I would like to thank Joe of Snap Pest Control for his assistance on dealing with the mice problem in my townhouse which bothers me for more than a month. I at first hired a pest control company and the exterminator came quickly but he just stayed for less than half an hour to look around and set the bait stations/traps. During the visit, he did check inside and outside the house, but was unable to tell on how the mice come in. He just said the external wall looks fine and there are no suspected cracks that allow them to go in. Before leaving, he set traps and bait station in different areas and said the mice should disappear in 2 weeks. After he left, I add some more poison and ultra sound devices that I bought from the stores.
Though his advice did relieve me at the beginning, I started to be upset when I continued to see the drippings even in the 3rd week after his visit. During these 3 weeks, only one mouse was caught by the trap. It is also funny that the mice like my poison but didn't touch his bait stations. The exterminator finally came for the 2nd visit.
This time, he found a hole in the kitchen and advised me to seal it !!! I thought it should be his work since in different advertisements, the pest control companies would normally mention that they will seal the possible openings. Anyway, I didn't argue with him. Before he left, he put more poison around and said these should be enough.
Though more poison are placed around, I continue to see the drippings since the root cause is not fixed i.e. seal all the possible openings.
After he left, I looked around myself and noticed that the cold air return vents could be one of the possible openings since the gaps on the covers are wide enough for them to squeeze in. I used the flashlight to look inside and saw the drippings. That confirms my suspicion. I'm so surprise that the exterminator didn't check these vents. As I have lost confidence on him, I decided to go for another pest control company.
Thank my Lord that I saw the reviews of Snap Pest Control. From Joe's response to the reviewers, I can sense that he is experienced, reliable and responsible. I therefore contacted him and we have a brief discussion over the phone. Thank my Lord again, he understood my frustration and is willing to help out though it's a long drive for him to come all the way to my house.
He came on time on the scheduled day and spent almost 3 hours in my house to locate the possible openings inside and outside my house. He also checked the cracks on the wall of my neighbor's garage and their garage door. He then told me that the mice most probably come in from the openings outside my neighbor's garage. When they get in their garage, they go up to the 2nd floor from the space in the wall of their garage. Most probably, they find the way to enter the the space between the ceiling of ground floor and the hardwood floor of 2nd floor of my side. From there, they found the openings to enter my living room and the kitchen.
Once he has located the possible openings inside and outside my house, he sealed them one by one with mesh or steel wool. He even sealed the hole on the wall of my neighbor's garage. Finally he set some traps but not too many because as per his advice, it would alarm the mice and they won't touch them.
It's almost a week since his last visit and I don't see any new drippings. I believe it's because he has sealed all the possible openings which are the root cause of the infestation. He will come back again in about 2 months to check the situation and then a final visit in the fall.
For me, I really appreciate his patience in locating and sealing the openings. It also teaches me how to look for a good pest control company. Before you decide to hire a company, make sure the exterminator will locate and seal the openings for you or not. If he will not, I would suggest you to look for another one since poison, bait stations and traps cannot resolve the issue completely.
Thanks Joe again, really appreciate your assistance and I will definitely refer you to my friends if they need pest control service.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $300.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Thanks for your review. My client was under the impression that the mouse issue was going to be resolved and yet it became a matter of baiting and hoping for the best. The results speak for themselves and the Neighbor can now fix his garage door and end the steady flow of mice into my clients home. I spent three hours on this job where my competition spent 30 minutes. Lets break down the 30 minutes. The introduction at the door 10 minutes. The looking around getting the stations from his truck and placing them around 10 minutes. The going to the truck and getting the invoices and payments and goodbyes 10 minutes. I estimate the inspection itself took maybe 5 minutes to complete. If he had said on the phone during the initial consultation that he would spend 10 minutes to solve this rather complex mouse issue I highly doubt he would have ever received the job. I always look for the source of a mice issue and have been doing so everyday now for years and I need an hour to 3 hours on average to get the issue to the point where I can start to even get the ball rolling. The issue with mice is that these jobs are a process and a process is hardly ever present with these jobs because most of the the time these guys will simply bait the house down ( a band aid solution ) or over bait ( many band aids ) so that you don't see mice for 6 months or so. Lets break down the 6 months. The six months is interesting because for the first 6 weeks you have the allowance period. Mice need 6 weeks to find the bait and consume it. Really then you are getting 4 and half months. Mice tend to leave in the summer months which means for 4 months they are out and about and not really in the house to much, so what do you get, 2 weeks of coverage. After 6 months you notice the mice are back and then what do you do ? The bait has run out and so has your warranty. Perhaps you call them back and guess what he comes back and does the exact same thing. Your mouse issue will never end because your neighbor still has a gap in his garage door and they have reproduced, don't eat the poison anymore then what. This situation did not happen here because my client sensed that something was not quite right and made inquiries. She had zero tolerance and finally understood what it was that she wanted and didn't want. Joe