California - 12/01.  I have been interested but not surprised to see the enormous amount of complaints against this company from all over the country. For over a year, these people have proven over and over that they are incompetent in dealing with my problems with termites.  They have time after time “blown smoke” with their patronizing attitudes regarding their failures to show up and do what they have promised, only to fail to follow through on their new promises!

If that wasn’t enough, after several months of this type of treatment, they sent a man out who drilled a hole through our gas line. Accidents happen!  True to form, however, the crew that was hired to repair the line created a horrendous mess in our home. Terminix offered a motel room and dinner on them and then failed to make the arrangements with the motel and restaurant!  The next day, Terminix agreed to hire a housecleaning company to clean up our mess.  No one showed!  We cleaned it ourselves!  They say they will pay us the “going rate.” We’ll see! In the middle of my misery, I read their web site messages regarding customer service and saw that the problems appear to be nationwide! This company is in need of some major changes.

Tennessee - 12/01.  I’m writing this for my mother and father.  When they purchased their house, a termite contract was purchased because they found termites.  The contract was through Terminix.  They have had Terminix out numerous times, and it’s a battle every time. They are not fixing the problem. The wall was cut out in the garage at one time.  The kitchen wall has also been redone because of termites. Just recently, they had to have a floor pulled up and replaced because they were eating it up. My parents have asked that they put the stakes in the yard, but Terminix said they would not pay for this. Terminix offered to give them their money back they had paid on the contract that year.  I guess they are willing to take someone’s money; but if there are problems, you’re on your own.

Nebraska - 12/01.  When I bought my house about 12 years ago, we had a small, local company handle our termite treatment; and they charged about $42 a year for the renewal plan.  Terminix bought them; and the rates have gone up each year, until they are now $93.50 per year. Two years ago, I never received an inspection; so last year, I called and complained.  That didn’t seem to help, since I didn’t receive one last year either.

Florida - 11/01.  My bad experiences with Terminix are related to both routine pest control and a fumigation with subsequent termite warranty.

First, the pest control. When I signed an annual contract, it was for a monthly service; and on the first visit, the tech drilled holes in the base of each bathroom vanity (four each) and in the base of the kitchen sink cabinet into which to spray an insecticide. He then serviced the interior and exterior of the house. After his first visit, I noticed two things -- he did not come around monthly, and he never again came into the house unless I asked him to do so. I had to wonder, if he did not plan on servicing the inside of the house again, why did he drill the holes in the base of my cabinets?  Upon questioning, he explained the monthly service had been changed to quarterly service (for the same price); and he would come in and spray insecticide into the holes he had drilled when I requested. Hmmmmm.  The tech is a nice enough individual, seems knowledgeable, and takes care of my requests if I am home; however, I get the distinct impression that I am being taken advantage of.  I am going to look elsewhere for my pest control service.

The termite situation is more blatant. Terminix, or rather their contractor, tented my house for drywood termites.  When the tent was installed, I immediately called Terminix and advised them it had so many large holes in it I could not see how it would hold any gas. Terminix apparently called an official of the fumigation contractor.  The official came to the house; put a meter on a tube that ran into the house; and pronounced enough gas was in the house, maybe even a little more than necessary. The next morning, he came back, set his equipment up again, and announced the gas level was a little low; but because it was higher than necessary the day before, everything would be okay.  Not exactly an independent assessment, but I figured he was the expert; and, after all, Terminix stood behind his work.  Naturally, I bought the termite warranty contract; and sure enough as time passed, Terminix would call and make an appointment for periodic follow-up inspections.  I was feeling pretty good about the situation.

However, recently on one of their inspections, my wife was advised (and shown) termite droppings on a window sill and on the carpet about 16 months after the fumigation. The tech advised they were most likely old pellets being pushed out by ants. When I arrived home, I thought this was possible -- having read up on termites, ants, etc. However, I wondered where the ants were pushing the pellets from.  I got my ladder out - our ceilings are 17 foot high - climbed up, and found new exit or kick holes near the ceiling. These new holes are above the area where holes were initially found prior to tenting.  The original holes were covered and painted.  Additionally, just a few weeks later, in another area where termite signs were found prior to tenting, new termite signs began appearing again. I have concluded, after substantial research, that the fumigation did not take care of the problem.  The local branch manager denies there is a problem and, thusfar, refuses to make any additional effort to confirm an infestation. Wait for them to swarm is his response.  Of course, in the process, they are eating my house.  At this point, I have to wonder what will be done if we see a swarm. To me, the writing is on the wall. They are looking for a way of doing nothing but routine inspections.

