Pet’s Dream Park, whom I found through this site and have used before. were going to kennel my dogs and cats over CNY. Though the arrangement was made, they just called me and told me that they want to DOUBLE the price because it will be CNY. I have 4 dogs and 3 cats to kennel, so this would amount to paying $5500 per night for them. I am disgusted. I am in a spot and need some advice about how to handle the situation with them. Any advice would be appreciated.
have your holiday a week earlier. then the price will be right.
It’s called price gouging, and without prior notice is illegal in most countries, but it is just another example of simple supply-and-demand economic rules at work. if you have anything in writing from earlier, that may be useful to argue the point, but this is yet another illustration that most contracts are not enforceable in taiwan.
you can only fight back by taking your pets elsewhere for that week.
Contact the consumer foundation and the Daily Apple … would make a juicy story …
pay without raising too much of fuss or take your pets elsewhere. might not be best idea to fight them and then leave your pets in their care. not that they would go out of their way to harm them, but still.
Unfortunately, this sudden price hike due to Lunar New Year is very common. It is practiced in many indstries, though it is their fault then for not making it clear before you made your reservation.
How workable is a pet sitter in your situation? I have found peace of mind thanks to a student-worker who feeds the kids, changes litter boxes, and other basic stuff. And with those new year prices, it might even be cheaper.
Jesssus Feckin Keerist!!!1
That’s just sick. Cheaper to get a suite at The Far Eastern and have room service and the concierge attend to the furry ones.
This might be far-fetched, but is there anyone you know that could babysit your pets for you at half the cost or something? Maybe someone would be willing to stay at your place and housesit/petsit.
Thank you for all your support and advice. I spoke with Pet’s Dream Park, and they told me they understood my situation and would give me a discount, but they wouldn’t say how much. They said they would get back to me, so my fingers are crossed… Hopefully, the idea of going to the Apple Daily will just remain an attractive revenge fantasy and won’t have to be realized. 
In all honesty, the people at this place seems nice, and they seem to care about the dogs and cats they keep. I am just disgusted by the cold-hearted price gouging.
I would love to have a pet sitter, as some of you suggested, but because I live just next to the river park, there are always LOTS of fire works at CNY, of which 1 of my dogs is afraid and 2 are TERRIFIED. It can be difficult for even my husband and I to walk them. It would be a lot to ask of someone else. It would be very stressful for the sitter as well as the dogs. But having someone to house sit at another time of year would be a godsend. I recently read that a forumsan is providing this service. Perhaps it will be useful for the next vacation, if I can ever afford to take one again…
Perhaps you could find someone to go to your place once a day to clean cat litters and feed the felines, and Kennel only the canines? That could save you a few bucks for sure.
A few years back, we hired a teenager to do that for us and he did not ask for much money at all. I think it was 1500NT for 10 days. If you add up how much time it takes to clean a cat litter or two once a day and feed three cats, it’s good money for a teenager.
There has to be teenagers living in your area? Just approach some of them bluntly. Ask some neighbors if they know of a reliable youngster who can help. Talk to your students. (if you are a teacher)
5500 per day is not only crazy, it’s just NOT affordable. You’re looking at nearly 40K for one week. You have a month to figure something out. You can do it!
I am happy to report that the situation is resolved. I phoned today and spoke with the owner, Kevin. Actually, I just identified myself and he immediately told me that they had decided that I should just be charged the regular rate. I was surprised and pleased. It is normal to have to pay a bit more after all. He really is a one of the good guys. Actually, I liked them when I used them before. My first impression, which was that they really did care about the animals, still stands.
So thanks to Pet’s Dream Park and thanks for your advice and offers of help.
Happy New Year!
That’s great news LYD. So what’s this going to run you per day now? If you don’t mind me asking.
I still think you should find someone to look after the felines to save even more money, not to mention that it would be a lot less stressful for them to stay at home.
Some comments on this thread (and elsewhere) that the kennel was ‘dishonest’ or ‘price gouging’ are misinformed at best. To clean the table, as it were:
The kennel in question has roughly doubled their fees every recent CNY - as they should. Indeed, as anyone sympathetic to animal care would hope. Obviously demand is extreme during CNY and certainly the kennels will be turning many customers away - only an idiot would expect prices not to rise.
What happened in this case is the OP booked their appointment earlier, or with a ‘chabuduo’ clerk who didn’t clarify the rate. Such is the Taiwanese way - nothing dishonest per se. They called the OP as soon as ‘chabuduo’ caught up with reality. Most long-time Forumosans would have seen this coming from the get-go.
