Apex Pest Control Inc.

I am rejecting this response because:
I am sending a rebuttal to the statements made by Apex in response to the complaint issued. Apex would like you to believe I am an irate customer, who makes complaints, abuses their workers, and that they handled the situation properly. This is completely untrue. I have had service with this company almost yrs. That alone shows that there has been a pretty good working relationship between the company and myself, their service and me as a customer. I am not an abusive person, in the least, and I cannot allow Apex to slander me that way without a response. Obviously there will be no further business between usand that is not in question, nor the issue at this pointBoth Apex and myself are on the same page with thatI just want to straighten out allegations in their response
I always scheduled appointments for when I would be home, because I have an indoor dog, who goes bonkers when someone knocks at the door, or a stranger is working in the front or backyard of the houseBeing home, I can confine him with me in the back bedbroom, to keep him calm. (and the room we are in has a large window that faces the backyard.) That is also the reason for the request of not ringing the doorbell. The technician who normally services the property is fully aware of that, and is also aware I am home when he is here. There has been no issue with this, and the company has been courteous about that fact. That is not to say that the dog will not continuously bark while the techis working, which is always an alert as well as to someone being on the property
Also, I have not made prior claims that the service has not been done. There has been a couple times over the last yrswhen either the spider webs were not knocked down, and once or twice he did not spray the bushes, but the technician said he would do that. (and it was always cordial request, and conversation with the technician was always polite
I have never told the company prior to 9/that full service was not performed
I had no reason to make allegations on 9/23/that were unfounded. There was absolutely nothing for me to gain by stating the property was not serviced, had it been done. If anything it caused me more inconvenience to have them come out again and spray
The issue was phone call from the owner on 9/24/responding to the incident on 9/23. Personally to me, he handled the problem very improperlyHe called the next morning, and was abrupt and accusatory. He had his mind made up before he called, that I was mistaken. He kept referring to things. First, didn't I notice the lock was put back on the gate, therefore, the backyard had been serviced. And why had I not called to report the problem until 12:that afternoon, if the technician had left at 11:38. It did not matter to him why I was stating that the service was not done. The owner was also surprised that I was home at the time
First, I never told the the company that the technician did not go into the backyard, but that he did not spray the backyardI said he walked by very quickly past the windowThat was all. And had the techbeen knocking down the spiderwebs from the eave, as the owner infers, btwyou would hear the noiseHe told me there was a different techthat day from the one who usually does the yard. I told him I was actually relieved to hear that, since I really didn't want to cause any issues for the usual tech(he is an older man) And in all truth, I would never expect the original technot to do his jobHe kept questioning me over and over again then why would the tech go in the backyard? Finally as he wouldn't listen to what I was saying, I said idk maybe so he could know what the backyard looked like. He kept trying to say that because the lock was put back on the gate, that proved he serviced the back yard.
That proves nothing actually, as he said in his statement the guy reached over the fence and put the lock on. What proves whether the yard was sprayed was spray residue. Somewhere, anywhere in the yardanywhere in the front. Anywhere along the foundation of the house. I have had this house sprayed by them for years every month. When the service is completed, there is always spray residue around the foundation, on the cement by the edge of the lawns, always in the front of the house by the walkway and front door. Always.
My backyard is 1/acre. It is fully landscaped with lawn, shrubbery, and rock and cement. I am fully aware when the yard is being sprayed, it really does take a little time to spray 1/acre
Secondly, as far as the time I reported it. I looked at my phone records, after hanging up from the phone call, and the online records showed my first call to them was 12:01, a recording; 12:a recording12:19 answering service
Since the owner was so concerned about why I had not called to report it earlier. I called the company back to inform them I looked up the records to see what time I called, and it was 12:for the first callTammy answered the phone, when I called. I told her to let the boss know. I told her I did not want to speak to him, as he was abrupt with me on the phone, but could she let him knowShe told me they had had phone issues the day before, and didn't know that all calls were going to the answering service. I told her that really seemed to bother himso let him knowThat was the only reason I called back, to clear up that issue of time that seemed to really bother Jeff
Btw after the truck left.. I did go outside and look around and check the property to see if he sprayed anywhere, hoping that maybe he at least sprayed the front. NO. so that also took a few minutes to check
The bottom line to all of this.. the owner handled the situation very poorly. I was not abusive to him, I have never been abusive to his workers. As the owner put it to me on the phone when he called" he sees it white, I see it black".. I assumed meaning he sees it his way, and I see it minewe will not agree
I guess he expected me not to report it? Then seemed upset that he didn't get the report sooner? That I should have just accepted whatever happened, or rather didn't happen, and keep it to myself. If that means that I don't trust them now... well obviously if I report what happened, and I am told I must be wrong. The techtold the boss I am wrong, so the boss based on how long the tech has worked for them, must be telling the truth. And although I was home, and although I know he didn't spray, I must be wrong. So, now there is one issue I am in agreement with the ownerI obviously NOW do not trust this company! And of course I would not use their serviceand I wouldn't recommend anyone using their service. And the main reason for all of that, is not that even that the service wasn't performed that day..which is reason enough) (which this company will contto deny happened) We obviously would never agree on that. but how the owner handled the situation, when something was array
At this point, It is expected that they would try to defend their integrity, just as I am defending my integrity. Although, I never accused the "company" of not having integrity, I reported what happened that dayPeriod. Perhaps we all just need to put security cameras around our propertylike a business doesand then let the cameras speak for themselves...
Obviously, I believed what happened that day, I have nothing to gain from any of thisIt was my obligation to report this. The owner should have listened to why, I believed what I said, rescheduled politely after stating his side, and that would have been the end of all this. The rest was between him and his worker.
I guess All of that is irrelevant..
So obviously my experience with Apex espon 9/23/and 9/24/was very badI fully stand by what I reported. I have the right to report them to the Revdex.com, they have a right to respond to the complaint, and I am given the right to respond to what they are saying, and what I consider slanderous
Obviously this can go back and forth forever. So this matter is over as far as I am concerned
Buyer beware;

