I didn't use them recently but I called them for an appointment because I heard scratching in my walls indicating a potential rodent. The helpful person at Burge went beyond the call of duty. Instead of just scheduling an appointment, he asked questions about the surroundings of my house and made a maintenance suggestion. He said if it didn't solve the problem, then call them back and they would come out. Well the suggestion worked as the scratching is gone! So huge kudos to Burge for going above the call of duty and still resolving my issue. read more

Rich and Jay are fantastic! They know their stuff, go the extra mile, and are very reasonable in price. I've been hunting for years for follow-up maintenance for rodent exclusion work, to cover the occasional inevitable breakthroughs, but all I could find were companies trying to sell me a pricey set "package" of services I don't need. Burge tailors their services to my needs, the old-fashioned way. So glad I finally found them! read more

I have lived for 20 years in the same house in Oakland- I have used over 6 different pest control services, and am mostly a do-it-yourselfer after lessoned learned good and bad from other services. I had a situation where it was beyond my ability to fix. I found Burge, gave them a call, and they were out within an hour to fix. After dealing with a number of people who have given me bad advice, I found them extremely professional, calming and intelligent about how to manage this problem. This is a family-owned business and it shows from the pride they have in doing their work. I don't normally trust people to do maintenance contracts on pest control- these guys I do. Highly recommended. read more

Great service. Fast and convenient. Professional. Their ant product works great, no ants in the last few months! #worthit

Love this company. Great service and quality help. Rich and Jay very thorough, and has a lot of helpful knowledge

If you have ants and you live in Alameda, call Burge. They are very friendly, answered all of my questions, and were very thorough. I felt like our ant problem was really well taken care of by someone who clearly knows the area, local pests, and how to deal with our local ant issues. All it took was one outdoor spray around the outside of our house and no more ants inside the house (we'd been having major ant problems inside our house before the outdoor treatment). The price was very reasonable - and they offer a 60 day guarantee. read more

Rich was great. Very prompt in getting back to me and incredibly knowledgeable. Thought I had carpenter ants and he asked me to send photos. When he saw the pictures, turns out I had dry wood termite. I was so stressed over termites, but he walked me back to reality and talked me through a wait and see strategy as the circumstances appeared to be a one off incident. I appreciate that he didn't try to upsell me or put me on a plan. If I do need to treat for termites or any other pest issues, I will definitely be using Burge's services! read more

They came here promptly, and the spraying worked right away. They have been here before over the years and have always helped.

I have used Burge Pest Control several times for ant control and that service alone is worth 5 stars. I live in Alameda Bay Farm and the ground outside our house is basically a giant ant farm. Amazingly, Burge perimeter ant treatment once every 11-18 months keeps them out of our house. My most recent call to Burge however involved Yellowjackets! They found their way into my attic crawl space and began building a nest. I found out that when a Yellowjacket nest is enclosed and they need more space, they will begin to chew through drywall. One morning found some 50-60 Yellowjackets all around a window in one of our rooms. Initially I thought they were coming in somewhere along the window edge but they were actually trying to get out! OMG, they were coming in thru a small hole in the ceiling. I was able to seal the hole with cardboard and duct tape and cleaned up the buggers that were around the window/window sil. Most were near dead as they exhaust themselves trying to escape to daylight. I did manage to get stung 3 times though. Ugh...so gross! Are you freakin' kidding me....Yellowjackets inside the house!! Shout out to Rich at Burge Pest Control for getting someone out to me after 4pm on a Friday. Mitchell (the Destroyer) showed up within an hour of my call, surveyed the situation and located how they were getting into the attic. If a Yellowjacket nest is nearby, you will see them coming in and out of the nest entrance like a busy airport. From ground level Mitchell saturated the 2nd story access point with pinpoint accuracy. The Yellowjackets that subsequently pass thru will bring the insecticide into the nest and eradicate the problem. Mitchell... You da Man! Burge Pest Control operates on a flat rate per service call. We monitored the nest entry for several days and saw no more activity. If we did, Mitchell said he would come back and respray. Apparently, Yellowjacket population are exploding throughout the Bay Area this year. https://ktvu.com/video/1260978 Burge said they had been getting several calls a week for Yellowjackets. Thanks again! You guys are 5 star +++ read more

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burge is the best. they know alameda and they are an all-alameda family, with years of experience. i hav e always used them for my home and all my properties. never a complaint, very professional, trustworthy and great value every one of there people are a credit to their family that built the business read more

I LOVE this company! We had lost our battle with the ants last year and they were all over. Burge can spray inside and outside or one or the other. They suggested that we start with just outside and if it didn't work, they could come back and spray inside as well. Well they were in our walls so it was soon evident that the outside spray didn't work. They came super fast within a few days to spray inside and voila, all gone! This year, we also started to have ant problems again and I called Burge just saying that I had been a customer before and the next thing I know, they are at my house the next day! Fabulous service! read more

