Company ReviewTerminix

Though Terminix is known for their long history of pest control management and a huge number of stellar reviews, but they also offer an extensive service offering for wildlife control. The company has demonstrated skill in wildlife removal when it comes to prevention, removal, and even the customer service of their technicians.

18 min read| Updated for May, 2020

OVERALL RATING
4.5 stars
RELIABILITY
4.5 stars
FEATURES & SERVICES
4 stars
CUSTOMER SERVICE
4.5 stars
COST
5 stars

Our Review


A subsidiary of ServiceMaster and headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Terminix is one of the largest pest control and wildlife companies in the United States. Terminix offers a wide variety of wildlife services backed by over 90 years of practice in the field and services over 2.8 million homes every year across 48 states.

OUR RATING
4.5 stars
PRO

The company has spent more than 90 years perfecting its treatment of pests and wildlife.

CON

Its franchise model means quality and service might differ from location to location.

Reliability

Founded in 1927 Terminix has a long track record of handling wildlife effectively and has been present for many of the major technological changes in the industry. Headquartered in Memphis, Terminix’s services extends to 48 states and has over 300 branches and franchises across the country. Many states have more than one location, but several have a huge number of locations, including 31 in California, 39 in North Carolina, and 28 in Florida.

With over 10,000 employees working to help solve your wildlife problems, Terminix has wide availability. They have a customer service line that is operational 24/7 in the case of an emergency, so you’re never left without support. It is also a part of the larger ServiceMaster network, which helps provide services to over 75,000 homes and businesses every single day, affording Terminix a sense of authority that smaller independent companies do not receive as well as quick access to thousands of other services that your home might need.

OUR RATING
4 stars
PRO

They will refund your previous 90 days of payment plus 10% if you are not satisfied.

CON

Pricing is not available until after an inspection has been done.

Features & Services Provided

Terminix’s basic pest control service offers coverage of 13 common household pests, but beyond ants, moths, spiders, and bed bugs, they also treat for and remove wildlife animals including:

  • Mice
  • Rats
  • Bats
  • Raccoons
  • Squirrels
  • Possums
  • Ground Hogs
  • Skunks
  • Armadillos
  • Birds
  • Snakes

Knowing the damage wildlife can cause to your house and property, Terminix approaches these animals in a similar manner with due diligence.

Wildlife Inspection & Treatment

A Terminix team will do a thorough inspection of your house and property, determining how, where, and why wildlife is entering. Their in-depth inspection looks at not just the attic, but the turbine and gable vents; roof returns and plumbing vents; dryer and oven vents; gaps between exterior walls and roofing fascia; foundation grates and pipe openings; and garage door openings. They will inspect the property, looking for telltale damage, droppings, nests, and burrows.

This free inspection will give you all the information of what you are up against, and a dual answer of what will happen next: What will happen without treatment, and what will happen if Terminix takes on the job.

After developing a customized plan, a service technician will use traps, baits, and other tools to remove the wildlife, as well as patch, seal, and secure your home’s exterior to avoid any re-entry. They offer specialized one-way exclusion traps designed to ensure secure removal while preventing re-entry into the home. In addition to trapping, Terminix experts handle the removal and rehoming of various animals; they are specially training to handle the most common animal intruders—like raccoons, opossums, squirrels, and skunks—and geographically unique ones.

For every year you keep your plan, a technician will re-inspect your property checking previous entry points and look for any new possibilities of infestation or telltale damage.

With their years of experience and dealings with wildlife, Terminix teams are very adept at giving prevention tips to avoid any further invasions, not to mention invasions of other species. Terminix offers an ongoing ‘guaranteed wildlife protection’ that at any time during your plan if any of the listed wildlife enter your home, they’ll take care of and treat the issue at no extra charge.

OUR RATING
4.5 stars
PRO

Reports of on time and friendly, as well as educational.

CON

Some customers had complaints of no-shows and no returned calls.

Customer Support & Reviews

Terminix scores relatively high on reviews, and has a high volume of positive review throughout various places online. It appears that the company is invested in getting good reviews from customers and encouraging them to leave a comment on their work if at all possible.

Word on the Street

Overall, customers seemed very happy with their service by Terminix. The company seems to put a lot of time and effort into cultivating reviews, and their work pays off. Most people were pleased with the services they received, commenting that their Terminix technicians were on time, pleasant to work with, and did a thorough job.

Punctuality and Professionalism

Many people commented that Terminix provided a quality service that did exactly what they were going to do. Technicians were on time, friendly, helpful, and they got the job done.

