Orkin Pest & Termite Control

The good:
Orkin eliminated our carpenter ant problem after just one visit.
We had a big ol’ infestation in our cathedral ceiling. We didn’t know about it, except for the occasional ant we’d see here and there in the house. But it was summer, and you expect a few bugs. Then we saw one, just a normal sized black ant, crawl out from under our ceiling light fixture, right where it affixes to the ceiling. That’s a little weird, we thought as over the next few days we would see one or two more doing the same thing. Then we put 2 and 2 together and realized that they must have been attracted to the area where the roof leaked in Spring.
We called Orkin, they came out, poked a small hole in the ceiling and puffed in some powder. Within minutes, it was raining dying ants as they scampered out of the hole trying to get away from the poison. It was both disgusting and delightful to see. I was vacuuming up dead carcasses for the rest of the day as they continued to fall out of the hole. Over the next few days, there were fewer and fewer bodies until, by the end of the week, I was lucky to find more than two at any given time. By the middle of the second week, the carnage had stopped. We were ant free!
Along with the treatment for the carpenter ants, the technician put a couple of sticky traps in our basement windowsills because there had been evidence of mouse activity just before we moved in (we have cats and have not seen evidence of ANY activity since we arrived). He also sprayed the perimeter of the exterior of the house to keep any creepy-​crawlies out. On a follow up visit, he sprayed a bumble bee nest in our front yard, making it safe to garden and mow the lawn again.
The bad:
Just as the other reviewer said, we had an appointment where the technician did not show up. We did not wait as long as they did, however, and called immediately after the deadline. We were told he was on vacation. We asked why they didn’t think to call us or just send another tech? No answer. A manager came on the line, apologized and said that he, personally, would come out the following day. He did, right on time. I wish that guy could have been the tech to come out each time afterwards, actually. Any appointment after that, if the tech was running late, he called to let us know. Someone must have impressed upon him the butt-​chewing that the company would get if the no-​show thing ever happened again (even though it was not HIS fault).
The ugly:
Orkin makes you sign up for a year’s worth of service (they come out every other month, but if you need them to come in the off month, they will). In the south, I can see the need, but up north? We were paying for winter months when insects are dormant. There was no additional evidence of mice, and anyway, we have cats. The only *nice* thing, I guess, was that our service started in Summer, so we were still under contract the following Spring for them to do an inspection. Thankfully, we had no more problems, old or new.
Cancellation was an easy process with just the bare minimum of pressure to stay under contract. While I don’t like that aspect of the company, I would definitely say that they know what they are doing and that their stuff works. I would call them again, if the need ever arises.
Another plus? The stuff they used was harmful only to insects so, neither we nor our pets were in danger of ingesting or inhaling something toxic.
10÷2016÷247

.They are horrible at keep follow up appoitment. The first time when we had appointment, the technician came on time. However, after we paid in full and supposed to be follow up treatment, nobody showed up. The appointment was last Wednesday 11 to 3 and my husband waited all day long. After 5 pm and no one called and showed up. When he called the branch, operator said someone is comming right then. After 5:30 and still no one. We called them again and same delaying. We had to rescheduled to today 9 to 11. Guess what? No call and no show by 12 pm. When we call them again, the so call manager said they gave the thech wrong time and wants us to wait for 2 to 5 pm. Are you kidding me? Wasting 2 days for this. Becsuse we already paid, they don’t care. **** Please do not pay in full or don’t believe free follow up service****