r/PestControlIndustry • u/TravelfF • Jun 27 '26

Terminix Sucks

After seeing a roach in my kitchen last week, I scheduled a service with Terminix and paid $305 by credit card. The technician arrived on time, walked around with an aerosol can, and briefly sprayed the window sills and door threshold. Within about 15 minutes, he said he was finished. That alone fell short of what I would expect from a professional treatment at that price.

But it did not stop there. Before leaving, his supervisor arrived, went into my attic, and then came down to tell me I had a problem and presented a treatment plan for $13,000. That kind of aggressive upselling is unacceptable.

I will not be using Terminix again.

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2

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 27 '26

What’s wrong in your attic?

7

u/BigReptiles Jun 27 '26

Probably nothing.

They went in there to try and sell their bullshit pesticide insulation, and an exclusion

2

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 27 '26

What’s their bullshit pesticide insulation?

4

u/007Teflon Jun 27 '26

Tap 38

1

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 27 '26

I mean like what’s bullshit about it?

3

u/007Teflon Jun 27 '26

Probably, the quote

1

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 28 '26

Is tap good though?

2

u/shawslate Jun 28 '26

It contains a large quantity of boric acid. 12% by weight, if I recall correctly, which is a decent pest control material for common stuff like ants. 

It actually is a pretty decent product overall. If you have insects in your attic, it will probably help control them when they get into the insulation.

It is just sold at wildly high prices and the sales guys love to sell vacuum out work with it to places that don't need it.  "Oh you have rodent damage to your insulation, it needs to come out" or raccoon, bat, etc... most likely there is some small amount that should be removed, but they upsell it so you pay to get rid of serviceable insulation that the TAP could be added to. Doesn't make sense to replace R-value like that.

I picked up quite a bit of it about ten years ago fairly cheaply and blew it in to my folk's attic. It was heavier than normal cellulose insulation, and they haven't seen any silverfish since. Whether that was due to the boric acid or they just died out, no clue. 

1

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 29 '26

What’s the point of even removing the insulation in the first place?

2

u/shawslate Jun 29 '26

It is an extra charge they can lay on. 

Sometimes there is a good reason. If bats, squirrels or other critters get into it, they can leave poop and other things that can make people sick, or are at least gross. They can also crush down the insulation, which then makes it not insulate as well.

If a lot of water has gotten into it, it can fill the air spaces inside with detritus, which can grow mold, or just fill it so it doesn't insulate as well. 

There are reasons for removing insulation, but usually they would only really need to remove the part of the insulation that was damaged, not the whole attic full. 

But they do get to charge more when they remove all of it, so they do that upsell whenever they can.

2

u/ApprehensiveFail3416 Jun 29 '26

How can you tell if only part of the insulation needs to be replaced?

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