“First, as a resident of the North End, I have had several companies check out whether I had roof rats. Carlos was the first person to present evidence and to properly diagnose the problem. He came and assessed the situation last week. Second, Carlos came over and sealed the door upon hearing my complaint of roof rats on or over the door last night. On a Sunday night, this hard-working man drove thirty minutes to help me. I will happily recommend him as I already have to my neighbors.”

Lynn Zoll, Virginia Beach, VA

Customers were particularly pleased with Terminix’s communications and scheduling, many stating that the online scheduler was easy to navigate and that the customer service representatives were friendly. This is worth noting because customer communication is something that many other companies struggle with and is often the thing that ruins a pest control enterprise’s reputation online. However, the largest complaint lodged was that customers fell between the cracks in the scheduling or customer service system, but these complaints were few and far between.

Persistence

Reviewers said that Terminix came to scheduled appointments regularly, were happy to help if there were problems outside of a regularly scheduled visit and did not make excuses to avoid coming out more than once. As one reviewer wrote:

The technicians from Terminix come out every three months and they’ve always been nice and real friendly. In the beginning, the pest problem wasn’t really bad. We had birds at the time but then we found out about the termites. That was when we started with Terminix. They had the best price and the people seemed nicer. We haven’t had birds for several years but if I ever had an issue and I’ve called, they’ve come back out.

Monica, Smyrna, TN

Effectiveness

Effectiveness is ultimately the weakest part of the customer review section as there were many comments from people who needed to have their property treated a second time. While this might be skewed by the sheer number of reviews that are out there, it might also be the result of Terminix adopting an Integrated Pest Management philosophy, thus allowing pests to return from where they came. Terminix’s 30-day guarantee ensures that these re-treatments will not cost you any additional money; however, the fact remains that pests are extraordinarily difficult to get rid of in many cases.

“I live next door to a lot and my block was infested with rats. They were getting in to my kitchen in some kind of way. The landlord came and saw how the rats were getting in the cellar. The technician explained everything that he was going to do and any questions I had, he answered properly. Since using Terminix, I saw one rat in my cellar recently which got caught on a trap. But, the rat activity calmed down for a long time after Terminix treated the lot and left a box in the cellar. I appreciated everything that Terminix did for me. They did a good job.”

Nena, Newtown, PA

A Word About Reviews…

It can be difficult to judge pest control companies using online reviews: negative reviews tend to outnumber positive reviews for all companies. But looking at negative and positive reviews can give consumers some idea of the trends in a company’s performance.

OUR RATING
5 stars
PRO

Terminix’s termite bond, free consultations, and satisfaction guarantee can help keep costs low for customers, especially if they’re dealing with a difficult problem like rodents.

CON

Accurate pricing is not available until after an inspection is done.

Cost

Costs for wildlife removal are based on the individual project rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. Unlike pest control, wildlife removal is usually a one-time job that doesn’t require retreatments, unless you need multiple visits for trapping and cleanup. Because of this, quotes aren’t available online, and you need to speak to a technician for them to understand the extend your problem and the techniques that are needed for removal.

In general, inspections are usually around $100, though some companies offer these for free – like Terminix. Trapping can cost anywhere from $100 to $500. Cleanup can cost in the thousands, especially if there are repairs involved, and baiting, repellents and other products required will tack on additional fees. Unfortunately, wildlife removal won’t be cheap, but it’s worth it to ensure that your home is safe and protected for the long run.

Free Consultation and Inspection

Because it can be difficult to determine the amount of damage and number of animals you’re dealing with, Terminix does not offer an online quote, however, they do offer a free initial inspection and consultation in which homeowners can chat with technicians about the problems they are experiencing, and the technician will be better informed to give a quote.

While it is convenient to be able to get a quote directly over the phone, it simply is not the same as an inspection. Inspections allow technicians to see the full extent of a wildlife problem as well as evaluate how difficult it will be to solve it. Many questions regarding your solution cannot be answered over the phone since they need more in-person information.

Guarantee

Terminix has a guarantee that is standard across the industry but varies for wildlife. They have a 30-day satisfaction guarantee that may not be applicable in a situation where it takes that long or longer to remove animals like moles and prevent future infestations. Terminix will provide free follow-ups to your home depending on the plan outlined by your technician. For instance, if they’ve been called in to trap and remove raccoons, they’ll also return to take care of additional trapping if necessary.

Conclusion

Though Terminix is known for their long history of pest control management and a huge number of stellar reviews, but they also offer an extensive service offering for wildlife control. The company has demonstrated skill in wildlife removal when it comes to prevention, removal, and even the customer service of their technicians.

More Things to Know

  • Through a variety of acquisitions, Terminix has purchased both pest and wildlife control companies.
  • Terminix is also available in Europe and Canada.
  • Terminix offers flexible billing options and special negotiated pricing.