Newton, Massachusetts - 4/08. On, 3/29, a Terminix technician was called to my apartment for a rodent problem.  He placed two mouse bait stations, one in my living room and one in the cellar, and left 6 glue traps. I was to place them wherever I saw activity. (He wrote 10 glue traps on the paper work.) The technician also filled some holes around the outside foundation with copper wire. He told me it could take a week to 10 days for the bait to take affect, that there was nothing more to do than wait.  On 4/2, I noticed the bait station in the living room was completely empty, the poison bait was reduced to a fine grain, it had been a solid cube before, quite a bit of it was scattered outside the box, on my floor and rug; it was alarming to see.  On the paperwork it states "Do not tamper with rodenticide placement."

I immediately called 800-Teminix and told them the mice were still active, keeping me up at night, and described what the bait box in my living room looked like. They told me not to touch the poison bait, that a technician would be in my area next Tuesday, 4/8. I also mentioned that I was having a problem with moths eating an area of rug in my bedroom and living room.  Moths are covered under the service plan with mice.

Before Terminix sufficiently remedied my mice problem they sent another technician, unscheduled on 4/7, to inspect the house for other possible problems?  After inspecting my cellar, the technician said I had powder post beetle & termite infestation. I asked him how do I know the pin-hole marks, from p.p. beetles and termite markings are not from old activity? He told me that you can't tell for sure but if I don't get this treated it will eat out the wood structures. I told the technician that the house was treated for termites about 10 years ago. He said I needed to get it done or else the damage could be extensive and irreversible.  He then stressed that if I didn't sign up for the treatment within a week's time I would not be able to get their special rate of $2,650, this price is in addition to the $558 for the pest control service.

I showed the termite inspector the bait station in my living area, he was so freaked out by what he saw that he immediately called his office to report it. I heard him say, to the person on the phone, that he had never seen anything like this, and that it didn't look right.  After he got off the phone, he assured me that it was OK and if I wanted I could clean it up, but then added, I should really keep it there to show the rodent technician, who was scheduled to come out the following day, 4/8. I decided not to wait, I cleaned up the mess right then, it had been five days since I first reported it. I asked the inspector if he had come across the bait station in the cellar.  He said he had, but he didn't notice if it was empty.  He said the other technician would take care of it.

When the rodent technician arrived on 4/8 to check the bait box, I told him that I still had a lot of mice activity. I caught only one mouse, in my pantry, with a glue trap.  He refilled the bait station in my living room with 3 poison cubes but did not go into the cellar to check the other bait station. When I asked him about it he said it was OK to leave it for now. (I had not located the bait station in the cellar.)  I then asked him for more copper mesh to fill holes/cracks in the foundation. He reached into his gallon size Glad bag and pulled out a small ball of copper mesh, about the size of a cotton ball, and said that was all he had on him.  I asked if he had more in his car, he did not.  He then suggested I use a silicone form spray to fill in the holes, instead of the copper mesh, claiming it's better because it doesn't decay like the copper mesh.  I asked him for more glue traps, he left me 6.

With regard to the moths, I showed the technician a small area, the size of a quarter, on my living room rug that had been eaten by moths. He treated the area with a chemical spray.  I then showed him my bedroom, where most of the moth activity took place. I told him that I had just taken up an 8X10 Oriental rug because it was being aggressively eaten by moths. He asked where the rug was, I told him I rolled it up with moth balls and placed it in my trunk. I planned to have it professionally cleaned and treated for moths. He did not treat the bedroom area.

On 4/10, I took my Oriental rug to a professional rug cleaning company.  The owner told me that moths are very hard to get rid of. He suggested I look for the source of the moths and get moth traps to be sure they've gone, otherwise he said they will come back in the fall. I went to Home Depot looking for moth traps when it dawned on me that I'm paying Terminix $558 for a service which covers moths treatment. That weekend, 4/12, I washed and painted my bedroom walls and found tiny moths clinging to the walls. I also cleaned out my bedroom closet. I did not find the source of the moths in my closet but I did find mice droppings.

