We used them to apply a quarterly exterior barrier and I decided to call them when we had a rodent that destroyed a dishwasher. I did this without much forethought because an exterminator is an exterminator, right? This is our first home and I didn't know any better. Well, it turns out I made my worst personal decision in at least ten years by giving them the shot.
They sent out a "closer" type sales guy to perform a superficial inspection of our house that took less than ten minutes. No entrances for rodents were found. (The company we hired to clean up after Stark found 6). It should be noted that he never looked in the attic or got on the roof. You know, where these rodent things get in the house and where most of the activity occurs. The sales guy sold us a trapping service for $300. He acted like it would be a piece of cake and we wouldn't have a care in the world if we just signed on the line that was dotted. We've since learned from talking to three wildlife services that trapping should never be sold without sealing up the property. I don't have time to call ten wildlife experts, but this seems to be a consensus opinion in the industry. The right process is to seal up the home, and if they're out of the house they're out, and if they're in the house, they can be trapped. No reputable wildlife service will just sell trapping. The Sales Closer was either ignorant of the process (what I think) or wanted to make a quick commission on $300.
A couple of days later, their wildlife guy came out and laid traps where there was feces. It should be noted that he never went in the attic. We removed the nest from under the dishwasher but there was only minimal activity under the stove. It shouldn't have been the focal point of the traps. We can fast forward without mentioning much besides the fact that the wildlife guy only comes once and they send the guy who sprays for ants. You can tell it's like the last thing he wants to do. They missed appointments. We had to get on them to come out. The traps snapped five times without catching the rat bastard and they didn't change tactics for weeks even though we told them it was a juvenile. I don't know if they do this as a hobby but it's obvious a lot of "101" level concepts haven't been mastered here.
We're about a month into this thing without ANY success. The rodents are doing serious damage to our property. We had to replace a dishwasher initially, then an AC condensate line, patch the hot water line in four places, and repair soffits and drywall where the plumbers got access. The bill for all that is $2,000 and all but $750 would have been avoided by calling a competent company. Stark continues to come out at an irregular interval. After much prodding, they finally put traps into the attic, which consisted of sticking their head in our access and laying a trap within arms length. THEY NEVER GO INTO THE ATTIC!
After about six weeks, they stop coming. They tried to book a consultation for an exclusion, but it seems like an upsell because it was never talked about, and the Sales Closer didn't find any rodent accesses on our property. Also, they said it was at least $1500. I left a scathing but fair review on Google and their service supervisor Roger called me. It has to be mentioned that they were not going to come out again if we didn't damage their online reputation.
Now we have the big guns out at our property. Two service supervisors and the wildlife guy. Their tone was smirky and jovial even though rodents have been destroying our house after contracting them for six weeks, and they've been spraying our property for two years and didn't notice a thing. So their prescription, I guess, was to go on a charm offensive. Again, I should mention that nobody at this company seems to have a care in the world. After saying "we don't usually do this for free" at least five times, COCKY service supervisor Scott McConville agrees to put up forty cents of wire mesh and foam at an entrance point.
Almost done here. Two days after this insane value add was bestowed on us from the smirky service supervisor (this guy looks like he's on a permanent sugar high) I see the same juvenile rodent in my soffit cover. I call him and ask after 7 weeks, quote, "what's the end game here?" He doesn't have an answer. He performs a few minutes of baseless speculation about a cap missing from a vent abutting a gable. But I don't have a vent. He said there could be further holes on the roof, and I ask why that wasn't inspected the two times his guys were on my property, the second time was over an hour. He said they're corporate and need a contract and harnesses to get on the roof, but he would be happy to come out and put traps in the soffits. The final straw was when he said they don't know if they'll ever be able to get the rodents out of my house.
Don't ever ever ever ever use this company. read more