This morning, we received a message from our answering service stating that Ms [redacted] had called the previous day complaining that her service had not been done. The message stated that the technician had put the ticket in the front door, sat in his truck for a while and left. Prior to calling Ms...

[redacted], I checked with the route technician who had done the service (the regular technician was out sick) to see if anything out of the ordinary had happened during her service and he said “No” (this technician has been with the company for 17 years and receives glowing compliments from his customers).  He said when he arrived at the house, he placed our service ticket on the front door, treated the foundation with Termidor using a one gallon hand can, treated the front and back yard areas with his power sprayer, and then checked the eaves/windows/doorways for webs.  Three trips were made around her home.  When leaving, he reached back over the fence and placed the open lock back through the hasp so that the gate was secured (prior to our arrival the lock had been left open and removed from the hasp so that we would have access to the back yard).  He went back to his truck, finished his paperwork for the [redacted] account and then checked the map to see where his next account was.  He was on site for 18 minutes (a GPS device in the truck confirms this).  A typical residential service takes 15-20 minutes.  I asked the tech if he made contact with the customer during the service and he said “No” (there is a note on the account, per Ms [redacted]’s request, do not ring bell or knock).  Our technicians are trained to make contact with the customer upon arrival to let the customer know we are there to do the service and to check and see how everything is on the interior.  Ms [redacted] previously requested that we do not make contact upon arrival.
 
Around 9:00 AM I called Ms [redacted] to follow up on her complaint.  Ms [redacted] told me: “the technician never did the service.  He put the tag in the door, sat in his truck for a while and then left. He never went in the back yard.  He never did anything.”  I informed Ms [redacted] that the tech had indeed gone in the back yard, in fact he had placed the lock back in the hasp when he left.  Ms [redacted] then said she keeps her blinds closed on her windows but had seen a shadow go by a rear window (this is confirmed in her complaint).  I asked her if he didn’t do the service, why would he be in the back yard??  Her reply was “he wanted to see what the yard looked like so he could convince his boss that he did the work”.   ????  And relocking 
the gate was part of his elaborate charade.   ??????   I informed Ms [redacted] that we would not be charging her for the work we had done.
Ms [redacted] is not the first customer to believe a back yard was not treated.  In most situation I would quickly have the technician return to the property and redo the service but I was greatly concerned that Ms [redacted] thought our technician was a crook and dishonest and questioned the integrity of our company. This is not the relationship I want with our customers.  I reluctantly set an appointment for her regular technician to return on Monday to do the service again. When I got off the phone my office staff informed me that this is not the first time that Ms [redacted] has made claims that the service was not done.
Later in the day when I returned from lunch, my office manager (Tami) told me that Ms [redacted] had called again and was making allegations that our technician is a con artist and he has everyone duped.  I instructed her to call Ms [redacted] and inform her that she needed to find another pest control company as we would not be servicing her account anymore.  Ms [redacted] became irate with her and told her we couldn’t cancel her account.  Tami informed her that she should have no problem finding a new company that could fit her needs.
Her claim that the spray doesn’t dry in ten minutes!!  It quite often does, even on 80 degree days.  Per State guidelines, we try to keep applications to concrete areas to a minimum.
My guess is Ms [redacted] did not realize we were on her property until we were sweeping the webs (“saw a shadow”).  At that time, she saw us return to the truck, do some paperwork and leave.  Thus, no service was performed.  Allegations like this are the primary reason we try to make contact with our customers at every service.  Ms [redacted] has asked that we do not try and make contact.
We have not charged Ms [redacted]’s account a dime for the recent work we did on her property.  I did choose to terminate our service with her as I will not subject my employees to abusive, unfounded attacks.

