What To Expect When Hiring An Exterminator
Its 11:00pm and you’ve gotten out of bed to grab a glass of water when you see something flash out of the corner of your eye. It was a mouse! You scream and jump on the table, grab your phone and do a yelp search for local exterminators. You find someone reputable and they tell you they will be out first thing in the morning. You grab a bat and run back into bed slowly waiting for the sun to rise so the pied piper can come and remove the mouse. Heres what the PCO should be doing and what you should inspect:
- Meet and greet is the best and important of the service. The PCO will knock on your door and introduce himself or herself. Pest control professionals are overall nice honest people so you can look forward to getting a personable service person. During the meet and greet they should be asking you to tell them the issues that you are having. Since you called in a panic to order the service now is your time to calmly explain all details from your perspective. You witnessed the problem so give them the events as it occurred. Some other details you would like to add is duration of problem and if you ever performed any self treatment as this could change the scope of work for the pco. Mention if you have pets, kids, or are housing someone who may be ill. Be as detailed as possible!
- Inspecting should be next on the PCOs list. Top to bottom, in and out, a good PCO will be taking a good look everywhere before beginning treatment. Since pest control treatments are multifasited it is important for the PCO to understand all aspects of the home. A PCO who isn’t investigating further isn’t doing their job. Instead of just treating the mice where you the client are seeing them, the PCO needs to understand a few things like how the mouse got in, why it was in that area, where it came from, where the other mice can potentially be hiding etc. Just treating one small area and not inspecting further is asking for bad results.
- Treatment should be explained to you before it is performed. The PCO should be explaining what they are using and how it will work. Knowledge is key and you are the student. Customers famously think PCOs wave a magic wand to get rid of pests and unfortunately its just not true. Once you understand the aspects of how the treatment works you will be more inclined to have a successful treatment. Depending on the the target pest the treatment may include moving appliances, furniture or crawling into confined spaces. Some treatments may include a exclusionary service where the PCO will fill any holes of concern to keep out future critters.
- Post treatment recommendations is the most important step of the process next to treatment because this is what you will be doing to maintain the pest problem. The post treatment recommendations may include guarantee details and tips on what you can do to help treatment be more effective. Please follow those tips as closely as possible to render desired results. Depending on the pest issue it may need more then one visit so be sure to ask the PCO if its necessary for follow up or contracted visits.