I have written two letters to the branch manager in an effort to document what is happening. He acknowledges reading the first letter and advises he has received, but not read, the second letter.  His attitude is changing to being a not-so-nice individual.  Today, I told him I talked to the State inspector; and he immediately said he had to hang up but would call me back in half an hour. No return call.

New Jersey - 11/01.  Had the misfortune to sign with Terminix for one year and am now wondering if it is for life. After their first series of non-returned calls, I hunted them up on the Internet and found you guys -- BRAVE HEARTS you are! Their cute, meaningless clause for “Term” in the contract says “Term - This is a one-year agreement automatically renewed on a service to service basis.” Am I stuck with them forever at the price they choose? (Shiver)

Virginia - 11/01.  I am very upset with Terminix.  We complied with the requirements to terminate our agreement, and they would not honor it.  They served us with suit papers for the “delinquent” policy..

Florida - 11/01.  I have a friend Terminix talked into those termite traps; and when they found termites, charged her a fortune to get rid of them.  She had to take out a second mortgage on the home to pay Terminix after they turned her into collections. This 76 year old widow still has termites, because the Terminix warranty doesn’t cover repairs if conducive conditions (wet damp areas close to the home) were found.

New Jersey - 11/01.  I bought a house in New Jersey two years ago. I used Terminix for the termite inspection.  Terminix and my home inspector checked the crawl space at the same time.  They found a carpenter ant colony on the ground in the crawl space.  It had a couple thousand ants in the nest. The inspector told me Terminix broke the nest and let the carpenter ants scatter away before they treated the nest.  Since then, I keep finding sawdust material and carpenter ants in different spots in the crawl space.

? - 10/01.  I paid in full in advance for one year to have Terminix service to two different homes. Near the end of my year, I received numerous offers from them to renew my service at both homes. I was uninterested, being displeased with their service, and ignored them. Yet at both homes, I received service after my year was up, and now they expect me to pay for service which I did not request. They say it was in the contract that I signed that the service would automatically renew.  This certainly was NOT indicated to me when I agreed to pay for one year of service at either house with two different salesmen. This can’t be an oversight, can it?  In my opinion, it must be their policy to trick people like this.  I think this was underhanded dealing. I think it was obvious I did not wish to continue the service, since I did not renew my contract. Now, they have a bill collection agency involved trying to force me to pay for service that I did not request or want. I plan to do a lot of FREE ADVERTISING for this company and will tell all of my acquaintances just how this company has treated me.

Illinois - 10/01.  We’ve had termites since 1994.  We started with Economy Pest Control; and when they went out of business, Terminix took over our contract. We’ve had so many re-treats it is not even funny.  One time, my 10-year-old son even found live activity for the Terminix employee who was giving the house her stamp of approval as we spoke.  All they ever wanted to do was re-treat the area with live activity.  We asked them if that just chased the termites to another area. They basically had no answer.  Toward the end of our dealings with them, they tried to clam we should have had some Sentricon baiting system put in; and since we didn’t, they couldn’t help it.  No one had ever even mentioned this to us so how could we have done this?  Thank goodness we didn’t anyway, because it would have just been more money wasted with Terminix.  Anyway, we had MAJOR damages requiring us to remove some siding, a sill, several floor joists, two windows. All of this cost us thousands of dollars.  We have since used the services of a local pest control company. They tell us that our house was never properly treated, and they started from square one.  In 1994, one man came for half a day to treat our house. Last month, two men from our new pest control company spent two days doing the job right.  They say they are willing to stand behind us if we proceed with our case.  Our lawyer tells us any settlement could quickly be eaten up in attorney fees.  I have contacted the Better Business Bureau looking for help.

Louisiana - 10/01.  I entered into an agreement with Terminix for a Termite Protection Plan.  The contract called for monthly inspections throughout the term (12 months).  After a couple of months with no inspections made, I called and spoke with the office.  I was told they had computer problems and did not have me on file for scheduled inspections but would make sure it was corrected and apologized.  They finally came, but not on the date I was told, and performed an inspection -- which I received no information about. Since then, it has been a couple of months and, again, no Terminix. The salesman said they would give me the second year of inspections free for my troubles. I never received anything in writing or any kind of acknowledgement and found out the salesman was no longer with Terminix.  I contacted the office, left messages, and was told I would be contacted but have not been.