Terminix

The sales person “upsold” us on a contract to exclude bats, prevent termites (we had none) and rats. The contract amount was in excess of $5,000. We paid in full. The tech came to perform the service but failed to listen to our directions about where the bats were coming in. He put a “sock” up and said the bats would start to leave. The bats did not leave — several came into our living room. We called again and they returned and placed a second “sock” and sealed the area outside our chimney. Within the next two days, over 20 bats were flying around the inside of our home. In excess of 50 bats were in our kitchen sink. We had to leave our home and stay at a hotel. When Terminix responded on Monday, they said they had done “all they could” and they wanted to “tweak” the contract to remove the bat exclusion service. They offered to refund $1,000. We said that was unacceptable and had our family lawyer communicate with the manager. They finally agreed to refund the contract amount less $500 for service related to rats. Meanwhile, we had bats flying all over in our million dollar home. We found a different service to come (Gotcha Wildlife). The tech charged only $449 and was able to exclude the bats in a matter of hours. He stated that he would have to report the event to Florida Wildlife because Terminix used the wrong materials and the bats ended up dying and clogging the “sock” so none could get out. At least 100 bats died in our fireplace, chimney and home. Wildlife law enforcement came to our home to collect evidence. Insurance won’t cover the cleanup because it was damage caused by animals. We have uncompensated hotel stays; our family had to get rabies shots per the state epidemiologist; our dogs are in quarantine for possible rabies exposure; and our cleanup estimate is $16,000 plus. If Terminix had completed the work correctly, all of this would have been avoided. The experience was a disaster for us. Never hire Terminix.