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This is Roger Tinker, owner and General Manager of All Star Pest Control. I would like to discuss how
your guarantee works and more specifically the things you should not do yourself. The things I am
going to discuss probably apply to most Pest Control Companies.
I am going to cover 4 things that would void your Guarantee.
1. Servicing your house while it is under contract for us to service.
Our contract states that you guarantee is void if you do any servicing yourself. I want to explain why.
I am first going to ask you this question. If you have a meal on your table to eat and then someone
sprays hair spray or even Lysol over the food, are you going to eat the food? I know that I am not
going to.
Now, I am going to talk about roach baits that are used in the kitchen. Baits are food based products
that
Have a very low dose of a pesticide in them that the roaches cannot taste. These baits are very
effective, but they do take time to work. Baits are ruined when customers use sprays after the bait
placements have been made. The baits are contaminated if you spray something within several feet
of the bait.
If a non-repellent pesticide is used around the perimeter of a house to get the ants to crawl
though it so that they can be killed. Bear in mind that non-repellent pesticides are a lot more expense
that repellant pesticides. The insects will die quickly if you spray each individual insect, but the others
will run away, and no control is achieved. Most products available to the homeowner are repellant
pesticides.
2. Good Housekeeping and Sanitation is a must!
Roaches and other insects hide in your cabinets. Baits need to be applied so that a roach can find the
bait no further than 12 inches from any direction that the roach decides to travel. Cabinets cannot be
cultured for this reason. Food debris must always be removed, or the roaches will eat the crumbs
instead of the bait. Guarantees are void if Good housekeeping and sanitation conditions are not
maintained.
3. Federal regulations must be followed by both of us.
All pesticides have labels that must be followed. There are fines levied when the labels are not
followed.
Labels vary somewhat but most pesticides used for general pest control allow retreatments after 10 to
21 days. The majority of pesticides allow retreatment after 14 days. What this means is that a
company cannot retreat one week later as that would be in violation of the label. I want to point out
that the government sends inspectors to all pest control offices, and they will impose stiff fines if the
labels are followed. We explained to our customers that if extra service is needed that it must be done
exactly 14 days after their regular service day. I very strongly want to point out that the regulations
mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency are for the benefit and Protection of all of us, both
consumers and the Pest Control technicians. We should Always find a way to follow the laws instead
of looking for ways to get around them. Pesticides will cause no harm when used properly, but not
following labels can have consequences that are good for all of us.
4. And last but not least, your account must be up to date for your Guarantee to be valid.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or if I can help you in any way.