These guys saved us from a major ant infestation - we should have really called them sooner, rather than think we could deal with it. We just made it worse as the ants had time to build up inside our walls and we had ants in every room in the house. Came and dealt with the kitchen but had to come back as more ants popped up in other places. We finally have the situation under control thanks to Burge. Sometimes hard to get a hold of, or missed communications but they did get back to us. read more

Good communication, reasonable prices and they came out right away sprayed and we haven't had carpenter bees since. Really all you want in a pest control company. read more

I had ants in every room, and these were the kind that bite. When an ant dropped off my coat as I entered a friend's home, I decided it was time to hire a professional. I had tried the ant traps as well as a few other 'fool proof' solutions I found on Google, but the ants ignored them. Burge's was recommended by my son after they destroyed his ant infestation. I called and they were there the next day. There were still a few ants the next day, but today there is only one left...staggering around his dead relatives. Burge's is reasonable, and it's worth every dime to live without finding ants in my toothbrush. read more

We were pleasantly surprised at the same-day service for ant infestation spray-down. Thank you for the haste! Heavy indoor ant infestation due to heavy rain is no fun! Everyone's been thrilled with service and we're definitely putting saving Burge Pest Control to our phone's contact book for future ant and rodent infestations. read more

I'm a huge fan of Burge and re-submitting my review as since they solved our ant problem, they also stopped a termite issue dead in its tracks! Burge is responsive, the team is amazing, and I appreciate all the help they've provided us over the years! read more

Long overdue review. Called them in for a rat problem. They were able to send a technician within a few days, their prices were fair (and they had a chance to try selling an expensive whole house exclusion, but did not, instead taking an escalation approach), and the owner Rich (awesome guy, and always answers the calls personally) took the time to explain their services and the nature of rat problems around the East Bay. Ended up fixing my problem and preventing more rat issues for years after that. read more

Actually they charged us $125 (with repeated bills without discussing the issue). It felt like quite an insult on top of injury for a service that made our situation so so so much worse. It's been a memorable experience to be careful who you hire. We found Matt Beaman and he's been our new hero. read more

Rick and his workers have sprayed my yards for years. Honest, reliable. I'm sticking with the best. Thank you guys!

I don't post poor reviews unless it's really necessary as a small business owner myself i try to be responsible about negative reviews. Burge Pest Control made an appointment with me to treat my small business and no call no showed the appointment ( i waited an hour and a half) I got a call 2 days after the appointment ( today) was barely apologized to ( "oh i must have put it on the wrong day")and asked if i want to reschedule. I said "if you want to accommodate me for not showing up or calling if not, no thank you" and the man on the phone said " ok" any hung up. Unprofessional, inconsiderate and rude guys. We can do better than this! Lauren read more

I reached out to Rich as we had a yellow jacket nest ~ 40' up in our decaying palm tree. He came by to provide an estimate and spent time looking up and did not see a flight path and he didn't feel right spraying "just because". His pricing was extremely fair, especially with the height of the nest and was astronomically lower than a couple of larger companies that provided quotes. Rich's integrity and honesty were front and center and although we ultimately did not need his services, will only consider reaching out to Burge Pest Control in the future. read more

I scheduled a date for them to come out prior to my move out date for a home I was renting. I scheduled this a little over a week and half out. They took my information down and thought it was set. The week before I followed up with them about a confirmation and got no response and followed up again a few days later and still nothing. I had to find another company to come out on short notice. It's unprofessional and bad business to book an appointment and drop all communications and not show up at all. read more

Been using Burge as a renter for all different types of typical east bay pests: ants (yup, they got rid of 'em), mice (gone!) and even a juvenile rat that found it's way in to our home by eating through a wall. Each time they have come they have searched the home inside and out for entry points, layed traps that caught the mice, and helped us to see where pests were coming in and how to control it. Kind, informative, professional service each time. They get the job done! read more

Rich walked us through a copy of a home inspection report that was performed by another company. He could have easily told us that we needed $6,000 of pest work, and we would have unknowingly paid for it. Instead, he honestly explained what each item of the report meant, and I'll be able to do most of the work myself for the cost of a $5 wire brush and a $15 bottle of Green Copper. I really appreciate Rich for his honesty and integrity and for saving us thousands of dollars. read more

Have been working with Burge for a couple of years now for my home in Oakland, as it was recommended by my property manager. Everyone I have worked with is very kind, knowledgeable and professional! Service is fast!! Supporting local businesses is the best. read more

