Massey contract - beware!
 

After many years of taking Massey Pest Prevention I decided not to renew but to do it myself - $250+ a year for "sweeping the eaves for possible wasp nests" seemed a little steep when I already have a broom and can walk round the house wielding it in five minutes.

I ignored their kind offer to save a massive 5% by paying early (new customers get a considerably bigger reduction) and assumed my contract with them had expired.

Imagine my surprise when I got an e-mail from the technician saying he had just "swept the eaves" and I owed $65. I immediately contacted Massey saying that I hadn't renewed my contract and they pointed to a line in the small print that: "the contract shall renew itself unless written notice is given thirty days prior to the anniversary of the Agreement".

Yes, I had signed that Agreement but I have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast, let alone what small print had slipped past me many years ago, and I can't help but think that, in an elderly community, that clause is in there just so they can get one final bite of the cherry.

So if you want to cancel any Massey service, write to them in good time.

yep, that sounds like Ma$$ey. Pay more and get less.

Most of my neighbors have recently canceled their lawn services from Massey and replaced them with one of the alternative providers. Don't know if Massey have cut back on the potency of their treatments, but the green-up and bug eradication do not appear to have been working and their grass is looking in need of help.

Did you do something different in prior years to renew your contract? I assume most or all of my services (mowing, pest, fertilization, internet, streaming, cell phone, etc) continue unless I do something to cancel.

Did Massey discontinue your service after you called them?

Always before I had wanted to renew, so did so early with the 5% discount offered maybe two months beforehand. My other services (lawn mowing and internet) are on annual contracts.

Yes, Massey has now canceled my pest control service.

Ah, ok. I don't pay ahead so I am already accustomed to the services continuing.

I have several Massey services, but no contract. When they perform a service, I pay them. Otherwise, I don't pay them. The 5 percent pay-in-advance discount is not worth it to me.

I just started with Massey and already had to go searching for the Landscapers twice. Not gonna happen a third time. I don't have a contract on the Lawn Mowing part of the deal and never paid in advance as noted on my TOTV'S Graduation Certificate and how many people have gotten hammered over the years by doing so. Don't pay for NOTHING (ANYTHING) in advance.

Recent quote was not competitive. The five percent annual discount is the same I can earn on cash. No bueno

My house was on a Massey contract when I bought it. They gave me an absurd quote to continue, and then threatened to dig up and remove all the termite bait boxes if I didn't. I pointed out that they didn't own those boxes and I would consider it trespassing and vandalism. I also mentioned that Florida is a "stand your ground" state. I haven't been bothered by a Massey salesmen since.

I spent some time looking for a reasonable termite company to treat the house with something real like Termidore, for a reasonable $150, like the guy who treated my house and two outbuildings in the country in Texas, the year before we moved. Closest I could get was $800, so I looked around and noticed that I was living in a concrete house in the middle of a giant housing project, where every home around me had been treated to death for termites for the past 20 years. I decided to just risk it.

In Texas, pre-treating isn't even code, and that house had never been treated for termites in the 23 years it had been standing there. And yet, I could turn over a shovel anywhere in the yard and find termites. But the only reason I had to call a termite guy was that I stupidly believed that concrete siding was termite-proof, and I had left it in contact with the ground when I'd closed off a garage door opening on one of the outbuildings. Total damage before I noticed the swarm the next spring? One stud.

So is that the only thing they do your $65. We are with Deans originally just for the termite insurance, then added spraying bugs and sweeping the eves etc. We then did a third upgrade to include weed control, fertilizer and bug control in the grass and bushes. This service cost $122 every other month.

I too have moved on from Massey. What bothered me the most about their termite bond and annual maintenance was that they were only walking around the house without applying any product for $125 per year. The new home product is good for 5 years, and at that time I’ll have the company I’m currently hiring to control pest in and around the house plus the yard to take over with termite treatment.

Same here. We like them.
But as with all contractors, you need to keep an eye on them. Good & bad techs with every business.

Sadly this is common business practice. Apparently it is legal. We are all regularly offered free trial packages. The company, knows how many people will get hooked on their service and how many will simply forget to cancel.