Review: I was scheduled to have my 2 month bug spray re service on Sept. 23, 2014 between 10-12. Sometime close to 11:30 I noticed a shadow pass quickly past the window in my room facing the backyard,and I assumed the service man was here to spray.The complaint is,HE NEVER SPRAYED!He just went in the backyard for a min. so I thought he would be back to spray the yard, but he didn't.I went into the front,to look out the window to see if his truck was there.I saw the truck,and there was a guy sitting in the truck,looking through paperwork.I figured he was looking for the order before he began to spray the front and backyard.The spray hose was still on the truck.I went back into the back room.He never came back into the backyard.All he did was walk into the backyard,went out and closed the gate,and put the lock on the gate to show he had been here.When I still didn't see any spraying,I went back to look out the front window and the truck was gone.I went into the backyard,and there was NO evidence of any spraying.Normally you would see some sort of moisture around the foundation of the house,or the edges of the patio where they sprayed. NOTHING.Dry as could be.There was no evidence of any spraying.So then I went into the front yard thinking maybe he just sprayed the front and left.But NO.there was no moisture or evidence of spraying in the front yard either.It was dry!Usually there was spray around the front door and walkway,NOTHING.He left bill on door though!It was only 80 degrees that day.Does not dry up in 10 min.My first call to office at 12:01.Left 2 messages with the answering service to report what happened.They did not get back to me until the next day.They said their service man would never do that,hadn't I noticed the gate was secured.I must be wrong,then basically calling me a liar.I said I was home!They said they would reschedule for Monday.They called back to say they were cancelling,and our service was over!I obviously don't trust them.(Been with them 10 yrs.)RIP OFFS!CHEATING PEOPLE!Desired Settlement: They need to be reported so others know what is going on! They are rude! They think they can get away without servicing customers, and the customer should just accept that. They do something wrong, and then just cancel accounts, instead of rectifying the situation! Basically if you dont like what happened get another company! We noticed you were paid up, therefore we are done! How many people who are not at home, have not been serviced, and don't know it!An apology would be nice!

Business

Response:

This morning, we received a message from our answering service stating that Ms [redacted] had called the previous day complaining that her service had not been done. The message stated that the technician had put the ticket in the front door, sat in his truck for a while and left. Prior to calling Ms [redacted], I checked with the route technician who had done the service (the regular technician was out sick) to see if anything out of the ordinary had happened during her service and he said “No” (this technician has been with the company for 17 years and receives glowing compliments from his customers). He said when he arrived at the house, he placed our service ticket on the front door, treated the foundation with Termidor using a one gallon hand can, treated the front and back yard areas with his power sprayer, and then checked the eaves/windows/doorways for webs. Three trips were made around her home. When leaving, he reached back over the fence and placed the open lock back through the hasp so that the gate was secured (prior to our arrival the lock had been left open and removed from the hasp so that we would have access to the back yard). He went back to his truck, finished his paperwork for the [redacted] account and then checked the map to see where his next account was. He was on site for 18 minutes (a GPS device in the truck confirms this). A typical residential service takes 15-20 minutes. I asked the tech if he made contact with the customer during the service and he said “No” (there is a note on the account, per Ms [redacted]’s request, do not ring bell or knock). Our technicians are trained to make contact with the customer upon arrival to let the customer know we are there to do the service and to check and see how everything is on the interior. Ms [redacted] previously requested that we do not make contact upon arrival.

