If you no longer need to watch Animal Planet to get your nature fix (bats in the attic, anyone?) then you’ve probably considered paying for a pest control service.
And why not? They all promise to rid your home of vermin. But not all pest services are created equal; even the most reputable options may have limitations. So take a few deep breaths and consider these pitfalls before hiring a service in a panic.
You could get roped into more than you bargained for. Some companies will come out for a one-time visit, but many will try and talk you into a contract, in which they visit monthly.
Cost varies, of course, but according to HomeAdvisor.com, the typical one-time pest control visit for spraying for insects, laying traps or plugging up holes in a home is between $300 to $500, and if you want to go the monthly route, you’ll average between $40 and $45.
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If you have a big problem on your hands, such as a full-blown rat infestation, you could be looking at anywhere from $200 to $2,000 for removal and cleanup, according to CostHelper.com, a consumer information and shopping resource website.
Whatever you’re quoted, make sure the company is a member of a state or national professional association, like the National Pest Management Association, or is at least a member of the Better Business Bureau. Bonus if the service comes highly recommended by neighbors or friends. It’s important to evaluate a company’s reputation before you think too deeply about the price.
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The service may not meet your needs. Imagine this: being connected with a pushy sales agent who simply wants to book an appointment and make a sale. Sure, we can handle your complete pests needs; you can just explain everything to the exterminator when he or she arrives! Next thing you know, you’re signing a yearlong contract without having an in-depth discussion about your pest problems.
So first and foremost: Ask how the company eliminates pests or keeps them at bay. You may find that for the money you’re paying, you aren’t impressed with the company’s action plan. It would be nice to know this before you sign a contract.
But there’s another key reason to have the talk first: The company you’re hiring may not be able to help you.
Barry Maher, a motivational speaker and author in Corona, California, recalls several years ago, when he heard scratching in the walls and ceiling. His guess? Mice had invaded the house via the attic.
“I hired one pest control service who went through the whole house and then refused to go up into the attic. They just didn’t do attics,” Maher says. “But no one had mentioned that when I hired them to deal with that very problem.”
Diane Pollard, a marketing communications consultant who lives in Montclair, Virginia, reports a similar situation. About two years ago, she hired a well-known regional pest control service to take care of an ant problem. Because the company did a nice job and is eco-friendly, which she appreciates, she opted to become a returning customer, and signed an annual contract in which she pays $119 every three months.
But much to her chagrin, Pollard didn’t realize that her service doesn’t handle larger pests, like squirrels and raccoons, after discovering that a squirrel had taken up residence in her attic.
“Needless to say, that darn squirrel enjoyed a very cozy winter shelter,” Pollard says.
The squirrel is still around, and for now, she will wait out the rodent. Partly that’s because she isn’t sure what to do. She tried hiring another pest control service to solve her squirrel problem; the company scheduled an appointment to come out but never showed up. Wildlife rescuers told Pollard that they wouldn’t come out to her home, since she had only heard, but hadn’t seen, the squirrel. For now, she is doing nothing about the squirrel and sticking with her original pest control service, which she says otherwise does a decent job. And she needs it.
“We know we’ll have wasps, stink bugs, wood bees and yellow jackets to deal with soon,” Pollard says.
Pro tip: Try getting the company to solve the problem before you pay. This won’t work for every pest control service, and it’s somewhat easy to understand why. A company might solve a problem and then not be paid; it could solve a problem, only to have customers allege that a new, unrelated issue was the result of shoddy work.
Still, depending on the problem and the company, it can be done, insists Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, a freelance writer who runs a blog called MakingSenseofCents.com.
She and her husband had a squirrel problem a few years ago when they were living in a house in St. Louis.
“They were tearing apart the siding of our home, living in our attic, slamming against our windows and leaving marks behind and more,” Schroeder-Gardner says.
The couple ended up hiring, in succession, three pest control services; only the third could solve the squirrel problem.
Because the first two companies failed in their attempts to rid her attic of squirrels, Schroeder-Gardner secured a guarantee with her third company that she only would have to pay if it actually fixed the problem. The professionals did, with traps and actually sealing up the holes.
“The other companies just placed traps outside, nowhere near where the squirrels were. It didn’t make much sense,” says Schroeder-Gardner, who ultimately spent about $1,000 on the three companies. Meanwhile, the squirrels did approximately $5,000 worth of damage.
If you can’t get a company to agree to this arrangement, try seeing if the company will guarantee its work.
Kathy Dispenza, a real estate agent with Better Homes and Gardens Rand Realty in Yonkers, New York, often recommends a pest control service to her clients when they have unwanted guests that buyers aren’t likely to be excited about. In her neck of the wood, the most common pests are termites.
She says she wouldn’t hire a company that doesn’t offer a guarantee for at least a year. (Of course, that’s part of the pitch when a pest control service wants to provide an ongoing service to eliminate vermin or keep them at bay.) Because many pests, like mice, can be an ongoing problem, oftentimes companies are loathe to guarantee that they’ll completely eliminate the issue after only one visit. Services that come to your home once a month will often make house calls whenever you need them to, without an additional charge, if rodents or insect infestations continue to turn up.
If nothing else, make sure your company is licensed, meaning it’s insured and has the training to use pesticides properly. You already have enough pests. You don’t want to invite another one into your home.
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What to Know Before Hiring a Pest Control Service originally appeared on usnews.com
