Terminix

I've talked to the man doing the work and he didn't understand because as far as he can tell, we were never scheduled. That happened to me twice. And the last time was six months ago and it hasn't happened since. It wasn't bad enough for me to get angry but it was strange that the system scheduled me and then the schedule changed and then they didn't update me that the schedule changed.

Nevertheless, the technicians have been really good. They were very polite and they made sure that there were no issues. They made sure that I know about the areas to avoid and for how long. They wore booties when they came into the house. They seemed to know what they were doing and they were very responsive to anything. If there's a problem, they'll do something about that. So, I am happy with them. Our home got better after they were here. For some, that's hard to say because the seasons are changing. But what they did when we were having a minor roach problem coming in from outside, they sprayed all around the house outside. And we noticed that after two or three days, it wasn't happening anymore.

Something happened at the headquarters, however, so the scheduling was taken out of the hands of the technicians. Now scheduling is done automatically from headquarters, so the technicians cannot tailor the timing of the visits in such a way that they know the schedules of the people that they're spraying for. I live alone and if I'm gone during the day, for instance, they won't be able to get into the house. So I either have to change the appointment or my daily schedule, so I'm home to let them in when they come. Then my particular technician makes the phone call the night before he's coming, and I get a notification in email from the company. I put that on my calendar and then my technician calls the night before to just double-check.

Still, another problem is that I get an email that says I will have a call on such and such date, between the hours of such and such. It says, "You do not need to be home for this service. Just please secure any animals." But that is not true, and I have complained about this almost every time I get a service. I need somebody to be here to let the technician into the house because it's not external spraying only. He sprays around the perimeter of the house, but he also comes inside. I've shown this to Patrick every time, and we chuckle about it. The email communications of the company really need some close attention. It is annoying when year after year, you get communication that is not clear about what's gonna happen.

I don't have any complaints about the pest activity in the house, although I have had ants in my kitchen at a certain time of year. Patrick comes and puts out some little traps and that ceases. It's excellent. Last week, I had two mice in my garage, and the automatic door has some little cracks at the edge where they can get in. That's separate from my house, and Patrick put out some chemicals, and I found the dead mouse on the floor a couple of days after he was here. Overall, I would recommend Terminix. The service, the coverage, and the technician who comes to my house are wonderful.

The last time Terminix was out was for the pest control. They sprayed and they come about every three months. But when I had an appointment for the 27th, they were supposed to be there between 8:00 and 10:00. They sent an email about it. So, I got up really early and at 12 o’clock, they still hadn’t shown up. I called and I went through the automated thing. I said for scheduling and I was told that their schedule to come was in the 28th. Nobody contacted me and told me that.

This was the second time that has happened. It happened a long time ago, the same tech. So, I called and talked to a representative. She was so nice and kind. She said that they had a little trouble with their equipment for scheduling. She went through the whole thing and they were gonna send me a new time. However, I had a doctor’s appointment with the time they were gonna give me. She told me they could come March 13th for a termite inspection that I have once a year. I couldn’t take the date that she offered me and she looked but she didn’t have anything very soon. So, she said she would get with one out of Palestine. She was gonna get with them and have them send me one. So, I'm sure I'll get it very soon. I told her that the next time they schedule me, I'm going to call the day before and see if I'm still on schedule. Despite that, all the employees have been nice.

The technicians who came were all so nice too. I love them. The last one who came was fairly new. He was so nice and I gave him a 5-star. Also, the one before was a female and she was terrific. I'm satisfied with my experience with Terminix. It is a good warranty and I haven't had any more termites. Now, they leave little sticky things for me and most of the ones I see are in the garage. They said they would come out any time I call them, but the sticky thing takes care of it.

I've also had additional mosquito service over the summer months, but you have to manage expectations on that right. They guarantee 100% that they'll eliminate mosquitoes but there's no way that they can guarantee that. They might spray mine, but my neighbors don't spray and their mosquitoes will come into my neighbor. But it has brought down the mosquito population. It's 60% better.

Recently, they came to do the regular service which is part of the quarterly spray. The guy that showed up came on a day when it was kind of snowy. I asked him what really moved him to come that day. I didn't think it would be effective. Two weeks later, however, we had bed bugs and the cold weather helped to pull the insects closer to the warmth of the home. So when they sprayed, it actually had a very good outcome, which it was counter-intuitive to me, but once he explained it, it made sense. He was knowledgeable and quite helpful.

I've been doing Terminix for a couple of years now, and a total of four people have come. It is routinely the same people but they're not exactly the same person every time, like one after the other. I've had a couple of people that have called me on follow up. They wanted to do a bit more aggressively than usual and come and inspect the attic. Even though I've indicated a number of times that I'm not interested, still I've got phones back to back. Nevertheless, the communication with the reps has been good. I like the way that they give notification the day before and then the day that the person is coming in. The send me a text and they notify me. It gives me an opportunity to be able to be home or to reschedule if I wanted them to do some internal work and I'm not available.

Not all technicians are good either. I've had three come out and the first one didn’t do anything. He said that he didn’t see any evidence and he was not putting anything down. He charged the money and just left. It was my husband who was there at that time. When the next technician was coming, I made sure I was there. That was the technician that I like. He went through the whole house and was very thorough. So it was very good. Then he came out the second time and did everything again. Never again did I see any spiders and roaches. But now, the new guys comes and all he does is make sure that all the traps, especially the stuff that he puts down, are good. That’s it. I reached out to Terminix to get the technician I like to come out. But they said the he doesn’t do field work. Still, I haven’t seen any sign of vermin.

2nd appointment set for Monday, 1/13/20 between 3:00 - 5:00 PM. Vincent, the inspector called at 4:30 PM on Monday, 1/13/20 and asked me if I still wanted him to come, as he was 30 minutes from my home. I told him it would be dark in 30 minutes, and asked if he would still be able to look outside of the home? He said "no" but said he could do the inside. I said that would only be a "halfway job" and again, I had left work unpaid for this appointment. I said never mind and that I'd be sure to let others know of their HORRIBLE customer service. Not impressed with such a supposed "reputable" company. Potential customers beware!