ORKIN
About us
Additional phone numbers - (800) 662-8470, (626) 588-2062, (800) 733-7983, (626) 795-7001, (626) 570-0715, (619) 447-9963, (877) 250-1652. Additional faxes – (626) 281-0941, (951) 278-6290. Branch number - 767. Additional contact names - Michael McKenzie, Martha Banks, Patricia Kerr.
Services we offer
Residential and commercial pest control & exterminating.
Number of Stars | Image of Distribution | Number of Ratings |
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63% | ||
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6% | ||
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6% |
Now, here's where it all goes downhill. I notice what I think is termite damage and ask my tech if he thinks it's termite damage. He agrees. Says he'll put a note in for the termite department to call me, but he thinks I'll get faster service if I call myself. This is a dramatic understatement. I can't remember exactly how long it goes, but they never call -- it's probably 6 or 9 months before I finally pick up the phone and call the termite department. (I stress that it's a different department. The normal Bug Death scheduling people have nothing to do with the Termite Death people.)
So, they schedule a free termite inspection. The dude is very thorough, covers the whole exterior and interior of my house, takes pictures of every possible bit of dry rot, and puts it all together on his laptop in a powerpoint presentation, which he then shows me in my living room. The gist of it is: I have termites in the exterior of my garage and the exterior of one bedroom window. For this, he wants to tent my house for something over $2000. (I think it was $2300.) As an alternative, they'll spot treat THE ENTIRE HOUSE for something less (I think it was $2100.) I ask why they'd spot treat the whole house (every door and window) when I've only got two places of infestation on the outside. Can't he spot treat just those places? He goes outside to and quot;calland quot; and check with his manager. As spot treating is something they generally don't do, they have to make an exception for me, and they'd do those two spots for $1700.
I've had termites before in a previous residence -- a condo, which they refused to tent. Because of that, I'm pretty familiar with spot-treating. They come, they spot treat for a few hundred bucks, termites are gone -- repeat every few years. I am NOT tenting my house for no $2300, and I think he's crazy to ask. I'm frustrated with what appears to be a total attempt to take advantage (spot treating for $1700? REALLY??) and come online to Angie's List to find another termite company with positive reviews for spot treating. I find one.
The new company comes out, does their own inspection. The new company is pretty sure the termite damage I saw on the exterior of the garage is old damage, which was patched, and the patch is chipping. He sees NO termite activity in the exterior of the bedroom window. I give him a copy of the Orkin guy's report and he actually LAUGHS at it. (I use words like and quot;bullcrap.and quot; He uses words like and quot;fraud.and quot;) Says half the stuff the Orkin guy labelled as dry rot is not fungus-related at all (but just, y'know, chips in the wood, or whatever), and that I don't need to tent the house. He says if I want, he'll spot treat the garage and bedroom window for $250, but he recommends I just remove and replace the damaged wood (in the garage), as there's no evidence of current infestation.
To review then. Orkin wants $2300 to tent or $1700 to spot treat two places. New guy recommends I don't treat AT ALL, but will spot treat the same two places for $250.
Right now, I'm so annoyed at Orkin's Termite Department, I'm strongly tempted to ditch them for my usual pest control as well. Somebody more honorable deserves my business.
So, to review, regular pest control: A. Go ahead and use them.
Termite inspections: F. AVOID.
Licensing
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