General Pest Service Agreements

If you intend on purchasing a service of a one-time treatment for ants, you can skip everything most everything said here about general pest service agreements. But perhaps you want to know what you are missing out on.

One-Time Ant Treatments

Ok. You don’t like to sign anything. If absolutely necessary, you certainly don’t want to “get into any contracts,” in which case the pest control company you choose will likely give you a one-time ant treatment. You may or may not get a warranty for the work, depending on the company and the condition of your home or business. Some companies as a rule will not warranty the first visit. Other companies will. It is not likely that they will provide any guarantee for pests other than the one you define as the problem. So if you say a week later that you have problems with spiders or earwigs, well that is your problem. It was not what the designed one-time service was intended to solve.

TIP: Tell the pest control company that you are having problems with ants and spiders. It probably will not cost anything more for a one-time treatment of ants and spiders than one defined just for ants.

Any warranty you receive is usually going to be a limited warranty. “If the pest comes back, we come back.” It is rare to find a pest control company that will pay you your money back. Pest work is not like pipe work. If a plumber fixes a pipe, it is likely that pipe will continue to work for many years to come. Working with pests, the pest control company has many variables, the first being that pests have a life of their own – in the insect kingdom we are usually speaking of thousands upon thousands of them. Frankly, we don’t believe the pest control company is being honest if they say such things as “you’ll never see them again.” You will. It’s only a matter of time. Other factors impacting success are purely customer based. There is a huge difference in trying to solve a pest problem such as ants in an unkept, unclean home and one that is immaculate. But even the immaculate home may have factors, such as new infested yard plantings that could make it difficult to get control.

General Pest Service Agreement Advantage

If you’ve come to the conclusion that your ant problem is going to repeat itself, it’s not a bad idea to seriously consider a general pest service agreement.

The agreement will specify:

• what pests are covered
• the warranty
• the frequency of repeat services
• expect to see disclaimers, opt-out clauses, end-of-control conditions

You may also see sections of the general pest service agreement dealing with:

• sections of the yard, house or business that are covered
• some general pest agreements will include pests other than insects and arachnids (spiders). You may see limited coverage for rodents. Occasionally you may find “all inclusive deals” at a premium price.
• pests specifically excluded
• discounts
• special terms agreed to between the company and client such as time of day for service
• special terms or conditions in a green labeled or certified general pest agreement
• same or dissimilar pricing for the first service verses later maintenance services
• pricing – or the lack thereof for any “follow-up service”

Finally, beware of the pest control company or individual who would provide ant control or general pest control without any paperwork exchanged. Also, remember that just because you don’t sign anything does not mean there is no agreement. You have simply entered into a verbal agreement for pest services that may end up in a court of law if anything goes wrong and the verbal general pest control agreement is reviewed by a judge.

Got pests? Call today at 1-800-986-1006 for help with infestation. You’re also welcome to complete the form below and a caring Hearts Pest Management representative will contact you shortly.