River Ridge, Louisiana - 5/04. Terminix screwed me bigtime. I changed different parts of my kitchen floor four times.  They claimed it wasn’t termites when I saw them.  They dropped my contract.  Claimed they sent me four notices.  I can’t believe all four went astray. They wanted $1700 to put me under.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 5/04. My husband and I are undergoing the same nightmares as those mentioned in the site. We have over $50k in termite damage to our home and Terminix has been "treating" the property for the last 10 years.  We have owned the home for only 10 months.  They issued a clear certification and inspected the property on 3 different occasions prior to settlement.  We were just made aware of the Arbitration clause, but now if we didn't transfer the contract, nor did we ever sign anything with us as the new homeowners, would that rule still apply?. Wish us luck!!!

Severn, Maryland - 4/04. Been with Terminix for 4 years and after paying more than $2300 in service I’m now realizing that they really haven’t done anything for me...I still have termites coming out of the walls...when a technician came to my home and looked at the bug...I was told it wasn’t a termite but a flying ant.  They are hard to get ahold of when you need them but gee they sure are easy to pay.

St. Charles, Iowa - 5/04. We hired terminix after a local company let us down. There was a chemical treatment done by the other company that did not work.  Terminix installed the baiting system 5 months ago. We got a letter from Terminix saying no activity was seen during the inspections and that we would be put on 3 month cycles.  One week later while painting we found a live termite run. We reported it right away to the 800 customer service line on May 22nd.  May 25th, today, I still had not heard from them so I called back. No report had been generated.  Someone is suppose to call us back.  I will let them know about your site and let them know I am uneasy depending on them to protect our home.  Any suggestions for me at this point. Thanks for the site.

Mays Landing, New Jersey - 5/04. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who expected a company with a national reputation to be much more professional and competent than Terminix has proven to be.  I paid for the Sentricon termite control system and had to contact the company online in order to have them repair damage they did to my foundation in installing crawlspace vents.  They have proven to be incompetent, duplicitous, arrogant, deceptive and predatory. I had no choice but to warn those in the congregation not to deal with Terminix or any of its subsidiaries.

Spring Hill, Florida - 3/04. I was a Sears Termite & Pest Control customer; and when Terminix bought out Sear's contracts, I stayed with Terminix because I would have to start over again with someone new and it would be costly. Terminix put in the Sentricon bait system. After a couple of months they left a note on my door that termites were detected in certain bait tubes and they would be looking at them monthly.  This was in October, then in December they sent me a letter stating that since no termites were detected in the last 5 months at my house they would only be coming out quarterly! I called the service center and was told the letter was a mistake, that someone did not put in the computer that I was suppose to be monitored monthly.  In January someone finally came to my house. I had also asked that they call my house at least the day before the tech was coming to my house as my mom has the beginnings of Alzheimers and other medical problems and if I'm not there she gets very upset with strange men walking around the outside of the house.  I've had this service for approx 2-3 years, and I have complained many times to the women that answer the phones and to 2 or 3 managers but the techs rarely call before they come.  Yet I've always been assured that they will every time I call!! The last straw was a few months ago. I just happened to be home when a tech came (of course he never called), and I showed him a few of the bait stations that were sticking out of the ground and the holes that were made in the ground but not filled in. He said the stations were put in improperly and he would fix them.  Well a week after he came I noticed two of my bushes (planted 4-5 years ago) were dying and within two weeks they were dead.  I called Terminix and spoke to a manager. He said the products they use are not harmful and my bushes must have died for some other reason! I also complained about having termites since I've had these bait stations and when were they going to start working.  He said he would come out and have a look and get back to me. I never heard from him by phone but he left a note on my door the following week stating that I had no termite activity! I thought it was funny that I've had termite activity for almost 2 years and now suddenly I complain and the following week the termites are gone!  I would not recommend Terminix to anyone. Their customer service is non-existent and I don't think their techs know what they are doing (if they’re doing anything). My contract with them is up for renewal and I called them on 3/5/04 and told them to come get their bait stations as I was not renewing my contract.  I told them to get them by 3/9. The tech called 3/8 and my daughter told him it was ok to come the next day to get them. It's now 3/14 and they still have not come, and yesterday I received another renewal notice from them! As I said, they have no customer service.  I am now going with a company that uses Termidor.  Initially I will have to pay more since I am a new customer, but it will be worth it and my home will be protected from termites with a product that works better than any bait stations. The customer service from what friends have told me from their experiences is good too so it will be worth the money. I wish I had come across your website sooner.  I would never have gone with Terminix.

