Orkin
Reviews and Complaints

My wife and I needed someone to spray our home for insects. Thinking a national chain would be more reputable than a mom and pop joint, we called Orkin. They advised us that they could do a one time job costing about $100.00 (I can't Remember the exact amount) or they could offer a recurring service contract where we would come once every two months. The person from the call center told us it could be cancelled at any time. This was also the story given to us by the technician on his initial visit. Circumstances have now made it where their service is no longer required and we needed to cancel the service. My wife was told that we would have to pay 60% of the remaining year. My wife told them that she had not been told that when we entered the agreement. My wife was blown off and was told we had to pay the full amount for the service or pay the 60% to cancel. I then called and asked for the manager who was not available. When he did call me back he too refused to allow us out the service agreement that was misrepresented to us. I advised him that I would pay for the remaining service but that I would not offer my business to them any longer. I also advised him that I would inform all of my family, friends, and coworkers of their deceptive practices. The service manager (Randy) then began yelling at me and insinuating that I was a bad person for wanting out of my contract. He then agreed to let me out of the contract. He then went on to say that should we need Orkin's services again, he would charge no less than $250.00 for a service call.

In summary, not only does Orkin use deceptive practices to bring in and maintain clients, they are also rude and lack any customer service skills. I for one will never do business with Orkin again and I highly advise you to do the same.

I had an appointment scheduled for 2-4 PM today. I left work early to attend this appointment because I wanted the individual to actually deal with pest control issues IN the home as well as outside the home. At 4:00 PM I called because no one had showed. I was put on hold for 30 minutes without anyone helping me. At 4:30 PM I called back to say no one had come. They said they would contact my Pest Control Service Person and get back with me in 5-10 minutes. At 5:30 PM (1 hour) I still had not been called so I called back. That's when they said they couldn't contact the individual and that they would need to reschedule. I said no- I had left work early for this. They asked if they could come before I left for work in the morning (before 7 AM) and again I said no. I politely but firmly told them that if someone did not come today I would cancel my contract with the company. They said they would try to contact my provider. He called within 2 minutes. He told me that the company had not called him and proceeded to YELL at me that it was not his fault, that he was at home, that he was done for the day. When I told him he could not come at 4:30 AM (the time that he wanted to come tomorrow) he said "I guess I could get my uniform on and come over. I'll be there sometime tonight". I felt disrespected (I did not raise my voice once, yet was yelled at twice). I felt as if the specialist was trying to guilt me into changing my mind. I do not feel that a customer is always right, but I DO feel that we should not be treated like this. Even if the specialist comes out this evening, the treatment of me is enough for me to say I do not wish to work with them again. This is the THIRD time an incident like this has happened with this company (within the last year) and each time I have been yelled at, ignored, or told to reschedule at a time that works for them.

I have had annual termite service from orkin for several years. On 6-14-08 my home was fumigated. On 2-3-09 the orkin inspector told me I have termites in the table in my dining room. This implies the fumigation was ineffective. Since 2-3-09 orkin will not return my calls. I have called many times and spoken to a secretary who says the person I need to speak to is busy or in a meeting. Meanwhile my property is being damaged. At a minimum, I need to have the house fumigated a second time. This will be costly.

I signed a one-year contract with orkin for them to provide quarterly preventive pest control for mice I had living in my house. The mice did seem to disappear after a couple months.

However, after the first couple visits, in which orkin called us to set the appt, they stopped calling us, and instead came every couple months, always in the day when we were not home. They would leave a notice on our door handle saying they had sprayed outside the perimeter of the house. We did not notice any evidence of pests in the house so we continued to pay their hefty charges.

Then one weekday, orkin left another notice on my door saying they had sprayed the perimeter. Problem was, I was home the entire day, and at the time on the notice, I was in the backyard working on my garden, so there was absolutely no way the orkin rep. Could have sprayed the perimeter of the house.

We called orkin, and told them we would not be paying the latest bill, because they weren't actually providing us with any service. The rep at orkin then had the gall to tell me that they had a work order signed by someone in the house that proved that not only did they spray the outside, but also the inside of the house! After 3 or 4 phone calls they finally admitted that they were mistaken about the "signed" form, and did not charge us.

And now, not a month later, we have mice in the house again.

So beware: while orkin may be effective in pest control, that's only when they actually do what they are paid for!

If you do decide to go with orkin, do not accept these fake service appointments - insist that they call to schedule an appointment when you will be there. Otherwise they claim to provide service, but in reality, they just fill out the form and stick it on your doorknob.

About 3 weeks ago I noticed a few mice droppings in the hall bathroom. I'm not a friend of mice, as I don't know anybody that is, so I knew that I had to do something to get rid of them. Most likely I knew they were underneath my house and coming up at night. My options were to get some poison and crawl underneath the house and put it there and to also set traps inside of the house... Or, I could just pay somebody else to do it. I decided after calling a few companies that I would hire orkin. Two days later an orkin guy came out and the only thing he would do for me was set out 5 sticky traps around the house. I asked him if he would go under the house and he told me that they don't do that. So, I as the trusting idiot that I am agreed hoping that he knew what he was doing as he is called the 'pest expert'.

