Pennsylvania - 11/00.  I was surprised when I saw the web site for the Terminix Alert, but not shocked. I have been a victimized customer of Terminix since August 2000. I had a problem with mice in my home, and I purchased several glue traps to attempt to catch them.  I became successful catching one.  The day I caught that mouse, I called Terminix, assuming I had more mice that needed to be caught. Terminix was prompt, and the serviceman seemed to be very understanding. I also expressed to him that my parents had a problem with Terminix, and I didn’t want a repeat of their situation. I asked that the technician not come to my house without calling first.  He said that it was no problem, that it could be arranged. I also expressed this concern to the technician who came out about one hour after I signed the contract. He in return also told me no problem.  The technician sprayed the outside and inside of my residence. He also laid six glue boards in what he called strategic locations in my basement. (I noticed droppings on my first and second floor only.) They have never caught a mouse, and I have never had a problem with mice since I caught the one. I also had a bee problem under my side porch; and the first time, the technician sprayed what I thought was an adequate amount.  Each additional monthly visit was done without me being notified. After one particular visit, I attempted to go out on my side porch and was unable to because of the swarm of bees. I called Terminix, and they told me that it takes a few months for the spray to be effective and in the meantime they would send the technician back out. He did come back out and respray. I called Terminix again because I was told that snap traps would be placed under my stove and a metal trap box in the basement.  This never took place.  I have called and complained several times that I feel as though Terminix took advantage of me. I don’t feel satisfied at all, and I requested to terminate my contract.  I have paid for the service calls that took place prior to me asking to terminate, but I was told by a manager that I signed a yearly contract and I’m obligated to fulfill it.  In return, I told him I do not want any of his employees on my property again.  Two days ago, I had another bill in my front door.  Reading the back of my contract, it has no mention of satisfaction guaranteed.

Texas - 11/00.  We have been using Terminix for almost four years.  When we purchased our home (our first), it had been disclosed that at one time there were termites but the problem was taken care of. We moved in in February 1996; and in March, we found swarmers and termites in both bathrooms.  Terminix came out and treated the house for about $1,600!!  We were also told that once we had them, we would probably never get rid of them.  The damage was not real bad, only along the baseboards, which I have found is the wood they love to eat.  I was afraid to have it repaired in fear they would return in the same place.  They did. The next spring, they were back in the same place.  I called Terminix to schedule my yearly renewal inspection and told them we found termites again.  The inspector came out two weeks later. He looked like he just graduated high school.  He proceeded to open my cabinets, shine the flashlight, and say, “There doesn’t seem to be any termites.” He did spray the bathrooms anyway. He never looked anywhere else inside or outside the house.

March of ‘98, we had swarmers but could never find where they were coming from.  Called Terminix to do the yearly inspection; open the cabinets, shine a light, and say, “No termites.”  (We pay $100 each year for this inspection.) March of ‘99, had swarmers again.  They are now next to the fireplace, and the damage is severe. We could have pushed through the wall if we wanted to. We pulled the carpet up and noticed there was water coming in at the bottom of the wall. Called Terminix, they sent out the freshly-graduated high-school student. He opened the cabinets, shined his light, and said, “I don’t see any termites.” I told him that was because that is not where they are.  I showed him the wall and took him outside where we had removed the siding so he could see the termite tracks in the wood.  He said it was water damage.  I told him I wanted my entire house treated again, and he said he could not schedule a treatment without seeing live termites. He made notes about the damage to my wall and said he would turn the report into his supervisor and that he would contact me.  It is now almost December of 2000, and I have never heard from them.  It cost us $800 to have our wall repaired. Spring of 2000, I did see swarmers again but could not find where they were coming from. I have contacted an attorney and will be meeting with him about our rights.

Kansas - 11/00.  My complaint is about their under-handed, shoddy business practices.  We had been with them for many years and did not have any problems. This year has been a nightmare!  Our last service with them was in July 2000. We had a standing appointment of 8:30 a.m. the second Monday of every month.  On the August date, no one showed up! Three weeks later, a message was left on our answering machine that someone would be out the next day for service.  We were not asked if this was acceptable or if anyone would be home. We were not here!  In September, the scheduled day came and no one showed up.

