Say NO to Pest Control!
 

Clark Howard, a consumer advocate, has said that it doesn’t matter so much if you go with the bait system or chemicals, but what you really want is a good repair bond with your company.
The termites that someone brought in with furniture are dry wood termites and not covered under most policies. If you get an infestation of them, they usually have to tent your home $$$

We had a similar situation with Dean's. We had them at our previous residence for 12 years and thought we wanted to continue with them. The owners of our new house had a contract with Massey. It's too long of a story to get into but Dean's "new system" also sounded like a ripoff to us. We ended up staying with Massey at our new residence as they simply transferred the current contract to us. We got a refund from Dean's. Since you're not going to use Dean's the previous owners of your house should request a refund from them.

Deans uses the Sentricon system which is used all over country. I could not find any negative reports about it. It if was a "ripoff" then there would be plenty of reports about it.
Sentricon(R) | The No. 1 Bait System for Termite Control
So far I have not seen any reports of infestation in homes treated by Deans or Massey. According to Terminix we are in a high risk area.
Just a moment...

How does a company do a deep treatment every 16” around the home’s perimeter if most of the home is concrete or pavers up against the house? We have only two small areas where there isn’t hardscaping against our home. We currently have no termite plan as we had the Massey bait traps removed last year when we had our landscaping redone, so we’ve been unsure what to do. Our current lawn and pest control company, Fertigator, has a termite plan that they haven’t tried to sell to us yet. Our home is almost 2 years old, and is tilt wall construction. It feels like a never ending barrage of chemical exposure since we moved here, so we have been hesitant to add termite treatment to the list.

FWIW, Sentricon has received recognition from the EPA:
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge: 2000 Designing Greener Chemicals Award | US EPA

They did exactly the same thing to me.
I took over previous owners on record pest agreement.
I said well I have time left on my contract. I’ll shop around and get back to you
Their tune change instantly

Good question. The best treatment you can get in The Villages is to inject the chemicals into the closest non-concrete area and create a wider than optimal perimeter. In other areas of the country, where I have lived, the termite treatment involved drilling holes through the concrete, including inside the garage, and then filling the holes with a concrete patch. But, as long as you do proper inspections, termites can be found and killed.

All of my neighbors have moved away from Deans/Massey/or another 3rd party to do their own lawn service. When I travel thru neighborhoods, some of the worst lawns have the deans/massey sign in the yard. Some real nice lawns have the signs too, but why pay a firm to do their lawn and the lawn looks terrible?

Because they are too lazy to do it themselves. I am one of them.

Do they back them up with a gurantee?
Deans Services offers a $1,000,000 lifetime warranty on their termite treatments.
I believe Massey does too.

My Massey contract does not specify a dollar limit, but it also does not rely on a named insurance company to cover the damage. So, apparently, Massey is self-insured to make damage repairs and retreatments.

During my annual termite renewal with a local pest control company, the technician came out to do the inspection. His inspection amounted to walking around my house with a flashlight and casually looking in every room. This took a total of 3 minutes. For this I pay $145.00 a year. I asked him if he has ever seen subterranean termite damage in The Villages and he said no. Subterranean is the only type of termite covered. What we are getting is an insurance policy in case we ever have damage. We have a poured concrete block on slab home, so I doubt this is money well spent.

In my experience, a good termite inspector can find termites in a matter of minutes because they know where to look. However, a technician who has never seen termites is probably not very skilled. Also, the type of construction has nothing to do with the need to protect against termites. They tend to go after the soft wood in the house, like door frames and window sills.

Far from an expert. We are ex-northerners. In Florida we have two different types of termites. Subterranean the ones that need to have access to soil, build mud tunnels etc-they type in the north. We also have another variety that does not need ground contact. If, you read the contract
they do not cover damage from the termites that do not need ground contact. A termite damage claim. Not any particular company. It is easy to buy and pay for insurance. Collecting is not so easy. Customers? They are not honest either.

We had a neighbor who was a retired cop. He worked as an insurance investigator. Always had amusing story's. I was into boating and fishing at the time. Some guy put in a claim for stolen rods and reels, they can be quite expensive. He had receipts and all from some bait shop.
The owner of the shop said the most expensive rod they sell is twenty dollars.

Back to termite insurance. I believe if you choose to have a mortgage you must have termite insurance. This is Florida. Termites do not take winters off.

