HOUSE & PET SITTING SERVICE

+ PROPERTY GUARDIANS

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About Us

If you are reading this webpage you have probably been directed to it by a client, a friend or us as we do not advertise it and it is not designed to be found by search engines. Please read through the page and you can find a contact link at the end of the FAQ's to email us with your questions. We do not publish our telephone numbers here but they will be included in any future communications. This is a just brief initial introduction to us and we do understand, for those who may not have used this type of service before, that it may feel a little unusual to invite strangers into your house. However, the ease and stress free benefits (for your pets and you) of using us to look after your property and animals, will quickly compensate for this. Please note that as well as looking after homes and pets when clients go on holiday or business trips, we care for properties awaiting probate, on the market, repossessions, between tenants etc.
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We are a diligent, professional, semi retired married couple who now live in Poole, Dorset. We have a daughter of 35 years old who lives in South London. Up to 2008 we were running a contemporary art gallery in Clerkenwell in the City of London and you may like to visit our art business website here which will give you further information about us.

The reason we offer a Home and Pet sitting/Property Guardian service is that although we still run an online art business, we have spare time on our hands and miss having pets, we also see this as a way of visiting different parts of the country and meeting new people. If you have visited our art website you will note that besides London we have lived and worked in Amsterdam, Stockholm, Sydney and Los Angeles - so we are a little bit gypsy by nature and like to try and make the different stages in life less routine. We are both able bodied and non smokers. Ann (Swedish) is particularly good with pets, we are both animal lovers and Rick is capable of normal DIY and emergency home maintenance. There are of course some companies offering similar services who maintain they have checked their sitters references, however if you decide to retain us you will deal with us directly and therefore know exactly who will be looking after your property, home and pets. Furthermore the references we can provide are impeccable and live insofar as you will be able to contact our genuine clients directly and not have to rely on pre-dated reference letters or the word of a go-between.
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 How it works
We offer this service in the UK for London and the Home counties, the South East and South West regions
but we are well travelled and basically comfortable providing it anywhere in Europe. While house sitting we supply our own food and are mainly vegetarian. Our basic requirements are a bedroom, bathroom, broadband access (important) and car parking facilities. We bring our own linen (duvet, sheet and pillows), towels, coffee machine etc. and live-in. We keep the property secure, stay in regular contact with the client (if requested) care for animals and exercise pets, water house plants, take and forward telephone messages if required, keep records of who has called at the property, deter intruders, keep an eye on owners vehicles and anything else that needs looking after. We are not cleaners but we will take great care of the property and leave it in the same condition as we find it.

We normally like to meet prospective clients (and they like to meet us) before a formal booking at a pre-meeting. We always try and arrange for this meeting to fit in with our normal travel plans but if we are required to make a specific long trip, travel charges may have to apply. If after this meeting clients definitely wish to proceed with a booking we would supply references to be checked and then follow up with our Confirmation Letter together with a comprehensive Check List of things that need to be considered. We would consider the booking confirmed on receipt of the deposit.

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Cost and Terms
Our charges are £50.00 per day for up to the first fourteen days and for periods longer than that by negotiation. These charges are inclusive of our food and the care of up to two domestic pets. Public and Bank Holidays, travel expenses and more pets/animals may incur extra costs depending on length of booking, location etc. When we have full information of your requirements and location we can quote with no obligation. We require a deposit from first time clients when the booking is confirmed and the balance is payable after completion of the house sit. The deposit will be forfeit if the booking is cancelled within four weeks of the start date although we will credit you this amount if a further booking is made within 6 months - providing we have not turned down another booking for the cancelled date/s. Full details will be supplied prior to booking.
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FAQ's
Q: Do you have a minimum charge or period?
For up to 25 miles of travel we can consider a booking of three days. For longer distances we normally require a booking of at least 7 days. However we try to fit in with clients requirements wherever possible so always please ask.

Q: Would you let dogs off the lead when you walk them?
We would require written permission from the owner to let dogs off the lead. However from experience we can normally do this after a couple of walks and would always attach a temporary tag to their collar giving our mobile number.

Q: Would you consider looking after other types of animals besides domestic pets?
Yes we would consider other animals. Please ask.

Q: Do you stay on the premises at all times?
A. The benefit of having two people Homesit is that one of us will be there most of the time, depending on dog walking etc. However we try never to leave premises unoccupied for more than 3 hours at any one time.

Q. What happens if our return is delayed?
A. We usually leave a few clear days between bookings and can normally delay our departure until you return. In any emergencies we will do whatever we can to help and would never leave animals unattended.

Q. Will my Contents insurance cover any breakages?
It is very unlikely that we would break anything. However most insurance companies prefer that someone is at the property rather than leave it vacant and most Contents policy's should cover guests but you may wish to check with your insurance company.

For further information and to have your queries answered please email us giving your name, location (postcode please) and number and type of pets (if we do not already have that information) using this link or the email address RickandAnn@Chineland.com Please note this email address is only used for advertising and initial contact, after that we use a more personal one which includes our telephone number and address.

We look forward to meeting you.

Ann-Kathrin & Rick