Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:10/12/2022

  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.

  On August 19th I reached out to Rob at Pittsburgh Pest Control because I found evidence of bed bugs on my mattress. I did shop around a little bit and I didn’t like that the warranties from other exterminators being less than 10 days because of the life cycle of the bed bugs. That meant that I could never use my warranty and would always be paying full price for treatment.
  After talking with Rob he told me that my total for an initial two treatments would be $961.93 (tax included) and that anything AFTER those treatments would be an additional $119.00 plus tax. But he did NOT offer a warranty. Rob did the first treatment on August 22, 2022 and we set up another appointment on Sept 8th between 2:00pm-4:00pm. At this point, as I reacted very badly to the bed bug bites, I slept on the couch to avoid any more bites.
  The second appointment came and while I was on the phone with Rob after he THEN told me that the bed bugs respond to CO2 and that since should have kept my normal routine in the bedroom despite any bites on my body. This was already considered the end of my treatment and if I wanted to I could purchase dry ice (which is dangerous to handle) and place it in the room to simulate a presents of CO2 to get the bed bug to crawl around on the chemical he sprayed.
  
  Please continue to read the rest of this story on the provided word document. I have also attached the screenshots of the texts & copies of the emails that I have received. However, I have removed all personal information from those invoices I apologize for this being such a long complaint.

  Business Response

  Date: 10/19/2022

  We would first like to thank the BBB for being here to mediate situations like these. We acknowledge this customer's concerns and appreciate the feedback. We have used this as a learning experience to better serve our customers. 

  We never want an unhappy customer and strive to provide a quality service and great customer experience. We have specific points we cover with all customers on every initial call and provide a consistent message throughout the process. 

  There's a lot of information to go over, we'll do our best to respond in a helpful manner. We would like to say that it's our opinion that the customer has misrepresented much of what has been posted here. 

  We provided this customer the same information we give all of our bed bug customers. We complete the initial bed bug treatment in two phases, completed two weeks apart. We treat the entire home on both visits. There is a 30 day warranty offered on the initial treatment only, we make no claim or guarantee of use of warranty. If the bed bug issue persists after the initial two services and it's outside the 30 days there is a fee for treatment. It is paramount that the customer identify where the bed bugs came in from and take the needed steps to reduce their chances of bringing bed bugs into the home again. It's also very important that the customer and anyone in the home go about their typical routine. The customer needs to complete preparation for us to complete the treatment and the customer has to be out of the home during the service and afterwards for a period of time. Payment is due in full at the time of service, the customer can use a check made payable to Pest Patrol Pittsburgh, cash, or Venmo. We will text the customer about 30 minutes ahead of time on each day of service. If the customer has questions we expand on any of these points for them, so that they have a full understanding of the process. 

  It is important to note that the customer identified the source of their bed bug infestation as their work place. During our initial conversation we asked the customer if they had made their bosses aware of this, they said they had not. During our last phone call we asked the customer if they had informed their work place of the issue, they said they did not. This is despite us explaining multiple times that they are at a high risk of reinfestation. 
  
  We have spent a good bit of time answering this customer's questions, often times the same question over and over again. We have spent a good amount of time sending this customer detailed explanations over email, only to have them claim they aren't receiving the emails, even though they receive our other emails. Even though the customer was no longer covered by the 30 day warranty, we still provided a free service for them.  
  
  This customer has ignored almost all of our suggestions for going about their typcial routine after the services by setting up multiple bedrooms or other sleeping areas in their home. They have not taken any steps, as of our last conversation at least, to protect from reinfestation, which starts with informing their bosses that their work place possibly has bed bugs and having the place checked and treated if needed. They have openly admitted, even in this complaint, to using home remedies such as steam after we treated each time.
  
  We mentioned above that we provided a complimentary service for this customer, this was after a conversation where the customer explained the bed bug issue had gotten so bad that the amount of bites may send them to the hospital. They also stated that their mattress had been covered so badly in blood stains from the bed bugs that they needed to throw it away, that they had bed bugs crawling all over them every night. During the complimentary service we observed absolutely no live bed bugs anywhere in the home. The dead bed bugs we found were all located in one spot in the bedframe and appeared to be older. There was a very small amount of blood staining on the mattress in what used to be the main bedroom, this was only visible after close inspection and had an older appearance. The other mattress - the customer set up a new bedroom despite us recommending against it - had no blood staining on it at all. This was all very surprising due to the customer's recent explanation of the bed bug infestation. 
  
  We understand dealing with a bed bug infestation, or any pest infestation, is a stressful time. We also understand that everyone has different reactions to situations like these. We have been responsive to all inquiries from this customer and have taken additional steps to help address the issue, including providing a complimentary service.