I've been using their service since 2015 and it was good then. Easy to get a hold of somebody. The techs were friendly and gave courtesy calls the day before. Fast forward to today. Nobody returns calls. They Dont reply to emails. Poor service especially communication. They just want your money and they're gone. Highly recommend to avoid this terrible business. read more

Called on a Friday with what I thought was a "small rat problem". They came on Monday (even earlier than they said) and informed me I had a "large rat problem", here's where the 5 stars come in. The owner (Rich?) spoke on the phone with me for half an hour about what they do, how they do it, and why certain traps were unsafe and even inhuman. The guys who came to set up traps/remove bodies over the coming week were amazing. One came even after his shift was done. They were also incredibly intelligent, nice, and the whole team seemed like just good people. Hope the rats never come back, but if they do, this is whomst I'll be dialing. read more

I have used Burge in the past for various reasons (wasp nest in the garden, moth infestation, etc) always with great success. So, of course, I called them yesterday. I have a somewhat useless (OK very useless), but adorable cat that believes in catch and release only. I awoke to find kitchen mayhem with obvious signs of a mouse or, God forbid, a rat; PANIC STATIONS! This time I did not use them, because when I called Burge and spoke with Rich he said I had mostly done his job and he would rather I try and get the rodent on my own first so he didn't have to charge me 300.00 dollars. Rich went into great detail about exactly what to do and I followed his directions implicitly. Success, I got the offender this morning! Thanks so much for your help Rich. read more

I needed this companies expertise quickly upon discovering that someone had brought bedbugs into my rental apartments for the first time in my many years in the multifamily hospitality business. I was given some quick advise on the pros and cons of different treatments and decided to go with a spraying of the infected apartment after agreement with my tenants. It took about 5 spray appointments as the bugs deeply embedded themselves inside a thick fabric headboard on the subject bed where my tenants where getting bitten. The Burge Company was fully professional from the owner and his wife or assistant to the hired workers who came out and cared to achieve good results, and proving their great attitude by spraying again and again until those bedbugs died off after 4 to 6 weeks. The pricing I paid was an excellent bargain and very fair ... and I would recommended using this local family oriented company because they have a nice way of explaining choices and getting the result we all want...no more bedbugs and happy tenants. RJZ 8/4/2018...Oakland read more

Mitchell was very professional, courteous, friendly and he knew his stuff. He has really good advice. The appointment was scheduled really promptly, and they assured me that with the type of infestation I had, I didn't need a contract, which had been otherwise offered to me by unscrupulous firms. I paid a one-time service, continued to treat on my own for a couple of weeks and was done, just as they had said. I highly recommend this serious and honest business! read more

We have used Burge Pest Control for 7 years now upon a friend's recommendation and we have been extremely happy. We first used them when we had ants in our house and couldn't get rid of them. Now we use them 1-2x year for regular maintenance. They are knowledgeable, prompt, effective, reasonably priced and a pleasure to work with! Highly recommend. read more

It is a rare and beautiful thing to find a company that seems to hire only friendly and competent people, does effective work, AND is the lowest cost! That is Burge Pest Control in a nutshell. The people are all real and talk to you like they have known you for a while. They are a family-owned company for three generations. They are honest about what does and does not work, and they are reasonably priced. I thank them so much as it is inspiring to find a company with all of these attributes. I particularly liked working with the owner and with Bridget, who sealed up my house so no more rodents could try to gnaw their way inside. Thanks, Bridget! read more

PM company hired Burge to set traps in our yard, but the onus was on us to contact them afterwards to check the traps. Despite numerous calls and messages, they failed to return. Unfortunately, the PM company had to compel them to return to reset the traps (weeks later.) The most annoying part was that I had to endure the owner's lamentations of Trump during our initial visit and didn't care for him to return to complete the terms of his contract. He even had the audacity to tell me that "Trump has done so much for the Blacks!" That's too much ignorance to accept from a business that provided such terrible service. If you hire them, be aware that their follow through is atrocious. read more

Rich called me back promptly, asked me to send a photo and told me that it was a mud dauber nest on my living room ceiling, not wasp or hornet, and harmless. The other place I called didn't say more than "I can send a guy out on Monday for $150." Thanks, Rich! You saved me $150 and three days of worry. read more

Honest advise and services that do not pressure you into monthly reoccurring expenses. I appreciate how knowledgeable and genuine the owner was on the phone about how many treatments, where and what areas to treat would be the best. I have a small laundry room that I needed sprayed for spiders. Everywhere I called where forcing me into monthly services and spraying inside my house. I am pregnant and already have an infant in the house and really did not want to spray inside. Plus, I don't even have a spider issue in the house, it was only in the small part of basement off the side of the house. The owner advised to spray the small laundry room and the outside area surrounding. It's been almost 2 months and still not a spider or web insight. I'm living a spider free life and loving every moment of it. I will definitely continue to use this company for the next time my laundry room needs a "touch up". Also, the man who came to spray was very professional and kind. read more