Any insurance you are paying a company to assume risk. Local pest control company? I would check with the insurance board about their record. One forty-five is very reasonable when your realize if you call a plumber, ac repair, appliance repair it will cost you a hundred for them to show up.

Far as your slab, It likely has cracks in it. Concrete block. It is not solid concrete. There are huge air spaces in each block. Termites can zig zag inside the blocks and not be noticed. They are supposed to be sealed-are they????????

Sort of morphed from Termites to lawns. For what it is worth. I do my own fertilizer, weeding and hedge trimming. First time in my life I ever hired someone to mow my lawn.
As a kid I had a very small lawn mowing and snow shoveling business. Snow shoveling does not have much potential in Florida. Lazy? Perhaps. REALITY is in my mirror. I'm not 17 anymore nor do have space for a lawnmower.

Thought posted previously. Insurance is easy to buy and pay for. Collecting is far harder.
A million dollar warranty? I have no idea how you could have a million dollars worth of termite damage. Assuming a fire destroys your home. And you have a million dollar home. Insurance does not pay for the land your home stood on.

Far as a warranty on anything few read it or understand what they are reading. Typically we cover everything that never fails. Prorated warranties as for Tires, and batteries are based on list price no one pays list price for new ones.

So does Deans. I know because I have them. They do a great job and yeah sure a beagle lol! How come I never got the Beagles when I signed up with them a year ago?

What does Dean's do? They came to my house and refused to provide anything but a year-to-year contract, with partial annual treatments. They would not provide a full house chemical treatment. That is what their representative offered to me. No long term contract and no full house treatment. Period. If you have something different, can you please post your Dean's contract?

No, No, No!
 

Something's definitely "OFF" here for sure ! My advice: I'd check with the Senior against crime office (they have no legal power, but sure can give you a LOT of information on "Dean's" and their "transferable" contract, THEN make sure to contact the state of Florida's department of consumer affairs (number is on state of Florida government website). We have found them to be VERY helpful... sometimes takes awhile as the departments attorneys ALL have huge caseloads, but they DO work on your complaints/inquiries. Also, not going to help you legally, but absolutely take the time to report your experience to BBB. Although it too late to "save" the original owners of the home from wasting the $$$ on a "transferable" contract, the MORE of these consumer supports YOU contact, the MORE the business will have to explain their business practices and all of that is put in the record. We has a problem with City Furniture delivering the WRONG furniture, an entire room of furniture which was paid for 100% in advance. When we showed them the receipt with the model/style we'd paid for, they (truckers) refused to remove the furniture. City was NOT willing to have the furniture picked up and the actual furniture we ordered delivered. It took 18 months, but, working thorough the state of Florida we DID finally get the furniture we had paid for, but it took patience and was very frustrating. Most will say NEVER pay 100% before you get items or services, however, but most places will not order goods or services unless you pay the full amount in advance. That leaves the consumer with very few alternatives if the products or services are not delivered, so we found it's important to use what resources do exist !

So many of examples of how businesses, not consumers, are "in command" so to speak; give US your CC or, no service for you. I ALWAYS go back to a bit of wisdom a grad school professor offered up during my MBA studies: "note, annotate, and make a written record of EVERYTHING, complete with date in time, when push comes to shove, he with the DOCUMENTATION wins !" As well as putting c.cards on "file" with a business, I am growing increasingly unwilling to deal with those who insist you must put their "app" on your phone to take advantage of sales, discounts, etc. Their "right" of course, but my right to "just pass"....LOL ! Lowe's has recently changed their policy on My Lowe's Members. Spent many thousands with them, had My Lowe's card since the program began, but they no longer honor memberships unless you have their "app" on your phone ! And of course all those "apps" constantly update, track, etc. Sometimes I do wonder, is my cell phone MY cell phone for me ? Or is it only a tracking device I PAY FOR as a convenience for others ? ? :cryin2:

Right. Beagles are used by bed bug exterminators especially in hotels. Very accurate.

Although I realize that you did not want the unordered furniture, legally ANYTHING unordered which was delivered to you is yours to keep. If you had wanted to, you could have kept the unordered furniture & you still could have demanded the furniture you actually bought. Hope the legal help you received told you that.

They certainly got results for US, but it was a long process, we had to be patient, but state A.G. and dept. of consumer affairs are very responsive....however... we still report these things to BBB and to Seniors against Crime.... BBB is for definitely "business friendly", but the complaints ARE recorded and can be a found on line, helpful when considering a business !