Connecticut - 7/00. Terminix has been treating residence for approximately ten years.  The alcove underwent extensive restoration about five years ago due to termite damage.  The stringer on the cellar stairs needed replacing as well.  The wooden bench around the exterior walls in the basement show substantial damage, and some of the wood cabinets above these benches show damage.

Incident #1: Back in the spring of 98, Terminix was called in to inspect for termites due to a soft spot in the flooring between the kitchen and the alcove and due to the presence of dead “swarmers” in the basement. I accompanied the inspector, and damaged floorboards were noticed from the basement near the alcove, adjacent to where floorboards had previously been replaced due to termite damage.  An additional spraying of this area was performed despite a previous treatment.

Incident #2: On or about 2/20/00, Terminix (Chris) arrived to perform a monthly service around the perimeter exterior and interior. I was unable to answer the doorbell due to being tied up on the phone with my aunt’s doctors.  From the second floor window, I observed that Chris returned to his truck after a minute or so and left. When I went downstairs, I found a bill for the monthly service had been left in the door. I also noticed that there were footprints in the snow leading from the truck and back to the truck with no prints anywhere else near the perimeter of the house.  I called the local office to inquire as to why no service was performed, and the girl told me that Chris must plan on returning because he was one of the supervisors and wouldn’t do anything underhanded like this. I then asked her that if he was planning to return, then why did he leave a bill behind which claimed to have performed the monthly service.  She wanted to know why I hadn’t answered the doorbell instead. Having gotten no satisfaction, I proceeded to call the national 800 number.  I was assured that they would contact the manager of the local office and that he would be contacting me soon.  What I received a few days later was an answering machine message from Chris, attempting to smooth the matter over. At this point, the matter was not pursued any further.

Incident #3: In early May, I contacted Terminix by phone and spoke to Chris.  I scheduled an inspection for termites for the following Tuesday at 4:45. No one showed up.  After an hour, I phoned to see if they were still coming. He seemed to have no recollection of the previous conversation a few days earlier. There was no record of the appointment.  After refreshing his memory, the conversation came back to him. No apology was forthcoming.  Within a day or so, I called and spoke to Glen, the office manager.  I told him I wanted someone other than Chris to get out here and inspect.  Glen told me that he personally would be here on Thursday.  Instead, Dan showed up. He looked at the kitchen/alcove floor from above and below.  He claimed that the soft spot was probably due to damage done several years ago that was not repaired when the other adjacent floor damage was repaired.  He noticed no live termites.  There were, however, hundreds of dead swarmers on the nearby floor of the basement which had been left there for several weeks for future observation.  He called in to Chris and was advised that no additional treatment would be required.  The inspection lasted approximately 10-15 minutes.

Several days passed before I again contacted Glen. I wanted to get some results in regard to the soft floor.  On 5/22/00, he arrived and performed a detailed inspection lasting about an hour. He observed extensive damages previously mentioned as well as past evidence of where mud tunnels had been located throughout the basement.  He explained that swarmers don’t eat wood but are fed by others in the colony that do eat wood.  I said that since swarmers are present, then the others must have been around despite the last treatment.  I also had assumed that my aunt was under contract for monthly termite spraying and was informed that the termite treatment was a one shot deal.  Her regular service was for carpenter ants. I spotted a mud tunnel on a cabinet. The door fell off in Glen’s hands upon opening and hundreds of tiny live termites were busy at work by the mud tunnel.  Glen recommended that the wood structure in the basement would be better off removed and discarded. He also said that within the next two days, he would put info in the mailbox explaining a treatment that he recommended.  Stations would be planted at 10’ intervals around the perimeter of the house (Sentricon). He also wanted to perform an inside treatment but was not sure if it would interfere with the exterior treatment.  He stated he would have answers in a day or so and would contact me about that as well. He also felt that these measures should be performed sooner than later. He said he didn’t want to wait until next week.

Nevertheless, it took ten days for Glen to put the info in my mailbox, but only after I had to call him and remind him to do so. At this time, he once again expressed a sense of urgency on my part to get my aunt to review and sign the papers. He also wrote that the service would not be performed unless my aunt agreed to pay for another year of service (due in June).  A follow-up call by me went unreturned later that week.  A subsequent follow-up call revealed that Glen would be out of the office for the entire week and would not return until June 12. I placed a call that week and he arranged to pick up the signed papers and a check for all money due from my mailbox on the 19th and would call the next day to schedule treatment. He never showed.

On June 22, I called the executive service number again. I talked to “Vanessa” and rehashed the entire story to her. She stated that she would contact the regional office and that I would hear from someone in a day or two. No deal. I called again a week later on the 28th and spoke with “Virginia.”  She contacted the local office service manager, Lynette, and scheduled an inspection. I told her that I already had two inspections and that work was to be done but never scheduled.  That was why I was calling. Duh. Also, to her knowledge, the regional office was never contacted.

I then called “Lynette” at the local office and explained to her what the story was. She scheduled a treatment for Friday between 9 and 10. She would need the original “inspection graph” (which had been lying in my mailbox for over a week) in order to finalize the treatment arrangements. I told her I would leave it in plain view in the mail box.  They never showed up. Wow. Big surprise.  I called again the next day, and Lynette said she’d send someone right over to pick it up, which they did.

