Refund Policy

Overview

Plans change. This page explains in plain English what happens to your payment if you cancel, reschedule, or can’t go ahead with a confirmed booking with PAX Pet Transport (operated by Tres Gauchos LLC). The exact terms live in the Ground Transport Agreement you sign at booking — if anything here ever conflicts with that signed agreement, the signed agreement controls.

All cancellation and reschedule requests must be in writing to help@paxpettransport.com. Your cancellation date is the date we receive your written request.

1. How Payment Works

Your total transport fee is split into two parts:

• 50% deposit — charged when you confirm the booking.
• 50% balance — authorized on your card 24 hours before pickup and captured at drop-off when you confirm delivery. Successful authorization is a precondition to pickup.

Cancellation outcomes depend on which window you’re in and what’s already been charged or authorized.

2. 72-Hour Cooling-Off Period

If you cancel within 72 hours of confirming your booking, you receive a full refund of the deposit and the balance authorization is never processed.

One important exception: the cooling-off period does not apply if your scheduled transport is 14 days or fewer from your booking date. Last-minute bookings move directly to the cancellation tiers below.

3. Cancellation Tiers

Outside the cooling-off window, what happens depends on how far ahead of your scheduled transport you cancel:

Amounts retained under this section are agreed liquidated damages — a reasonable estimate of our losses (lost booking opportunities, driver commitments, route planning, lodging reservations, preparation costs) — not a penalty. Late or unpaid balances accrue interest at 1.5% per month (18% annualized) until paid in full, or the maximum permitted by law, whichever is lower.

Refunds are issued to the original payment method within 5–10 business days of approval.

4. Travel Credit Alternative

Instead of taking a cash refund, you may apply any retained amount toward a future PAX transport. The future trip is quoted at then-current rates, and you cover any difference for fuel, tolls, lodging, or routing. Your travel credit:

• Must be redeemed by booking a new transport within 6 months of the original cancellation date.
• Can be transferred to an immediate family member or personal acquaintance — just let us know in writing who’s receiving it.
• Is not redeemable for cash and may not be resold.

If you don’t book a new transport within 6 months, the credit is forfeited.

5. Hardship Refund

Real life sometimes interferes with the best-laid plans. If you have to cancel because of a qualifying hardship event, PAX retains only 20% of the total transport fee, regardless of which cancellation tier you’d otherwise fall into. Any amount you’ve paid above 20% is refunded, any unprocessed balance authorization is released, and you’re not liable for the remaining balance.

The hardship refund is in lieu of (not on top of) the standard cancellation outcome — you receive whichever produces the greater refund.

Qualifying hardship events include:

• Death of the client.
• Death of the pet to be transported.
• Death of an immediate family member (spouse, domestic partner, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or step-equivalent).
• Documented involuntary loss of employment after the booking was confirmed.
• Sudden serious illness or hospitalization of the client or an immediate family member.
• Other extraordinary circumstances at our sole discretion.

Documentation we may ask for:

• Death certificate, published obituary, or funeral home record.
• Veterinary record establishing the death or terminal condition of the pet.
• Hospital admission record or physician’s letter.
• Employer termination or layoff letter.
• Where official documentation is impractical to obtain, a notarized affidavit by you or an immediate family member.

We understand gathering documentation during a difficult time is itself burdensome. The verification step exists to protect against fraud and preserve this benefit for clients who genuinely need it.

6. Rescheduling

We’ll make every reasonable effort to accommodate reschedule requests at no extra charge, subject to driver availability. Reschedule requests less than 72 hours before the scheduled pickup may be treated as a cancellation and re-booking — in which case the tiers above apply.

Email help@paxpettransport.com as early as possible.

7. Cancellations We Initiate

In the rare case we have to cancel a confirmed booking on our side (driver unavailability, vehicle issues, etc.), we’ll notify you as soon as possible and issue a full refund of all amounts paid. We’ll also make reasonable efforts to help you find an alternative arrangement.

8. Force Majeure

Some events are beyond anyone’s control. If your transport is prevented, delayed, or has to be re-routed because of circumstances like:

• Extreme weather (blizzards, hurricanes, flooding) or natural disasters.
• Government-ordered road closures, civil unrest, acts of war, or pandemic restrictions.
• Mechanical breakdowns of our vehicles.
• Serious illness or death of an animal during transport.

…we’ll work with you in good faith to find alternatives. We’re not liable for delays, route changes, inability to deliver, or indirect losses (like non-refundable travel arrangements) caused by force majeure events.

9. No-Shows and Failed Delivery

If the driver arrives at the pickup location at the agreed time and no authorized person is present (or the pet isn’t ready), we’ll attempt to contact you. If we can’t reach you or resolve the issue within 30 minutes, the trip may be treated as a no-show. No-shows are not eligible for a refund.

If no authorized person is available to receive the pet at the delivery destination, you’re responsible for any additional costs (waiting time, lodging, boarding, food, route changes, veterinary care). We may place your pet in a licensed boarding or veterinary facility at your expense if delivery cannot be completed within a reasonable time.

10. Health-Related Cancellations

If your pet appears unhealthy, unfit to travel, undocumented, or poses a safety risk at pickup or during transport, we may refuse to start or continue the trip. A refusal under these circumstances is treated as a client-initiated cancellation under the tiers above, effective on the date of refusal — the standard cancellation outcome applies.

If your pet becomes seriously ill or injured and is deemed unfit for transport by a licensed veterinarian immediately before pickup, you may qualify for a Hardship Refund (Section 5) with supporting documentation.

11. Disputes

If you have a concern about a charge or refund decision, contact us first at help@paxpettransport.com. The full dispute resolution process — informal review, mediation, and binding arbitration in Virginia — is described in our Terms of Service.

12. Contact

Tres Gauchos LLC DBA PAX Pet Transport
Email: help@paxpettransport.com
Phone: (858) 353-3335