Q: What is the difference between a Service Agreement, a Contract and Terms & Conditions?
A: In the most part, nothing at all. They are all terms used to describe the document that sets out the responsibilities, the permissions, and the boundaries of liability for a customer and a business.
Q: Do I need formal Terms & Conditions? I am a very small business, trading alone?
A: You can certainly trade without a document that outlines the service rules and responsibilities, but if something goes wrong, you will be in the difficult position of trying to negotiate a position where both you and the customer are left satisfied with the outcome. This is not helped by the fact that something has happened, so the customer is already in an unhappy frame of mind.
Many pet professionals start their business without a formal document that outlines their Terms & Conditions. They cannot see the point of the document as their customers are "lovely" and would never get cross about something that happened! Wrong. When faced with a lost pet, an injured pet, or an expensive medical bill, customers quickly retreat to the position that you are a service provider – and having that signed Service Agreement on the shelf is a relief, it sets out rules and responsibilities in a framework that can help to keep any discussions on the right track.
Q: Don’t contracts have to be written by a solicitor to be legal?
A: No, they do not. As long as they are written in a clear language that both you and the customer can understand (so the customer is aware of what they agreeing to), they are just as valid as a contract that has been written by a legal expert.
The vital element of a contract is that it is fair, reasonable and not heavily biased in your favour. This would be particularly applicable to cancellation fees and liability for injury and vet bills. You simply cannot waive all your responsibilities in terms of vet costs. If the pet is in your care and you are responsible for the decisions that are made in the moment of an accident, then you are liable for at least some of the vet bills, and possibly all. This is why you have business insurance.
Trading Standards, Citizens Advice and the .gov website all have information on what is deemed as fair in terms of cancellations but remember that the information is usually written from the customer’s perspective, so turn it around to see how it would be perceived from the view of your business. Alternatively you can ask me to talk it through with you via the Mentoring service.
Q: I offer lots of services. Should I roll my Terms & Conditions into one document?
A: You certainly can do this but do think about this from the customer’s perspective. If they are looking for someone to feed their cat while they are on holiday, they are not going to want to read through pages of additional terms and rules for dog walking and hourly pet sitting.
It is much more likely that they will not read the document at all if they are faced with reading pages that are nothing to do with the service that they require.
I think we can all remember a time where we have been asked to read terms and conditions for a large, world renowned company, and we scroll fast to the end and check the box to say we agree. It is our job to encourage people to read our terms when they are sent, as we are personally faced with managing any problems and issues that may arise on a later date.
