MasterGuard Pest Control, Inc

Masterguard came to my door offering pest control services. They told me that the first service was at a reduced rate and that they would return every 3 months to spray again to keep the bugs away. First of all, they showed up after the first month for a full priced service, this was not in their sales pitch. I called and complained, and they said that it was in their sales pitch, a lie, but I let it go and paid for the service. Another part of the offer was that if there was ever bugs, even one in the house or in areas around the house that they would take care of it for free as part of the contract. This is also a lie. We had a wasp nest in the bushes right in front of the door, I called and asked them to take care of it. They said they only had people available when I wasn't home so they would stop by. I explained to them exactly where the nest was. When I got home there was a note in my door saying that they couldn't find a nest. Just to be clear, at any given time there were roughly 50-100 wasps buzzing around the front door, if they left a note there, they were impossible to miss. So due to this, I went out and bought wasp killer and took care of the nest myself. I then proceeded to call Masterguard, who never answers the phone and leave a message as well as emailed them to ask them to cancel their service due to them not holding up their end of the bargain. Then they proceeded to show up for the next service to spray, I called left a message again and emailed that I wouldn't pay for the service and to stop coming to my house, now they have sprayed again! Each time, they send a notice to my email, warning me they are coming, each time I respond to the notice, as it asks you to do, and they still come. Masterguard is a scam! Stay away from them.

Review: I was at work when the Company sent there sales person around. Avoiding the No Soliciting sign that is posted above the door. Now my Girlfriend at the time was taking care of some stuff around the house and these guys decided to ring the door bell anyway and to move forward asking her and pushing her into purchasing a product that I would have never agreed to purchase. She told them that she was not the home owner and that it was her Boyfriends. Now they decide to have her sign a contract for a property that doesn't belong to her. She explains to me what happened when I got home and I immediately Sent an email to cancel this contract!!! They never respond and then show up one day to do the next service. What Don't they get about we don't want the service and You didn't ask the home owner to agree on you spraying chemicals etc around my house when I have pets and other things. Then they attempt to send a bill of $213 to cancel this policy. Im sorry but If you think this will be paid you can think again. My attorney is already waiting for this to not get resolved cause there is several laws breached here. Luckily the lawyer is very close to me and does these kind of things for free, So last thing I will be doing is paying any kind of fees! So I will let this issue drop as soon as MASTER GUARD PEST CONTROL removes the bill and honors the cancellation that was sent to them and further more learn better practices because a non owner of a property can NOT make a contractual decision for it! We will also contact the local news feeds to help make other consumers aware of these types of businesses!Desired Settlement: We have payed for the original service and we are not asking for that to be refunded. But we are recommending that they forget about the $213 cancellation fee. If not we will move forward with our attorneys and push for damages to the property, etc. I agree to not pursue legal avenues if Masterguard Pest Control agrees to cancel contract with no fee.

Business

Response:

The "sales person" referred to by [redacted] in his complaint was me. When I spoke with [redacted] I was never made aware that she was not the homeowner. I explained the service we provide to her and she said she would have to contact [redacted], which she did while I was at their home, and [redacted] agreed over the phone. Since I was never made aware [redacted] was not married to [redacted] I proceeded to fill out an agreement with [redacted]. This contract is to treat the address listed on the agreement, but was made between [redacted] and Masterguard Pest Control. Therefore [redacted] will be held responsible for the cancellation fee, not [redacted]. We use this Service Agreement to protect our company from people attempting to take advantage of us by getting a cheap one-time service. If they had wanted a one-time service we would have charge our usual one-time price of $300.00. The price given was based on them doing 5 services through out the year. [redacted] and [redacted] claim to have sent an email immediately after they signed up to cancel the contract, however the first email we received from [redacted] and [redacted] was on August 23, 2014, 26 days after their first service was completed. We even received payment for the first service preformed, making it apparent that they accepted our terms of service. Under Wisconsin state law they have 3 business days to cancel the service with no cancelation fee. As you'll notice in our agreement, this 3 day cancellation policy is clearly stated at the bottom twice. If they wanted to cancel it gives them instructions to cut off the bottom portion and send it in within 3 business days.

We've been using Master Guard for several years and couldn't be happier. If we have any bug issues they know just what to do and take care of it right away. Everyone is polite and courteous and I highly recommend them. You will be a happy customer too....!!