On 4/11, a different technician came to spray for the termites and powder post beetles problem. I asked him if he had seen the mouse bait station in the cellar. He told me he had but that he did not take notice of whether there was bait in it. A few hours after the technician left I noticed on one side of the house he did not replace the items he had removed in order to spray the foundation.  Before leaving I asked him if everything was back in place and he assured me that it was. I placed a call to the Terminix office in Newton to complain. I told the customer service rep that the technician that came to spray for termites/beetles left me with the task of replacing a gas grill, wood table, planters, shovels, broom, barrels, etc. -- all these items had to be put back. I was so annoyed with the service thus far that I listed a number of things Terminix had failed to do:

• Respond in a timely manor to my concern over the spillage of mouse bait poison from the bait station.
• Check bait station in cellar.
• Provide sufficient number of glue traps, indicated 10 on paperwork, left me 4, I asked for more, total 6.
• Place glue traps, leaving them for me to place.
• Provide additional copper mesh, suggested an alternative, "better solution" to using copper mesh.
• Respond to moth problem with an aggressive treatment; moth traps.
• Left me with mess to clean up.

In addition to the above list of complaints two weeks had past since the mouse bait stations and glue traps were set, and I still had nightly mice activity which affected my sleep. The customer service rep was very apologetic. She set up another appointment, 4/17, for rodent service and assured me that a service manager would contact me on Monday, 4/13, since it was late Friday afternoon and the manager was not available.

Monday, 4/13, I waited to hear from Terminix, no one called. Meanwhile, getting ready for work I looked into my tote bag that I had left on the kitchen floor and discovered a hole, about the size of a silver dollar, eaten from a slice of flat-bread that was in a sealed sandwich bag. That night, 4/13, I awoke around 1 AM from the sound of mice attacking the bait station in the living room.  The following morning, Tuesday 4/14, I opened my armoirre, and a tiny moth flew out. I called Terminix, incensed that I was still dealing with this problem and they have not bothered to return my call.  I yelled into the phone that I am being charged thousands of dollars and feel I am being ripped off by what I have received in exchange. I questioned again whether I even have termites and p.p. beetles, all I wanted was to get rid of mice and moths!  This time a man claiming to be the manager got on the phone. I stated my frustration to him with the above list of complaint. He listened in silence as I ranted and then patronized me by saying I had every right to be angry, and that a Terminix technician was scheduled to service me again on 4/17.

Tuesday, 4/15, I decided to search for the mouse bait station in my dirt cellar.  I found the station under an electric meter, an area of the cellar I seldom go.  It was completely empty with a small amount of granular poison scattered outside the container. I also found 2 dead mice, and one still alive but struggling, in another area of the cellar.  I took note of several holes in the slate foundation that needed to be plugged up.  I placed two trays of store-bought mice poison in the cellar.

Thursday, 4/17, the same technician that serviced me on 4/8, arrived.  This time he came prepared. He positioned several moth traps, 5 total, in and around the bedroom & living room area. I asked him why he did not give me moth traps on 4/8, he told me he didn't realize I had clothes moth. However, on the paperwork from 4/8, he checked off, other, under Target Pests, and wrote "clothes moths." I showed him the flat-bread I saved from my tote bag and shredded paper I found in the cellar.   He placed an additional mouse bait station in my kitchen and refilled the empty bait stations in the living room & cellar.  He also added another bait station in the cellar, plus he placed two glue traps in the cellar; and he filled a dozen holes/cracks, with a rubber filler, (instead of copper mesh) every one of which I pointed out to him.  Now I have a total of 4 mouse stations, 10 glue traps, 5 moth traps, plus a dozen sealed holes/cracks with rubber filler. Finally, 4/21, and I can sleep at night.

After the technician left, I called 800-Terminix and expressed my dissatisfaction with their service. They advertise they get it right the first time. Well, it took 3 times and a whole lot of yelling to get them to do what should have been done on day one.  I told the customer service rep that I wanted a 20% rebate on the total sum of my 4 contracts for the poor service and all the aggravation it caused me.  She said she would forward my message to a manager and he would get back to me.  I expected a prompt response from Terminix regarding this matter, especially after I complained to her that no one returned my call the last time I called 800-Terminix to complain and was told I would received a call.  The following day, 4/18, I received a message for Terminix on my answering machine, this person by-passed any mention of my request for a rebate, instead saying: This is a follow up call, I see you had another service call, I spoke with the technician he said he left you with plenty of moth traps...etc....

I immediately called the 800-Terminix, outraged, and yelled, like I did before, that I am being taken advantage of and I demanded that someone call me with the authorization to rebate my account. Another 24 hours past without a call back from Terminix. I decided to call another pest control company, 4/20, to get their professional opinion on whether I have powder post beetles and termites.  I discovered that I do not have ppb, termites are harder to determine for sure, but the kicker is, I learned that the standard treatment for professional rodent extermination is to place a bait station every 10 feet around the basement as well as placing them in the living area. He also said the standard is for them to come back after 30 days to seal up any cracks or holes this way the rodent can get out to die.

