The French version of this page is the authoritative one. This translation is provided for understanding.
Pet care on Patte Blanche: what you need to know
The information the French Consumer Code (art. D111-8) requires of every intermediation platform: who offers care, what Patte Blanche does, how sitters are ranked, what the service costs, how you pay, insurance and disputes.
Who offers care
Registered families and organisations. Each sitter declares whether they are a private individual or a professional, and their page says so: a private individual self-certifies every year and looks after a few animals at a time at most; a professional gives their business number, professional liability insurance and, in France for dogs and cats, their BNO operator number and qualification.
What Patte Blanche does
Patte Blanche puts a family in touch with a sitter, collects the payment through Stripe on the sitter’s behalf and pays it to them after the stay. The sitter sets their own price, services, species and cancellation scale: Patte Blanche sets neither a price grid nor the content of the care, and is not the sitter.
How sitters are ranked
For a given stay, Patte Blanche only shows the sitters who can do it: the service offered, all the species in care accepted, no day taken, a manageable number of animals, and the family within their travel time. They are ranked by travel time from your home, then by total price including fees. No payment, no rating and no acceptance rate influences the order.
What the service costs
The family pays the price set by the sitter plus service fees of 15 % of that price, with no cap; the total price including fees is shown before any request. Patte Blanche deducts a 10 % commission from the sitter’s price. Searching for a sitter, requesting a stay and publishing a profile are free.
How you pay
By card, through Stripe, our payment provider, on the sitter’s behalf; Patte Blanche never sees the card. The sitter is paid 24 hours after the end of the stay, unless the family reports a problem during that time. A paid stay lasts 30 days at most; beyond that, two bookings.
Cancellation and withdrawal
The sitter chooses one of three scales, shown before payment. A sitter who cancels triggers a full refund, fees included. The scales:
- Flexible: 100 % refunded at least 1 day(s) before the first day, 50 % after that.
- Moderate: 100 % refunded at least 7 day(s) before the first day, 50 % after that.
- Strict: 50 % refunded at least 7 day(s) before the first day, 0 % after that.
Insurance and guarantees
Patte Blanche neither provides nor recommends any insurance. Professionals hold professional liability insurance; each party checks their own cover. No guarantee of outcome is given on the care.
Private individual or professional
With a professional sitter, consumer law applies. Between private individuals it does not, nor does the legal guarantee of conformity; the 14-day right of withdrawal is provided for by our terms, and for hidden defects the French Civil Code applies.
French Civil Code, art. 1641 et seq.
Disputes and mediator
A family can report a problem up to 24 hours after the end of the stay: the payout to the sitter is then suspended and a Patte Blanche team member decides, with reasons, within 7 days. A consumer may also use a consumer mediator free of charge (French Consumer Code, art. L612-1).
The consumer mediator will be named here before bookings open.