Review: On there scheduled stop they claimed to have done a list of services and charged accordingly. The only problem is none of the services were performed. Since they broke the contract by not honoring the service I do not trust them to continue. Very unprofessional.

Business

Response:

I have attached a copy of the initial agreement as well as copies of the service invoices for the work we preformed on the [redacted]s home. [redacted] signed up for our 12 month quarterly service which includes one initial service and four quarterly visits for a total of 5 services.To this point we have fully honored our end of the agreement by provided the initial service and the first quarterly service. Our service agreement states that if the customer needs additional service we will return for free to re-service the home. [redacted] has never called in for a re-service so we had no way of knowing he was having any issues. The agreement also states that there is an early termination fee of 60% of the remaining balance, which [redacted] will be accountable for should he desire to cancel services. We would much rather continue services and resolve any pest issues [redacted] may be having.

Consumer

Response:

We moved into our new home and quickly noticed we had a spider/Asian beetle issue. We had heard good things about Masterguard from our neighbors and decided to give them a try after price checking with Batzner and Orkin (both super expensive!) Masterguard's prices were great and they covered more than we thought. When the technician showed up he was very friendly and asked about any specific concerns I had and where the problem areas were. The best part is we haven't seen a live spider or Asian beetle in a month! So far we have had a great experience with this business and like to support the local companies.

Review: I hired company for pest control issued. Contract / agreement was for 1 season for outside of home. company called to schedule appointment during winter to spray outside of residence. I called and asked to cancel appointment because spray wouldnt do anything since the pest issue (wasps) is not occurring. They said that they would not send anyone out. Next day tech came out and sprayed. I watched him and all he did was walk around house without spraying anything. I was charged $89.00. I called and spoke to [redacted] who said he was sorry I told him that I would pay him however I no longer wanted to do business with his company. He said that was fine. Now he is calling again to schedule another appointmnet in the winter.I told him about the past issue and told him not to come out and that I did not want his business. I do not beleive it is right for him to charge me for a product that will not work since the pests are not around. I think this is fraudulent attempt to provide a service that will not work. He told me now that they require written notice to cancel service. I sent them a email and will followup w/ a letter. I do not want them coming to my house and I do not want their business.Desired Settlement: I do not want this company coming to my house and I do not want to do business with them.

Business

Response:

I have enclosed a copy of [redacted]'s contract. His price was based upon the fact that he signed up for a minimum of 12 months on a quarterly basis. You will notice that on the agreement there is a scheduled visit in December which is what he signed up for. This agreement doesn't just cover wasps. it covers a wide variety of things and he knows that based on this agreement that he signed. I am the [redacted] and have tell you I have never talked to him. Although he claims that I have talked to him. Currently he owes us a cancellation fee for the remaining 2 services on his agreement as he has only completed 3. We have canceled him out in our system but until he pays the $106.80 he owes we will continue our collection efforts.

We have been utilizing MasterGuard for 2 years. We used them for our previous home for the MANY hornets and wasps we were dealing with. They were thorough, finding nests in the siding, vents and ground. We spent our summers sting/bite free. Now, we are facing a similar problem with our new home and were quick to call MasterGuard. I am CERTAIN we will have the same results. I give them a A+, 5 Star rating. Their service and responsiveness is amazing and I have recommended them to friends and coworkers.

My house is for sale and Masterguard pest control is charging me a cancellation fee because we are moving. No additional services were provided but they are charging my credit card which is totally wrong.

This business is not to be trusted. When a salesman came to my door with out an appointment. Explained their service I signed up for their 5 service call plan, the only choice. He assured me that only 5 service calls would be made through December.
Now 3 days ago I was emailed I would have service for $95.00. I called immediately,
left message, I didn't want service. Then I called again said I didn't want service, they disregarded my requests & came anyways. Now they need a letter, 30 days before service to cancel. Even though I asked to cancel. How does an agreement never end. One expects at the end of year the contract would end, as I was told.

