cathro
Shady sales, shady practices, and intimidation tactics. We don't have termites and are moving, and they won't let us cancel. We've hired an attorney.
We saw what we thought MIGHT be termite debris/droppings in our house and called Terminix. That was our first mistake. I didn't realize I'd be connected with a sales person whose job it is to get me to sign a yearlong contract--whether or not we had termites. Their technician shows up and installs these bait traps outside all around the house, even before coming inside to look at what we thought MIGHT be termite droppings. This is how you know Terminix doesn't provide the service they claim to provide. They just want to obligate you to a yearlong contract. When the technician finally came inside he said he saw NO EVIDENCE of termites. Everything we showed him--nope. Not from termites. He was surprised. I told him that the sales guy insisted on the phone that we do have termites, despite never having been to the house. The technician said hey, leave the bait traps in the ground just in case, pull them up to check them in another month or two, and if they're empty, cancel the service. Reader, that's what I tried to do when the bait traps were indeed empty after three months. I called to cancel. Also to tell them we are selling the house and won't be living here anymore anyway. I was told a supervisor would call me. I get a call from someone who says he's a supervisor. He falsely said he had a recording of my initial sales call in which I agreed to pay for a year, even if I didn't have termites. In one breath he said he hadn't spoken to the tech who came to my house about why the tech said I could cancel if we didn't have termites, and in the next breath he said he believes his technician over me. Did you get that? This Terminix supervisor called me a liar. I reminded him that we are moving and won't even own this house, that the bait traps were empty, that his technician himself said on day 1 that there's no evidence of termites in the house, and that I'm not going to pay for a service I'm not even receiving. He claimed that the bait traps are a service, because "termites are EVERYWHERE" and we could get them at any time. Did you get that? He said we should pay them even though we don't and never did have termites. When I said the contract I signed has a cancellation clause, he said the early cancellation fee would be $371. I asked him to waive the cancellation, and he rudely refused, creepily referring again to some mythical recording wherein I supposedly agreed to pay north of $1200 for a year of a mythical service for mythical termites I do not have. Since he twice tried to intimidate me by saying he had a recording of my saying things I never said, I asked him if my conversation with him was being recorded. Answer: "I am calling you from my own cell phone." Reader, I'm not going to be intimidated by someone who falsely claims to have me on tape saying things I never said, and then conveniently tell me his intimidation tactics were not being recorded. I told him his business practices were shady. I told him I would not pay the cancellation fee via a chargeback on my credit card if it ever appeared. He responded that he would send the bill to collections. I said he should go ahead and do that. Reader, what happened next is: Terminix billed us for another month of service that we did not receive for termites we do not and never did have--in a home we won't even own after next week. After we requested to cancel, as allowed by the contract. I am still fighting this battle, now with an attorney.