AAA AFRICANIZED BEE REMOVAL SPECIALISTS, INC.

Why did I not see the Yelp reviews before I called? Everything you read in these reviews is true. These guys grossly over charge!!!!! They come across as bee experts, spouting of degrees and titles they have. They scare you into thinking you need to act now and they are the only ones that know what they are doing. They keep adding to the bill.keep adding to your fears. $950 to kill the bees, when others charge $175. And yes they do same day . Then they want over $3,000 to get rid of the honey comb. Others charge around $700. That means that you can have the bees and hive removed for less than these guys will charge for just bees. I still had bees flying around the next day. They came out and discovered that there was honey comb, the day before they had said I was lucky and there was only virgin comb on the outside and nothing inside the Vegas.they wanted over $3,500 to get rid of the hive. When I told them that I called around to other company's they lowered their price , but it was still over $2400 for bee and hive removal when the others is less than $900 for both. The company I had finish the job found that AAA didn't even kill all the bees from the hive. They also didn't understand why AAA wouldn't close the openings so the bees could not return. AAA expect you to do this. When I refused to allow AAA to finish the job they wanted me to sign a statement stating that I wouldn't go to the media or post bad reviews. They offered me $500 to keep my mouth shut. PLEASE DO NOT USE THESE GUYS!!!!!!!!

We called AAA because they seemed like they would take a rigorous approach to the problem. We were able to make an appointment the same day we called. I was quoted a price over the phone and this was the price I paid. The technician was very competent and answered all my (and my kids) questions. He drilled small several exploratory test holes on both sides of the crack to evaluate the extent and ensure he exterminated the whole colony. He also resealed the holes. He did not seal the crack, but I didn't really expect him too (required mortar since it was almost 3 inches near the top). The whole process took about 3 hours. Unfortunately, as the job was completing, then came the "hard sell". The local owner, "Dr. Tom", called and gave a somewhat unnecessarily involved description of the issues -- honey, honeycomb, bee pheromones -- that would surely attract another colony, perhaps as quickly as the next day. AAA asserted the wall needed to be uncapped, flushed, and washed with bee pheromone repellent. The initial quote for this extra work was $2500, then $2200, then $1100 -- as we said no each time. Frankly, I could have had AAA come out 2-3 more times and still come out ahead. My neighbor and I mortared up the crack that night and have yet to experience any bee issues since then. So, AAA gets a for quality (great technician), thoroughness, responsiveness and punctuality; a B for price (more expensive than some, but they kept to their initial quote) and a D for professionalism -- we could have done without the 1hr+ of hard sell.

What a bunch of Salesmen, they charge 2 to 3 times as much as other exterminators then try to upsell you will removal and repair and pheromone treatment. I was quoted an additional $1600.00 for removal and repair on top of the hefty $595.00 extermination fee. I knew the game... and stopped before I got stung more... I am glad I did since they are not licensed repairmen. If you are reading this after you got yourself in the same situation do not believe all of their mumbo jumbo. I will say they are knowledgeable about bees and it was nice to get a refresher on my college entomology class. So overall I feel like I did get some knowledge for the amount of overpaying. I guess this is what I get for straying from my regular exterminator company.

Started out professional enough, but degraded very quickly to underhanded tactics by this company.

I had to find someone right away to remove a hive. I was not at home and has limited time to do research about different companies. I checked on Angie's List and saw their ad and that they had a good rating with you, so I called them. The tech on the phone initially gave me an estimate for their services. They claimed that they were licensed to do this kind of work. He made misleading statements about their services and guarantee (but I did not find that out until later). I was desperate to have the hive removed that same day. The company has a policy of taking your credit card over the phone before they come out to look at the hive. So I gave my CC and paid $495.00. The tech showed up quickly and exterminated the hive in about 30 minutes. The hive was located in a scupper over the porch area. He then told me that since he just exterminated the hive, that the honey will begin to melt and damage my home. That the hive, bees and honey must be removed within two hours or I will sustain major damage to my home. That he could remove the hive right away and prevent further damage. He said that the hive was large and invasive to my structure. He also stated that if the hive was not removed and the area "sterilized right away ( with their own special pheromone sanitizer), other hives might move in that same day. That they are the only company that has this special solution and no one else can say that. He then gave me an estimate for an additional $1700 to remove the hive, sterilize the area, clean it out and repair the damage. I told him that I could not afford that, he then proceeded to explain again about the urgency of doing this and that if I did not do this within two hours, I was going to have major structural damage to my home which would cost thousands. And that if he went home and I called him back to remove the hive, that the fee would at least double. He scared me into thinking that the best thing to do was have him "finish" the job. When I reiterated again, that I could not afford this, he told me that my homeowners insurance would cover damage. I questioned him about that and he told me that insurance companies reimburse them all of the time for this service. I then reluctantly agreed since I felt as if I had no choice and thinking that I would be reimbursed for this from my insurance company. He then took my CC info, had me sign an agreement for the quote. *Insurance company has refused to cover this service. After the job was complete (two hours), he showed me the hive and pictures. The hive was about 2x1ft and was located in the parapet around the scupper (a very common and easy area to get to). The tech cut out a small portion of the parapet to remove the hive, cleaned out the small hive and bees, sprayed and scrubbed it with a bleach solution and replaced the cut out part. He then sealed it with regular silicone (that can not be painted). I expressed my concerned to the tech about how expensive this seemed for the amount of work that it included (I told the tech that the hive looked small to me and that it was not in an invasive area of my home. He told me that it was considered a large hive and that it was inside the wall so that was considered an invasive area. The repair worked looked terrible and we had to hire a company to redo it with contractors silicone so that it could be painted. Later I found out that AAABR is only licensed to do "exterminating" and not licensed for any repair or construction work. They claim that they are licensed under the legal interpretation of the law to do these repairs. I have contacted at least 6 bee removal companies to get an estimate and their opinion about a similar scenario. 1. they all gave me estimates for exterminating and honeycomb removal of about $250.00 total. 2. they do not do repairs since they are not licensed contractors (they tell their customers upfront "that they will need to repair the area themselves"). 3. No one can guarantee that any bees won't come back. Only the hive in question, because they are exterminated. No one has a special formula for pheromone treatment, they all use a bleach solution. 4. Scupper and the parapet are easy removals and rarely cause "structural" damage, even after the honey melted. 5. Max amount for bee and honeycomb removal would be $400-$500 and that is only if the hive is large (over 4ft and/or in a retaining wall? 6. Insurance companies do not cover these and have never covered these services. *When I told AAABR that the insurance company refused payment - stating that they have never or would never cover this type of a claim. AAABR promised me that that is not true and would provide me a letter and claim numbers to back it up. I have been calling them over and over. They continue to promise me that the insurance companies do cover these claims and that they will send me the letter and claim numbers.... still waiting.

n les

Once the salesman was in the house he went into a high pressure mode to have bee hive removed at at high price. Price was too high for 4-5 hours work by one person, and materials used. Overall, the work was good but price was too high and the company refused to scale down the service by only killing the bees without honeycomb removal. They used scare tactics about potential structural damage between the walls which is not relevent because we live in an adobe house and their is no cavity between the walls.

I spent about $1800 on the job. I had a lot of bees in one corner of the house. They came out to fix the issue. They were very knowledgeable. They were absolutely punctual. They seemed to really know their business. However, they were very expensive. I got honey from the hives, which was very tasty and fetched me a lot of money. They did a lot of work, but they seemed very expensive for what they did. They were very professional and I haven?t had any issues with bees ever since. I will use them again depending on the circumstances.