ComplaintsforGuardian Pest Control

• Initial Complaint

  08/05/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I signed a "Pest Control Agreement" with Guardian on June 5, 2023 for outdoor pest control and after the first initial service charge of $225.00 I agreed to pay $65.00 per month. I received service through July 1, 2024 but was unhappy with the last few services. I paid $65.00 per month for every service and was never late with a payment. I complained to the company about the service and was advised that the technician who usually serviced my property was no longer with the company. I advised the company that I was experiencing a lot of ants and I would do a service for August but if it didn't work out I would cancel my services altogether. I was scheduled for service on August 3, 2024 at 2:00 pm. The technician arrived at 2:09 pm and he left at 2:15pm. He said that the technician who was supposed to come wasn't available and he was a salesman who has been with the company for 18 years. He went into a small outdoor sunroom to spray and I complained that he didn't spray across all of the windows. I was standing outside to watch him. As he stood on the side of the front porch with the extermination spray I complained to him that he wasn't able to spray the entire front from the side but he said that he did. I am a Black senior female. He wanted to sell me additional services when I complained and said that I wasn't paying for the services that I was getting and that it wasn't on the work order. I called the company but they were already closed at 2:00 pm. I left a message on their answering service to cancel the service. I also told the salesman to cancel my service and to leave my property because we got into an argument about his service. He did very little, not even half the job but he lied and said that he did half the job. He did not leave a service slip/invoice nor did the company send me a bill. However, on Tuesday, August 5, 2024, they reported to the credit bureau for non payment and my score decreased 25 points. This is prejudicial and unfair practice. HELP

  Business response

  08/06/2024

  see attached pdf

  Customer response

  08/06/2024

   I am rejecting this response because:

  I am asking that the report that the Guardian Pest Control company falsely gave  to the credit bureau regarding non-payment for service be corrected because I was alerted by the credit bureau that my score decreased 25 points due to their false and erroneous report to the credit bureau. I have never been late with a payment nor have I ever missed a payment. 
  

  I never asked for my money to be returned, I stated that for services provided from the company I paid a total of $1,070.00 dollars. 

  Again, I am asking that the report that the Guardian Pest Control company falsely gave  to the credit bureau regarding non-payment for service be corrected because I was alerted by the credit bureau that my score decreased 25 points due to their false and erroneous report to the credit bureau.

  Thank You

  *******************************

   

   
  
  

  
  

  Business response

  08/07/2024

  Please have the consumer show some kind of proof of what she is complaining about regarding reporting anything to the credit bureau., Since I know the consumer will not be able to provide that.  First, this consumer does not have any outstanding balance with us so why would we report anything.  Second, we do not go through any collection agency or credit bureau so this statement the consumer is stating is false. 

  Customer response

  08/10/2024

   I am rejecting this response because: My statement is true because I received an alert from the credit bureau that my credit score decreased 25 points because of Guardian Pest Control. I reported the incident to the credit bureau because it was ridiculous since I had never missed a payment or had never been late making a payment. 
  
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  05/02/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I called the company April 1, 2023. They said the contract was 15 calendar days. A few days in, they offered to put a trap in our attic. We said yes. We allowed unlimited access to the attic. The next day he said he was not putting it in the attic when we asked. On April 20 I again asked him to place the trap. He told me no that fried chicken works in catching them. I was at work the next day when he came as said he saw no signs of activity and closed the contract. I called the business and they told me I was lying about the attic trap that we told their employee they could not put one up there. He also left out any notes that he found a nest in our attic. He lied on the paperwork he gave to us and his office. They said they would give us 3 additional days to catch them. By this time we already had another company coming out and told them not to bother because that it the same thing they had been doing and it didn't work. We paid them $535. There was no offer of a refund and we were told we were lying because the employee wrote down that we declined the attic trap. I would like a refund from this company at this point. They are extremely unprofessional and now I am going to be out even more money because I needed to call another company to come and do the work this one didn't do.

