The Mulch Man

REBUTTAL TO COMPANY RESPONSE: Briefly ? I have spoken to the Mulchman?s expert, Dr Susan Jones. She consulted her notes and said that Brad from the Mulchman had told her that my house was ?infested? with termites ? a total fabrication / lie. It was on that basis that she said that the termites had probably come from our property rather than the mulch. Dr Jones now says that she cannot determine the origin of the termites without coming out and inspecting the property and also how the mulch is treated prior to delivery. She retracts her conclusion as it was based on incorrect information ? grossly incorrect. I find it shameful that Mr. John Randle of the Mulch Man would go to this extreme to exonerate his mulch. Also, to accuse me of trying to ?hoodwink? him and ?use his company to pay for her preexisting pest problem? is so insulting to a customer who bought his product in good faith and then tried to find the least expensive solution to a big and very upsetting problem that did not exist before the arrival of the mulch. I am totally capable and willing to pay for my own prexisting ?problems?. I do not need to con someone else into paying. As previously stated, my HOUSE has NO termites. It was inspected a year ago and then again after this incident by 3 reputable termite companies who thought it would be prudent to put bait traps down OUTSIDE after they had observed the swarms of termites in the mulch on my driveway and also in one area next to the house where I had spread the mulchman?s mulch (the active termites were observed weeks later after the mulch was spread). I have acted in good faith throughout is very distressing situation. I ran down to Grandma?s Gardens the morning after the mulch was delivered to try to find out if it was indeed termites in the mulch (yes). I called up the Mulchman several times before Brad came out. I trusted him when he said he represented the owner, who would ?do the right thing?. I gave him a bag of the mulch with the termites for him to check with his ?expert? neighbor. I called about 8 termite pest companies and took a lot of time with them while they thoroughly inspected my house and explained my options. (No termites in the house). Furthermore, 1 year ago we had had Terminex out to do a check of our house as we were thinking of selling it. There was no evidence of termites at that time and the representative put sticks around the house and said if there were problems we didn?t know about they would show up on the sticks. One year later ? the sticks have not changed ? no termites had found them. On the more recent visit, Terminex offered us a $300 option that included treating for termites if they ever got into the house. Their interior house treatment is over $1500 and the company stressed that they would not be offering that option if they had seen ANY evidence of termites inside the house (why should they ? they are really selling an insurance policy). They DID see them in the mulch outside on the driveway. The second company to do an inspection was Extermital. He saw NO evidence of termites in the house after an extensive and lengthy inspection. He DID see a lot of very active termites in an area of Mulchman mulch that was close to the house. I had been told that the termites would probably die quickly ? but, there they were- a lot of them and very active. That is when we called up THE MULCHMAN GREENLINE PRODUCTS again and spoke to the owner, Mr Randle ? and Josh from Extermintal told him that there were termites that had to be treated. Their estimate was $750 (exterior only treatment) . Other companies I had spoken to over the phone were over $1000. It was after the termites were observed ?still active after 2 weeks ? that it was determined a more aggressive approach was called for. And then, I chose the least expensive and not the Cadillac option. I have also purchased Bayer termite bait to kill the above ground termites (and seriously reinjured myself trying to rake and put it down). Regarding other incorrect statements made by Mr Randle ? I did not tell the man who came to pick up the mulch that the termites might have come from my previous purchased bags of mulch ? rather that they might now be infested from HIS mulch. This man offered to sell me the mulch at a reduced price. I declined. There is no way that Mr. Randle could have legally picked up the paid for mulch from my property without my permission. I told them to pick it up. I gave the Mulchman the benefit of doubt, assuming that this was a freak occurrence with their mulch and tried to find an equitable solution. I did not and still do not think that I should have to bear the costs of termites arriving on my property via mulch. The Mulchman has found another solution ? after promising to take care of the problem ? his solution is to accuse the victim of trying to con him. It is rather twisted to think that this is ?taking pride in customer service?.