Terms of Service

Terms of Service

Nature of Service

The Kindest Goodbye is a booking and referral agency. We are not a veterinary clinic and we do not provide veterinary, euthanasia or cremation services ourselves. We connect families with a network of independent home-euthanasia veterinarians and independent aftercare and cremation providers across the UK.

All euthanasia services are provided by independent, registered veterinarians or veterinary clinics, who are solely responsible for those services under British law and the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ guidelines. All cremation and aftercare services are provided by independent cremation providers who are solely responsible for those services. The Kindest Goodbye arranges and administers your booking with these independent providers and is not a party to the clinical or cremation service itself.

Our Role and Fees

The Kindest Goodbye acts as agent in arranging and administering your booking with an independent provider, who performs the service and is the supplier of that service to you. The total price shown to you before you confirm comprises the independent provider’s charge for their service together with our fee for arranging and administering your booking. We collect the total payment as agent, pass the provider’s charge to them, and retain our arranging and administration fee as consideration for our own services. The independent provider, not The Kindest Goodbye, is responsible for performing the service.

Cancellations, Changes & Refund Policy

Changes and cancellations may be made by calling our customer care team on 0330 2366 999 or via the link in your booking confirmation email.

Where you cancel, the charge for the provider’s time, and any travel fee, is determined by that provider. We collect payment as agent, pass the provider’s charge to them, and retain our own booking and administration fee separately, as described below.

For cancellations made within 60 minutes of the start of the appointment arrival window, a fee of £70 applies, plus any travel fee the veterinarian added to the visit at the time of booking. This comprises the independent veterinarian’s charge of £60 for their time and potential loss of another booking, together with our £10 booking and administration fee, and any such travel fee. The balance of the amount you have paid will be refunded. For cancellations made before this time, our booking and administration fee of £10 will apply to cover transaction and administrative costs, and the balance will be refunded.

Where a cancellation is due to a pet passing away of natural causes, a full refund will be issued, save that where the cancellation occurs within the 60 minutes immediately before the start of the scheduled arrival window, the £70 fee described above will apply (the veterinarian’s £60 charge for their time and potential loss of another booking, our £10 administration fee, and any travel fee the veterinarian added at the time of booking). Where a cremation provider or the attending veterinarian is facilitating crematorium transfer, a £100 transfer fee may apply instead, payable to the provider arranging that transfer. If one of our cremation partners is collecting your pet, timing will be rearranged as best as possible to suit you.

Where the attending veterinarian has travelled to you and you decide not to proceed with euthanasia, a consultation fee applies, comprising the independent veterinarian’s charge for their attendance and time together with our £20 booking and administration fee, plus any travel fee the veterinarian added to the visit at the time of booking. The total consultation fee is £120 for weekday visits (8am–6pm), £200 for out-of-hours appointments, and £280 for emergency overnight or Bank Holiday appointments, in each case plus any such travel fee. Any balance of payment already received will be refunded.

Where unforeseen circumstances render the booked veterinarian unavailable for a specific appointment, The Kindest Goodbye will contact you immediately using the phone number provided at booking to offer an alternative independent provider or an alternative appointment time. If no alternative is acceptable to you, a full refund will be issued.

If an incorrect date or address is provided at the time of booking, additional provider fees may be payable. If, as a result of this incorrect information, the independent provider attends at the scheduled time and the euthanasia does not proceed, the provider’s applicable cancellation fee and any associated travel fees will apply. If additional travel is incurred due to an incorrect address being provided and the service proceeds, the provider may charge additional travel fees. If the service is cancelled or postponed due to insufficient time to provide the service as a result of an incorrect address, a cancellation fee will apply in addition to any relevant travel fees.

Should you decide to cancel a cremation service after having paid for it, a £10 administration fee will apply to cover administrative costs, and the balance of your payment will be refunded.

Service Complaints

The euthanasia and cremation services are provided by independent providers who are responsible for the quality of those services. If you are unhappy with a service provided by an independent veterinarian or cremation provider, please raise this with us and we will assist by referring the matter to the relevant provider. Any refund of the provider’s fees is at the discretion of that provider. Disputes concerning aftercare and memorial items are handled by the relevant cremation provider directly.

Variation to Standard Service

Your independent veterinarian may need to vary their clinical approach. For example, if your pet is severely debilitated at the time of arrival, the veterinarian may discuss with you proceeding without giving sedation first, as sedation may make it impossible to gain intravenous access if your pet’s blood pressure is already extremely low. Alternative injection methods, including intracardiac, intrarenal and intrahepatic, may occasionally be necessary or even desirable where IV access is not possible or practical. The attending veterinarian should always discuss any such approach with you in advance of proceeding. Please also be aware that in some rare instances where pets are very unstable, peaceful euthanasia may be achieved with the first injection alone, and an intravenous injection may not be required. All clinical decisions are made by your independent veterinarian in their professional judgement.