I am documenting this primarily as confirmation that I have canceled service with MasterGuard due to the high concern I have about how their business is run and that they will not honor their customer's right to cancel statement.
They came to our neighborhood on the evening of 8/6 and talked about several neighbors that were joining this service and asked about interest. After they answered several of my questions around what was included, it seemed reasonable. I signed up for the first service on the following day 8/7, a Friday, as they were going to be in the neighborhood.
The service came on late in the afternoon on 8/7, a different person that we spoke to the night before. My wife was home and questioned why certain items were not done, which we were told were within the scope of work quoted. She was given a lot of talk without a real answer. I got home late and looked around the home before talking to my wife. I brought up the fact that they had not done several items even before she could tell me about the unusual encounter with the service person.
We discussed options through the weekend. Since they said they had a policy of free returns in case of any issues, we decided that I would give a call Monday to explain the situation and clear up confusion from either side. We knew we had 3 business days to cancel, but still thought the service might be in our best interest.
Two calls, mid-morning mid-afternoon, on Monday 8/10 went to their voicemail. I left one message about the fact I'd like to talk about the Friday service. I received no call backs. I reviewed them on Revdex.com and noticed several negative reviews/complaints, most of which were identical to my situation...misrepresented scope of service, concerns with the workers performing the service, not being able to get in touch with this company on questions about service or call-backs. All of this information brought us to the decision there were too many red flags and this would be a year of headaches and wasted money so we wanted to cancel. Monday evening I sent an email to [redacted] letting them know I would be canceling service. This included a picture of the Customer's Right to Cancel paperwork, with my writing "I hereby cancel" including name, address and date...exactly how they described what was acceptable for cancellation.
Since they also talk about mailing a written notice to them, I decided on 8/11 that I would take off of work to visit them in person and deliver the same notice so it was mailed both electronically and physically. I set off to find [redacted] in Delafield only to find that that address does not exist. This is a large mall and there were some open retail spaces that may at one time been the home to this company, but it wasn't there any longer. This made me even more as their paperwork and website all point to this address. I tried calling again on 8/11 in order to confirm their location, again only getting voicemail. I tried 2 different numbers I found and both went to the identical voice message. I again left a message around my concerns including not being able to locate their place of business.
8/11 was the third day after the contract was signed, the last day I could cancel without penalty. Even though I feel I have accomplished this via email, I didn't want to chance not delivering a physical copy. Through additional searches I was able to locate their base of operation in Pewaukee. I found the space they are renting, dropped off the Customer's Right to Cancel form in an envelope with today's date on it and told them that I am looking to cancel my service. I had reviewed my credit card and the billing from Friday had already gone through. I told them nobody had been responding to my calls and the service was not completed based on the scope of work I signed up for, I'm fine just paying for that service and would just to cancel at this point as I have that right as part of the 3-day opt-out in their contract, thanked them and left to get to work.
Again, I feel I need to post this experience based on the concerns I have around how honest they will be with the 3-day Customer's Right to Cancel. Also, the office I dropped the physical copy off at had paperwork everywhere so I am concerned they may have just thrown it away.
I understand I am just one case. It does seem odd there are several others with situations very similar to mine. I do hope MasterGuard takes this seriously and better trains their sales force on what the technicians will do, better trains the technicians on what the sales team is selling, becomes more readily available via phone or email (both of which I have still heard nothing from) especially with their free call-back policy and becomes a business more customer friendly to instill confidence that it backs it's product. Assuming this situation resolves itself by MasterGuard accepting my cancellation, which is in line with their own policy, this statement simply remains one's experience. Thank you.

We have been with Masterguard for 3 years. Our biggest issue was the wasps. They were a problem all over the house. Masterguard comes out every three months and sprays for the them and they stay away. They are reasonably priced and if a nest is spotted, they will come out free of charge and take care of it for you. We also had issues with voles in the winter, we have 4 traps around the house and this spring, we didn't have any issues. I would recommend Masterguard to friends and family.

A salesperson came to my door last night to give the the details on the device they offer. During our conversation I said a minimum of 3 times that I couldn't make a decision until I talked to my husband who is out of town until later in the week. I asked that they email me a quote and we would make a decision. The person asked if they could come back on Friday at 2:45 to discuss and I said yes.
Today...long story short, I received a call and an emailed invoice that a treatment had been completed in our property.
What?!? I called the office after trying to email them as a reply to the quote and invoice they sent and both emails came back as undeliverable. I receive vmail, left a message, tried calling 3 more times and finally got a liver person.
They asks why I didn't want the service. Hmmmm...take a wild guess. They had a manager call me back to apologize and she said the luckily since we live in Wisconsin, we have 3 days to back out of the contract. What contract? Very poor way to do business. Feels like a complete scam.

I am very satisfied with MasterGuard Pest Control.