On October 13th, an employee with Terminix came to service our home. I was not notified beforehand or asked if this would be acceptable. I was unable to answer the door because I wasn’t dressed.  I got dressed as fast as I could and watched the employee from a peephole in my door.  He sprayed in front of our garage, about 4 feet across, and sprayed around our front porch, about 4’ x 4’. He was here less than five minutes.  He put a bill in our front door and left. On the bill, he put his time down as being here 15 minutes and that he sprayed the front of the garage and exterior areas.  He could not spray the outside of our home, because we had our fence gates locked.  His bill said we owed $33.26. I e-mailed Terminix and explained the circumstances. Our reply was a bill in the mail for $34.32. We paid the bill, because we didn’t have any other choice. For a business to send someone out, without consent, is appalling and disgusting.  Terminix proved they are out to cheat customers and make money any way they can, even deceptively. I know our bill is “small potatoes” compared to others, but it is the principle of the matter.  No business should be allowed to perform services, without consent, and especially not bill a customer for it.  We have contacted the police department, and we will press charges if a Terminix employee comes on our property again.  We will send letters to several city newspapers in the state and let people know such disgusting business practices are being done.

Georgia - 11/00.  Posted November 6, 2000, on Terminix’s “Customer Care Board” and republished here with permission of complainant:

On September 13, some Terminix representatives came to my home and treated for termite damage.  At the time, I wanted documentation of the visit, the treatment done, and a representative to come look at the damage. I was told both requests would be taken care of in a couple of days. Well, two months later and four phone calls to the Macon office, I still haven’t seen or heard from Mr. Mark Wilder, the manager who is supposed to contact me. This poor customer service leads me to contact you guys. Maybe you will care for a customer that has been with you for this long.

Update:  The e-mail I sent them did result in swift action.  I got a call that afternoon from the manager and set up an appointment for the next day to look over the situation. He came over and was very apologetic and took all the blame for himself at the earliest possible opportunity. He had his contractor come and fix the problem about two days later.  I would like to know if I’ve been paying a yearly fee for the prevention of termite damage, then how did I get termites?

California - 11/00.  On April 25, 1999, a representative from Terminix came out and told us he had detected termites around our water heater, and the only way to get rid of them was to install termite stations.  He gave us a bid with a cost of $1770 in which we could make monthly payments.  I told him we had Terminix service our house at one time, and we canceled our service with them because they never came out. He guaranteed they will come out once a month and asked me what day. I told him, since we have three big dogs, they would need to come out the first Saturday of each month.  He told me that would not be a problem, wrote it down, and we signed the contract.  On May 1, 1999, the Terminix guys came out and installed the stations. After that date, the guys would come out on a week day and check the stations when we were at work.  We would find the Terminix invoice on our door, and I would have to call and remind them they were supposed to show up on Saturday. I put a lock on the gate after the 6th time of telling them they needed to come here on a Saturday. However, they still kept coming on a weekday and would only check the front stations.  We made numerous calls to them with our complaints, and they acted like they didn't care.  Right before our one-year contract ended, they invoiced us for another year of service. We were told it is like house insurance.  Pay for it (approximately $274) for one year, and we will still check the stations to make sure no activity of termites are present. Well, on March 11, 2000, I went into the kitchen and found several of the termite wings and bugs everywhere on our countertop and inside our bathtub.  I called Terminix, at which time the guy who answered the phone said we did not exist in their computer and he had no idea who we were.  After putting up with his "I can't find you" attitude for about 10 minutes, he said he would send someone over even though he had no idea who we were.  About 1 hour later, a regular "bug" Terminix man showed up and said we definitely had termites and we needed to have the termite guy come over and check out the stations.  I called Terminix again and they said no problem.  As of today, no one from Terminix has shown up or even made the attempt to call us back.  We have made several attempts to get one of their guys out here and have finally given up with frustration. I am confused as to why I put out so much money and also paid for a guaranteed one year "Insurance" and instead, the termites are the ones who will win this battle.  I just hope that when we decide to ever sell our home it is not full of termites.  Or as one of their guarantees, will they back us up as they claim.

