TOPIC: PEST CONTROL CONTRACTs

We do not have any pest infestations other than the pesty monthly service bill.
With that in mind, even though it seems to be a standard in the industry to utilize monthly contracts, are we just wasting our money (and spraying unnecessary toxins) with this monthly service?

Bottom line, do you spray Raid around the house in a preemptive manner before infestation? (Seems like a paranoic procedure and expense to us)

thx
Martin

Hello Martin,

Now I am sure there will be others that will wade into this, which may give you some additional information. On what you just wrote I am going to give you a right off the top of my head and say it depends on a lot of elements:

1. What region you are in, and if it is mostly warm or cold and what are the main critters there are problems with?

2. Prevention is the best approach rather than waiting and then trying to control it.

3. I would look at what it is costing you for the month and then see about having a firm which gives you a package deal to come at certain times during the year. All firms are not equal. When you get a firm, Like the ones that I would contract there was a clause that in between their coming out to service if there were bugs that came back and did the whole thing for free. So, when they came they did a thorough job as there was a loss of money for them to come back and do free.

How many units do you have on your property is also another factor. Now another thing that I did before people first move in, I did a spray of their unit empty unit. This was incase they brought some critters with them from where they were before. These type of sprays the maintenance folks did.

Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to do this and so it would not hurt to get one of your maintenance people certified if possible and then you can cut the other bill all together.

This is a fast once over the world.

Here is my thinking on this topic. First of all, unless your maintenance team is licensed to handle pesticides, I would not get rid of your pest control company. Here is what I initiated for our company: I reduced the contact terms to limited outdoor exterior perimeter control only, with none occurring during the months of November, December, January and February (because of our frigid winter temps). I can call the contractor at any time for any reason at an extremely reduced cost if needed. This means, I have eliminated a huge waste of money for unneeded service but retain the advantage of quick, efficient, inexpensive treatment options should the need arise.

We have a quarterly service contract for pest control. Every three months they come out and inspect and/or treat six units.

I used to consider cancelling the contract, but something made me hesitate each time and I'm SO glad I never cancelled. Having the service contract gives me priority service, free consults, and most importantly, same day emergency service as needed.

Due to diligent inspections by professionals, we've had very few incidents and no infestations in the four years I've been at my community.

Infestations can bankrupt a community very quickly. I've seen a nice, newer property go from 100% occupancy to 60% in less than a year. Even though I am not my communities owner, I will vehemently fight for my residents right to live in a clean, healthy building. The very few pest incidents we have had have convinced the owners of the value of our pest control service contract.

My son is a fortunate beneficiary of this type of situation. He moved into a community that was struggling to recover from vacancy issues caused by an infestation. He just renewed his lease at nearly 70% below market rate for his neighborhood. Thanks to the internet, reputations are very difficult to change. That's why it's so important to do what is necessary to keep a good one.

It should depend on the type of community you have as well as your clientele. I have a 4 story enclosed building with 163 units. One infestation can quickly spread in such close quarters. We have pest control out the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. I only pay $50 per visit, so only spend $1,200 per year. They treat any units who may have reported an issue as well as the common area hallways and community rooms. When I first came to this community we had a case of the dreaded BB (I can't even say the words). Our pest company came in and treated the problem which as anyone who has ever dealt with these little buggers knows is a long expensive process. Anyway about a year later the resident who had the infestation filed a suit against us. Thanks to our pest control company and their detailed records of our treatment the suit never went anywhere. Because we had a contract with them the treatment was much less costly then it would have been had we been a new client.
Many times prospective residents have come to our community due to pest issues where they currently live, it has been very helpful to be able to tell them we offer pest control. With all the recent attention in the news regarding BB's I think it's something we need to keep if only for a resident’s piece of mind.
Awkward moment; when a prospect tells you the reason they are moving is because their current community has a pest infestation.

Regardless of contracts...my one advice on pest control is to stay away from Lloyd Pet Control. I've used them for 12 years and when o moved into a new house I used them again, after their fist visit in my house alone for 4 hours to spray the inside AMS outside of my house, my 3 carat wedding ring went missing. I know I shouldn't have left it in the house but I just had surgery and my fingers were too fat to wear AND I never had any reason to doubt their trust. We had the police do finger prints and found no useable prints. When I called their corporate office to talk to their ceo and explained the robbery they said they couldn't see the guy stealing and the ceo told me that they are REQUIRED to wear gloves...aha...no finger prints! We are 99.99 sure the guy took it but because no finger prints we have no recourse. Btw..this guy still works for the company so BEWARE!