Hello forum,
I need some suggestion from more seasoned swiss residents. I have contracted since 1Y a dog daycare making a deal with the owner for a special price. This month I had some issue with them: some employees brought chocolate where the dogs are kept and left the dogs unattended; my dog ate an entire box of chocolates risking a severe intoxication. They didn’t even tell me, I found out because the poor beast threw up the plastic wraps once home. I immediately told the owner to stop coming and to wait for January to decide for the future. He was all apologetic and asked me to reconsider my decision promising it would never happen again. With great surprise, I got today an invoice for the entire month of December - even more expensive than normal because he decided to increase prices due to gas price increase. The dog went 2 times this month and I told him to stop coming for a reason, I believe this request is unfair to say the least. I’m not in Switzerland at the moment and will
come back mid January, so I couldn’t reject a debt collection notice if he decides to proceed in that direction. What should I do in this case? I really would like to avoid a debt collector entry in my register and I’m not in the country right now. Does he have the right to the money? Thank you.
FYI: I probably never signed a proper contract with him, it has always been a verbal agreement. I told him to stop picking up the dog via whatsapp, no registered letter.
Have you even been in touch with the guy about your objection to the bill? Just telling him not to come for a couple of weeks in December isn’t a clear intention that you are suspending his services.
Send a registered letter objecting to the bill and terminating the contract completely. The fact is, you did not terminate it immediately from what you said, so it's unclear. A whatsapp is not adequate.
It's your choice to not use the service, but if you did not clearly end the contract then he is perfectly entitled to send you the bill.
Also, can you actually prove the the dog ate chocolate ? Could the dog have picked up wrappers from walking or in the garden unsupervised ? Did you take the dog to the vet and was there a cost of treatment ?
Eitherway, no you cannot just stop without properly advising the service provider and a verbal contract is a contract, but you cannot end a verbal contract like this unless it's very clear and both sides agree - clearly both sides have not agreed as you received a bill.
Yes, he admitted it was her employee’s negligence and the chocolate was a Christmas present. My dog is big and wasn’t affected, I just kept him under observation for 24h, but the quantity would have probably intoxicated a smaller one. A part from that, the guy also lost the keys of my apartment and a bunch of other stuff, but I always tried to keep a friendly relationship. I got your point though. I will talk with him and if he insists I will proceed terminating the service in an official way. Thank you!