COSTLESS FUMIGATION CO

Terrible Service Report CostLe$$Fumigation came to fumigate our home on Dec 17, 2020 . We are extremely dissatisfied with their service and planning on reporting the terrible job they have done to BBB and all social media. 1. They broke over 400 tiles on our beautiful roof. They basically damaged our entire roof. They did call us and tell us that about 10 tiles are broken and they may damage a few more like 30-40. They BROKE over 400. In order repair the damage, we got 5 roofers to assess the damage and give us estimates, we were informed by all of them that the tiles were broken because of the incompetence of the fumigation company workers. They had no experience working on such a custom roof. I have called and spoken to Carina, the Manager and Justin the Field Manager from Cost Le$$ Fumigation many times to report the details of the damage. They have responded with their standard clause that we are NOT responsible for the damage. How can a licensed company NOT be responsible? This is horrible. The pain and frustration we went through scrambling to get our roof fixed during our holiday vacation and the season of winter storms. In addition, we should NOT be held responsible for the damage caused because of the incompetence and carelessness of the Cost Le$$ Fumigation team. If they did NOT have the expertise, they should have told us. Terrible company. Please do not hire.

Our situation is somewhat unique. We live in a two family home (called a duet, similar to a duplex), and the family who owns the other half had to sell. (We each own our half under a special Below Market Rate Program in Palo Alto.) This required a termite inspection on the whole house, and when termites were found, fumigation and tenting was recommended. Our neighbors contracted with Cost Less Fumigation, partner of Franz Termites who did the inspection. We would have preferred to use a different company that could eliminate termites w/out fumigating (e.g. Pacific Coast Termite Inc.), but our neighbors were close to closing escrow on their half of the house and couldn't wait any longer, so we agreed to go ahead with the fumigation. We had to move out of our house for three days, with all the preparation that entailed, including double bagging all food in special Nylofume bags. All that said, Cost Less was an easy company to deal with. They provided clear instructions and explanations, and their crew came and went according to the schedule. (In fact, we got back in the house the morning of the 3rd day.) For our own peace of mind, we opened every window in our house for two entire days after moving back in, but we never could smell any residue of the fumigation process. All considered, things went as smoothly as could be expected.

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I contracted with TAPS Termite for repairs and fumigation on my house, and they subcontract fumigation to CostLe$$ Fumigation. While I was happy with TAPS, I was not happy with several items with CostLe$$. First is that they require two contracts: one for TAPS, and another for CostLe$$. Not only is it annoying to have to deal with two contracts, but the contract for Cost Le$$ includes language that says if anything is broken or missing or damaged, they're not responsible--I didn't like that at all. They dug dirt out of the garden to put around the edges of the tarp, and didn't do a very good job of putting it back. I failed to completely remove everything from my freezer (missed a couple items in the door, clearly my error), and they proceeded to leave this frozen food on the front lawn, despite the fact that the garbage cans were visible and available. They chipped our laminate floor. And a couple of days after the fumigation, a wind blew the chimney cap off my roof damaging 3 roof tiles. That cap had survived many windstorms before, so I can only believe it was loosened when CostLe$$ pulled off their tarps. I have no issues with the effectiveness of the fumigation--the bugs are dead--but all in all this seemed to be a sloppy job, and I would NOT recommend CostLe$$ Fumigation.

In this part of the Bay Area, as I understand it, no matter what termite company you call, Cost Less will do the fumigation. (And in my case I paid the termite company and they pay Cost Less, hence the "N/A" for cost of service.) The team that came to my house to set up the tent was very professional, competent, pleasant and able to communicate well. My problem with the company was communication with the office. On the plus side, they were very helpful and kind about my several telephone calls for more information about my concerns and fears. On the minus side, they seemed disorganized and unable/unwilling to keep promises about doing things they were asked to do and said they would. (1) At the first call to set up the date, they said they'd send me paperwork to sign. When it still had not come and it was getting near the date I'd scheduled, I called them. They'd forgotten, but they'd do it now. The good news was that I kept the original date, which I'd planned my life around ... (2) Before and during the 3 days of tenting, I asked them to call me, e.g. when they were on their way to my house for day, or when they had certified the house for re-entry on day 3. They never made any of those calls. Each time, I had to call the office and ask. For those sorts of things, I would expect that contacting the customer by phone would be standard operating procedure. It would certainly make customers feel that their time was being respected. PS: Not the fault of Cost Less but relevant to the subject of TENTING: none of the standard tenting pamphlets, nor anything I could find on the web, addresses two effects of the tenting gases (Vikane(R) and the warning gas chloropicrin): on mattresses, in particular Tempurpedic, and on batteries. I have written in more detail about those effects on a blogspot blog called myunpublishedworks2.

Fumigated a rental house. Went well. Would use them again.

The tenting went very smoothly. The crew arrived promptly and did a careful job of tenting, attempting to prevent damage to the house and shrubbery. They explained the procedure and the schedule very well. Cost Less adjusted their timing of the tent takedown to accommodate PGand E's schedule for reinstalling gas service. Overall, I can't ask for more.