Orlando, Florida - 2/04. We had a termite bond with Terminex; and when we found termites, some old termite damage also, we still had out of pocket expenses of $1000 that they would not pay. There was water damage which was caused by the termites, and they would not cover it.  After being sold on the baiting system by the salesperson as being the best treatment. They ended up using Termidor after they paid the claim. The Termidor treatment initially is cheaper than Centricon and half the cost for the renewal for the bond.

Altamonte Springs, Florida - 2/04. My landlord has gotten Terminix to service our house in October. They have never come to service the termite traps and have only came out 3 times in the 10 times I've called about our roach problem.  They say I wasn't home but I'm a stay at home mom.  I belive they are a real rip off....

Texas - 2/04. I have had many of the same problems you listed on your web site, including unkept appointments, ineffective treatments, annual contract for monthly inspections that turned out to be quarterly, and being openly treated with contempt by the “service manager.”  He even challenged that with the directions I gave to my house that he wouldn’t be able to find it either, and therefore they would not be responsible for the three quarterly inspections not made.  When I canceled further “home pest” inspections (with five months left on my termite inspections), the termite guys stopped coming.  Of the five different termite inspectors that I have seen over the last 18 months, only one has made an effort to actually inspect all the stations they have placed in my yard, and one guy actually said he didn’t have to look at the stations near our deck because they weren’t responsible for protecting it since it isn’t attached directly to the house. They put stations around it, but they aren’t responsible for monitoring those stations?!? My only hope is to get through the next four months of termite inspections so the contract will have been fulfilled on their end, then I can find someone else to take over. “Hassles” are definitely their area of expertise.

West Virginia - 1/04. How do I get out of my Terminix contract?  I have called them to come back to my house because I was still seeing ants and was told that it was too soon, the treatment did not have time to work. I called again several times and was told someone would contact me, but no one did.  Then just this month, I received a bill for a service that I don’t think they performed since I know they never entered my house.

Tennessee - 12/03.  We got a clearance letter in March 2003 stating no termites.  We found termites swarming throughout the house two weeks later.

California - 12/03. My sister was defrauded by a Terminix employee last week for over $5,000.  We have filed police reports locally, with the attorney general of the United States and the U.S. Secret Service.

Ohio - 12/03.  In April 2003, my mother had a stroke.  She is 82 and suffers from Alzheimer’s, cancer, COPD, and diabetes.  She now resides at the Cape May Retirement Village in Wilmington, Ohio.  As her son, and only other surviving member of our family, my job is to use her cash reserves and sell her home to pay for her care. I secured a buyer for her home in early September 2003 and then had to cancel the contract because upon inspection it was discovered the home is seriously damaged by termites. The damage is so extensive the house is not considered habitable by the County Building Department.  The home’s value went from $95,000 to between $10,000 to $15,000 -- the value of the lot.

What makes this so amazing is that my mother has been under contract with Terminix for 17 years, when she bought the home in 1986.  As her “Power of Attorney,” I paid her most recent yearly payment in July 2003 (just weeks after she moved to Cape May). Terminix has been going round-and-round with me since September 2003.  I have opened up the walls and found unbelievable damage which Terminix says was pre-existing.  The damage was not ever noted in Terminix’s Initial Inspection Report, and they claimed that unless live termites were found, I was out of luck. My contractor and I found live termites. I collected about 50 or so, along with some damp soil and some pieces of wall stud and placed them in a sealed jar.  They are still alive after almost 3 months.  I showed them to the sales manager and district manager for Terminix, and you should have seen the expression on their faces!  I also snapped a 2x6 ceiling rafter in  half with one hand and handed it to the district manager.  Neither said a word.

My attorney informs me that we have a good case, however, it will cost me $10,000 to $15,000 in legal fees (expert witnesses, etc.) and take 2 to 5 years to litigate (as Terminix’s contract only covers one species of termite).  After seeing some o f the attorney’s fees as shown on your web site, I don’t think $15,000 is enough. My mother’s cash reserves are now almost depleted. I have spent more than $12,000 of my own money. I am forced to consider turning her over to Medicaid.  Her largest asset (her home) is useless!

P.S. In Cincinnati, Ohio, WLWT Channel 5 News “Target 5 Investigates” is doing a feature story on my mother’s house.  WKRC Channel 12 News “Troubleshooter,” Howard Ain, is also doing a feature story on my mother’s house on January 7, 2004. Digital Pictures and Streaming video are available.

Hawaii - 12/03.  My house was recently attacked by Formosan termites.  Luckily, I found them while the damage was still only in the hundreds of dollars.  Calling termite companies, four out of five want to sell me Sentricon.  The plan is expensive, particularly considering the never-ending yearly costs.  The fifth company said that Termidor is the way to go, no questions asked (and at half the cost of Sentricon).  The sales rep from one of the Sentricon companies -- the Terminix fellow -- confided in me that they are trying to sway customers away from Termidor and onto Sentricon because then they will be on a contract. He also let slip his company was jacking up the price of Termidor treatments to match Sentricon so people would get on Sentricon and forget about using something they wouldn’t have to come back for for five years.

