You’re thinking of calling in a pest control specialist to sort out a pest problem, but you’re worried that the service won’t be effective or meet your expectations. Here are 5 things that we think could help you spot a potentially bad pest control service before it’s too late.
We know that it can be daunting to sign an agreement with a pest control provider, especially if you’ve never had to do so before. What if the service doesn’t work, or doesn’t meet your expectations?
And we really understand that pest control can feel like a grudge purchase. No one gets excited about having to spend money on preventing pests, especially when you consider that if your provider is doing their job properly, you may never actually see a pest!
In this post we’ll tackle it from a slightly different angle and give you some tips on what to look out for before you sign up with a pest control provider, that can help prevent you from getting a bad service.
How to avoid a bad pest control service:
Here are 5 warning signs we think you should look out for when deciding on a pest control service. If the company you’ve called can’t adequately answer your questions regarding these 5 areas, or doesn’t seem to have a process in place for the items listed below, then you are probably better off walking away:
1. Thorough site survey:
If you are a commercial customer, we believe that before you are presented with a quote for your pest control service, a consultant should make an appointment with you to do a full site survey and pest inspection. The site survey should include a full walk through of your site/s to assess existing pest problems, future risks, health and safety hazards and the specific nature of your business environment.
Without this full and thorough on-site assessment, it would be very difficult to present you with an accurate quote. As the experts, our consultants are trained in what to look for, and will base their quote on the specifics they find at your site.
If the pest control company that you are looking at contracting with is happy to give you a quote over the phone, or doesn’t insist on a full site survey before drawing up the agreement, they may be missing a trick in terms of understanding the complexities of your specific site, and the pest control agreement they propose may not be tailored to your specific requirements.
2. Comprehensive site risk assessment:
Similarly, we believe that with the site survey must come a site risk assessment. Health and Safety is our number one priority at Rentokil, and we invest a large amount of time and money into ensuring that both our colleagues and customers are safe. A site risk survey is a critical part of this, as it identifies all the potential risks to both our staff and yours.
A professional pest control company should include a full site risk assessment in your proposal. If they don’t they may not have as much of a focus on safety as you would like. Given that pest control is a business that utilizes potentially dangerous chemicals on your premises, can you afford to take that risk?
3. Full personal protective equipment:
As we just mentioned, pest control services utilize potentially dangerous chemicals, which means that every pest control service needs to be performed in a careful and controlled manner, by a trained professional using the correct personal protective equipment (PPE).
When you choose a provider, they should be able to demonstrate the measures they take to ensure the safety of both your colleagues and their employees. If they cut corners here – in such a critical area – then there is a good likelihood that they will be cutting corners in other areas of your service.
4. Correct tools for the job
Just like PPE, the correct tools for the job are an essential part of providing a high quality pest control service, and technicians should be fully equipped with not only the correct tools, but good quality tools, to do their job.
These include clean, good-quality spray pumps, ULV foggers, and bait stations, as well as tools to mount insect light traps or secure bait stations to the wall. Rentokil technicians are also each equipped with a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant, or handheld computer) and during the installation process each location, inspection point and pest control product is bar-coded.
From then on, at every service, the technician will scan the bar-code with their PDA and enter a description of what was noted in the area or within the product on site. This information is captured in myRentokil, our online pest management system, and will flow through to your myRentokil account once the service is complete. A full report of the technician’s findings will then be available for you on myRentokil.
If your pest control company is not investing in the most up-to-date and innovative tools for the job, then they probably aren’t investing much into research and development either.
5. Relevant industry registrations and qualifications:
We believe you should be asking any potential provider whether they are registered with South African Pest Control Association (SAPCA), whether their pest control technicians are registered with the Department of Agriculture, and whether they adhere to the Department of Agriculture’s approved product list.
There are plenty of smaller brands out there that may not take registration with the SA industry body seriously, and who may still be able to solve your pest control problems in the short term. But if their technicians are not registered with the Department of Agriculture, it means they have not completed any registered pest control training in the safe use of chemicals and pesticides.
Rentokil is a leading member of SAPCA. All our technicians are registered with the Department of Agriculture, and are provided with extensive and intensive technical training.
Rentokil also only uses products that have been approved by the local Department of Agriculture and our International Technical Director in the UK. This means that you can be guaranteed that we are using the safest and most environmentally friendly product available.
Discussing the above with a potential provider will help you ensure that you are entering into an agreement with a reputable company who will take the necessary care and caution when dealing with potentially harmful pesticides on your premises, and will help prevent a bad pest control service. Alternately, simply contact Rentokil today to book your free pest risk assessment.
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