As to price gouging - this implies some nefarious illegality when in fact posters here simply want cheap service. (Price gouging typically refers to raising prices ‘unfairly’ during a civil emergency. Raising prices - hotels, air tickets - during holidays is not ‘price gouging.’ It may be subjectively ‘expensive,’ but to subsititute ‘price gouging’ is more than stretching it. These higher prices are good in that they offer incentive for some to travel during off-peak times. **OP doesn’t want to do that - they want peak service at off-peak prices.)
I would hate think people here are smearing kennels for their own ends. All animal owners here need kennels, and need them to prosper. Taiwanese love to make money, and seeing companies that care for animals flourish sends a powerful message.
Adding a 10% surcharge on weekends and holidays is common practice and expected in some industries, like restaurants. it is common to pay a ‘holiday’ tax for tradespeople called out on emergencies. hotels in ski resorts are expected to have peak and off peak rates that attract off-peak customers. that is fair enough.
doubling one’s rates for the one most popular week is price gouging. the extra benefit from that one week should not be relied on to keep a struggling company afloat. they should have enough padding built in to their regular prices to allow that, and only charge a small loading for that one week a year.
just my opinion, and not a ‘legal opinion’ at that. but then that’s what the forum is for.
why would i want to smear a kennel ‘for my own ends’? i don’t run a rival company, i don’t even have a pet here. well, fish and frogs, but they don’t need a kennel.
I think that there are two issues here, one that little Yellow dog is a regular customer who is putting a lot of animals in their care, thus the double price for her is pretty steep. And sure enough the kennel have dropped the charge for her. Some sort of bulk discount/regular customer break seems fair enough in that case,
BUT, come on guys, spare a thought for the people who will be spending their CNY looking after these pets, in most cases I would expect that the workers would see a generous bonus for working over the new year. Double pay? possibly triple? At CNY year I would expect that a service such as a kennel would have to put their prices up because their operating costs go up. I really don’t think that this can be classified as price gourging. Assuming that the rest of the year their prices are reasonable then this seasonal increase seems fair enough.
in this life, there are businessmen and there’s everyone else.
To answer bobepinbe’s question, I’ll be paying $2750 per day now. I could ask a friend to come by, but since it will be CNY, he’ll be on vacation, too, and I don’t want him to commit and miss out on other opportunities.
In regards to comments about my wanting peak service but not being willing to pay prices. why are you assuming I am some stingy newbie ignorant of the price increases at CNY? Geez Louise. The truth is I have lived in Taiwan a long time. I did expect to pay extra. I inquired. I was told it was the regular rate.
And speaking of unwarranted insults against kennel staff, the person I dealt with, and have dealt several times now, is quite competent. It was a simple oversight.
When I found out about the price change, I posted on here for advice. And yeah, I was upset. I stood to lose the money I spent on tickets for my trip. I stood to lose my whole vacation. I wondered what a fair price was. I was also hoping that someone could give me alternatives. I received pms from several formosans offering to take in some of my animals. A few also pointed me in the direction of someone who could house sit for me. There are some kind people out there… (Thank you!)
But now, thanks to the very good will and HONESTY of the kennel in question, I don’t have to pay anything extra. However, I plan to out of principle.
[quote=“Little Yellow Dog”]I received pms from several formosans offering to take in some of my animals.[/quote]That’s great! The question is why did you refuse? Why not just take them up on the offers? 2750 per day is still a lot of money!
Any recent comments on their quality of care?
I need to board 2 dogs this month and as far as I know there is nothing comparable in Hsinchu.
There’s a place we’ve used at Dayuan (right near the int’l airport, about 45 minutes from Hsinchu) run by a guy from Hong Kong. They also offer training and have a pool for the dogs to swim in and a grassy field where they run a couple of times a day. They feed them premium dog food. I think it’s called BW Kennel or Budweiser Kennel (don’t let the name put you off). When we used them last summer, they charged $500/dog/day. I’m not sure about CNY, though…
Tomorrow, when I’m not so exhausted, I’ll see if I can find contact info. I know they do have a website (in Chinese, but a good website)
I dropped LuLu and Elsa off at Pet’s Dream Park yesterday and though they were nice enough I’m not so impressed.
There are kennels in Hsinchu but most don’t allow the dogs outside a cage. One at Animal Kingdom in Jhubei ‘might’ but each time I talked to them they quoted an even higher price. My reason for choosing Pet’s Dream Park was that they kept playing up their schedule. Depending on the dog’s temperament they are allowed out and about for play and exercise. Looking at my dogs via their video feed, which is pretty cool, I can see that my dogs haven’t been out since they arrived. Pee and poop is visible and my dogs look agitated. Oh, and I had to keep telling them not to cook the RAW food I sent with them in packages.