Complain about a product or service

Terminix

Terminix • Complaints --- • Terminix Pleads Guilty To Assault In New Jersey Case • Terminix Settles with New Jersey • $759,000 NY Penalty

Scott of North Bend , WA June 29, 2009

I purchased a one year contract paying annual price up front. Terminex would show up for appts, but service level was inconsisent. 1 year agreement expired & the technician showed-up unannounced, no one was even home. He didn't come into the house (obviously) so I don't know what he actually "serviced". And no one signed off on his completed service. How do I verify what he did? The first I knew of this extra service was when a bill for 91.65 arrived. Terminex claims they continue service after the contract and I thus owe them 91.65. claiming the contract automatically continues beyond 1-yr life. sounds like shoddy business practice to me.

So, I dispute the bill, no one returns my calls (for a while), then no one gives me an explanation to my above challenges. They simply say I owe the balance. I drop the matter and they promptly put me in collections after 90 days. What are my rights now? Who is on my side protecting against such poor practices?

Cindy of Seattle, WA June 16, 2009

In October 2007 my 71 year old, widowed mother hired Terminix to fumigate her 1913 3-story farmhouse in rural Seattle, Washington against what Terminix claimed were deathwatch beetles. What followed was a personal disaster of such overwhelming proportions for my mother, that I believe she will never recover emotionally, or financially. To date the house is still uninhabitable, and Terminix has sent her account to a collection agency because she refused to pay the balance of the invoice for the botched job.

Because the concentration of Vikane gas was so many times higher than it should have been, it formed a corrosive vapor that etched all the smooth surfaces in the entire house: windows, mirrors, silver, china, crystal, appliances, etc. In short, everything in this 4000 square foot house was contaminated with sulfides. Some things, like clothing, could be cleaned, but not mattresses, upholstered furniture, carpets, wallpaper, sheetrock, wood floors, the list goes on forever.

She has not seen a penny from Terminix, their insurance company, or Allstate, who insured her house (except a ridiculously low-ball offer of 21k for the entire contents of her house). At this point there seems to be no settlement in sight. They're waiting for my mother to run out of money... or die, whichever comes first. This is not how I hoped my mother would spend her later years; exiled from the house that my father restored for her (then passed away in after a long illness) worrying about money, completely exhausted from stress, battling with insurance companies and their lawyers, and so on.

Dean of Chardon, OH June 12, 2009

In March 2009, I had a disagreement with the Terminex local office regarding what would happen when the 1 year service agreement I signed was expired. Despite the fact it expired in 2008, Terminex performed an unrequested service at the rental property I own. When i informed them that i had not wanted the service they indicated it was their standard practice to continue the service after the service contract and that i owed them 86 for the service performed.

Despite my disagreement with this parctice, I paid for the service using a credit card but informed them that i was cancelling my account. I was directed to the cancellation department where the representative asked me what they could do to keep me as a customer. I told them that they could give me a free service and if i was satisfied then i would consider another 1 year service agreement. He asked if they could contact me after the free service to discuss the possibility of another 1 year agreement. I agreed.

Terminex performed the free service and then performed a second sevice the following day which i was then billed for. I never received a call from customer service to discuss a new service agreement. Now, despite several phone conversations and, a letter and written documentation, I continue to receive letters asking for payment of 86 AND the resident of the rental property receives almost daily phone calls asking if Terminex can visit the property to perform the free service (which they already completed!). The business practices and general incompetence of the Terminex staff is disturbing and i have found that when i search the internet for other consumer issues this is a common problem with Terminex and not just my local office.

Patricia of Vero Beach, FL June 4, 2009

First as I waited for them to show up they never called. When I called them they said they had the wrong phone number for me. After clearing that up they then told me my appt. was not that day. I told them they better come today like promised because I had a serious spider problem. When I spoke to the the woman who made they appt. she said it was made for that day and she had the right phone number.