Ten days go by and still no mice are being caught. I sit on my couch and watch them run across the living room floor, see them running around my back yard at night, and watch them run around in the kitchen. I start to notice that for whatever reason they are taking the dirt out of my house plants and leaving a trail of it across my living room. Then, two days ago I took my couch cushions out and saw that they were making a nice nest in my couch. Dirt, dog food, and stuffing that they were taking from my pillow in the living room. I pulled out the couch and wanted to die. The carpet had mouse pee and poo everywhere. I pulled out my steam vacuum and cleaned the whole carpet, couch, and anything else that I could in the living room. Then, I called orkin.

The lady that I spoke to told me she would send somebody out again right away free of charge. I asked her what the policy was on going underneath houses and she told me that "oh yes, of course we will go under your house." after telling her that the previous man had stated they don't do that she was shocked and said that she would be reporting that to his supervisor. So, the next day, I sit and wait and I was stood up by orkin. I called again and the lady apologized and allegedly the man did not get the message to come to my house... So, stupid me again reschedules for today. Today when the man showed up it was the same guy that came the first time. I told him that I want him to go under my house. He said, "has anyone ever even been under there?" I told him yes, and that is was clean and there was nothing for him to be afraid of. He looked at the hole again and then said, "well, i'm too fat to go under there, but i'll tell you what i'll do. I'll give you the blocks and you or your husband can do it." whaa? I politely said that if we wanted to do it I wouldn't have paid him to do it for us, and that neither I or anybody else in my family or circle of friends would be going under the house to take care of a mouse problem that I was paying him to take care of. He excused himself to go outside and see if he could get a different guy to go under my house.

When he came back inside, he told me that his supervisor said that nobody would be going under my house and that they would only treat the problem outside of the house with a bait house but I had to pay for the bait house! I then told him that since they were refusing to get to the root of my problem and wanted to charge me additional costs that I would like my money back. He eagerly said ok, just call customer service. Then, on the way out the door he asked me if I would continue my other pest service for the spiders. I kinda chuckled and said that I could live with spiders, but what I can't live with is the problem that he's refusing to take care of. When I called customer service the lady told me that I would have to talk to a supervisor but conveniently they were all out in the field and she would try to have one call me tomorrow. So, now here I sit and wait for a phone call, which i'm sure i'll be calling them back before they even attempt to call me.

Moral of the story, don't ever use orkin!

As a former employee fo r 6 years, i've learned that you are trained to tell customers lies. A new tech may come to your home never being in the field before but he is trained to say "i've worked with them almost a year now". Termite and pest control salespersons are trained to target low to mid income potential telling them that they have termites or bugs when they really don't. Lots of times technicians are forced to go out customers home without chemical and pretending to be spraying chemical when its just water. Mainly at the columbia sc branch. That branch in ra off of poor management, and the region manager is no better. He said he would never have a black branch manager and as long as i've been there I never saw one. I feel that the company itself is as fake as can be. All they want is your money, service sucks due to lack of training. Over the years their morals have fallen

I am a past employee of orkin pest control from a few years ago... If you are considering a career with this company, I urge you to reconsider! While at the interview they make it sound like it's the best job on earth! When in reality it is anything but! If you take a job with this company, be prepared to work very long hours with no compensation! When I worked there I put in an excess of 55 to 60 hours a week, 6 days a week...

Most people would think, "well it's a lot of hours, but at least you make alot of money from overtime!" wrong! They pay you on a production basis, which means you make a percentage of the production you make for the day... Which is a very small percentage! What does this mean? That's right... No overtime pay whatsoever! The company realizes this and takes advantage of their employees because they can legally work their employees 60 hours a week and not have to pay any extra out of their own pocket! Aside from that, the benefits from the job are horrific! They do offer medical, dental, life... Etc... But the coverage is so unbelieveably horrible it's not even worth getting! They do have company vehicles of which you have restricted use, (which means you can only use it for work purposes and that's it!) which would be fine, except they take out a hefty amount out of your own pay for using their trucks to do their work! If you are caught using it for other purposes other than work, there are hefty consequences! And don't think you can just use it anyway and get away with it... Nope... They have gps units equipped on every vehicle so they know your every move! Any extra expenses required for work (i.E. Cell phone calls [of which they require from you everyday]tolls, work uniforms, and basically anything else aside from gas, you are required to pay out of your own pocket with no reimbursement from the company.

All this combined with heartless management makes this an all around horrible company to work for! Leaving the company was the smartest decision i've ever made! And if you are considering employment with them, I strongly urge you to reconsider.