Ultimate Pest Control? Try ultimate rip off artists. After several years of good service, Blake the guy who had been handling this area turned it over to a new guy. Blake had always been great. The new guy, not so much. When Blake first came out here years ago, he set us up on an every other month, only in hot weather, schedule. He did this because all we need is wasp control, and that's the only time they can treat for wasps. Then the new guy starts.
1)the new guy showed up at our door unannounced, in Oct, and was rude when we told him we did not need service in the cold weather.
2)he called here in Feb and again his attitude was that we were doing something wrong by not having him come out for a service call in the cold weather (I had snow on the ground the day he called). It seemed as if he wanted to come up and make some money and he expected everyone up in this area to accommodate him and agree to a service call because he was going to be up here anyway.
3)when I called him in April to come out, he was again rude and insulting and informed us that since we had refused service in the past they would have to charge us at the one-time rate for service calls (over $250 per call) or I could pay a "reinstatement fee of $100 some odd, for the first call and $70/month thereafter, as long as I did not interrupt service again (IE monthly fee all year long).
His entire attitude was rude and he acted as if I was treating him badly by not buying new unwanted services, accommodating his schedule, and for wanting to stick to the schedule we had been using for several years. I was made to feel as if I was the bad guy for not just doing as I was told. Now maybe this works in some areas with some people, but it is NOT good business. Nor is trying to coerce customers into buying unwanted unnecessary services. Nor is changing the rules in the middle of the game.
I called Blake to find out what was going on and the new guy called back immediately after I spoke to Blake, but his attitude was not much better, and the attempts to extort added fees and costs, and more frequent service, was only slightly diminished.
Yesterday he called back again, apparently in response to my having left a message for Blake, telling me that they would do me the favor of only charging me a $90 some odd "reinstatement" fee. He was unclear if they would still insist on a $70 monthly fee, or if they were going to charge me $70 per call after the "reinstatement" fee. He was also unclear as to whether they would charge me a "reinstatement" fee every year because I would not continue service through the cold weather, or if they would honor the schedule I had had with Blake after the first "reinstatement" fee.
What I am asking for is exactly what we have been doing for years now, the same schedule of service (every other month only in warm weather, essentially March through Sept) at about the same fee (I have never had an issue when Blake tells me he needs to up the price because of inflation, that sort of thing is understandable and expected, that is not what I am talking about). The fact that my wanting to continue the existing service under the existing terms, is now seen and treated as bad behavior, and that it requires punitive "reinstatement" charges, is not only insulting, it is unprofessional. And to try and make it seems as if this unprofessional behavior is my fault for not having honored a new schedule that I knew nothing about, that I do not and have not ever wanted, needed or discussed with the company, a new schedule that is not about offering me better service but is instead designed to line the company's pockets at my expense, is adding insult to injury
Frankly at this point I no longer trust Ultimate Pest Control, and I want nothing to do with this new guy. I do not like him nor do I trust him. I have serious concerns about his honesty and the quality of service I will get from him even if the company does agree to continue the service and fee schedule we have been using for the past several years. He has continually blamed the company, saying these decisions are out of his hands. Yet we never had any such issues with Blake. The sad part is I do not know if he can be believed and the company is the one pushing this, or if he is just trying to pump up his income and doing this on his own. Bottom line though is that it doesn't matter. I will not have him on my property, nor will I work with any other UPC employee other than Blake. I realize that Blake is not coming up here anymore, and I appreciate that his servicing us would be a hardship for him, so I fully understand his not wanting to come up here. Given that, I will look for another company to service our property, or I will start doing it myself.
Sad that they destroyed a business relationship that had been ongoing for years. Sad that they treat customers so poorly. Sad that a once decent business has become a scam factory. read more