Illegal Pest Control Operators

Are you getting what you pay for?

We live in a service based society. There are companies to take care of just about any need that may arise in both your home or place of business. What can we do to ensure that the service or service personnel that are performing our service is a legal and upstanding company. There are many channels to ensure that the service is performed adaquately but how do we go about making sure that the individual who is sent to our home is a well trained professional.

Many of the small family based companies will use relatives or well known individuals who "need work." These individuals may have criminal records, be poorly trained, and may not even be licensed in some instances, yet you open your home to allow them to perform a service. There are no avenues to ensure that the small family owned company is not sending just a friend that needs money to your home.

Policies at small companies need to be monitored more closely by the governing bodies of the pest control industry. Now that the Texas Structual Pest Control Board has been absolved and is now governed by the Texas Department of Agriculture under the SPCS (Structual Pest Control Service) more and more illegal small time operators are getting away with cheap labor that is untrained and unlicensed do to the transition phase of this change over at the government level.

I urge all who use a professional pest control service to simply ask to see your service man or womans license. Most will be readily available and are supposed to be on all technicians and applicators at all times. If they will not provide this then ask the company to provide proof that the man or woman is licensed.

Do not get taken by the small time individuals trying to get rich off you and provide inadequate service. Scams are not easily recognized in this industry until the wrong pesticide or treatment method has been performed. Be alert citizens and be informed.