BEWARE: Pest Control Company Scam (Raleigh, Star: house, crawl space, transfer)
Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, CaryThe Triangle Area
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In respect of the TOS, I'm not publicly naming any company, but I want to let members know what I recently experienced so they avoid this scam.
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There was a rodent/likely mouse inside a wall of my living room, scratching. Hired a local pest control company to come out and capture whatever was scratching.
Technician came out the next day. Naturally, the rodent was completely silent during the visit and only started back up again after the tech guy left. The technician looked around the perimeter of my house outside, sprayed around, looked in the crawlspace, looked for points of entry, *took pictures* and texted the pics to me.
Tech guy didn't see any mouse, didn't hear any mouse, and didn't capture the one that was scratching at the wall...he said that's an inside wall and there isn't anything he can do about that. He said he put down bait around the house and in the crawlspace, and sprayed around for bugs in general.
Two pictures he sent me were to show me termite trails in my crawl space and on the ground. He recommended I get that treated immediately, of course, and said he'd send quotes for that. Their goal is to get the homeowner on a monthly service contract for recurring revenue.
===>Here's where it gets interesting:
- The 2 pictures he sent me were "screenshots" from his phone (see below) Meaning: not original pictures taken at my house of my house. They show termite trails. The implication: there is termite activity at my house.
I realized the scam being tried -- show the homeowner pictures of random termite trails and pretend that's the homeowner's home and tell the homeowner it's a problem that needs remediation. BUSTED!
The scam may work on lots of people, but I saw right away what was going on when I took the time to examine the pictures. Luckily, the technician was an idiot who didn't realize what he was doing and simply sent screenshots from his phone and hadn't cropped out anything. I'm techie enough to look for things like exif/meta data on a photo sent to me.
So, beware of unscrupulous companies and the games they play!
===>Suggested Solution:
If you have a technician at your home, hand them a small piece of paper that you write on yourself in heavy black marker - write the date, the time, your last name, then instruct the tech, that piece of paper you handed to them, showing what you wrote, *must* be included in any photo they take of something they want to show you they found at your property, so it will prove it's YOUR house, YOUR crawlspace, YOUR ground...whatever. Every single picture they take has to have that piece of paper included in their picture. And, they must give that piece of paper back to you before they leave -- don't let them keep that paper.
That will help avoid the scam. An honest technician won't have a problem with that instruction.
Good catch and being alert....!! I know my crawlspace well and could easily tell if the photos didn't come from there, but just for grins I would have requested him to physically show me what he claimed to see inside the crawlspace right then and there. I guess they figure most homeowners would never do that or aren't familiar enough with their crawlspace areas.
Update: I spoke to the senior manager about my concerns this afternoon.
He said he believes there was miscommunication...he said the technician had used his personal phone to take pictures (which they are not supposed to do) and the tech had to transfer those 2 pictures from his personal phone to the company phone and that's how it ended up getting to me as a screenshot. Whatever. I told the manager I couldn't verify those pictures and couldn't trust what I could not verify. He said he understood.
He said he knows I won't be using their company, but he strongly encouraged me to get the termite situation inspected at my house because he said the technician *did see* those trails, those 2 pictures are at my house (under the crawl space near the porch area) and it's not something I should skip or handwave away. The guy also clarified it was *not* a termite inspection I got, it was just something the technician noticed when he was in the crawl space looking for rodent activity.
For the record, I don't go into the crawl space, period. It's deep, one has to literally crawl on their knees, and it's where the monsters hide :O.
Resolution: The company is debiting back the full fee they charged, and I'm going to reach out to get termite inspection/quotes from a couple other companies (companies I specifically saw recommended here on C-D), and go from there.
Good catch and being alert....!! I know my crawlspace well and could easily tell if the photos didn't come from there, but just for grins I would have requested him to physically show me what he claimed to see inside the crawlspace right then and there. I guess they figure most homeowners would never do that or aren't familiar enough with their crawlspace areas.
I don't go in the crawlspace... <the monsters live in there>
I don't go in the crawlspace... <the monsters live in there>
I installed lights in mine with a switch just inside the crawlspace door so I can see if any monsters are looking back at me. It even has piped in music to entertain them.
For my former home ( between Richmond and Raleigh ) I had a termite inspection guy who I trusted. Never a problem. But I placed lights in the crawlspace and temperature/humidity sensors so I could get used to whatever monsters might be there.
The humidity readings seemed high to me, so I called a well-known "foundation" company who did a thorough inspection, complete with dozens of photos showing purported substantial water damage, etc. The estimate to fix it was $50,000. When I balked, he offered a special veteran's discount which got it down to $36,000. I figured if they could knock off $14,000 then their price must have been way over the top to begin with.
So I called a second company for a second opinion. After spending considerable time "down there" the guy came back out and said, hey, you don't have a moisure problem, it all looks good. No charge. Guess which company I will call if I ever do have a problem.
The point is, like the OP, you just have to be smart and not just take their word for it.
The time to go in the crawlspace is now, when it's freezing outside and pretty cold during the daytime also, and no rain. So y'all go ahead and go down there and see what it looks like and not wait until March/April!
I don't go in the crawlspace... <the monsters live in there>
True - but they are afraid of my 7 lb yorkie so we have a truce.
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