BAY AREA PEST ELIMINATION

Hats off to Mr. Kelly! He was personable, showed up on time.

At the risk of making him sound like a Boy Scout, Helmut Tutass of Bay Area Pest Elimination was thorough, considerate, prompt, and professional. I give him top marks. I called Bay Area Pest Elimination at 8 in the morning about an infestation of small bugs in my daughter's room and on her bed. Helmut asked if I had saved specimens (I had) and he promised to come the same afternoon, which he did, right on time. He said the bugs were rat mites and inspected my house, basement to attic, to see if there was any evidence of rats or any other animals (he didn't find any). He described the procedure for eliminating the bugs in detail, reassuring me it posed as little harm as possible to my family and pets and the environment. We went through the house room by room discussing where he did and didn't need to treat. He made an appointment for the next morning and waited while I rearranged my schedule to free up the time. When he came the next morning - again, right on time - I told him my daughter was concerned about one of the areas he hadn't felt needed treatment. He agreed to treat it and offered to add an extra treatment of her bed and room, since she was very agitated about the bugs there - at no additional cost. He then explained the treatment process again, and he did the treatment quickly and very professionally. During the whole time, Helmut was very reassuring and made it quite clear that he was available to me and stood by his work. He was going out of town but encouraged me to email if I had any questions after the treatment; I did, and he responded immediately. He also promised that if I still had bug problems a week after the treatment, he'd come back and do it again. I hope I don't need the services he offers, but if I do, I will call Helmut again.

The day after the first rainfall of the season, I noticed winged termites swarming outside - a normal occurrence apparently, but when these guys started falling from the ceiling of my son's converted-garage room (without their wings) I thought I should do something. I called several companies but learned that I would have to wait several days for an inspection appointment and possibly even longer for any kind of treatment, a formulaic response to any kind of "termite" call. Helmut, from Bay Area Pest Elimination, was able to come the day I called. After some helpful discussion, he suggested a fumigation rather than the full-blown termite inspection/treatment since we had just purchased the house and the structure was only a few years old. He was able to do the topical spraying and fumigation the following morning. I was glad to have found someone able to provide personalized, friendly service.