While fumigation is always very disruptive, Costless minimized the pain in the following ways: - They promptly sent out an estimator and provided an estimate for the work. - They quoted the job at a reasonable price. - They schedule the job at a time convenient to us - They clearly and thoroughly communicated what we needed to do to prepare for the tenting - They provided special bags to protect food at a very low price - They took great care to minimize damage to the shrubs planted up against the house - They started and finished exactly when they said they would - They came in at the estimated price--no surprises

Cost Less Fumigation was subcontracted by Franz Termite Control. We got a bid from them along with Clark's Pest Control and Terminex. We didn't feel that Terminex was being honest with us so we didn't go with them. Clark's was okay but Franz gave us added advice about what to do to keep termites away from our home and we liked that they were a family run small business. Since February is their slow month we got a 10 percent discount. Unfortunately, it rained a lot during the fumigation, which was no fun moving back in. However, both company's were very professional. We forgot to remove some medications but Cost Less went through the house and bagged them up for us. They were punctual but I didn't know when to expect them. I was assuming they set up early so I took my cat away planning to return him in the evening since he is an outdoor cat. I didn't ask about their schedule on my part but I called the day of and learned they work up to 5 or 6 o'clock. Since it was raining hard that day, they were amazing they got the job done in time.

The crew showed up on time and did a careful job tenting the home. They made extra efforts to protect the plants around the home. After the tent was removed, they did a good job cleaning up. I would use them again.

Having your house tented for termites is a miserable and expensive experience, but Cost Less Fumigation made it as effortless and painless as possible. They did a superb job in every respect. Two major concerns we had were the loss of trees and plants located close to the house and other accidental damage to the property (especially the roof). We had been told by other companies who gave us estimates that, at a minimum, we would definitely lose three beautiful, bouganvillea trees and other mature plants, which would have been a tragedy. However, Vernon Thomason of Cost Less Fumigation said that with proper tie-backs he could probably save all our trees and plants--and he did! His crew did an incredibly meticulous job of protecting our plants and property. Mr. Thomason was also great in providing specific advice about preparing --both indoors and out--for the fumigation. He made an extra trip to the property to advise us about brush removal, and answered several nervous calls about proper storage and/or removal of indoor items. At our request, he was there when his crew arrived (on time), and also visited the property personally over the weekend tenting period. The crew was friendly, polite and respectful of our concerns. Our house is over 5,000 square feet, and is three stories tall, located on a fairly steep hillside. This was not a standard job, but it was done perfectly. The price included a 15% discount, and in the final analysis seemed very reasonable. A+ Work!

The projects was completed on time. The only complaint I have is that PGand E couldn't come until the following Monday to turn on my gas, so we went the weekend with out hot water, but we still had running water. I wish Cost Less had emphasized that I should have scheduled the turn-on appointment with PGand E several weeks in advance. To be fair, they did give us a notice that said we need to schedule a time with PGand E, but when I called week before the fumigation, there weren't any appointments...not really Cost Less's fault, but some advice to note.

Called them to get a quote and decided to go with them on the spot. They emailed me some paperwork to sign and that was basically all I had to do. They tented on a Friday and as promised the house was safe to enter again on Tuesday.

They come down and give me a bid when I call them. Their bid is always cheaper than other bids that I get. They do a good work and clean up after work. I have no trouble working with them.

It was a very hot day and the crew arrived later than expected, although they did call to say they were running late. The foreman parked the company car in an area not visible to the front door and when we opened the door, he stood there in a rumpled t-shirt, kind of sweaty, with nothing to identify him as part of the CostLess company. When he was talking with my husband and me in the kitchen, he kept fiddling with his zipper which bothered me a lot. He seemed very knowledgeable about what was to be done and went right to work. The crew, too, seemed to know just what to do. I was a little apprehensive about turning my keys over to a total stranger and so we wanted to wait until the gas was pumped into the house. It turned out that the truck that carried the crew was not equipped with the gas tanks and another truck was supposed to follow shortly. We were supposed to be meeting friends but the truck hadn't arrived. The foreman closed up the tent and the crew put a sign on the garage which read "NO GAS," which, to me, was a dead giveaway that it was not dangerous to enter the house and the door was open, although not visible because the tent was closed up. The crew and foreman left. I alerted the neighbors that the house was open and not yet gassed but they couldn't see the house from the front. I was very apprehensive as we went down the freeway to our appointment and finally we decided maybe we should turn around. But first we called another neighbor who had been away and she told us the other truck was coming down the street, that was about 15-20 minutes after we left the house. The whole episode left me a bit unnerved. I feel the company did a good job on the tenting and gassing but could improve their professional image by having at least the foreman in a company shirt and by never leaving a home unattended until the "gassing" truck arrives.

We needed our home fumigated, checked around and found that they had the best price and were highly respected. They were extremely professional on the phone. They explained the whole process to us. They called to confirm our appointment and were very punctual when they arrived. When we returned to our home after the fumigation was complete we were amazed at the care they took. Not one plant was damaged when they put up and took down the tenting. I could not have asked for better service. They were great to deal with and I would definitely recommend them to anyone.

They did a very good job, I have not had a problem since. They were here when they said they would be and they did everything they were supposed to do. The price was a little high, but if you want the job done right you are going to have to pay a little more.