Florida - 5/99. I have also had a few rounds with the Terminix in Largo, Florida.  Mine seem small compared to many of those I have read. After trying several times to get Terminix to tent my house after finding live activity, I should have realized it was not a good sign!  One of my biggest complaints after they took the tent off (before opening the windows), the workers left a bedroom sliding glass door unlocked. Upon finding this out, I called and let them know how much a lawsuit would be if a kid opened it and died in my house from the gas. They said they would be right out and take care of it. I ended up calling back three times to get them out to lock up and got no response.  I have tried to talk to customer service people about it, and they don’t call.  I am still finding those metal clips used to put the tent on the house (usually with my mower). And the saps still keep sending me ads in the mail wanting me back as a customer. I really laid it onto the poor woman that called trying to solicit Terminix services. “NO BUGS...NO HASSLES” Plan on a lot of hassles if you choose Terminix. I did and am sorry I did not want to use the “little guy.” I wanted a name behind the service.

Florida - 5/99. We would like to state a consumer alert to anyone who thinks they have a legal and binding contract with Terminix BEWARE. We have a contract they refuse to honor and have been on our premises this week conducting themselves very unprofessionally.  We were harassed, even detrimental to our health.  They admitted to having told us they would honor our contract; however, now they will not, even using profanity.  Too lengthy to include all info, but we have all legal documentation to back up our claim.  We would appreciate any information you could furnish us with to further pursue our case.  We are not the only ones in this area with the same problem.  We even know they treated us once with pesticide rather than the termite treatment but stated it was a termite treatment. After telling this to a neighbor, we confronted them, and they re-treated. Thanks for the use of your site for help.

Maryland - 5/99. Am dealing with my own difficulty with Terminix. After carrying yearly termite service plan for about 10 years, “swarmers” appeared; and there was damage behind my walls.  Of course, they are not liable for any damage -- only to “retreat” the affected areas.  I am in the process now of having the damage repaired--costly. What was the use of the yearly inspections when nothing was detected; the damage most certainly occurred within the last 10 years.  But I am powerless. Thanks for the opportunity to vent.

Delaware - 5/99. I am so disappointed in Terminix, I don’t know what to do. I don’t have any major pest problems, just a bug phobia; but I cannot seem to get them to come to my house without chasing them down. Of course, as luck would have it, I paid for a full year of service. I hope to God I can get my money back. I am calling to cancel my service today.

Pennsylvania - 4/99. I took out a contract to have pest control done at our house.  We had an ant problem. The man that came to our house couldn’t do enough to help us.  He promised us the world. Remember, we had ant problems. He showed us that we also had termites in a flower bed that is 50’ from our house.  He then proceeded to tell us how he could get rid of them.  He wanted to drill holes in our basement floor and inject a chemical into the holes. This would have cost $1,500 to $1,800 to complete the job.  We told him we would worry about the termites later on; we wanted to get rid of the ants.  We took a one-year contract to have the house sprayed inside and outside. They said they would be back about every 45 days.  Two days later, they showed up to spray, did the job, and left. One week later, we had the ants back, so we called Terminix to have a repeat. It took them three weeks or more and a couple of phone calls to get them out.  To make a long story a little shorter, our one-year contract is now up; and we have had them out four times. They owe us four or more sprayings.  We have called many times to the office, wrote e-mail to them and get a lot of promises, but never show up.  They make appointments to come out; but the day they are to be here, no one shows. They don’t even have the courtesy to call, to tell us why they didn’t come.  I should have known we would have had problems as we had the lawn service they provide.  Oh, yes, they are Chem-Lawn also.