I had a very good experience with MasterGuard. Their serviceman, [redacted] was very professional and helpful. What I liked about MasterGuard is that they didn't charge me for more services than I needed. I like this approach verses some companies that try to play on your fears to "milk" you for whatever they can.

Review: I've tryed to contact this company numerous times and they have never once returned my message, so I'm filing my concerns with the Revdex.com. My concerns are as follows;

- Extremely deceptive door-to-door sales practices. Fast sales pitch with little information about company or services offered. Does not mention that this is a one-year agreement with a HUGH penalty clause for early out.

- Poor service - Asked them to my spray yard for mosquitos (understood and was willing to pay the extra charge) on Father Day last year and they never showed up as scheduled. I called and complained and they had no idea what I was talking about. They came the following week w/o notice.

- Lack of service - I've called and left numerous messages and they have never ONCE called me back. No one available on Saturday to call if there are problems, e.g. not coming as planned.

- Missed dates - They have a really hard time sticking to their schedule and never come when they say they will. Most recent example; scheduled for Saturday, January 30th, but didn't show up at all. Came the following Saturday, February 6th.

- Winter Schedule - They called and said they were coming on January 30th to spray and I said "Spray what, it's the middle of winter". The guy on the phone explained that my annual agreement includes the winter and that they would do an inspection of the exterior of my home. The worker came ( a week late) and walked around my house. It literally took him 5-minutes. $99 charge for 5-minutes.

- Mouse Traps - They left 3 mouse traps in my basement and 2 in my out building. Everytime they come they never inspect them unless I tell them to do so. They don't even remember where they are located and need to hunt for them. Last visit the worker was preparing to leave and I had to grab him and ask him to inspect the mouse traps.Desired Settlement: For reason described above, I want them to cancel my contract and give me a refund.

Business

Response:

I personally have contacted Mr. [redacted] on more than one occasion to discuss his issues and have yet to receive a return call. On February 12, after the last receipt of this complaint, I contacted Mr. [redacted] and spoke with his wife, who gave me a direct phone number to him. I left a voicemail at that time. On February 15, after not receiving a response to my first call, I called the same direct line and left another voicemail for him to call me back, which also has not been returned. I feel at this point, that in order for us to come up with a satisfactory solution, Mr. [redacted] will in fact have to return our calls, and contact us directly to discuss his options. If he is unwilling or unable to do so, MasterGuard is unfortunately not going to be able to do much to assist him. I would request that Mr. [redacted] contact me at the number I have left at his earliest convenience so that we can work at resolving his issue.

Consumer

Response:

Review: In August of 2014, we called Masterguard to help us solve a rodent problem in our house. The initial person I spoke to ([redacted]), was very thorough in explaining a comprehensive phased approach to rodent elimination. We agreed to have our first service done, which consisted of someone surveying both the interior and the exterior of the house. This person sprayed a repellent along compromised areas of the exterior and set baits on the suspicious areas of the interior. These said baits were for the purpose of increasing rodent feces and we were told the next step would be for someone to return to the house and check on the effectiveness of those baits, therefore indicating where the rodents were getting in and then eliminating those entry points. We were also assured that if we signed a year-long agreement we would receive a quarterly service to monitor the effectiveness of this initial solution (especially as the seasons change). Lastly, we were assured that any problems we encountered in between services (that were part of the problem we first secured service for) would be addressed by Masterguard accordingly.

What ensued thereafter was not according to this agreement.

In mid-September we called with a complaint that we heard a rodent in the attic area, and we wanted to confirm that this was in fact an area they were treating. We had specifically mentioned this area to them during the initial visit. We did not receive a follow-up call from Masterguard on this issue. Instead we received a bill in October for our "quarterly service" which were were not aware was even done. The reason we were not aware is because that service consisted only of spraying the outside of the house for bugs. Although, we were happy for them to include spraying for bugs as part of our overall package. This was clearly NOT the issue we had entered into the service agreement for.

We tried calling Masterguard on multiple occasions to explain our dissatisfaction with the service, and that felt we should not be responsible for that "quarterly service" bill. On one occasion, the customer service representative replied with a simple (and unprofessional) "ok." On another occasion, my husband was told he needed to send a letter stating our complaint and that we would like to discontinue service. He did that. Yet, we continued to receive that bill each month.

