A few weeks ago, Debbie noticed some odd “growths” from a tiny crevice in the drywall of our livingroom. Both of us thought “Termites!” and we decided to call in a pest control company. On the basis of nothing more than their clever radio ads and advertised guarantee, we decided to call Corky's Pest Control.
It turned out to be a good decision.
First Corky's sent out an inspector – who showed up at the appointed time (even way out in the boonies where we live!), and quickly determined that we did in fact have termites (of the subterranean variety) and what we should do about it. He prescribed a pesticide “curtain” around our entire house, with special attention to the area of infestation. To create this curtain, they would have to dig a small trench around the entire house to soak the ground to a few feet deep with pesticide. Our home, like many others, has a concrete “apron” around parts of it. In those areas, they would have to drill small (3/8") holes through the concrete, 18" apart, and inject the pesticide at high pressure.
Our house has a feature that complicated the process just a bit. We have a covered patio attached to one end of our house, and the wood of the patio roof connects directly to the wood of our house's roof. That means the termites could eat their way into our patio, and from there into our house – so to make the house safe, the patio also needed to be treated, exactly as the house. The inspector quoted a price for the entire job that we thought was very fair, and we signed up for the treatment.
A week or so after the inspection, Corky's pesticide applicator showed up (again, on time per the appointment made). He worked all day to dig trenches, drill holes, apply the pesticide, patch the holes, fill trenches, and clean up. We were very happy with the quality of the work he did, but there was a bit of confusion. Normally he doesn't treat patios, and though he saw the inspector's order to treat the patio, he thought it wasn't the right thing to do. It was a Saturday, and the inspector wasn't available for consultation, so he didn't do the patio, telling us that if it turned out that he was supposed to do it, he'd be back out again.
Well, a few days later we got the treatment report from Corky's, and it was very clear from that paperwork that the patio should have been treated. Debbie called Corky's, had a pleasant conversation about the issue, and was promised that the pesticide applicator would be back out on May 11th to finish the job. No hassle, no reluctance – just a straightforward acknowledgement of the issue and a promise to make it right – and on May 11th, the pesticide applicator showed up exactly as promised, and in fact made it right, treating the patio area exactly as the inspector had intended.
I think that recovering from a problem situation is a great test of the quality of a service provider, and Corky's passed this accidental test with flying colors. If we need termite service again, we're calling Corky's – and we're recommending them to our friends and neighbors...
