Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:07/29/2025

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I Don * know the dates. This company been out he*e 7 times in 6 weeks. Still have fungal flies in my house n d*ains n getting in my nose. They *** eggs on the ****************** machine. I had to buy fly st*ips to t*y n catch them. I have pics. My fly st*ips a*e full n they *e * still flying a*ound n iny d*ains. I use a pillowcase ove* my nose when I sleep to keep them out. I ve washed eve*ything in bleach n d*ied on hot. They say let the p*oduct wo*k. Going on 7 weeks now n I have bugs on my food in the f*idge but at least tho ones in f*eeze* a*e dead. I can t have t*ashcans anymo*e. Eve*ything has to be sealed n taken out. I have to th*ow out food f*om my f*idge n if i cook n leave on counte* n come back the*e a flies in it. Have to th*ow it out too. The*e a*e eggs being laid all ove* the house on counte*tops n in d*ains. This company is a dang scam I think. I keep a ve*y clean house.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/29/2025

  Thank you for the opportunity to respond to *** ******** complaint/claim. I think outlining the history of our interactions will be help to make clear that this is a false allegation and that *** ****** is suffering from mental health issues. We feel for *** ****** and wish her nothing but the best, but we cannot help her as her actions are causing her pest issues and due to her actions and behavior to our employees we are unable to work with her.

  We have gone above and beyond in attempting to help *** ******* but we had no choice but to cancel her service and will not service her home again. *** ****** received a discount of $200 contingent on her completing a 12 month service plan, which she did not do, but we have not asked her to ***ay that. She has an outstanding invoice of $42 which also went unpaid and we have written that off. The only thing *** ****** has paid is a very discounted rate of $99 to cover her initial treatment. We are not seeking any further payment from *** ****** despite her owing $241 according to her service agreement.

  We keep transcripts of calls, texts, and emails, as well as notes from every service on applications and directions given to the customer. We are happy to provide those to the BBB if needed. I will provide a summary of those interactions here to help you understand the issue.

  We started servicing *** ****** on June 3rd of this year. During her initial phone consultation on June 2nd, she said she was having a problem with small flies. She contracted us to come treat for those, along with other listed pests included in our Basic Pest Control plan. We have a normal initial charge for service of $299, and gave *** ****** a discount of $200 on her initial service contingent on her completing a 12 month service plan with a reoccurring cost of $42 per month for a quarterly service plan.

  After our initial service on the 3rd, *** ****** called us on the 5th of June stating she was still having flies. We normally recommend customers to give the products two weeks time to work, but she said they were worse than before, so we scheduled a technician to go back and reservice that same day. We serviced again for the gnats. 

  On the 6th of *************** called back in saying she was still seeing gnats. We asked her to give it more time to work and sent our service manager out there on the 9th of June. While there the service manager treated again for the drain flies, and observed that there were no living flies in the house. *** was claiming that the flies had laid eggs in her beds and around her home. He pointed out to her that those were just the dead flies. During that visit the customer mentioned to our service manager that she had hit her head a some time back and had been drinking to treat the head injury. She asked him four times what the pests were and what we were doing to treat them. She also informed him that her air conditioning was broken and that she would leave her doors and windows open to get a breeze through her home. He let her know this was a source of where the flies were coming from and that leaving the windows and doors open she was re-introducing them into her home.

  On June 12th, *** ****** called us again saying she is seeing drain flies in her beds and seeing black moving dots in her beds. Our service manager spoke with her about this and believed from his previous visit she was referring to the dead drain flies/fungus gnats. After speaking with customer she was satisfied with that. 

  On the 16th of ***** *** ****** called us again, saying she now had a new issue of a shiny black beetle that was crawling around her home. We scheduled for our ****************** Manager to go treat that day. During that visit he observed that she had seen a beetle and he serviced the home. He also advised the customer that treatments don't take immediate full effect and that she needed to give the products 2-3 weeks to take full effect, and that while bugs may enter from outside, they don't die immediately and it does take them some time. 

  On June 18th, *** ****** called back in, the customer service *** who answered her noted that she sounded "drunk and beligerant." During this phone call *** ****** spent most of the call yelling at our customer service agent and questioning the effectiveness of our products and morals. When the customer service agent tried to go over what had been done and the recommendations from our ****************** Manager she said she didn't want to hear it and to have a manager contact her, then she hung up. *** ****** called back in later that evening and left a voicemail apologizing for being so rude earlier and said that she was going to hang up fly strips around her windows with her daughter.

  On June 19th our Service Manager called *** ******* but she didn't answer or have a voicemail set up. 

