The signs that tell you its time for a new Pest Control company....
There are a few subtle and not so subtle signs that your pest controller may not be doing a great job. If you are seeing your contractor in his van more than on the site, or in the company canteen eating breakfast you may need to look closer.
How many visits did you get in the last year? Did you get your full quota? This is the most common thing most of the bigger companies fail at every year. They take on more work than they can handle and it is you, the regular paying customer, is who suffers. Most contracts are for 8 or 12 visits per year at regular intervals - not 3 visits in December because they were too busy in the Summer!
How long is your contractor on site for? Because of workload pressures some companies "encourage" their staff to get around the site quickly so they can get to the next one, meaning they may be missing vital signs of pests.
When you ring up does the pest contractor pick the phone up? If you email do they reply? This seems fairly basic but lots of companies still can't get this right. When you contact them about an issue that is not covered and will cost extra, do they return your calls and emails straight away? If you feel you are being ignored when you have an issue covered by your payments, but the response is immediate when you have new work for the contractor, then it may be time to look for a new supplier if they are only interested in new sales and not customer service.
An obvious one but does your site have pest issues? If so you will have contacted the business in question to arrange a call out but have they actually been? If you are having regular pest issues and not seeing your contractor regularly then you have questions to ask. If they are putting poisons down they need to follow this up regularly by law.
When you walk the site do you notice the Rat and Mouse boxes around the site? Are they clean with new labels on or are they grubby and soiled with no labels or faded labels? The labels I am referring to are Rodenticide warning labels and it is a legal requirement for pest control businesses to have these on boxes that contain poison so that in the event of an accidental poisoning, you know by reading the label what the active ingredient is and you can pass the info to a vet for example.
Check your site file for number of visits you have received - you may be entitled to a refund
Check their reports or your signing in book for their time on site - does this correspond with how long it takes to walk around the site?
Contact the provider and see how long it takes for them to get back in touch
Are there rats running all over? Have you seen you pest contractor lateley?
Note if the boxes seem excessively dirty, labels are missing and the boxes look generally like they are not being touched.
Call a new company like Newcastle and Sunderland Pest Control on 07596 525 455, to see what we would do differently and how much we would charge........
Some companies date their boxes which provides written proof they are not regularly checking boxes
This box is full of cobwebs and autumnal leaves - in Summer!
No company logo on box and bait label displays something that is not being used inside
Rats nesting in rat box not checked since 2022....
100%
Audit compliance rate
2 hr
Average emergency response
24/7
On-call technician dispatch