Indiana - 10/99.  We have had a new technician for the last eight months; and sometime in August, we had a problem with an animal in our garage. We gave the evidence to the technicians and also called the local office for results. In September, we were told there was nothing they could do.  We called [another company]; and one week later, we had captured our problem. A rat, which we were told by Terminix it was not a rat and there was nothing they could do.  They would be happy to cancel our service. I was also told there were at least a thousand customers that were happy with them. In so many words, who cares if I had a complaint.

Alabama - 10/99.  Don’t ever give up. I'm mailing my last payment to Terminix tomorrow and discontinuing further services due to many conflicts.  Their staff personnel are the most rude, condescending bunch I have had the misfortune of associating with. Hopefully many more will drop their monthly service and start asking more questions about their practices. Don't let the bullies win. 

New Jersey - 10/99.  I have also had my last dealing with Terminix.  Recently, our two indoor cats somehow contracted fleas.  The day we discovered them, we called the vet and Terminix (we had a year contract set up) to fix our problem.  After two days, I have yet to hear from my Terminix tech. I called customer service three times, and each time they were not very helpful, or friendly.  The last time, the guy offered me a refund. Shocked, I asked if this was standard procedure. He didn’t say anything, but alluded to the fact that this happens quite often. Luckily, I was able to call a local exterminator and get an appointment for the next morning.  I think if I would have waited for my Terminix guy, I would have been out of luck; and YES, I took the refund. The local pest guy did a wonderful job and was very thorough.

Arizona - 9/99. I became involved in the pigeon poisoning issue in Phoenix, Arizona, five years ago. Habitat modification is the solution to folks with pidge problems. A friend and I, along with a news reporter from a local station, did a hidden camera investigation involving three pest control companies in Phoenix.  Terminix was one of them. I held the camera in a tacky purse and posed as the building manager of a freshly painted building.  The TV producer was with me.  The Terminix guy stated that he could use a product called “Avitrol.” The same amount used to kill a pidge can kill a 25 lb. dog. He could not “call it a kill.” He called it a disorienting agent and only the old or sick birds would die.  Mind you, we did not go up on the roof to see if pigeons had nests under the air coolers (which they did).  Boarding those areas up would do the job, not poison. You kill off a flock without eliminating the reason they are there in the first place, many more fill the vacuum very quickly. Terminix and the other companies that push poison want to sign you on for a one-year contract.  I believe the poison comes in 50-gallon drums, is put on whole kernel corn, placed on a roof, and there you go.  I have a tape of a small boy bending over to pick up a piece of corn that had fallen to the ground.  Often the birds will throw the corn back up so other birds will eat it. The Terminix man said that was not possible; besides, he called them flying rats.  Actually, they are flying scapegoats, blamed for everything under the sun! He said that pigeons are known to carry eight lethal diseases; the man from Burns put the number at 76!!!  Lots of leeway there. The Burns guy said that pidges carry rabies, the Haunta virus, and pneumonia, just to name a few.  I have a letter from Craig Levy, AZ Dept. of Health Services, Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Disease Section, which states that in 15 years plus there has never been a case of a pigeon giving anyone a disease.  After the story aired, none of the companies would comment.

Georgia - 6/99. My mother was almost killed and her house was ruined when a careless Terminix sprayed Dursban in the house claiming they used other chemicals. Tests proved a high concentration of Dursban.

California - 6/99.   I am one of the luckier victims.  I was in the process of trying to get some satisfaction in the dealings I am having with the regional office here in Camarillo. They bought out the contracts of a few smaller independent pest control businesses in the area.  I was very satisfied with my previous company’s service and results over a number of years. Once Terminix took over the service contract, the problems started immediately.  They bad-mouthed the previous company and did not disclose the extent of the limited coverage they were giving me. Then I found the service incomplete and the run around to find out the lack of coverage I actually had under their new “ownership” of my contract.  They immediately started to try and sell me more coverage, pressuring the need for the “add ons.”  Needless to say, continuing phone calls to the manager have not been successful, and it is going on to the third month.

Indiana - 9/99. I need to pressure Terminix to treat my house and get rid of the termites. I have been fighting them since 1988. I still pay my contract every year, and I still have termites. I want that new baiting system they put around your house.  They say it is too expensive to just give away. I have paid over $4,000 to them, and they have spent at least $10,000 on repairs.  How expensive is this stuff, I ask; and if it’s so good, why don’t they install it at my house, if for no other reason other than to shut me up???  I’ve been fighting these things for 12 years. How does this make them look??

Update (10/99):  Terminix finally came to the house. They said there are no active termites, because they do not see any tunnels. I told him he was stupid (that’s the tactfulness I use with these people), that they were coming up in the void in the block since my house is block foundation and all brick. He did not agree with me until I took him in the front room and had him pull back the wallpaper. The look on his face was a Polaroid moment.  He agreed to put in the baiting stations, but only if they up my yearly contract from $215 a year to $450.

Texas - 9/99. I have been under a Terminix contract for 4 years. I still have new infestations of termites each year.  Each year, I have swarmings of termites, and it is “to be expected” as communicated from Terminix.  The warranties and guarantees are worthless, the only thing guaranteed is the regional manager has changed and nobody cares. Great web site, I believe it to be more effective than the bureaucratic processes which seem to go nowhere except to fill out paperwork. Terminix is a waste of money.

New York - 8/99. My problem started with an extermination of termites (guaranteed to eliminate, no bugs no hassles -- you know the BS).  Many years later, the problem still exists only magnified and with an incredible amount of property damage, which their attorney states was PROBABLY here prior to the extermination. I had to keep on reminding him that he is the attorney, not the entomologist.  They never checked the Sentricon system (not even once) which eventually they put in because their chemical treatments were inefficient. These systems were supposed to be baited and monitored; yet, Terminix feels the property damage is a direct result of “water damage.” From what I can see from your web site, they won’t give in until a fight is pursued.