Around 9:00 AM I called Ms [redacted] to follow up on her complaint. Ms [redacted] told me: “the technician never did the service. He put the tag in the door, sat in his truck for a while and then left. He never went in the back yard. He never did anything.” I informed Ms [redacted] that the tech had indeed gone in the back yard, in fact he had placed the lock back in the hasp when he left. Ms [redacted] then said she keeps her blinds closed on her windows but had seen a shadow go by a rear window (this is confirmed in her complaint). I asked her if he didn’t do the service, why would he be in the back yard?? Her reply was “he wanted to see what the yard looked like so he could convince his boss that he did the work”. ???? And relocking

the gate was part of his elaborate charade. ?????? I informed Ms [redacted] that we would not be charging her for the work we had done.

Ms [redacted] is not the first customer to believe a back yard was not treated. In most situation I would quickly have the technician return to the property and redo the service but I was greatly concerned that Ms [redacted] thought our technician was a crook and dishonest and questioned the integrity of our company. This is not the relationship I want with our customers. I reluctantly set an appointment for her regular technician to return on Monday to do the service again. When I got off the phone my office staff informed me that this is not the first time that Ms [redacted] has made claims that the service was not done.

Later in the day when I returned from lunch, my office manager (Tami) told me that Ms [redacted] had called again and was making allegations that our technician is a con artist and he has everyone duped. I instructed her to call Ms [redacted] and inform her that she needed to find another pest control company as we would not be servicing her account anymore. Ms [redacted] became irate with her and told her we couldn’t cancel her account. Tami informed her that she should have no problem finding a new company that could fit her needs.

Her claim that the spray doesn’t dry in ten minutes!! It quite often does, even on 80 degree days. Per State guidelines, we try to keep applications to concrete areas to a minimum.

My guess is Ms [redacted] did not realize we were on her property until we were sweeping the webs (“saw a shadow”). At that time, she saw us return to the truck, do some paperwork and leave. Thus, no service was performed. Allegations like this are the primary reason we try to make contact with our customers at every service. Ms [redacted] has asked that we do not try and make contact.

We have not charged Ms [redacted]’s account a dime for the recent work we did on her property. I did choose to terminate our service with her as I will not subject my employees to abusive, unfounded attacks.

Consumer

Response:

I am rejecting this response because:

I am sending a rebuttal to the statements made by Apex in response to the complaint issued. Apex would like you to believe I am an irate customer, who makes complaints, abuses their workers, and that they handled the situation properly. This is completely untrue. I have had service with this company almost 10 yrs. That alone shows that there has been a pretty good working relationship between the company and myself, their service and me as a customer. I am not an abusive person, in the least, and I cannot allow Apex to slander me that way without a response. Obviously there will be no further business between us.. and that is not in question, nor the issue at this point. Both Apex and myself are on the same page with that. I just want to straighten out allegations in their response.

I always scheduled appointments for when I would be home, because I have an indoor dog, who goes bonkers when someone knocks at the door, or a stranger is working in the front or backyard of the house. Being home, I can confine him with me in the back bedbroom, to keep him calm. (and the room we are in has a large window that faces the backyard.) That is also the reason for the request of not ringing the doorbell. The technician who normally services the property is fully aware of that, and is also aware I am home when he is here. There has been no issue with this, and the company has been courteous about that fact. That is not to say that the dog will not continuously bark while the tech. is working, which is always an alert as well as to someone being on the property.

Also, I have not made prior claims that the service has not been done. There has been a couple times over the last 10 yrs. when either the spider webs were not knocked down, and once or twice he did not spray the bushes, but the technician said he would do that. (and it was always cordial request, and conversation with the technician was always polite.

I have never told the company prior to 9/23 that full service was not performed.

I had no reason to make allegations on 9/23/14 that were unfounded. There was absolutely nothing for me to gain by stating the property was not serviced, had it been done. If anything it caused me more inconvenience to have them come out again and spray.