In January 2015, we were at wits end and were concerned about how the outstanding bill would affect our credit report. In an effort to put this unfortunate experience behind us, we paid the outstanding bill.

In March of 2015, we were notified that someone would be coming to the house for our quarterly service. Obviously, we were quite upset and again tried to voice our dissatisfaction and desire to end any further services as they were not according to our original agreement. We were told we will be billed for 60% of any remaining service fees for the year.

The lack of professionalism and integrity in this company is unacceptable.Desired Settlement: We would like to terminate any further services, fees and communication. We've paid for both dates of service completed (even the one that was not according to agreement). We have no trust in the company fulfilling their end of the agreement and have therefore sought another means to solve our problem.

Business

Response:

I recently spoke with this customer in an attempt to explain the service that he had signed up for and the process we use to eliminate rodents. However he would not allow me to explain our process and insisted on cancelling his contract. I informed him that he had signed a year agreement with us including five regular quarterly visits with free re-services any time they needed us. To date we have only had the opportunity to complete 2 services. The customer was not home at the time of our second service so we did our usual service for that time of year. Before preforming any regular service for our customers we send an email two days before to remind them and then we also call them the day before, that way if they want or need to be home we can set a specific time for them. This customer never replied to our message so we were unable to schedule a time to treat the inside. I have attached a copy of the original contract that was signed by the customer that covers the details of the agreement as well as the planned schedule for treatments. We received an email from the customer today with the required written notice to cancel service as explained in the contract. I will be processing that today and mailing out the cancellation fee. The customer will have 90 days to pay the cancellation fee before being sent to collections. I wish I could follow up with this "[redacted]" and hear his side of the story but unfortunately we have never had an [redacted] that worked for us. Thank you

I was not satisfied with the service they provide for the money they charge. They won't do anything, but just visit your home knock down a spider web(not even all of them) but send invoices for hundreds of dollars. When asked why they did not complete their job, they will say they will come again and do the job. When I said that we want to cancel the contract, they said they will charge cancellation fee which is almost equal to the remaining applications of the contract. These people who run the business are just money minded and don't provide service. I give them a F rating on Revdex.com. Don't ever use them. It's a mouse trap and the fine print on cancellation fees. I did not approach them, but they will come to you to get the contracts and lure you saying we have so many people in your neighborhood using our services. We generally think that let's give them an opportunity. But these guys don't know how to do business. Customer service should be their ultimate goal. For these guys collecting money is ultimate goal.

We have been using MasterGuard Pest Control for 2 years. We moved here 3 years ago and since we weren't aware of any local pest control businesses, we hired Orkin. We found that the rep assigned to us lived nowhere near us, so it was hard to get him to our house for re-sprays or unexpected issues because he could only help us when he happened to be "in our territory." It was also difficult to communicate specific information or requests to him as it would go through a main office that often would not relay it to him. We switched to Masterguard and have not been sorry. Incidentally, although we didn't leave Orkin because of treatment issues, we have found that Masterguard's treatments are more effective and last longer (Orkin had to come out every 2 months, Masterguard comes every 3 months - so it ends up costing less, too!) Masterguard has also helped us with unconventional pest-related needs. We recommend them to all of our neighbors.

We have had Masterguard Pest Control for almost 3 years. We have been so satisfied with their service. They have been the most detailed service we have had in almost 30 years. They're reasonably priced, have always come back at no charge if an issue arises between scheduled treatments, the technitions have all been super concientous. We would not hesitate in giving them a positive review.

Review: My wife, [redacted], called in advance of a scheduled pest control treatment on May 20. She requested wasp nests be knocked down - including all house eaves and a kid’s play set - and a spray application for wasps. After the service was completed, we noticed several wasp nests remained in the eaves and could not tell if the play set was treated. She called your office on May 20 and left a message – no one returned her call. She called again on May 31 at 9am. The out of office message was still on indicating the office is closed for Memorial Day but would be opening on May 31 at 9am. She called back on May 31 at 10am and left a second message. Still no call back.

Because of the horrible follow up and lack of customer service we sent an email asking for a refund for the May 20 service of $93. The work was not fully completed and definitely not to our satisfaction. In addition, we notified that we are discontinuing any future service immediately.Desired Settlement: Refund of $93 and discontinuation of future services.

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Our dispute with MasterGuard Pest Control has been resolved and we would like to remove the complaint. How do we proceed?

Regards,