My experience with Burge Pest Control was not great. I found them on Yelp and they were well-reviewed, hence my scheduling with them. Granted, I was calling right before the holidays and Rich was trying to coordinate between me and my landlord to get things handled, so I understand some things getting lost in the translation, but every time I spoke to someone it seemed like they had me down for a different problem--and never the correct one. Additionally, a scheduling problem arose from the fact that Rich thought we were in Berkeley when we're in SF. However, in spite those complaints, he was generally professional and after realizing his mistake, he assured us that someone would see us that day. Steve, the actual guy who came to spray, was not so great. He spoke poorly of Rich (repeatedly), was incredulous when he realized he had been misinformed about our location, and was generally not very confidence inspiring. When I spoke to him about the problem he seemed like he wasn't entirely well-informed (didn't know basic stuff I had found on Google), although his attitude did change once he arrived and he was fine throughout the time he was in our home. So my advice to Yelpers would be to either triple confirm why they think you are having them out and where you're located or possibly use another service. To Rich I'd say you're a nice guy, but if you are reading this, hire an office assistant to coordinate your bookings or get an online system. Also, Steve could use some training on handling things when they don't go as expected. read more

We have been using Burge for a good 15 plus years. I would not use anyone else. Period the end! They do not require that you sign up for a regular plan and every time they come the problem is taken care of. Nicest guys ever. Price is right. Love them! read more

Do you remember watching Arachnaphobia as a 9 year old? When I was in boarding school in Illinois, the people in charge of taking care of us on weekends screened this movie.. and I still have no idea why. This movie is what nightmares are made of. It's possibly even scarier now that I live in an area where black widows are found and brown recluse spiders are suspected. Two years ago, I moved out of my comfortable little apartment in SF into the Oakland Hills and found myself LIVING through the movie. Not a day went by without me seeing at least one spider. Some days, I would see three. On the ceiling over my bed, in the bathtub, or in my toilet, these awful creatures were lurking behind every corner, tormenting me. This, of course, became an even larger issue when my daughter was born. I can't tell you how much sleep I lost after we found a wolf spider in her crib. (I read somewhere that where there are wolf spiders, there are likely black widows. Eek.) The day I saw a tiny black scorpion in my bathroom just steps from where my daughter slept, I decided we either had to PACK UP AND MOVE RIGHT AWAY (which was tempting but, oh, not quite as feasable) or to find some exterminators who could help me take care of our...... problem. We signed up for a plan with Burge Pest Control that involved one spraying indoors, and a regular maintenance spraying immediately outside our home. Being a stay at home Mom now, I am home A LOT and I have never heard them come or go. I've never gotten a phone call from them letting me know they were coming or leaving. I just get invoices on our door. Sometimes I wonder if they ever even showed up... but you know, it's been over a year and I've probably only seen a dozen or so spiders across this entire timeframe. And for where I live up in these wooded hills, that's pretty darn awesome. read more

I found a recommendation about Burge Pest at the Berkeley Parents Network. I completely forgot to check yelp for reviews. My cardinal rule is anyone with more than 5 negative out of 27 is too many and I'd never do business with them. Anyway, I called them, they sent someone quickly yet the problem are the follow-ups. I had a rat problem. I called twice to report a half dead rat who was dragging itself with the trap. As you can imagine, i was terrified and disgusted. I called three times in one day and got no answer. I even sent an email via their webpage and still,no one called. Then It clicked me to read yelp. I am disappointed with the negative reviews and I agree with them since I'm experiencing the lack of follow up. The guy who came to my house the first time stayed 20 minutes. He placed two traps inside the house and some black boxes with poison outside in the yard. They DO NOT FIX any holes around the house nor cover them. Please be aware. Other services included repairing the holes. I took Burge because they did not pushed me in to signing an ongoing service contract. I feel ignored and terrified with this half dead rat in my kitchen; and...did I say I also call because of dead animal stench? Well, no answer after my frantic call. 11/15/2016 Update: I finally got a hold of the owner. He sounds nice and friendly and will finally send someone after 1 week of my frantic call. I guess my rat terror is not considered an emergency so brace yourself since there's no 911 rat patrol read more

I'm writing this review because I'm a firm believer in supporting good, honest and trustworthy people. I called Burge Pest Control (Rich) today to speak about a termite issue that I have in my fence. He provided me great information on how to handle the issue on my own instead of trying to upsell me on services that I don't need. Rich is the kind of professional that deserves all the high level reviews he's received on Yelp and although I don't wish to need his services in the future, if I ever do he will be the first and only person I call. read more