Florida - 10/00.  We are in legal proceedings against Terminix at the moment. Our case involves tens of thousands of dollars based on a clear termite inspection report provided by a Terminix employee.  Even though the local office the inspector worked out of had records dating back over ten years that documented damage to the property we purchased, he just didn’t bother to look.  Interestingly, the seller of the home works at a company called Ecoscience which sells a product called Bioblast to Terminix. Also, the house is located in one of the nine areas included in the Florida Attorney General vs. Terminix International case but was not specifically included in that class action by the previous owners even though the house shows the same signs of mistreatment; i.e., improperly drilled slab holes that go nowhere. No surprise to you I'm sure. We are currently awaiting the results of a hearing that will determine if we will have our day in court with Terminix or if we will be forced to arbitration as Terminix always wants.  If anyone would be willing to testify about similar practices, deception, plain old lies, etc., please contact me at pat@csorlando.com

Ohio - 10/00.  My husband and I purchased a house at the end of 1999 (we closed on 12/30/99).  As part of negotiating the purchase, we asked that the owners provide us with a “clean" termite inspection for the property before the closing.  They had a contract with Terminix so they called them out to the house to have it inspected.  As with the author of this web site, we really don't have any definite proof that they ever looked at the property.  Anyway, we were given a clean bill of health; so we went through with the purchase.  The previous owners disclosed only one sentence regarding termites or termite damage on the Property Disclosure Statement: "Property has been fully treated inside and out - annual ongoing contract with Terminix, transferable." To us this simply meant that at some point in the past, (the house is almost 30 years old), the home had had termites, but the home had been treated and the termites had been eradicated.  WRONG!

We moved in on January 7, 2000, and all was well for the first few months. In April, I received the notice from Terminix that the annual contract renewal was due. I called the local office and basically asked them to explain to me what the contract entailed and what exactly I got for my $116. (My husband and I had never seen a termite before in our lives). The nice lady explained to me the terms of the contract and took my information to transfer the contract into our names as the new owners.  She also went on to explain to me that it was a good idea for us to sign up because their records indicated $1600 worth of repairs had been done to the property in 1999.  At learning this tidbit of info, I was concerned, but not alarmed.  Later in April, I was vacuuming (this seems to be the discovery method of choice) when I lightly bumped into a wall in my dining room. A piece of the drywall facing fell off and inside the wall there were all these little creepy-crawly insects that looked like maggots. At this point, I became alarmed. I have a sister who lives in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, who had had problems with Terminix, so I called her and another local exterminator. The local guy encouraged me to contact the State of Ohio Department of Agriculture for assistance. I contacted the Dept of Agriculture, and they sent someone to my house.  The state inspector said that "Terminix’s inspection was misleading at best." When questioned by the state, Terminix said that the woman who had done our inspection "was no longer employed with them." How convenient!  Anyway, we threatened them; and the state flexed a bit of muscle. They became very cooperative. They came back out and treated our house in July.  I waited for about 2 months before I called them back to fix the damage because I wanted to make sure the termites were gone.  They didn't seem to think it was necessary to come back out and re-inspect before they repaired the damage, and I thought that was a bit odd.  Well, two days ago, the state guy came back out and brought his boss; and guess what -- we still have very active termites!  My contractor was out today ripping half the drywall out of my house to assess the damage. I'm at work and haven't made it home yet, but he told me over the phone that "it's pretty bad."  We just found an attorney that we like, and we plan to pursue legal action against the previous owner because they flat out lied on the Property Disclosure. We have the forms, signatures and dates, that prove it.  But no matter how this mess turns out, I would give anything to have my previous house back. This has been an emotional, stressful and expensive experience. Terminix has been HORRIBLE to deal with. They don't return our calls; every time we do talk to someone, they don't follow through and do what they say they are going to. My advice to anyone STAY AWAY FROM TERMINIX! They are totally incompetent. I have passed this sentiment on to as many people as I possibly can. It's the least I can do.

Update (5/01): Terminix did repair our house (which is a WHOLE OTHER SAGA in and of itself!) We figure they spent about $8,000 on us between repairs to our house and retreatments. The kicker?  Our initial annual premium to transfer the contract into our name from the previous owner was $116.  This year it was $290.  Go figure!  I’m not the least bit surprised.  I called my local guy to question this huge jump in my premium and was told, “I’ll check into it and get back to you.”  That was weeks ago. I’m not holding my breath on ever seeing some of my money returned.

Update (6/01): We’ve been doing a lot of remodeling to our home, and we’ve had some electric work done recently.  The electricians pointed out to us that our seal plate in one area appeared to be damaged.  The whole thing along the back wall of the garage is totally eaten. It’s so bad that some of our floor joists in the basement are visibly sagging.  I’m tired of living in constant fear of what’s going to happen next.