The issue was phone call from the owner on 9/24/14 responding to the incident on 9/23. Personally to me, he handled the problem very improperly. He called the next morning, and was abrupt and accusatory. He had his mind made up before he called, that I was mistaken. He kept referring to 2 things. First, didn't I notice the lock was put back on the gate, therefore, the backyard had been serviced. And why had I not called to report the problem until 12:22 that afternoon, if the technician had left at 11:38. It did not matter to him why I was stating that the service was not done. The owner was also surprised that I was home at the time.

First, I never told the the company that the technician did not go into the backyard, but that he did not spray the backyard. I said he walked by very quickly past the window. That was all. And had the tech. been knocking down the spiderwebs from the eave, as the owner infers, btw. you would hear the noise. He told me there was a different tech. that day from the one who usually does the yard. I told him I was actually relieved to hear that, since I really didn't want to cause any issues for the usual tech. (he is an older man) And in all truth, I would never expect the original tech. not to do his job. He kept questioning me over and over again then why would the tech go in the backyard? Finally as he wouldn't listen to what I was saying, I said idk maybe so he could know what the backyard looked like. He kept trying to say that because the lock was put back on the gate, that proved he serviced the back yard.

That proves nothing actually, as he said in his statement the guy reached over the fence and put the lock on. What proves whether the yard was sprayed was spray residue. Somewhere, anywhere in the yard.. anywhere in the front. Anywhere along the foundation of the house. I have had this house sprayed by them for years every 2 month. When the service is completed, there is always spray residue around the foundation, on the cement by the edge of the lawns, always in the front of the house by the walkway and front door. Always.

My backyard is 1/3 acre. It is fully landscaped with lawn, shrubbery, and rock and cement. I am fully aware when the yard is being sprayed, it really does take a little time to spray 1/3 acre.

Secondly, as far as the time I reported it. I looked at my phone records, after hanging up from the phone call, and the online records showed my first call to them was 12:01, a recording; 12:02 a recording.. 12:19 answering service.

Since the owner was so concerned about why I had not called to report it earlier. I called the company back to inform them I looked up the records to see what time I called, and it was 12:01 for the first call. Tammy answered the phone, when I called. I told her to let the boss know. I told her I did not want to speak to him, as he was abrupt with me on the phone, but could she let him know. She told me they had had phone issues the day before, and didn't know that all calls were going to the answering service. I told her that really seemed to bother him.. so let him know. That was the only reason I called back, to clear up that issue of time that seemed to really bother Jeff.

Btw after the truck left.. I did go outside and look around and check the property to see if he sprayed anywhere, hoping that maybe he at least sprayed the front. NO. so that also took a few minutes to check.

The bottom line to all of this.. the owner handled the situation very poorly. I was not abusive to him, I have never been abusive to his workers. As the owner put it to me on the phone when he called... " he sees it white, I see it black".. I assumed meaning he sees it his way, and I see it mine.. we will not agree.

I guess he expected me not to report it? Then seemed upset that he didn't get the report sooner? That I should have just accepted whatever happened, or rather didn't happen, and keep it to myself. If that means that I don't trust them now... well obviously if I report what happened, and I am told I must be wrong. The tech. told the boss I am wrong, so the boss based on how long the tech has worked for them, must be telling the truth. And although I was home, and although I know he didn't spray, I must be wrong. So, now there is one issue I am in agreement with the owner. I obviously NOW do not trust this company! And of course I would not use their service.. and I wouldn't recommend anyone using their service. And the main reason for all of that, is not that even that the service wasn't performed that day..which is reason enough) (which this company will cont. to deny happened) We obviously would never agree on that. but how the owner handled the situation, when something was array.

At this point, It is expected that they would try to defend their integrity, just as I am defending my integrity. Although, I never accused the "company" of not having integrity, I reported what happened that day. Period. Perhaps we all just need to put security cameras around our property.. like a business does.. and then let the cameras speak for themselves...

Obviously, I believed what happened that day, I have nothing to gain from any of this. It was my obligation to report this. The owner should have listened to why, I believed what I said, rescheduled politely after stating his side, and that would have been the end of all this. The rest was between him and his worker.

I guess All of that is irrelevant..

So obviously my experience with Apex esp. on 9/23/14 and 9/24/14 was very bad. I fully stand by what I reported. I have the right to report them to the Revdex.com, they have a right to respond to the complaint, and I am given the right to respond to what they are saying, and what I consider slanderous.

Obviously this can go back and forth forever. So this matter is over as far as I am concerned.

Buyer beware;