Green Pest Defense

I was a loyal customer for 3 years, even after a rather inexcusable experience. Jonathan was the initial technician to start our first few services. He was extremely professional, thorough, & effective. We only saw him a handful of times after that, unfortunately. All of our pest issues that Green Pest Defense treated were previously resolved by proper outdoor applications. But at one point after sporadic ant issues, the company insisted on coming inside the house. Although the technician came across as knowledgeable, he was extremely aloof as to his application of ant gel bait/pesticide. I spent an hour cleaning up after he left. I was dumbfounded to find gobs of gel out in the open, everywhere. The most puzzling to me was the blob right next to my kitchen sink on my butcher block counter top (photos below). There were large blobs left all over my wood floors in areas that my grandchildren and pets could easily reach. That incident was well over a year ago and I am still finding dried, too hard to remove, beading that he placed under my upper cabinetry. After this experience, I wrote a very kind email to the company regarding my experience as I thought it worth mentioning for a few good reasons. The response I got was more of a “thanks for bringing this to our attention” and no apology. From then on I would request only outside applications- as those had worked just fine before when performed properly. Often I was not at home when the service technicians were scheduled to come. Because of this, I would email the company ahead of my service with specifics that were worth noting and information that would help save us all time & potential unresolved issues. A few times I would request rescheduling as heavy rains were in the forecast and I didn’t want to pay (for tick spray as an example) just to have it washed away. I realize they try to keep abreast of the weather situation too, but I’ve always been proactive to avoid potential situations and it tends to work out better if I do so. In the last year, we built a small play area onto our back deck for our toddler grandchildren. I know the products the company uses are supposedly safe when dry but I prefer no pesticides to be applied directly in the children’s play area. I thought it would be helpful to put signs up showing “no spray” in the areas I didn’t want treated. It would’ve been just as easy to treat under the deck as opposed to on the deck if the technician felt that portion of the house absolutely needed it to be, in order to be an effective visit. I also pointed out where we saw the ant trails and requested plenty of ant gel to be applied as we had a large amount of ants this season. Even so, I still had to do some of my own pesticide control. I let the company know that in the past, it took 2 visits with ample and strategic gel applications to rid the ants. They wanted to come in the house again and I reminded them of what happened the last time their technician came in, & unless they could send Jonathan, I wasn’t keen on it. They couldn’t send Jonathan, evidently. I understand they assign territories- but it is hard starting off service with a great technician like Jonathan, then dealing with blobs of pesticides on my kitchen counter with another technician. Most recently, I was lucky enough to have endangered monarch caterpillars taking up residence in a small area of my flower gardens. So I had put up 2 signs, one on each end of the area, signifying “no spray” between the 2 signs. I always signed it with a “thank you”. Evidently I was asking too much as I received an email the next day notifying me that my contract was canceled referring to the signs I’ve left in the past. I’ve read some other reviews that people have left saying how this company was really good about not spraying kids’ areas per request- so I’m not sure why my signs with my requests were too much to ask. I was trying to avoid confusion by leaving the signs which were easy to understand-in lieu of my not being at home to explain. I do think that with my location being on the outer borderline of their service area, along with my requesting service in between regularly scheduled quarterly services, that they’ve been waiting for an opportunity to drop me, regardless of what their response here will be. Bottom line is I’m costing them more than they’re getting from me. I tried explaining everything in detailed emails to avoid repeat services but one of their technicians used minimal amounts of product and effort in ridding the pests to begin with- causing the repeat visits. Not to mention that some pests will require repeat visits regardless. I have cameras all over the property so even with my not being home, I saw what was/was not being done. It’s a shame to be treated like this as I’ve been a faithful customer and very considerate. But often as a company grows, it will do things of this nature. I’ll be hiring a company with a better understanding of integrated pest management, more thorough training for the techs that need it, and more understanding and tolerant of small requests.

BEWARE. By FAR the WORST customer service I've received in a VERY long time. After Green Pest Defense came out to treat my home, I started to see a new critter appear....I took a video of the insect and asked Aaron what this was. He assured me that he would get back to me "shortly"...After several hours of panic, I started to see these insects crawl on my skin, my dogs skin, and it wasn't getting any better. I waited patiently for Green Pest Defense to get back to me; meanwhile doing online research, calling several health professionals, and Critter Control of Southern Maine to get any insight and sense of comfort. It wasn't until that afternoon that Critter Control of Southern Maine informed me what I had was an issue with bird mites. They told me it's important to get this treated right away to eliminate infestation and when I asked who would I call to help me with this, they said to call "Green Pest Defense" - that they typically handle pesticide sprays. I was in complete shock. I had asked Green Pest Defense to get back to me as soon as possible and that it was urgent. I called several times, left voicemails and texts. It wasn't until Monday morning....over 72 hours later that I finally got a hold of Aaron. I told him that I was very upset and disappointed that I didn't hear back from him after he said he would. He went off on me to say that he doesn't treat bird mites and that he doesn't work weekends...I said look, I understand you don't work weekends, but I initially contacted you well before the weekend, and it's fine if you didn't treat bird mites and you didn't know what the insect in the video was but it's not professional to say you would do something and not do it, ignore my calls and leave me in panic. He responded with "oh I knew what it was, I just DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH YOU." Then he accused me of being a liar saying "YOU KNEW WHAT THAT BUG WAS ALL ALONG...I DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS LIKE YOU ALL THE TIME." He soon after HUNG UP on me. Just terrible. I couldn't help but wonder: Who is the customer here? If he knew what the bug was, then why didn't he tell me? Extremely rude, unprofessional and outright wrong. I DO NOT RECOMMEND GREEN PEST DEFENSE. Despite what they tell you...when it comes to an emergency, they do not have your back. Save yourself the hassle...you'll feel much more safe going with anyone else.

So far, so good. They came out a few weeks ago and we had a thorough walk-through. They set up devices in various areas outside and a few in the basement. They also sprayed the yard. Aaron was personable and knowledgeable (and has a good sense of humor). They have been responsive and punctual. The issues have diminished as stated with just a few smaller ants making themselves known from time to time. I'm about to hit the window of knowing whether they need to come back to do a second round or not (included). I purchased the annual plan.

Badly. This service provider raised his voice to me, said my calls to report rodents were "ridiculous". Further he said, "I don't have a magic wand!" when mice were not gone within the time frame he gave. "I'll just take my bait stations and you can pay someone else the same as you're paying me!" he exclaimed when he knew I had guests and tenants coming. The service seems to be quite effective although not in the time frame claimed by this service person, who is the owner, I believe. In my opinion, my experience with this company was very unprofessional.