Q1. I want to join NarpsUK as a pet sitter but I don't want my profile to show to the public yet as I am just setting up my business and not ready to board dogs yet, also I will need to change the email address I register with once my website is finished - can I stop my profile showing until I am ready and make changes to my profile at a later date?
Yes this is no problem, when you fill in your registration form there is a tick box asking if you want your profile set as active or non-active, if you are not ready for customers yet then set this to non-active until you are ready and then switch it over. Also all of the fields are changeable including your email address and password so you can use whatever is relevant now and change the information when you need to.
Q2. What is the difference between Narp (National Petsitter) and NarpsUK?
The main difference between Narp (National Petsitters) and NarpsUK is that National Petsetters is an association. We have chosen not to become an association for a number of reasons, one being that we are not ready to take on the responsibility of interviewing every pet sitter in the UK who joins NarpsUK and instead leave this to the pet owners to visit the sitter to determine if the pet sitter is suitable. We provide a pet sitter’s scoring and feedback section on each of our pet sitter’s profiles so that pet owners can read comments left by previous customers of that particular pet sitter – potential customers have to pay for this list with National Petsitters.
NarpsUK does promote animal welfare law & standards and encourage our members to work by this code of practice but our code is not policed or enforced.
NarpsUK does have a outstanding reputation and is considered by pet sitters and pet owner alike as a professional membership organisation, the founder Marilyn Lewis has a fellowship from the I.S.A.P (International Society of Animal Professionals) for her contribution and work to the pet sitting industry.
Q3. Why don't you offer telephone contact?
At present we do not offer telephone support as this would be so expensive for us to provide that our prices would have to be increased to cover the extra staff. Your email contact will be answered within 24 hours but more often within the hour.
Q4. Why doesn't the search results to pet owners show my door number or street name?
We at NarpsUK do not think it is a good idea for anyone to know your full address until you are happy to meet them, you could get people turning up at your door without even calling you first. We think you should first talk to a client by phone or email and ensure that for one - you can help the pet owner and secondly, that the pet owner sounds genuine.
Q5. Could I be removed from the NarpsUK register? Yes if there is a case of animal cruelty or abuse against you.
Q6. Can I get a refund?
No NarpsUK does not give refunds because once you have logged in for the 1st time you can download or print off all of our forms, contracts, pet sitting business plan, employment contract, membership certificate, flyer etc. We have tried to give full information of what benefits you will received by joining NarpsUK so that you can make an informed decision.
Q7 Do I need a CRB check done?
Only if you will be holding keys for say dog walking or a pop in service or pet sitting in the owner's home, in these circumstances you should show any customers your CRB certificate which will be sent to you when you apply for one.
Q8 I have customers who have used me many times and would like to give me feedback on my NarpsUK profile - can they do this?
Yes they should find your profile by inserting their post code into the post code search facility on the NarpsUK website and click through to your profile leave feedback.
Q9 What is your member's database/calendar for?
The database/calendar is a great tool for our members to use and will prove to be invaluable to their businesses, you can store your customers and pet details including emergency numbers, vets details, dates of vaccinations etc and also store every booking that a customer makes with you including the bookings dates, what service was provided, cost per day, total cost, deposit paid whether the booking was cancelled, this way when a customer contacts you next year you can check back to the dogs behaviour during the stay and any problems or medication, and how much you charged etc. There is also a calendar to mark your booking on too.
The home page of the database shows a rolling record of all present and forthcoming bookings so you can see at a glance what work you have booked in in real time, when a job has passed its end date it will disappear from the database but the information can still be accessed via the client's details and bookings.
Q10. Why are you more expensive than other sites offering pet sitting forms?
What we offer is totally different to what you will find anywhere else on the internet, we offer a complete pet sitting business start-up package at a fraction of the cost of a franchise and without the restrictions and rules that are applied and without having to pay a annual cut of your profit. Our forms are not basic like most sites offer they are well thought out to fit the job, our contracts have been drawn up by professionals for example if your business needed to take on pet sitting helpers (self-employed pet sitters), our helper's service contract has been drawn up by an employment solicitor especially for our members. Our pet sitting business plan has been drawn up by an expert in this field for us - I think our website reflects the quality and standards we offer. So you can see that in fact the price we charge is in fact very good value for money as one of these things alone would cost you more than this to purchase.
Q11 How can I add the logo with a link to NarpsUK to my website?
Yes you can. Below is our NarpsUK logo which you can save by right clicking on the image below and selecting "Save Image As". Alternatively you can copy the HTML code in the box below to add the logo and a link to our website.
NarpsUK members can gain access to high resolution logo images through the members section of this site.
Paste the following code into your website for a link including the NarpsUK logo.
