I am a ten + year customer who has had enough of Terminix. They have changed much for the worse. Due to service lapses and blatant lying on their part I have cancelled them.
Their service technician has missed scheduled appointments twice in a row. Each time, I called their 800 number to confirm that I had the correct time. The second time around, the tech actually called me to re-confirm the appointment time beforehand, but STILL was a no-show at the time of appointment, and then left a misleading message after he had missed the appointment that implied that I had the time wrong. I double checked with the call center. I had it right.
Their 800 number is pure misery to deal with. I am routinely put on hold for five minutes or more at a time, multiple times per call, and while most of the call representatives have been courteous, the last one constantly interrupted me and argued with me (I am in customer service myself -- this is a habit that will kill anyone's business) and she blatantly lied to me when I requested that she not to put me on hold to call the technician but instead transfer me to a manager. She told me directly she was transferring me to a manager, then called the tech anyway while I held for minutes and minutes.
Then she got back on the line and began to argue the tech's side of the story with me.
Don't lie to me like that!
Because I am not in the vicinity of my property, I have had to pay a person twice to go over to my property and wait for two hours while the tech was a no call-no show. The person I pay is a friend of mine, I am deeply embarrassed that I have twice taken him away from his family and wasted his time.
I am not interested in trying for a third time!
Ever since Terminix began to move more and more of their service to remote call centers, they have become more and more difficult to deal with. There once was a time when I could get through to their people at the office in Bridgeville PA. No more.
While I was on hold at their call center, I was able to find a competitor online, pick up my other phone, dial him, speak directly to the service provider, and schedule service. Remarkable.
And his price was lower -- much lower. Better service at a lower price spells trouble for Terminix. And my new guy will use the same traps and the same chemicals, and he is more responsive, easier to get along with, local, and less expensive. Terminix has paid a little more for a fancier website, but my new guy's website is professional, and contains links to the same information Terminix provides on theirs.
Terminix has a revolving door of technicians. They come, they go. This is a problem for customer service, especially in my case where there are tenants involved to contact.
Perhaps the most interesting thing of all is this: I recently had my property inspected by a certified inspector in preparation for sale. In the Insect Inspection Report section, the inspector found "No Evidence Of Past Treatment" Amazing.
I am left now to wonder if all of the thousands of dollars I spent with Terminix over the years was for next to nothing -- if their techs just finessed my tenants most of the time like they tried this week to finesse me, and never did much of anything at all.
After being lied to, inconvenienced, and being put hold for so long so many times, I am as frustrated and disappointed with Terminix as I have ever been with any vendor I've ever dealt with.
This is only the second review I have ever written online, I am not a complainer. But in this case, I needed to speak up if only to save other people from this misery. read more
