Pest control services: Cost doesnt mean quality

By Kevin Brasler of Washington Consumers' Checkbook January 14 at 8:00 AM

Because we share our world with a mind-boggling number and variety of creepy crawlies, its almost inevitable that at some point youll be sharing your home with some of them. When it happens, you want them out now.

If youre ready to call in an exterminator, choose carefully: In a study of 88 local operators, Checkbook.org found big company-to-company differences when it asked area consumers to rate pest-control services they had used. Of the 88 companies, 12 were rated superior overall by 90 percent or more of their customers Checkbook surveyed, but 17 companies got such favorable ratings from only 50 percent or fewer of their surveyed customers.

Companies lowest ratings resulted from doing work that didnt solve the problem, but Checkbook also receives many complaints about companies failing to show up for appointments, sloppiness, alarmist termite inspections that lead to unnecessary work, inept inspections that fail to detect infestations and salespeople who push expensive, unnecessary annual contracts.

Youll also want to compare costs. Checkbooks mystery shoppers found large price differences. For example, to treat a house for cockroaches, some companies would charge less than $165 with a 90-day period of free follow-up while other companies would charge more than $270 with no free follow-up.

No matter what type of pest problem you have, dont assume you have to pay more to get good critter control; Checkbook found no relationship between price and quality. Some highly rated companies charge low prices, and some poorly rated companies charge high prices.

What needs to be done to solve your pest problem depends on whats bugging you. What follows is advice on what to consider when hiring an exterminator for the most common types of household pest problems.

If you must resort to chemical warfare, check labels for proper safety precautions and find out about possible health effects. If you use a professional, have the company provide a copy of the label from the pesticides they will use, determine up front how long the house must be vacated after application and how long the chemicals will be potent, be skeptical about safety claims, and insist that the company follow safety precautions.

Rodents, roaches, ants and stinging insects

Before you seek professional exterminating help, consider what you can do to remedy the problem. You can prevent or control most household pest problems by taking a few general steps: Cut off access to foods; keep your home as clean as possible (good luck, parents!); reduce or eliminate excess moisture; and seal cracks and other entry points. In addition to these preventive measures, you can place baits and traps and use sprays to rein in minor or moderate infestations. Doing what you can on your own usually will spare you the expense of hiring an exterminator and lessen the risk of exposure to pesticides that could harm your family or pets.

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Pest control services: Cost doesnt mean quality