Friday, June 30, Terminix was to be here between 9 and 10. They did not show up nor did they call.  I called at 10:45 and Lynette gave the phone to Chris (?) and he informed me that it was taking a bit longer to get the truck rolling this morning and that they would be here between 11 and 11:30 as I was their first stop. They never came. At 6:00, I received a call to reschedule on the answering machine.

On the following Wednesday, 7/5/00, I called Lynette and arranged for them to be here after 5:00 the next day.  They never showed up and never called.

Update:  After contacting the corporate office of Terminix, I was able to get the local level to show up.  He then proceeded to perform what appeared to be a somewhat half-assed treatment in two selected spots in the basement.  I probably would’ve done better with a can of Raid!

Illinois - 7/00. I, too, am a victim of Terminix. Paid up front over a thousand dollars in February; and up until now, I have had no satisfaction.  In February, they put in two traps in my bathroom and said they would be back to put the traps in the ground when it thawed. They never came. We called and complained for about two weeks. Finally, they sent someone out to put the bait in the outside traps, but the outside traps had never been put in.  We have complained to the company but to no avail. What else could we possibly do to get them to uphold their contract? My bathroom is being eaten to shreds.

California - 7/00. Terminix took over Miracle in Long Beach, CA.  They then sent a notice that the insurance on our termite work was due. My husband sent in a payment and then found out that he still had over a year on our guarantee left.  We called Terminix to ask for our payment back. We have been hearing that our check is in the mail continuously since May 1.  I fear we will have to write the insurance commissioner that they are working some kind of scam to get our check back.  We understand they send out material to renew your policy even if they have not done termite work for you.

Update:  Terminix finally sent a check.  I had to call several more times and write the president. Lots of apologies in letters.

New Jersey - 6/00. The following is a “cc” submitted to this web site of a letter sent to Albert Cantu, president of Terminix:

I am writing this letter of Complaint in hopes that your service will improve in the future for other consumers. We had our first service for outside spraying of house for pests on July 30, 1999; and on the same day, I paid a full year’s contract for a guarantee and follow-up sprayings. The amount paid was $384 (10% discount for one year in advance). There was one follow-up spraying on 10/5/99. On June 12, 2000, I called again for another spraying for these pests and was told by Darlene that the technician will call me back. I again called on June 16 and was told someone will call me back. I called again on June 19 and told that her manager will get back to me. I called on June 21; and Yvette said our account was closed.  I informed her that it couldn’t be as I was paid in advance for a full year.  She re-checked account and advised I was correct in that the contract ends July 30, 2000.  She set up a date for Friday, June 23, between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.  I waited until 1:30 p.m. to call and was told that the technician would call me back. He, Joe, called back an hour later and said our house spraying wasn’t on his Friday schedule and he would come on Monday, June 26, and promised to be here before 11:00 a.m. Again, no one showed up or called me. I then called your Clifton office at 1:00 p.m. and was told by someone named Shema that we again weren’t scheduled for service. She stated that she would have someone call me back.  Of course, there were and have been no return calls from the Clifton, NJ office.

The only reason I went with Terminix is that I thought they had a good reputation. Apparently, not true.  The service at Terminix is “Poor,” frustrating, and definitely a consumer rip off. Again, the consumer is cheated.  Thank you.

Hawaii - 6/00. We scheduled with Terminix to have our house fumigated for termites by tenting prior to going on vacation.  They set the date, and we were told they would be at our house at 7:00 a.m. In preparation for the tenting, we removed all our food, medicines, etc., and our house cat and goldfish in the outdoor pond.  We made arrangements to stay at a condo and had set-up for someone to clean after the tent came down. My husband was at the house that morning (Thursday) making the preparations. No one came. He finally had to leave at 9:30 a.m. for another appointment. At 11:00, we found out that Terminix could not come that day because they had a tent blow off somewhere else.  This was a terrible inconvenience for us, but if they could reschedule for the next day, Friday, we would still be in town and could make appropriate arrangements. They called back to say the soonest they could do it was Monday.  I told them it was out of the question as we would be on vacation and no one would be on the premises to remove the indoor animal and fish.  I finally agreed to having them come after we came back from vacation.  I told them we would be home on Wednesday, so we could schedule it for Thursday morning.  That would give us time to secure the animals.

We came home to find that they came to our house when we weren’t there, tented on Wednesday instead of Thursday, and killed our house cat and all the Koi in the pond.

I can’t believe that a business can be so irresponsible especially when they are dealing with chemicals that are so deadly.  While talking to people in town, we found out the exact same thing happened a short time prior with Terminix again. Their house was tented a day early while they were out of town and their house cat was killed as well. They have no consideration for the client. There are a lot of preparations that need to be made, as well as vacating your house while they fumigate.  I want this disregard for the client’s time and safety to stop. I have written a complaint to the consumer protection agency so the regulatory agency for pest control will investigate. I urge all of you that have experienced similar problems to do the same.