To: ljb@SEI.CMU.EDU, bovik@cs
Subject: Pest Control in the Home
Date: Mon, 10 Oct 88 15:19:48 EDT
Message-ID: <10674.592514388@CHILES.SLISP.CS.CMU.EDU>
From: Bill.Chiles@WB1.CS.CMU.EDU


This message contains comments on pest control in the home.

These are two responses I received to a query posted on general:
   Fort Pitt Exterminators did a great job killing roaches when I bought my
   house.  Orkin (who we called first) failed to show up for appointments,
   and didn't kill nearly as many bugs.

   We use Witt Pest Control.  They are in the phone book.  Haven't really
   tried anybody else as they had a maintenance contract for termites when
   we bought our house.  They treated for carpenter ants last year, but
   unfortunately ants have to be treated for every year unlike termites.  I
   will say that the ants went away after they treated.  We had some other
   ants (not carpenter ants) appear a couple of months after the house was
   treated and they came and retreated the house no charge.

By word of mouth I heard Orkin was a major lose, but they are supposed to
be reliable if you live in Florida.

I never called Fort Pitt Exterminators.

I did call Witt Pest Control, and I thought they were assholes.  We set an
inspection appointment for 10 a.m.  I explained that I had to take off
work and wanted to know how long I should wait if the inspector was late.
The sales rep said there would be no problem, the guy would be on time.  I
waited until 11 a.m. anyway before I left my home and went to work without
a call or message whatsoever from these clowns.  When I came home that
evening, I saw the sales rep had left his card in the door.  I called him
for a second try, and he immediately took the offensive that they had come
by, but no one was there to meet them.  I told him I couldn't possibly
expect responsible service from a company that would hire such an
unconcerned irresponsible sales representative.

I believe that if any company cannot even make a good show before signing
the contract, they must be hopeless after they have your money.

My problem was carpenter ants.  I finally called and used Rentokill.  They
were very punctual and seemed knowledgeable.  The technician seemed to know
his business after nine years in the field, but the company was very bad
and following through.  Twice I had to call them to treat again, and each
time I had to call multiple times to get them to return my calls.  They
also, in retrospect, seemed to have a faulty plan: first they dusted the
kitchen heavily ignoring the wall boards in the rest of the house.  The
ants then showed up in the living room, and they then dusted it well.  The
ants left the living room and showed up in the kitchen again.  I finally
gave up on trying to get them to come back again.

I believe too with carpenter ants that you must treat them yearly.  Before
my contract runs out with Rentokill in the Spring, I'm going to force them
to completely treat my house one more time.  Then I'm going to buy a bottle
of home ant killer and spray inside my cabinets and around my baseboards
myself.  My mother in law seems to control her ants this way and doesn't
spend $300 a year either.  I basically believe that a lot of companies scam
their users.  Ants want to come out at certain times, especially in the
Spring and Fall, and the chemicals these companies are allowed to use just
cannot span this time interval.  With carpenter ants, you'll have to pay
them $300 every year anyway.

Bill