about emergency family support options. Babysitters work with many families and that increases the chance that families they are scheduled to work with will have emergencies or illnesses. One cancellation for a family can add up to many cancellations for the babysitter.

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