Absolute Pest Control

Absolute Pest Control, Inc., 12 Wade Rd., Latham, NY 12110 (518)382-5577 APC was highly recommended by the Better Business Bureau with an A+ rating. Rick Zalucki, the business owner made the first visit and set up the bait stations and trays. He was very courteous, knowledgeable and listened patiently to my questions and concerns. We toured the house and property together. He determined the type of pest and explained the pest control program. The two follow up visits where made by Jeff Villenueve who was most helpful and courteous. On his last visit Jeff showed me where he had performed minor exclusion work. All visits where on time, scheduled in advance with a reminder phone call the evening before each visit. All service reports were provided electronically via email. Service terms were COD payable on the first visit.

Very pleasant and responsive staff, and even made extra trips to check traps, but were ultimately unsuccessful. The person who came expressed puzzlement at what might be causing the particular holes with mounds of dirt around them, and did research in books she had with her. I asked if it might be a rat, so she checked that in her book and said it might be. She set five or six traps at various places where we had holes, which didn't all look alike. Some were chipmunk holes, which we weren't particularly concerned about. Never did catch the animal making the holes we were concerned about, but did catch some chipmunks and a mouse. Put rat poison down the main hole, which might have killed a rat if one was there. Problems: Never did determine what the pest was, and didn't get rid of it, as the same holes-with-mounds have re-appeared in the same place in our yard and near house.

We called Absolute Pest Control on a Friday and Monday Sue came out to review our problem. She was very thorough and professional. She dusted and sprayed with the intent of eliminating the problem. Sue also explained to us that it might be a good idea to cover our vents in certain rooms so that the bees would not retreat into the house. The work is guaranteed for two months. We were also given a senior discount, which was an added bonus. We were so pleased that we are thinking of calling every year for Absolute to come over and spray as a preventive measure. If you have any pest problems, do not hesitate to call Absolute for an estimate and review of your problem.

He came in my house and he was responsible. For me $2000 was too high. He had a lot of experience and was professional.

Rick left me with his brochure of what pests his company treats and the plans they offer. His work actually only took about 15 minutes. He spent another 15 minutes answering all my questions about pest control.

I called about some carpenter ants in the house. I got a call back from a scheduler right away, and a reminder call the day before the appointment. Chris was an hour late, but called before the scheduled time to indicate he was running late. Things happen, no big deal. As it turns out, there's no problem here - the ants are from a tree outside, and not doing any damage to the house. Chris was honest about that, which I count as highly professional -- I'm sure he could have sold me a treatment plan with only a few minor adjustments to his evaluation, but he did not. There was no charge for the evaluation.

They are very good and they show up when they say they are going to. They give me a little report to show me where the termites are. We have been using them for several years and we will continue using them.

Someone had recommended them and then I double checked with Angie’s List and it confirmed that they were top rated. He was very thorough; he really studied the house. He went downstairs, went to the basement, garage, and he had us go with him which I think is always a good sign that they are not trying to pull something over on us. Basically he did what he had to do. We have a little maintenance program now to keep little pesky bugs at bay.

The other company was not as professional, did not crawl under and around our home, quoted higher charges, and was not nearly as friendly in general. The encounter with Absolute makes me CERTAIN I will call them if there is a recurrence.

I have an annual plan. I tried previously to treat the problem myself, but the ants kept coming back and were getting into the house at all levels and in all rooms. Since hiring APC I haven't had a problem. If I notice some ants starting to make a comeback on my deck, I give them a call and they come right out. But I haven't had to call this year, so the program is working really well. I also used them a few years ago for a bee problem where they got into the walls of the house and APC quickly eradicated my problem,

Was on time, did a great job. Service also inclused two follow up visits within a year. Great job.

They were excellent. Prompt, professional, and knowledgable.

Showed up on time. Explained what he was going to do. After the inspection he reviewed the results (no activity) with me.

Arrived on time and was very professional. Didn't use the services because of other repairs that needed to be completed prior, but would definitely reach out to them again in the future.

The only thing that bothered me a bit was the scheduling. It took a few calls to get a firm answer about whether or not the fellow would come out that day or the next. But then I was called to to tell me for certain the fellow would be out that day and not to worry. The inspector arrived late in the day, but despite this he stayed about 1.5 hours trying to remove an animal that was trapped in my chimney. He was not successful, but I felt he explored many options, and left a few things in place so the animal could possibly crawl out from where it was stuck. He had told me that if the animal crawled out I should let him know the next day and that he planned to ask his boss for other suggestions. The next day, when I wanted him to come out to try another approach I'd read about online, they couldnt/didn't send someone, which was unfortunate as the animal was still very active - by the 3rd day the animal was not very active so, although the owner came out to take a look, he also couldn't get the animal (now presumed dead) out. I was only charged for 1 visit, but at the end was advised to call a chimney sweep (which I have done). Although they didn't get the animal out I felt they did their best to try to do so, it was just the unique geometry of my fireplace that made it impossible without taking it apart.

Initially I thought he was just going to locate the areas the previous home inspector cited and let me know what he thought but he proceeded to do a very complete inspection of the entire home for all possible pest issues. He gave great advice on how to mitigate problems before they happened and it was a combination of inspection plus an educational session to prevent anything from happening in the future. I was impressed with all the good advice starting with an exterior walk around, from potential entry points for ants into the house, to ways to stop mice from entering, to methods to keep squirrels off of the roof. For the internal inspection, he was also very complete and covered in detail what exactly the wood destroying insects were and what to expect, and biology of the insect. He even noted some minor things he found elsewhere that were more of anecdotal, but still interesting. What impressed me most was he actually recommended nothing further be done by him, and that I should just remove the infected wood and replace it. This was surprising since he could have recommended expensive spraying and I would not have known any better. So I think he was very trustworthy based on that result. It was an honest assessment and he felt the particular inspect that was there and the location for which if was found was not an issue. I ended up wanting some basic spraying to be done to please the bank on the matter and he provided a very low rate for that so it could get signed off. He tailored that service for what I really needed which was a nice thing to do.

They're fine. I would probably recommend them to others, but I'm in a brand new house and there's no mice, squirrels, or anything. It would be very unlikely that I'll use them again because I don't expect to have another issue.

We were very pleased. Absolute was responsive, showed up on the appointed day, performed the necessary work and -- as an added bonus -- gave us a better understanding of bees v. wasps, benign v. aggressive species, what to look out for, etc. In fact, we were so impressed that we signed a one year services contract with them on the spot. NOTE: the cost of the service contract is not included in the "approximate cost" area above.

They were very good; they were very professional, they did the job quickly, and they did it nicely. Since then they have already followed up; they've been back and checked it. We have a contract with them. I'd definitely recommend them. They came in, they found the problem, and they did everything they could do.

next appointment available is over 1 week away, so decided to call someone else to get this taken care of sooner.

As above. Trapper Sue is a very kind and caring person.

Received no response to e-mail request via Angie list system

They are pretty good. They have nice service and they get the bugs out.

This was the first time with Absolute Pest Control. The technician was at the same street address in Clifton Park initially ( a common occurrence) so arrived late. Otherwise, he called 20 minutes ahead as planned to let me know he was on the way and was very courteous and professional when he arrived. He took care to advise me to close windows and doors while he applied the spray to keep the mist from entering the house. Very pleased with the overall experience. I asked to be placed on an annual reminder/recall list but they do not provide that service at this time.

It is excellent. I don’t have any problem with bees. They are right on time.