  Business response

  05/02/2023

  On 4/1/23 **************** signed the agreement attached with the nuisance wildlife checklist to start trapping for a female raccoon with babies in their attic.  She also signed up for temporary patches until they could get the animal damage permanently repaired.  The agreement 15 calendar guarantee that is shown on the agreement is from 4/3 to 4/18.  We trapped the whole time and even extended the trapping by a couple days for free to try to catch the female raccoon.  As you can see by all the nuisance Wildlife activity reports I have included there were days with no activity present and then days where there were activity.  There were also days where there was activity heard by the customer but nothing had gone through the monitor directly put over the entry point.  We looked for other entry points but did not see them.  My technician changed baits and even tried to get into the attic to set the traps but was denied by the older gentleman that was there as the original signer of the agreement was not there. We even did an attic inspection on the 18th and saw no animals in the attic and that there might have been nesting material but we did not know if it was old or new.  We closed the job on 4/21 without catching the female and closed up the holes with a wire mesh until the customer could get the hole fixed as per the agreement.  We did not hear back from the customer until a week later when the husband called and said they had someone look into their attic and see baby raccoons.  They also said they put a camera on the roof and saw the female.  They stated they heard activity every day for the 7 days after we left but did not call the office stating they were waiting to get a camera to capture something on camera.  The secretary also asked the husband if he read the ticket from the technician stating he was denied access to set traps in the attic and he said yes he had the ticket and still they never called the office about it.  ********** asked if there was a new hole since we patched the hole and the husband stated that the temporary patch was tore off by the animal.  Then **************** got on the phone and stated that my technician refused to set traps in the attic every day he was there but again never called the office at any time we were trapping to say this.  We spoke to our manager and we offered the customer to come back out and set a different lethal trap directly over the hole that the animal had got back in for NO CHARGE to the customer for a couple days until we caught the female in order to get the babies out even thought their guarantee period was expired.  **************** said fine send him out on Monday and that we now have free access to her attic if we need it and we set up the appointment.  In less that an hour the husband called back the office and cancelled the appointment without a reason.  We asked him twice if he was sure as we were coming out for free and he still cancelled.  Unfortunately **************** is calling my technician a liar even though she was never present when my technician was there and never called once during our efforts to trap to complain until a full week after we removed the traps and patched the holes.

  On our agreement it specifically states which the customer signed:  "Service charge is paid whether animals are trapped, repelled, or simply abandon the property during our efforts to trap.  NO REFUNDS."  We are dealing with a wild animal, and if a female raccoon, there is not telling what they will do.  We tried to help the customer to resolve their complaint originally but they denied the resolution on 4/28.

  Customer response

  05/03/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  While they believe their employee is telling the truth, that isnt the case. When they said they were going in the attic, we took everything out and took the doors off to allow it. There is no reason we would then turn around and deny access. Especially because I have only ever said to do what needs to be done to get them out. My daughter has not been able to sleep in her room since this all started because the attic access is in her room. I have made it 100% accessible. I was told he was taking orders from his manager. I work so no I was not here most days. I was here April 20 when I asked the technician to put the trap in the attic and begged him to do whatever he needed to get them out. He told me he was placing fried chicken in the trap because that always works. He also said we always get them. Ive never seen a raccoon avoid the trap like this. I understand he thinks he saw no activity however, the raccoon would climb over the mesh and it would look like nothing changed. We saw this on camera. We now not only still have the problem but multiple other entry points. Our mistake was not calling because we were told this was coming from management. So much could have been avoided had they placed the trap in the attic as the technician said he would. He declined twice but because he wrote that down he must be telling the truth. My daughter has not been able to use her room for over a month and we are still having the issue with who knows what amount of damage in the attic and walls. This is taking an emotional toll on us. We are losing sleep and now being accused of lying. Its unacceptable.

  Business response

  05/04/2023

  Obviously all of this is "he said she said".  The REAL FACTS are that we offered to come back out and trap for a couple more days to help this customer at no charge to them but they refused.

  Customer response

  05/04/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:

  Yes, we did refuse. The solution was to again place a trap on my roof which hadn't worked up until this point. My main concern out of all of this at this point is that the things that were written were false. I do not know why that would be but they are. This issue has dragged on longer than it needed to and it is still to be determined what the extent of the damage in my attic is. This has been going on for over a month now. My kids and I are losing sleep. Again, I am not sure what the damage will look like when this is over. The technician who came out was even surprised at how "smart" this raccoon is. I am not asking to be compensated for any damage that there may be. All I am asking for is a refund and that in the future the customer is given the benefit of the doubt. To call paying customers liars is extremely unprofessional no matter which way you look at it.

   

  
  

  Business response

  05/05/2023

  Again if you read the agreement you signed we do not give refunds and we did offer to come out for free to resolve the situation but you denied it.

• Initial Complaint

  04/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  *** from guardian pest control called and left a voicemail on my phone from an unknown number stating that she was calling from guardian pest control about my past due balance which I had called and spoke with someone and told them Id be paying today 4/14/2023. After previously speaking with someone and informing them that I had lost my job and started a new one would pay when I got paid again and they informed it was fine and they would send me a letter and they did. Well I got an unknown call today at 11:19 from ***. Stating they I need to pay my past due balance by Tuesday at 5pm or she would call the police on us. Again this is after previously speaking with someone. This is ridiculous I informed the person I spoke with Wednesday that I would be paying my balance on Friday. I dont know why she felt the need to threaten us which is very unprofessional and unnecessary.

  Business response

  04/14/2023

  The balance owed to our Company was from the end of January so well past 90 days.  There was no attempt to pay for this service from the customer before she lost her job.  We have no record of her calling into the office and speaking to anyone besides us sending her letters stating her account was past due.  We left her a message today (one of Many!) stating that we had every right as a business to file a claim with the police department for theft of service for the service we performed but did not get paid for that service.  The customer called to pay for the service ONLY after we left that message.  We are sorry to lose a customer but a business requires to be paid for the services they provide and not continually not get responded to for months.  