California - 4/99. We signed a contract in 1996 for microwave termite treatments with a company in California named California West Exterminators. We had these ineffective treatments and paid a large amount of money. They went out of business and were supposedly purchased by Cal-Western Termite and Pest Control, Inc. We were informed by Cal-Western via letter, and in short, were offered a chance to “choose us to provide your invaluable Control Service protection.” They called several times, and I finally agreed to have them come out for what they offered by phone as a free inspection.  When the inspector arrived and started his inspection, we then found out the service would not be the same as what was with the previous company, and it would be a new contract, not a renewal or continuance as stated in their letter, and now the inspection was not “free.”  We were told we now had to sign a form after he found termites in the attic.  We decided not to sign the form and asked him to leave since we were misled.  We were sent a bill for $190. I called and spoke to Mr. John Lemm, the company’s president.  He was rude and belligerent and accused us of stealing the signed “contract” from his inspector. After he was supposedly placing a lien on our home, I wrote to the company and called and wrote several letters to the infamous State Structural Pest Control Board. Ms. Gayle Yamada was most rude and evasive.

To make a long story much too short, Mr. John Lemm, the president of Cal-Western Termite, whom I was complaining about as to his unethical business practice, was at the time the president of the Structural Pest Control Board! I had also learned that California West, who originally did these so-called microwave treatments and went out of business, was also linked to Cal-Western. Whoever ran California West used to work with or for Mr. John Lemm of Cal-Western who now wanted to “continue” our contract. Now guess who supposedly bought Cal-Western Termite. TERMINIX!  We are getting statements from Terminix to pay on our “contract.” We have talked to Terminix several times, sent statements back to them, asked to see this supposed contract we are to have. We get the same response that they will take care of this; yet, we continually are getting harassed by calls and statements.

The problem is that the State Structural Pest Control Board, which is promoted to be a service to the public, provides a major disservice. There needs to be a complete investigation into the pest control industry to rid the many fraudulent practices within the pest control business.

Nebraska - 4/99. My husband and I have had Terminix so-called protection for five years, and the previous owners purchased a couple of years before us. Terminix has come to our home repeatedly to try to stop the infestation. During one visit, they pointed out an area in the basement that was never treated.  Their explanation was the previous owners did not want the back of the cabinets in the basement kitchen drilled.  They never informed us of this before and also signed a form stating they had properly treated the entire perimeter with termiticide prior to the real estate transfer.  We have continual infestation.  They finally told us that they could not resolve the problem until we “tore down our deck that was attached to our home” and recommended we reinstate our termite protection plan at that time.  We pondered over the idea for a couple of months; and as soon as the weather permitted, we removed the deck.  After removing our deck, we contacted them to inform them we removed the deck and were prepared to reinstate the protection. They informed us they would not reinstate the plan and will not return to our property for treatment unless we pay for a full treatment, which originally cost $1300.  The termite infestation is moving throughout our home. We have contacted another pest control company because obviously we do not want to work with Terminix ever again. The state entomologist has made an appointment to visit our home in efforts to detect any negligence during initial or subsequent applications.

I have been advised by several sources that I may have legal grounds to recover due to Terminix’ professional negligence. I do not know where to begin.  Your information has provided some assistance.  This company is a nightmare.  I strongly suggest any consumer that needs termite treatment to do their homework and also AVOID using TERMINIX.  They are not customer service oriented, nor are they professional. They just watch your home be destroyed and RIP you off.

Massachusetts - 4/99. I am basically experiencing the same nightmare you did, but not with Terminix.  I hired a local company for a pre-purchase pest inspection last November before purchasing my home.  The inspection indicated that if I removed the noted wood-to-earth contacts that I would prevent infestations. Now only three months later, I’ve had termites swarming in three separate locations.  I called a pest inspection company called Enviro Tech who basically told me that active infestation is present and has been all along... basically, that I got hosed on my pre-purchase inspection. Upon reading the liability (or lack of it) clause in the inspection report, I’ve come to realize that I probably don’t have any recourse.  However, I did call Terminix for a second opinion and decided to search the web regarding pest inspection lawsuits. Boy, am I glad to have found your web site! You may have saved me from making my situation even worse!!! Thanks for posting the information.  I will definitely not ever use Terminix and will thoroughly research whatever company I decide to use to solve my termite problem.

4/99 - Update. As a footnote, I stated that I used a different company than you did for my pre-purchase inspection -- actually I just found out that Ameritech, the company I used, is owned by ServiceMaster, who of course owns Terminix....