  On the 22nd of June our system sent out a follow up text to see how the issues were from the reservice we had done two weeks before as we do with every reservice we perform. 

  On the 23rd of ***** *** ****** responded she was still seeing gnats, and asked for another service. Our Service Manager responded asking for her to give the treatments time to work. *** ****** called back in after that and asked that we come back out and service again. We scheduled for a technician to go service again on the 24th of June. On that visit she wasn't home. She requested service for the 25th of ***** and we sent the tech back out. He treated again inside, and installed a fly bait station on the outside of the home to reduce populations living around the home since the flies were constantly being reintroduced by the customer leaving doors and windows open without screens.

  On June 30th, *** ****** called in saying that the issue was much better and that she was only seeing dead ones. She also said she would like to send a personal thank you to the managers for helping her resolve the issue. At that time *** ****** requested we put her account on hold so she wouldn't be charged her monthly service fee since she was unemployed. She also requested our business cards so she could refer us on to others. We agreed to put her on a three month hold. 

  On July 10th, *** ****** called in saying she needed us to come back out and treat for the flies again. We informed her that if we did it would mean we had to take her account off hold and she would begin to accrue monthly charges of $42. *** agreed and we scheduled a technician to go service. We invoiced the customer $42, which was never paid. 

  On July 11th our technician serviced her home for the flies. Later that day *** ****** called in upset with the service saying she was running out of beds to sleep on because she though the flies were laying eggs all over her beds. Small flies don't lay eggs in beds or nest in them, which we had informed *** ****** before, and that she might be seeing dead flies.

  On July 12th (Saturday when our office is closed) around 11:34 *** ****** called in while our office was closed and left a voicemail praising our tech and saying that we finally seem to have gotten the bugs under control. 

  Later that day she called back in and left a message that she thought our tech had stolen her purse while he was out there servicing. She then called in again later around 3:30 and left a voice message that her neighbor has security cameras and had some interesting footage and that we needed to call her back. At 6:30 she called in again and left a voice message that she needed a call back right away. 

  Early on July 14th she texted in that she had her purse on her kitchen table and had $400 dollars in there and that if we gave her $400 then she wouldn't press any charges. Our service manager spoke to the customer. We began an investigation and encouraged the customer to contact police if she thought her purse was stolen. We took statements from our tech, and searched his truck, but found no evidence that backed up her claims. The tech was surprised at the accusation. 

  On July 15th, *** called in and said she had nothing against our company, but that she has a problem with the tech who stole her purse with $400. 

  On July 16th, *** ****** texted in at 4:54 am saying she was going to text in every day until she got her $400 back. Then at 11:44 she texted in apologizing letting us know she had found her purse at a neighbors house and that it had everything in it. She said she owed our tech a serious apology. She blamed her memory and not remembering she had left her purse at a neighbors house on a head injury, saying that it still affects her. 

  We made the determination that while we can take care of the flies, we could not continue to service *** ****** due to her actions. We sent *** ****** a letter in the mail informing her that we have cancelled her service. 

  On the 21st of July *** ****** called in complaining of gnats and cursed and yelled at our ***. 

  We have not heard from *** ****** again until now when she has submitted this complaint. I truly don't believe we have done anything wrong, and in fact have gone above and beyond what would be expected in dealing with a very difficult customer who is suffering from mental health challenges. 

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/29/2025

  If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at ************ and I will be happy to give you any more information regarding our interactions with *** ******. 

  Thank you.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 07/29/2025

  Mrs ******,

  I am writing to respond to your complaint with the BBB. As you are aware, we have cancelled your service with us as of the 16th of this month. You were given a steep $200 discount from the normal rate of $299 on your initial service, contingent on you completing a 12 month service plan. You have since failed to pay the $42 monthly service fee, and you also made false accusations against our technician. Further, you have called in to our office cursing and yelling at staff multiple times. We will not allow out team to be treated in that manner, and sent you a letter on the 16th informing you that we have cancelled your service. 

  Regarding the effectiveness of our service, we have made many free visits to your home, going above and beyond to control your pest issues. We have observed that you were leaving windows and doors open without screens causing continual reintroduction of the fungus gnats. During these free re-services the gnats have mostly been dead, which is what you are observing around your home. The fact that they were mostly dead is a testament to the effectiveness of our service even in these challenging circumstances. 

  We are happy to waive the early termination fee of $200 and the $42 monthly fee you failed to pay, but we are unwilling to continue servicing your home. 

  We wish you well,

  ***** *****
  President
  Scout Pest Control