Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/25/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Aug 15, 2024 - Date of Transaction $575 paid in full via Zelle to *** Pied Piper Exterminating Contract for mole removal from our yard with a 1 year guarantee In August *** came out and set mole traps, but did not return to check them as often as he said he would (every-other-day or daily at one point is what he said the schedule would be). Weeks went by with no visits. *** said he had health issues. On Sept 13 *** came out and removed the last mole trap. *** said he caught a mole and would send me a photo later, but did not send a photo. My exterior surveillance video shows him removing an empty trap. By Sept 23 he had not yet returned to set new traps, and we had ongoing mole activity. On Sept 24 I let *** know he was not upholding his end of the agreement because he had stopped setting mole traps and that our contract was broken and I requested a refund. *** declined a refund and said I should take him to small claims court. He then asked for 30 days to give a full refund and explained he spent the money on caring for feral cats. I agreed. It's been 30 days and now *** says he has a family emergency and would like 1 more week. Then he asked for 2 weeks. He said if I file a complaint with the BBB "I will make it a point to make sure you never receive a *****" and he ended the text conversation. This is purely a cancelled business transaction that needs to be refunded.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 02/20/2025

  This property is a vacation rental with a fenced in yard and a small patch of grass outside the fence. The mole problem was predominantly in the fenced in part of the yard, which I was not permitted to go into because of the tenants' dogs. I was unable to place traps in that area of the yard, only in the small patch of grass outside the fenced in portion of the backyard. I told her that we could catch the moles on the outside of the fence, but if I can't place traps on the inside of the fence, I can't catch moles there. 

  I did take a picture of the mole I removed, but when I spoke to this customer on the phone she was frustrated and told me not to bother sending the photo, she just wanted me to start coming out every day to check the traps. I started coming out more often, but there wasn't much activity in the small patch of grass outside the fence. I again explained to her that I would need access to the fenced in part of the yard and she declined. I would have gladly gotten rid of the mole problem had I been able to access her whole yard.

  I did offer this customer a partial refund, which she refused. I ultimately agreed to provide the full refund, but we did have a lot of personal tragedy (multiple cancer diagnoses and deaths) in the family hit around this time and we needed to travel to take care of family, which cost a great deal of money. I let this customer know that she needed to give me some additional time to provide the refund, to which she replied that she was going to file a complaint with the BBB. I'm still willing to provide her the refund, but ask that she be patient as we try to recover financially from the last few months of tragedy. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/20/2025

   
  The response from Pied Piper is not accurate. 
  1. The mole problem was predominately outside of my fenced yard where we have a manicured grass lawn that was getting destroyed by mole activity. *** was welcome to enter the fenced yard between guests, who typically stayed on weekends. Prior to beginning, *** indicated he could treat the fenced area without traps and that limited access would not be an issue as he would set traps in the grass where the moles were creating mole hills, and then use gas on tunnels inside the yard. *** assured me that this multi-pronged approach would be successful with a year guarantee. 
  2. I have requested the photo of the mole he claims to have trapped, and at no point have I told him not to bother sending a photo. The photo does not exist because my video of our side yard shows him pulling up an empty trap. 
  3. Rod came out less and less often, despite saying he would come more often, and there continued to be mole activity in our manicured lawn outside of our fenced in yard. 
  4. I did agree a partial refund, but no payments were made. I did agree to allow additional time for a full refund, but no payments were made. *** asked for 30 days, and then 1 additional week, and then another additional week. That was back in September 2024, and it is now February 2025 and no efforts to refund have been made over the last 5+ months. I am happy to hear that *** would like to provide a refund.  

  

  Business Response

  Date: 04/01/2025

  I have been told by personell at BBB that they do not expect me to 100 percent refund every ******. I serviced that account on  7 different occasions and my time and expertise has value.  I will offer to refund 50 %  of the job amount. No more and no less. Please let me know if this is acceptable to BBB
  I have been a faithful member and pay my dues monthly for representation and I am asking BBB to advocate for a quick resolution to this matter. I will refund 50% of the contract price. We require 30 days to process a refund as we are a very small company and lack the financial ability to refund any faster.
  My cell is ************ if you need to speak with me. This matter needs to be quickly resolved .
  Sincerely, *** ******, Pied Piper Exterminating  llc.
  

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 04/01/2025

   
  Complaint: 22474178
  

  Hello,
  
  It has been six months since *** ******/Pied Piper agreed to refund a prorated amount of $527 (September 24, 2024). This was calculated based on the original $575 covering a full year of mole patrol ($575/12 months = $48 per month). Subtracting one month of service from the full payment for services rendered ($575 - $48) calls for a refund of $527. I am perplexed by Rods message stating that he is advocating for a quick resolution as I have been patiently awaiting a resolution and refund for over six months. I do not accept the proposed resolution to allow 30 days for a 50% refund.
  
  It is worth noting that I recently hired another mole patrol company, and they caught a mole within two weeks of setting traps. I have had no more mole hills since then.
  
  I am prepared to proceed to small claims court and I have full documentation of *** McCalls agreement to refund $527 in September 2024 and his request for 30 days to pay. In October, he requested two more weeks to pay. No refunds have been made at any time in the last six months. I have repeated texts from Rod where he agreed to refund $527. This ongoing BBB Complaint appears to have run its course. This is purely business and not personal. I did not receive the services that I paid for and I am due a prorated refund which Pied Piper agreed to provide by October 24, 2024. 
  
  Thank you,
  Hillary