We consumers need to learn how to win. It is easy to call, send an e-mail. Old school but it works. If a corporation you can easily find the name of the president. A registered return receipt letter to the president, by name, will get past the clerks.
You will have proof the letter was sent, even if they refuse to accept it. I'm not an attorney but from what I know do not be afraid. If, they refuse the letter you are actually in a stronger position. Legally the letter was delivered and they do not know what was in the letter. The issue will likely be sent to a bulk collection service pretending to be your friend-trying to help you. Tell them they need to find your registered return receipt letter even give them the number for the letter.

Thank you
 

Thank you for the heads up:BigApplause:

We are often caught by the fine print. Termite control. We actually are subject to two different types of Termites the subterranean type that must be in contact with soil for nesting and another type that does not need ground contact. The second type, is the one where they bag the home to kill them. This is often not covered.

Typically termite treatment is not applied yearly.
EPA limits the amount of pesticide they can apply.
Usually, they have a 5-10 year treatment plan, and the yearly $125 "bond" pays for "insurance" that if you have termite damage they pay to fix it.
You agree to let them inspect your property yearly to keep the bond in effect.

Not defending Massey or any other company. We insist on fighting nature. A perfect lawn, one type of grass, weed and insect free is simply not natural. Insects naturally change so that insecticides no longer work. Also the EPA has outlawed the use of many effective insecticides. I do my own lawn chemistry. Truth, it is far less expensive. Truth in terms of lawn reviews, I am, most of the time, in the middle. Not the best or the worst.

I canceled Massey months ago and several neighbors have followed. The company is a mess. They can not find or keep qualified help.

We had problems with insects and scorpions inside the house, but a call to Massey and they were here and took care of the problem. Neighbors told us insects do come into the house if you disturb the soil next to your foundation or after very heavy rains.

There are more than one product being used in Florida. One is a bait system developed at the University of Florida. A company using that system will, SHOULD, inspect the baits every year and it is supposed to last 5 years. Our company sprays, injects into the ground insecticide every year. Better system? Surely both claim what they use is the better system. Days of old, now outlawed, the product was clorodane and it was claimed to last forever.
In the gone past people would spray clorodane on their lawn. Long time ago. I never did that but I think it would kill most everything, ants, ticks, cinch bugs.

Fortunately we have choices. Posted elsewhere I do my lawn chemistry and have been using hired people to mow. This is the first time in my life that I did not do it all myself.
Landscapers? As stated this is the first time in my life that I did not do it myself. Personal experience and the posts, this is another pain in the villages and I expect everywhere. Three strikes and their out, I think I agree. I many, many years ago, high school, I started and ran a lawn mowing and snow shoveling business. Lessons learned, many years ago. There is reasonable and there is unreasonable. Salesmanship-it is an art to explain why something is unreasonable. Aside, I am an easy customer. We pay on time. I've never called them back to correct something, I just take care of it myself. Three strikes and their out. We are on our third mowing guy. First was good, nicely told us he was quitting due to age. The first recommended a replacement truth a nice young guy who did a great job. We paid at the start of each month and one month he just disappeared. Next also a nice guy cut for a year or two not as good as #2 but.........
He to disappeared. So many I have lost count. Now in ten years we are on #4. Another nice guy, he is the worst yet in terms of quality. Hum, I lied. It is not three strikes and I am back to mowing. I'm up to number 4 in ten years. Perhaps, time for me to start mowing my own

Scorpions? I think this is the first time I've heard of scorpions in the area. Something new to watch for now.

all of them just tell you all is well . i stoped the all and do my home. he sent me a bill and i sent him a bill dont take crap from them

I have Massey pest control but every time I call them up and say there is a problem, they say it isn't covered - that includes lovebugs, midges, frogs, and snakes - except for ants. They do treat for ants.

I hadn't planned on renewing my contract but it looks like I have to cancel it.

If you want to cancel I suggest you start the process now, before you forget and it's too late

With Massey, an easy way to do it is to log on to their website and click on the "contact us" button. You can type in a message and they will immediately confirm your message with an email back to you. At least that is how it has worked for me every time I need to contact them.