  Customer response

  04/14/2023

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  Actually I called Wednesday and let the woman on the phone know that I would be paying today when I got paid. I called her at 1:32 pm. Ive spoken with multiple people there in regards to the balance. She did not say you have the right she stated that you will call the police if we didnt pay which again is completely unprofessional on your part. The call from Wednesday is attached. So I spoke with someone Wednesday to inform them that I will be making a payment today when I got paid from my new job. You are completely making excuses for your employee to be unprofessional. Stating that we do have the right to call the police if payment is not rendered is different from saying we will call the police for theft of service l. You see how that is different. I have the voicemail 

  Business response

  04/24/2023

  We have cancelled your contract as per requested.

  Customer response

  04/24/2023

   Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

  
  

  Thank you.

• Initial Complaint

  02/23/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I had guardian to come out to treat my home for mice I was charged ****** and was told that should get rid of the problem it did not I received a call from them and was told someone would be in touch no one has called yet to address the problem so l I called and was told since it has been over two months it will cost me an additional $68.00 dollars I never stopped seeing mice

  Business response

  02/23/2023

  We went out to **************** on 12/22/22 and performed a service for mice.  The initial service was at total of $176.50 with tax.  She signed up for a monthly service which is needed for mice for $58.  It states on our agreement that The initial service is to control the current infestation and monthly service is required to prevent re-infestation.  Our company would never state that we would be able to get rid of mice in one service, as we never know if that is the case.  We did let her know on the agreement that she could expect activity possibly up to 10 days following service.  At that time if she was having any live activity after the 10 days she could have called the office and set up an extra treatment which is a free service under the guarantee of her agreement.  It is the customers responsibility to contact our office if that is the case as they are living in the home and know what is going on. It is a month to month service so if a customer does not take the monthly service when it needs to be rendered they void any guarantee (see contract where it states *********** is cancelled or skipped, guarantee is void").  If we do not hear from a customer we will routinely call the customer for the follow up monthly service (**************** monthly price is $58).  We tried to call **************** starting around 1/22/23 to set up her monthly follow up service but we kept getting a recording stating that the "subscriber was not in service".  We got that a couple of times and since that continued we sent a letter to **************** address to let her know that we possibly had the wrong phone number and to contact our office to give us a different contact phone number.  We never have heard back from **************** until today (2/23) stating she wanted her free service.  We told her we had been trying to contact her and she did not want to set up her monthly service.  We looked at our caller ID and the number on our caller ID stated the same number that tell us not in service.  We even tried the phone number again today and it continues to tell us not in service.  We will be more that happy to come out and do a monthly service for the $58 she agreed to.  

  Customer response

  02/23/2023

   I am rejecting this response because: how did he reach me if the phone was disconnected also I spoke to someone in the office that stated the person that came out would call me and never did I will not recommend this company to anyone the gentleman did not checked the outer perimeter to see were they were coming in at if he did it was never discussed with me. Truly disappointing 

  
  
  
  

  Business response

  02/27/2023

  We did have the original technician contact **************** and explain to her that he did go over everything with her when he was there doing the service.  ************** did find out that due to unforeseen reasons that is not anybody's fault the customer was not available for the service and did offer to come out and perform the monthly service at the price she agreed to on the agreement.  He left it at that and the customer appreciated the phone call. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Guardian came out and did service for me and informed me that they removed squirrels from the attic. However they never came back to remove a dead squirrel from the attic. One time a technician came and I didnt have the right key so he said h*** come back in a couple days never did. Ive tried to call this company several times to get a technician back out to complete the work. Very disappointing

  Business response

  05/31/2022

  ****************** hired our company to remove squirrels out of the attic at ************************************************** in *******.  She paid $385 for a 15 calendar day guarantee which ended on 5/2/22 and did not hire us for any patches or repairing the damage the squirrels did to the home to enter.  We started trapping on 4/16/22.  The traps were checked daily and monitoring was done on weekends.  We caught 3 squirrels and any squirrel activity going in and out of the hole was last seen at the property was on 4/28 when we caught the last squirrel.  On 5/5 we pulled the traps (3 days past her guarantee!!) as there was no activity for 7 days going in and out of the hole we had monitored for activity.  At that time we completed our service the ****************** hired us to complete and contacted her on her phone and left her a message on 5/5 that the trapping job was complete and she needed to have the hole sealed as soon as possible to prevent any further infestation of animals.  ****************** contacted our company on 5/11 stating that the tenant thought there was a dead squirrel in the attic and so we did try to go out on 5/12 to do an inspection but could not get into the property.  We again set an appointment to go into the attic and do an inspection on 5/17 when ****************** could meet us at the property.  We did the inspection and could not find any evidence of a dead squirrel and there was not a dead animal either.  We did notice that ****************** has sealed the hole where the squirrel damage was and there was mice poison ** in the attic that was not put up there by our company.  

  We have done everything ****************** hired us for and even went up and above what she paid for.  

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