Quincy, Illinois - 6/07. I worked for Terminix here in Quincy for a little over a year and HATED every minute of it! The Branch Manager and Data Entry Clerk hated each other passionately and were scared to death of each other! She dressed in jeans and polo or t-shirt and he dressed in grubby shorts and t-shirt unless a higher up was to make an appearance. It really made for a pleasant, "businesslike" atmosphere when a customer walked in the door! I did everything in my power to get laid off so that I could draw unemployment until I found another job and succeeded wholeheartedly.  I was ecstatic beyond belief and found the job of my dreams in less than two months!  I now no longer have to answer the phone and listen constantly to customer complaints about the lazy pest control techs or lying termite control salesmen and that alone is enough to make this girl jump in the air and clap her hands!!!! WOOHOO!!! Eric, Brenda, Will and Chris.....you deserve each other!!!!!  In my opinion liars, cheaters, brown nosers, and backstabbers go hand in hand!

New York - 6/07. I too work for Terminix and feel sorry for the customers.  Their termite baiting system is fraud; many of the baits that replace the original baits have no chemicals to kill the termites.  It just feeds them.

Springfield, Missouri - 6/07. I worked for Terminix from June 04 until April 07. In that time, I was one of their top dogs in the top 5% of their sales people. They lie, cheat, and steal from their customers and employees. Upon leaving the company, they owed me $9145.38 in commissions that were completed, they then deducted $2000.00 for a future draw that I did not receive. I gave them a two weeks notice and was promised by my manager, Jack Crider, that I would get paid on all pending work that was not completed in April.  Now the company refuses to pay me the $4000 in commission and mileage that I sold the last two weeks that I was there. If I had known this, I could have saved myself alot of time and money.  They had me driving between 300 and 400 miles a day for two weeks, and I sold about $14,000 in work that I am not getting paid for now.  I am turning this over to my attorney, but he doesn’t see much that we can do because of  their arbitration policy.  This policy also affects all their customers if they would just read their contracts before they sign them.

? - 3/07. I am soon to be an "ex-employee" of Terminix and will be sending you an e-mail within a month or so. I will also be open for any questions about what I've seen there.  If you didn't hear, the latest thing Terminix is doing is a thing called TIPS, which consists of inspecting your house; and IF no termite activity is seen and only two spots of "old damage" is noted, then they will sell you the guarantee against future damage and infestations without even treating the home with chemicals or installing bait stations.  They will repair all "new damage" done after the contract starts unless that damage was "hidden" in an unaccessible place and shown to be "old damage."

Terminix has started (last year in 2006) using Advance instead of Sentricon, which IS a better station, BUT ... they promised many of the customers ACTIVE chemicals instead of "just a piece of wood." Well, the word came down two weeks ago that we are NOT to put the active ingredient into the station this year unless activity is noticed. Instead, we are to put a capsule with just some flavoring into the stations because this is cheaper than the active ingredient.

Tennessee - 3/07. I've just recently resigned from my position in the TN call center as a  Supervisor.  I wrote a several page complaint to the company's CEO, HR and other departments about the unfair treatment of the employees.  The call center was a babysitter’s job.  We never have solutions to problems for the customers.  All we do all day, 24/7, is send messages to the local branch.  We are what I call a glorified answering service.  We are to keep you happy while you are on the phone (baby sit the customer).  We are not provided the training that we need to be successful.  We were forced to take calls when the call volume increases, and several of my peers were wrote up for not doing so.  The level of accountability is unnatural.  I could go on and on and on.  Maybe I'll get up the nerve to send you a copy of the letter that I sent.  I had to leave.  I loved the people that I work with, but the conditions were not professional. For a company  that says that they Honor GOD in all they do. It makes me wonder who their god is?  I feel better now that I have found your site.  I now know that I'm not alone.  I thought that this was a company that I would be able to stay with for years.  I hope with the sale of the company things will be better for all customers and employees alike.

Massachusetts - 3/07. Wow, I worked for Terminix, role played for days the sales pitch.  What a rotten company.  Here I was taught to lie to the customer, ruthlessly lie to elderly, to the person who couldn’t make the mortgage.  This is the sales pitch:  “Hello, Mrs. Smith, we spoke last night.  I’m here to do your pest inspection as well as termite inspection. Today I'll be going around the outside of your home and later I'll get inside in your basement. You're welcome to come along with me if you'd like,” (as I'd motion with a wave inviting her). At the end, I’d check off everything, make it look like a mess, and tell them I see a lot of conducive conditions, scare them about their #1 investment, your home, and you couldn’t afford $2,000? Let me call my boss. Oh, you can’t afford $1700, let me call him back, I’d hate to see your #1 investment go. Okay, Mrs. Smith, we can do it for $1200 today. Oh, you still can’t afford that? I don’t feel right leaving your home.  I’ll put the Sentricon system in your yard, oh no, free of charge! and come back in 2 weeks.  The termites were attracted to these systems, cause termites are out in the woods. I’d pull out the system and show them termites in their face to scare them, and we’d get the customer that way.

Layetteville, North Carolina - 3/07. How can I express my regrets and stories regarding Terminix as a branch manager?  I have so much to tell and do not know where to send it.

? - 2/07. I worked at Terminix for 2 and a half years. Used to be great up until a week ago.  I hurt myself about a week ago.  They made me file Workers’ Comp.  Needless to say, I got released Monday the 29th of January from the doctor. I got all excited ready to go back to work but now I am stating the truth about the company if you want to call it that.  You see, after I got released, they let me go back to work for the end of the month.  They fired me on 2-1-07, saying I filed a false workman’s comp complaint.  When the truth be told is they are more concerned with taking your money and giving customers nothing. You have to have chemicals to kill bugs. Water really doesn’t work that well. Yes, there is a residual build up of chemical in your rig, but it only holds up to the toxicity of the chemicals.  They steal from their employees as their sister companies do it too. They way over charge their customers.  Last month, I only made, working every day mind you, $376 after taxes.  The whole month they said it was child support when you look at my checkstub, it shows hourly pay of $8.76 an hour.  Did I forget to mention I’m commission.  I ran $24,598.25. We make 23% of our commissioned route after raising a few eyebrows over getting a $170 check I conveniently got fired on February 1, 2007. If you want to be treated with respect, do not go to work with this company.  You’ll have to wear a leash and have no home life. They definitely do not give a @@###*% about their employees. This company is a major con artist. Albert Canto definitely needs to grab ahold again. If you want good pest control, please don’t give them a chance.  They will suck you dry if you let them. They will charge for the service when they didn’t do a damn thing!

Tennessee - 1/07. I thought I would submit some of the wrongs I have seen since I have been at Terminix. I have seen my branch operate without a license even though they knew they needed one.  I am a tech, and I still work here. I have been here for over 14 years, so I have seen all types of things.  I was forced to get the licenses for my branch since the managers were not qualified to take the test or  they could not pass it.  I have seen them transport fumigants without cdl's (Vikane).  I never seem to get paid for my honest sales yet they still get on the books and given to other techs who won't even show up to do service. My paycheck is ALWAYS wrong; but when I point it out, I am told I am a penny pincher and to shut up. My check is always short $300-400 a month. They love to hire new people and just put them in a truck without any real training. When you try to say something, you are termed a troublemaker, etc. I have been threatened to be fired so many times your mind just gets used to it. My managers only last a few months till they are fired or quit. I just try nowadays to do my route the best I can and don't say anything.  It is just easier to do that.  I don't know how I have made it all these years, but I know I can never retire from here. Everyone has a breaking  point, I just have not reached mine yet.