While looking online to file a complaint with the Attorney General's Office, I learned that Terminix in MA, had to pay a fine of $100,000, for fraudulent practices.  Apparently they were selling people year round services for carpenter ants when carpenter ants are not a problem in the winter months. Similar I learned that powder post beetles are only active in the summer months from April-Sept.   It's too early here in the North East to have ppb.

I have canceled my contract with Terminix and stopped payment on the reminder of the money I owe them.  I have an appointment with my attorney regarding a possible law suit.

Bothell, Washington - 3/08. We have had an ant problem at our house for the last year.  Six months ago I contracted with Terminix to get rid of the problem, which they never have.  On 3/17/08 we had our quarterly service.  The technician told us if the ant problem was not taken care of in a week to call Terminix and they would come out again.  I called on 3/25/08 and was told that the service schedule was full, they took my contact information and told me I would get a call back to schedule service between 3/26/08 and 3/28/08.  I was assured I would get a call within 12 business hours.  By 3/28/08 I had still not gotten a call, so I called again.  They apologized profusely for not getting back with me.  Again, they took my information and assured me that customer service would call me within 2 hours.  Again, I did not get a call back.  So I called again today, 3/29/08, this time directly to the customer service area.  Wouldn't you know...they again promised me a call back.  I am not holding my breath for the return call.  And I still have the ant problem.  Worse yet, I have to try to explain to my wife why we continue to pay Terminix to resolve the ant problem which they are unable to do.

Arkansas - 2/08. Copy of complaint letter mailed to Terminix:

I called 8-18-07 about a bad ant problem.  They told me someone would call me that day. I waited around here fighting ants and waiting for a call. About 3:00, I called back and told them the same thing. They assured me someone would call me that day. I was not called until 8-21-07 and told someone would not be here until 8-23-07. I had to go buy some chemicals and put them out to keep the ants under control.  I spent all that time fighting and cleaning up ants, they were every where.  Needless to say, I'm not very happy or satisfied with your service.  When we first opened this account, about five years ago, you told us you could get rid of the ants. We still have ants.  I told the office in Hot Springs to close our two accounts.   I called back at the end of January to find out why the accounts were not closed. They told me that they did not have any information on any problems or to close the accounts. I told them I would look for my notes and call them back.  I found my notes and called back the next day.  They changed their story after I told them I found the names of the girls I talked to (Candice and Harriet). I asked them why they did not tell me about the info in my file.  They lied to me.  They were very rude and they did not know what a CASE NUMBER was. Wade Deaton was to return my call. I am still waiting on a call from him. One day they were to spray around the house. They did not know I was home and did not spray.  That was right before I had the ant problem.

Ellenton, Florida - 2/08. I sold a town house that I had Terminix pest control on. A month before the sale I called them and canceled. Fast forward 2 years.. I get a letter in the mail at my new home that they were going to start collections for the service on my property located at the townhouse address. I called them and said I canceled 2 years ago but the lady literally called me a liar. I also told her it was sold 2 years ago so why would I keep coverage on it. She said too bad I should have canceled because their tech kept every appointment. I then contacted the person who bought it from me and asked about it, and they gave me receipts from their pest control company.  Not Terminix and said they have not seen anyone except theirs nor seen a door hanger.  I again called Terminix and explained their error, and they said if I don’t pay they would turn it over to collections. I did not want to see my credit hurt so I paid but it shows what kind of company they are. Liars and cheats.

Louisiana - 1/08. Excerpts from complaint letter mailed to Terminix:

Please find enclosed a copy of the latest invoice mailed to me from your office billing me for $71 for pest control service of 12/04/07.  This service is already covered by the $250 fee I paid 10/29/2007 that covers regular services calls from 11/01/2007 to 11/30/2008.  A copy of my annual invoice showing that I paid the full $250 fee for the full year service is also enclosed.  This is not the first time this has happened.  In the past when I’ve received an additional invoice after a regularly scheduled service call I’ve called the Denham Springs Terminix office (service center 2650) and spoken to someone. Each time I’m advised (after being placed on hold for several minutes while my file and payments are verified) to ignore the bill and that it will not happen again. This is the fifth time I’ve received an individual service invoice for services already covered my annual agreement. Obviously the billing problem has still not been resolved.  If I simply ignore the bill without taking the time to call the Terminix office, I’m taking the chance of it damaging my credit rating should they later report the invoice as past due.  I feel like I’m being harassed by erroneous invoices.