West Virginia - 12/03). Company claims payments and bills cross in the mail and they can do nothing about it.  I have received calls for payments to pay bills already paid and notices that I will be turned over to a collection agency for bills already paid.  Complaints to local office are like talking to a box of rocks.

California - 12/03.  I signed a one-year service contract with Terminix in April 2003 that was $1560 upfront after we found evidence of termites inside our home. The first technician that inspected didn't find any termite trails.  My husband came home later that day and again checked after I told him the Terminix guy didn't find any trails.  My husband immediately found plenty of trails leading into our home. We tore down all the sheetrock on the wall where my husband found the termite trails and found little damage to the wood. We felt the termites hadn't been present very long.  We were told our home would be inspected every month for the first six months and if no signs of termites then the service would be changed to quarterly.  Four months had gone by after we signed the contract until we realized we had not been contacted by Terminix to schedule an appointment. I called about service and their records showed a service order in their system but no record of coming to our house. We scheduled our first service appointment four months after signing the contract.  When the tech came out, he found termite activity in two stations.  In one station, the bait had been completely eaten. They said they replaced the bait with chemicals. Since then, their service with following up with monthly appointments is the crappiest I have ever experienced. They call the evening before they want to show up and wait until the very last weekend of the month to make the appointment.  They state they have to make the inspection before the end of the month and ask if we can accommodate them.  Once I was contacted by the technician at the end of the month and told him it would be not possible to meet with him that weekend and needed to schedule the appointment for the following weekend which would be the next month.  Appointment was made for the following weekend, so I thought.   The technician showed up any ways the next day early Saturday morning and just caught us before we left for the weekend. Then the day before Thanksgiving we received a call at 4pm from the technician who was outside our house wanting to inspect the stations. He couldn't inspect because the gates were locked and we had two dogs so he wasn't able to get in.  He left the message and asked we call to reschedule.  He said he checked the two in front of the 20 we have around our house and left a service report.  His service report also stated that the gates were locked and noted our 2 dogs and to call for an appointment.

Today, a week later, my husband came home to find a service report on our fence with notes that all 20 stations were inspected.  Please keep in mind that we have two very protective dogs and both locks on our gates to our fence are still locked.  My husband called Terminix this evening to find out about the stations being inspected and the branch manager told him he had records of our bait stations being checked.  We both were leery about the truth to this so we inspected the stations ourselves. Most of the stations had leaf debris over the part that is pulled out showing evidence the stations could not have been checked.  I'm embarrassed to mention that one station had dog waste on it and how could this one have been checked without some evidence of the wet dog remains being moved in some way. We have a bbq over one station and it wasn't moved.  But the point that bugs me the most, if it's true he inspected the stations in our yard, the only way to get in was to the hop the fence and come into our yard with the gates locked.  Couldn't that be considered some type of breaking and entering?  I don't believe anyone would come into our yard with two dogs (a black dobie/lab mix and a scrappy lab mix).  We will contact the manager tomorrow about our findings this evening.  I will keep you posted.

I must say though after reading your website, I'm seeing that their isn't much I can do about this problem other than not renewing my contract and to tell everyone I know about the unprofessional and unethical service we received from Terminix. I appreciate the time and effort you have put into your website.  I too checked with Better Business Bureau about them and found nothing. Now it makes sense why companies are protected. I may call our local TV station and see if they can be of assistance.

Maryland - 11/03.  I discontinued service with Terminix in February 2003 when their treatments had no apparent effect on our insect problem after one year. I received a bill for services rendered in April 2003. Upon contacting the national office, I was reassured that I do not owe money, that it will be taken care of, and I will be contacted if there is a problem.  I have received the bill and two late notices from Terminix; and each time, I have contacted them and receive this same reassurance.  I have now received a letter from a collection agency. If they had said that I owed them the money, I would have paid. Instead, they said it would be taken care of and now my credit history is at risk because of their incompetence/dishonesty.

Virginia - 10/03.  I have been battling Terminix since April 2003. I paid $800 for the initial setup and one-year service.  The problems are the following: 1) They never set up all the bait stations until October 2003; 2) They were not servicing all the stations until October 2003; and 3) They drilled into my concrete driveway to put a bait station and never asked me beforehand if it was okay to drill into my driveway. I have been in contact with them since the installation, and they have been very rude and uncooperative. Today, they just called me and said they would give me one service free for my problems.  I told them that was “unacceptable.”  I also told them that I found a web site outlining other people with similar or worse problems and that I am considering on filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office for the Commonwealth of Virginia.