So they finally show up. Sprayed for the spiders within a half hour they were done. They left and I paid them. Checking around the house I found that my brand new Broyhill headboard had a white spray on it. I got a cloth and tried to wipe it off and to no avail. My headboard was stained with the white spray he used. When I called customer service and told her she contacted the man that sprayed and he told her he only sprayed behind the headboard.

When I told her I wanted to talk to him myself she said he would call me back. Well, that was two hours ago and its almost 8 PM. When I saw all the complaints online regarding terminix I could have kicked myself. I see they don't respond to complaints. Let's see what happens with the rest of the year I signed up for. Next time will stick with a local company. Had to remain home all day waiting and am still waiting for a phone call. Brand new Broyhill headboard now stained (badly stained in three places) with a white spray Terminix used for spiders.

Aiesha of Plantation, FL May 29, 2009

We purchased a one year contract and paid annual price up front. Terminex did not show up for appts and serviced the home maybe twice. Now they claim they services the house after the contract and I owe them 93 dollars. I did not give permission to service the home, and they claim the contract automatically renews. So, I asked for a cancellation letter which I did not receive and they have put me in collections.

Elizabeth of Manteno, IL April 18, 2009

Elizabeth of Manteno IL (04/18/09)
i called terminex to have someone come out and spray for spiders and ants mainley ants and someone came out evaluated our house and then did the inside of our house and gave us a guarentee that if they couldnt kill the pests then i would get my money back. well about a week later i started seeing ants again and they were even worse than the first time so i called them again and made another appointment. he came out a second time free of charge this time when origiannaly i paid 125 the first time and did his job again and this time used different stuff

well about 2 weeks later we started seeing ants again and spiders this time too more than usual. so i called them and complained and told them i wanted my money back and the woman tols me that they need to come out more than one time to get rid of the ants and they were already out here twice and there guarentee is if they dont get it right the first time then they would keep coming out till im satisfied and if i wasnt satisfied then i would get a refund

well i wasnt satisfied because i had to call another exsterminator and had to pay them only 65 for them to do the inside and outside of my home only one time and the problem is gone. this man did a stupendious job and we have been ant free for a month. he said that he was unhappy with what terminex used because it didnt get the job done so we are happy with our service with them but dissipointed with terminex. the representitives were rude to us and they did not honor there guarentee.

the consequences were that we had to throw all of our food away in the cabenets. we had to get new furnature because the ants got into our old furnature. we had to put our dogs outside in a run because they and there food was getting attached by ants. i had to clean out the bathtub before i could give my kids a bath because they were in there and everytime we spilled something on the floor our floor was covered in ants. they were in our dishes and i had to move those. they got into our garbage can. it was a mess. everytime my children sat on the floor they would have ants crawl up on them thank God we had someone who new what they were doing fix the problem but it costed us money

Arlene of South Huntington, NY March 20, 2009

Arlene of South Huntington NY (03/20/09)
Signed a contract for 500.00 in August of last year. I've called five times to have them come to my house for #1 Termite inspection, #2 carpenter ants. I am told they will return my call. For 500.00, terminix has been to my house only once due to a mouse and in 23 of snow....to say they did an inspection of the outer area of my house. Physically impossible. Won't return my calls

I am inundated with ants...can't get themn on the phone....extremely upsetting. I have grandchildren that cannot crawl on the floor due to this condition

Claude of Midland, MI February 10, 2009

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Share		Follow us on Twitter.

Terms of Use Your use of this site constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use

Advertisements on this site are placed and controlled by outside advertising networks. ConsumerAffairs.com does not evaluate or endorse the products and services advertised. See the FAQ for more information.

Company Response Welcome If complaints about your company appear on our site, we welcome your response. Please see the Response Form for more information.

For more information, see the FAQ and privacy policy. The information on this Web site is general in nature and is not intended as a substitute for competent legal advice.  ConsumerAffairs.com Inc. makes no representation as to the accuracy of the information herein provided and assumes no liability for any damages or loss arising from the use thereof. 

Copyright © 2003-2009 ConsumerAffairs.com Inc.  All Rights Reserved.    The contents of this site may not be republished, reprinted, rewritten or recirculated without written permission.