Terminix = ripoff artists

[Aurel]

So, we are in the process of selling our house. During the inspection, traces of termites tunnels were found, and the buyer requested this stuation to be adressed. No problem, we call terminix. The guy says those were signs of recent activity, and the entire house needs to be treated. The normal price is $1500, but he will give us 20% off, and give the $150 certificate for free. When my real estate agent hears that, he says cancel them, I know a guy who will do it for $500. The licensed guy comes, looks at the mud tunnels, says it is not active, but he will still do a preventive local treatment and provide the certificate for a total of $195. Moral of the story: never use terminix, they will try to rip you off.

Aurel

[SD Porsche Fan]

We had a problem with them also. We had carpenter ants. They recommended a program that required montly treatments for a year to get rid of and prevent future colonies. We paid for the full year up front to the tune of $800 (this was 12 years ago). BIG mistake!

After several months we still had ants. I complained and they continued treatments. After a year we still had ants. The manager came to our home. I showed them where I suspected the ants were coming from. He condesendingly disagreed and informed us that we would probably always have ants and that they would continue treatments to "keep them under control".

I was furious. I made several heated phone calls to their regional and national office. I finally got some sort of regional manager to my home. I showed him where I felt the problem was (where the deck attached to the house) and he agreed that was obviously the source. He sprayed some strong stuff and ants by the thousands fell out over the next several days. We never saw another ant in our home again.

[UconnTim97]

We went with a reputable guy when we bought our house. A highly recommended local shop. The POs paid for the inspection and minor treatments for a few mud tunnels. We pay $95 to continue our warranty yearly that includes a yearly inspection and any treatment that is required. We have had no signs of termites since, thought the neighbors are fighting them off regularly.

With that yearly warranty they will remedy any termites for no extra cost to us. Which is money in the bank in our area, subterranian termites are rampant here.

[TerryH]

Every wood frame home in California has termites. We have mostly the wind-blown-flying-shedding-wings kind of termites that swarm a few times a year. I've seen swarms of these around my home. There really isn't an effective treatment other than tenting the entire house every 10 or 15 years. $$$

They can be back a month after fumigation. Their colonies take about 7-10 years to start doing serious damage.

[competentone]

Originally Posted by Aurel

So, we are in the process of selling our house. During the inspection, traces of termites tunnels were found, and the buyer requested this stuation to be adressed. No problem, we call terminix. The guy says those were signs of recent activity, and the entire house needs to be treated. The normal price is $1500, but he will give us 20% off, and give the $150 certificate for free. When my real estate agent hears that, he says cancel them, I know a guy who will do it for $500. The licensed guy comes, looks at the mud tunnels, says it is not active, but he will still do a preventive local treatment and provide the certificate for a total of $195. Moral of the story: never use terminix, they will try to rip you off.

I went to a Porsche dealership needing some transportation, they tried to sell me this car for $55,000! A friend of mine told me to go to a Hyundia dealership; I did and got a new car for $17,000! Moral of the story, never go to a Porsche dealership, they will try to rip you off!

If you use a "big name" company like Terminix, you are paying for the brand and a certain amount "insurance" that you probably did not get from the local guy. If a year from now the purchasers find active termites and they go to the local guy who issued the certificate, they might find that he's out of the business. Not the same situation if you had used Terminix.

The local guy was "enough" for your situation -- to get the certificate to complete the sale, but if you were the buyer, you might have wanted what Terminix was offering.

The difference in price isn't one of being "ripped off" -- it is a difference in the product.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by competentone

I went to a Porsche dealership needing some transportation, they tried to sell me this car for $55,000! A friend of mine told me to go to a Hyundia dealership; I did and got a new car for $17,000! Moral of the story, never go to a Porsche dealership, they will try to rip you off!

If you use a "big name" company like Terminix, you are paying for the brand and a certain amount "insurance" that you probably did not get from the local guy. If a year from now the purchasers find active termites and they go to the local guy who issued the certificate, they might find that he's out of the business. Not the same situation if you had used Terminix.

The local guy was "enough" for your situation -- to get the certificate to complete the sale, but if you were the buyer, you might have wanted what Terminix was offering.

The difference in price isn't one of being "ripped off" -- it is a difference in the product.

The ripoff is that the situation did not require the Terminix `product` because the termites were not active to start with. I am not discussing the quality of their treatment, rather their judgement and honesty. Calling them active to scare us in buying the high cost treatment when it was unnecessary.

Aurel

[SD Porsche Fan]

My experience was like going to Porsche and paying $55k for a used Hyundia. If the Terminex brand is so superior then how come I was strung along for a full year and told that I had to live with the problem and continue to pay?

[turbo6bar]

Use a locally-owned, well established termite company. Terminix is no better than the little guys.