Massey should be ashamed of themselves for taking advantage of people. I would not pay that $65

http://2636 the insect/rodent infestation is cured when the food source is eliminated… pet food , bird seed or a nearby trash receptacle will also bring them to your area . Good luck

And palm tree seeds!

As I always say: imagine it was your parents or grandparents that were on the receiving end - how would you like them to be treated?

Unfortunately, making the biggest profit seems more important than good customer service.

Thank you RICH1 - good advice.

We also encourage snakes (black racer and corn) so that the pests will themselves be part of the food chain

I had an issue at the bank one day and the manager asked me don’t you read the fine print in the contract you signed. It says it right there in the contract. I told them to you read the fine print on every contract you’ve ever seen in your life? She would not answer that question. I told her I also do not do business with people that I have to read the fine print and cannot trust.
As far as Maddie goes, I didn’t trust them when they delivered my pest certificate for the new house. They showed up with approximately 25 different contracts, wanting me to sign for this and that anybody who has that many contracts and wants to lock you in I don’t trust never have use Massey never will because of that.

Yes, imagine it was your parents or grandparents. They signed up for Massey Pest Prevention. They were offered the opportunity to save money by paying one year in advance and took it. The one year ends.

Now what happens?

1. They don't get service until they pay another year in advance
OR
2. Service continues on a month-to-month basis

If your parents didn't pay attention to when they initially signed up a year ago, do you want their service to unexpectedly end or do you want the service to continue with a monthly billing?

Do you expect your lawn mowing service to come just one month and then wait for you to call again? Or do you expect them to keep coming until you cancel?

Massey isn't trying to rip you off, they are simply continuing the service that was started. You didn't contract for a single year of service, you contracted for continuing service until you canceled. The one year upfront payment to get a discount wasn't a contract, it was just a prepay.

My services that work month-to-month until I cancel: Internet, lawn mowing, several Massey services, cell phone, water, electric, Netflix, Hulu, every other streaming service, ... None of these cut me off at the end of the month until I ask them to continue, they all continue until I ask them to stop. For most people, including my father, this is exactly what they expect.

I was referring to cutting me some slack for being a "valued" customer for the past 13 years and having forgotten what was in the small print in 2010.

Yes, it was my mistake and I have paid Massey their money. That doesn't detract from my considering that they could have handled it better. I probably feel that way because I ran my own business for twelve years and customer satisfaction was Job One.

Pests
 

I bit the bullet and learned to do my own. It was not hard. "Do It Yourself Pest Control" has supplies that work. I got some to spray indoors and outdoors around the outside and inside baseboards - safe for me and any pets. I also got some "ant goo" and "ant houses" to put out for those pesky ghost (tiny) ants that come in from time to time. No more pests, and no more $45 every two months to Massey.

A sprayer can be purchased (Amazon, local hardware stores, etc.). Needs doing every six months.

The same sprayer can do weeds, though I had to purchase a terribly strong weed killer to control mine. (Professional grade stuff, bought online) - slightly tricky to make sure breeze doesn't blow it onto plants, however. I use a very big piece of cardboard on a day with no wind. Only needs doing every six months.

I am now saving several hundred dollars a year by doing two things every six months.

I guess type of service may depend on your techy. My guy came out last year for some small black worm like things, put sticky paper and a few were caught and then nothing. He treated the outside too. Came again next week did the same, checked the sticky papers. One month later I was up north, he called me up north and said he treated the outside again, asked if Empty Nest should let him inside. Empty Nest reported there was nothing inside. Six months later techy called again about the situation. Still ok. So that’s my Massey pest control experience.

Would you mind sharing the products that you use? Are you doing termites by yourself as well? Thank you.

I guess if you provide a great service for a fair price (and by fair, I mean you make a profit) - you dont need to play those contract games.
If Massey lets original poster out of contract, he might become a customer again in the future - now, they lost one, and probably more customers for life.

As a retired contracting officer I can't tell you how much I have saved because I read the terms and conditions of every contract. Every. Single. One.

Still, I have empathy for you. My spouse doesn't read the fine print and often gets taken advantage of.