What do we do?

We provide a full pest management service to anyone who may need us.

Our work falls into two broad areas, contract work, and ad-hoc works (known in the industry as 'jobwork').

A pest control contract is a bit like an insurance policy. At set intervals, a technician will call on you, inspect your premises looking for pests, and areas which are conducive to pest infestation, and, where appropriate, carrying out treatments to kill pests.

The advantage of a pest control contract from a customer perspective, is that it provides early warning of potential problems, and helps businesses prove 'due diligence' for third parties like Environmental Health.

What a contract does not do, is guarantee that your premises will never have pests.

When I first started out in pest control, contracts were all about 'servicing' bait boxes; these days, the onus is on quality inspection and reporting. I think the majority of people accept that chemical intervention should always be a last resort, not a routine habit.

Contracts usually cover various pests, and any treatments for 'covered' pests should not attract any additional charge.

At Westcountry, we only cover two species of pests on contract; rats and mice. The reason for this is simple.

Over the years, I've seen contracts which cover a wide variety of pests, including tropical ants and moles. One common pest which is often included are wasps. I'll try to demonstrate why we don't cover other pests on contract by sharing a scenario with you.....

A customer who has regular inspections for rodents finds a wasp nest on their property. Understandably, their first port of call is the company that provides regular visits. They call the phone number they've been given, and are given a price on the phone, of, lets say for the sake of argument, £45. "OK" they say, "when can you do it".......

Shortly afterwards, they get a call from someone who claims to be a 'surveyor'. After a brief conversation, the surveyor manages to get an appointment with the customer to discuss their wasp problem (another box ticked for the surveyor). They go to site, have a quick look around, and find not one, but two wasp nests. What does the surveyor do then? Get some equipment out and deal with the nests? No. What they produce is a blank service agreement, and so begins the hard sell.....

I've seen customers who have paid out thousands of pounds over a period of years, which cover them for 'up to four nests each year', or similar.

Why?

Well, for the commission......

Now here's a better scenario.

Customer finds what they think is a wasp nest. They phone their local technician (yes, all our customers have a direct line to their technician), who tells them that he will be passing later that day, and will call in and have a look for them.

The technician attends site, finds the two nests, and treats them for a charge of £40.

Simple.

Why would we need, or want to pay for a salesman in a suit to drive a company car to your site and tell you what you already know?

And who really pays for all this?

You do.