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Payments – 12 questions answered
Meowtel accepts all major credit and debit cards. Your payment method will be charged only when the sitter accepts your reservation request. Until they do, you may see a pending charge on your statement.
If the sitter declines your request or fails to respond to your request within 24 hours, the request will be canceled and the pending charge will be removed from your banking activity.
Your Meowtel Account Balance can be refunded back to your original payment method from your Transactions screen.
Meowtel accepts payment for reservations and all related transactions from a registered user's available Account Balance. In the event a reservation is canceled and meets the requirements of our Cancellation Policy, the reservation amount will be automatically credited back to your Account Balance.
General Terms & Conditions:
- Account Balances can be used to reserve a sitter or tip a sitter.
- Account Balances are non-transferable and can be refunded back to a customer's original payment method from their Transactions screen.
We have a Trust & Safety fee of 8.5%, rounded up to the nearest $0.25, applied on a per-visit basis.
This fee helps us provide prompt support from a real person when you need it or in the event something goes wrong.
Sitters on Meowtel are independent contractors, and due to high demand during holidays, they can also decide to set their own holiday price increase, which can be found on their profiles in the rates section. If your reservation falls within three (3) days before or after a federal holiday, or on the holiday itself, you may see a holiday surcharge applied to your reservation.
For fees specific to California, please refer to Meowtel Fees in California.
For sales tax specific to Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota and Rhode Island, please refer to our article on Sales Tax.
For fees applicable to sitters, see Fees to Join the Meowtel Platform.
Due to high demand during holidays, sitters on Meowtel have the option to set their own holiday price increase, which can be found in the rates section of their profiles. If your reservation falls within three (3) days before and/or after a federal holiday, or on the holiday itself, a holiday surcharge, determined by your sitter, will be added to your reservation.
These are the date ranges in 2026 to which the holiday surcharge applies:
- January 1-4: New Year's 2026
- January 16-22: MLK Day
- February 13-19: Presidents Day
- May 22-28: Memorial Day
- June 16-22: Juneteenth
- July 1-7: July 4th
- September 4-10: Labor Day
- October 9-15: Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day
- November 8-14: Veterans Day
- November 23-29: Thanksgiving
- December 22-28: Christmas
- December 29-31: New Year's 2027
To apply a coupon code to your reservation, click on the "Do you have a gift card or coupon code?" option during the checkout process on the Payment screen. Then, simply enter the coupon code in the text field, and click "Apply".
When the reservation ends, log in to your Meowtel account and go to your My Reservations tab (or simply Reservations on the mobile app). Click on "Details" on the reservation card, and then click the button that says "Send Sitter a Tip" and choose the desired amount you would like to tip your sitter. Please double check the tip amount to ensure accuracy, and know that your sitter always keeps 100% of the tip!
Fees are based on the duration of each in-home visit. Visits typically include feeding, a water refresh, litter box cleaning, playtime and medication administration (if applicable).
For households with three (3) or more cats, we require that you book a minimum 45-minute visit, for one visit per day. Alternatively, if you book two visits per day (AM and PM), 20-minute visits can be arranged.
Here are our recommended visit durations depending on your situation:
Overnights are always a wonderful option for any household. An overnight lasts for about 12 hours in the client's home and is more than enough time to provide great care to any number of cats. Therefore, a sitter should not charge any additional fees for extra cats during an Overnight.
Only the cats listed on the reservation will receive care. If a sitter arrives and finds unlisted cats, they will contact us to update the reservation, and we will follow up with you for confirmation.
Meowtel's Terms of Service prohibit paying for a reservation that was arranged on the platform off of the platform.
If we identify that a payment for a reservation that was initiated on platform is completed off of the platform, we may deactivate your account.
Always report outside payment requests to us by sending an email to [email protected] or calling/texting 1-844-MEOWTEL.
Once logged into your Meowtel account, please navigate to your My Reservations screen (or simply Reservations on the mobile app). Find the reservation that you'd like to cancel, click on Details, and then Cancel Reservation. Once you do so, your sitter and you will receive confirmation emails about the cancelation. Please be sure to review our Cancelation Policy here.
It's important to note that reservations must be canceled from your Meowtel account, and you can do this while logged in to our website or mobile app. Cat sitters are unable to initiate cancellations from their end without directly contacting Meowtel. If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to our Bellhop at 844-MEOWTEL (1-844-636-9835) or via email at [email protected].
Due to California's unique legal landscape, Meowtel has a different fee structure for cat sitters and cat parents in California.
Customers in California are charged two service-related fees:
- A 30% service fee, which is already included in the display rate you see in search results and sitter listings.
- A Trust & Safety Fee which is 8.5% rounded up to the nearest $0.25, on a per-visit basis.
This fee helps us provide prompt support from a real person when you need it, develop new tools to enrich the cat parent experience on Meowtel, and continue expanding the network of cat-loving clients, connecting them with background-checked, cat-loving sitters.
Yes, we offer digital Meowtel gift cards! You can purchase one securely here, where you'll be asked to provide the recipient's name and email for delivery.
Meowtel is required by law to collect sales tax on pet sitting services performed in certain states. Currently, this applies to reservations in:
Connecticut: A 1% state sales tax on fees is added to your reservation total.
Kentucky: A 6% state sales tax is added to your reservation total.
Minnesota: A state sales tax of 6.875% plus applicable local taxes (ranging from 0% to 3%, depending on the specific city/county) is added to your reservation total.
Rhode Island: A 7% state sales tax is added to your reservation total.
If you are located in Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota or Rhode Island and have questions about sales tax or your reservation, please reach out to Meowtel Support by emailing [email protected] or by calling or texting 1-844-636-9835.