[competentone]

Originally Posted by Aurel

The ripoff is that the situation did not require the Terminix `product` because the termites were not active to start with. I am not discussing the quality of their treatment, rather their judgement and honesty. Calling them active to scare us in buying the high cost treatment when it was unnecessary.

It is not the corporate policy of Terminix to lie and tell people there is an "active" termite colony when there is none. It is pretty easy to determine if there is an active colony, or not, during the summer months. If a local Terminix operator lied, he is not following Terminix's rules. (I don't even know if Terminix is set up with franchises, or if local Terminix operators are Terminix employees, but you may want to contact their corporate offices. They don't spend millions of dollars in advertising building a good reputation, just to have it "blown up" by local operators lying to customers!)

Of course, I still have to wonder, if it was not an active colony, why did the local guy do the "preventive local treatment"? If you know anything about termites, they are not really a problem that can be dealt with by any "local treatment." If he didn't find any active infestation, he could have just done the inspection, noted that there was no active colony, and issued the certificate.

The proper preventative treatment, is treatment for the entire structure, unless one knows that the ground around the structure has already been treated previously. In which case one re-treats an area if activity is indicated.

If I were buying your house, I'd be suspicious that the real estate agent got the guy to do the "minimal" job to get the certificate so the closing will go on as scheduled. It could be like the "home inspectors" that real estate agents refer -- if I were selling a house, I'll want the buyer to use the "home inspector" the real estate agent suggests. If I'm buying, I'll be doing my own inspection!

[KNS]

The world is full of crooks. A couple weeks ago the AC in our house quit working. Called a local guy and he says that the compressor and the fan motor are both kaput. $1800 to replace. Sounds too fishy that they would both go out at the same time. A ***** load of money too. I call another AC guy to confirm the problem. Turns out it was a $75 part! Problem solved.

[URY914]

The entire termite inspection/treatment marry-go-round is a scam when you go to sell a house. The inspector sees one termite wing he says you need to treat the house. The entire sale rests this report so of course you'll do it. You pay for it, it comes out of the sale of the house and you lose the money without ever seeing it. The realtor shrugs and says thats the way it is, if you want to sell, than treat it. Rip-off.

[osidak]

When I moved into my house I soon had roving masses of Blood Mites - Look and jump like fleas but when our cat would smack them they would leave a nasty red smear

On our light colored carpet you would literally see a 12 inch diameter mass moving across the carpet. Called Terminix and paid for a year - after three months the problem had not only not improved but had gotten worse.

Called them pissed off and the response I got was "It takes time" After much yelling back and forth I got them to cancel the remainder of the contract

I went to the Homer Depot and bought some granular diazinon (?) and spread it around the base of the house and 3 days later the problem was GONE - Terminix cost me nearly $150 and did nothing - Spent $20 and about an hour to actually get rid of them.

[onewhippedpuppy]

When I did remodeling, we were called out to a local home where the owner had issues with some of her ceiling tiles. Thinking that they had gotten wet at some point in the past, we simply planned to replace a few of the pressed-wood tiles. However, when we started removing tiles we found that they were being eaten away from above by termites. In many cases, the paint was the only thing holding them together. The 2x2 framing above was also mostly gone, and in some area we found large quantities of active termites. Why is this relevant? Because the sweet (but somewhat senile) old lady had been paying Terminix for years to treat her house for termite prevention. The treatment was guaranteed, in the paperwork it stated that any damage done by termites would be covered by Terminix.

Already suspicious, we captured quite a few termites in a glass jar for evidence, as if the eaten tiles and framing weren't enough. When the Terminix guy came out, he denied that it was termite damage, and claimed the lady was lying about the source of the termites in the jar. Nevermind the obvious damage and tunnels on the foundation. They refused to pay a dime, despite her giving them thousands over previous years. We gave her a good deal on the repair, and installed termite stakes around her foundation.

To me, I think Terminix is like Jiffy Lube. Chain store that sells based on the national name and advertising, and has very little concern for customer service on a local level. What a joke.

[Moneyguy1]

I simply use "Home Defense" and others of its ilk. Be sure to do not only the foundation but also under the eaves. Tried a "service" years ago, watched them and figured I could do at least as well.

[m21sniper]

Sears and pep boys auto centers are just as bad. It's best to avoid these national chains entirely IMO.

[Neilk]

My parents used Orkin in Miami for about 8 years when they first moved there. They didn't have a bug problem, but didn't want one to start. I lived with them for a while and followed the Orkin guy the first couple of times he was there. He was thorough in spraying stuff out of a bottle, but I swear that it was pressurized water as the liquid didn't give off the slightest smell.

Eight years later, still using Orkin, my parent's housekeeper, follows the guy and notices that he is basically walking through the house without even unholstering his spray gun. He was fired that day. They never noticed any difference in bug populations

[idontknow]

Originally Posted by KNS

Turns out it was a $75 part! Problem solved.

It's really a $15-20 part. Although every A/C company is going to charge 4x the cost as it makes easy profits.