PHILADELPHIA PEST CONTROL SERVICES

I have a retail shop in center city and called in philadelphia pest control to help with the removal of rats in the basement. the tech Jeffrey Dickerson came and gave me a quote of $150 for rats (previously he quoted on the phone $80 for mice, but apparently rats warrent $70 more dollars). I thought this was high but I was desperate. I had a few other people come through earlier but they wanted to come back with other techs. Jeffrey gave me some speech about how the company values customer service and how they are in it more for the monthly service that I might agree to. The quoted monthly was $35. Jeffrey Dickerson laid down some traps and poison and he was supposed to come back the following day and patch up all the holes. This was all on the invoice. To my grave mistake and naivete, I thought he was trustworthy and wrote him a check for the whole amount of $150 and I wrote it out to him personally thinking he might own the company as he led me to believe. I saw that he cashed the check that night and I have since called the office (there is always just an answering machine) each day for a whole week and left a message asking about the completion. I have no idea whether this Jeffrey Dickerson works or owns the company but I should have been given a call back. I plan to report this company to the BBB. DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY; I DON'T BELIEVE IT IS A LEGITIMATE COMPANY!

I called in the morning; they came out this afternoon and did the job. Since the squirrels were out for the day (or so it seemed), they decided that the best solution would be to gas them out (in case hiding) and then seal up the entry point. Trapping they said was another solution, but would be more time consuming & expensive and they would still ultimately seal up all entry points. (Also, there are lots of squirrels in this neighborhood, in part because an annoying neighbor leaves peanuts for them). From what I've read on the web, I'm afraid they may find new ways in. But the guys surveyed the entire roof and seemed pretty confident that the entry point they were sealing would do the trick. Sealing up the entry point was not a simple job, but it *looks* like they did a good job. I did not rate quality because they just did the job today and so I'll have to wait and see if the critters stay out. BUT, key is that the job comes with a 5 year warranty-- so I'm to call if they somehow manage to get back in. The two guys were incredibly nice and informative and did investigating of some of the other problems we're having (flooding in the basement, which is ultimately caused by a dislodged downspout, which the squirrels are most likely responsible for). MOST IMPORTANT LESSON FROM MY EXPERIENCE: TELL 'EM YOU FOUND OUT ABOUT THEM ON ANGIE'S LIST!!! Since I had checked other jobs on Angie's list, I had an idea of how much I might have to pay. When he first gave me a price quote it was higher than that. I sort of hemmed and hawed and said that that was more than I expected to pay. Then I mentioned Angie's list and he immediately dropped the price a significant amount. Makes the Angie's list membership well worth the price.

They were terrific. They came the same day I called to assess the situation. They came back the next day with the trap. The very next day they came and removed the trap, the animal and released it to a habitat for raccoons. They then placed a new trap to be sure there was not any thing else. They came back the next day and sealed up the hole.