Orkin Pest Control

We weren't satisfied bc they drilled holes in our roof without asking or explaining how it was done bc I woyld not allow drilling holes in our 2 yr old roof which was done, so fairly new shingles& they did it again bc tbe squirrels were getg bk in& they came as requested & I wasn't home & asked prior b4 for them to call ahead but they didn't & drilled more holes in our eaves & siding & wen it rained it started leaking! We asked for our money bk & asked if they'd pay for the damages tbey came out to look tben said tbeyre Co. didn't have to cone out to remove the cage & our roofer can do it which he did & tried to calk the holes Orkin made but they reneged & removed my emails saying they didn't have to remove the cage & said bc ur roofer took it down they won't pay for the damages which was said & it was $75.to call it but it leaked wen it rained again, so now the roofer has to re- roof it & they won't bc they've done this b4 & I trusted them to do they're job but didn't! We're very unhappy with they ethics performances& they're Co. Orion needs to shut down!

I scheduled the appointment. Waiting for 1 week and they didn’t show up in time. Nobody call. I called and nobody answer. Next day they offer me to reschedule for 1 week again! I cancelled the order.

DO NOT HIRE THIS COMPANY. Bed bug treatment in Hamilton from Orkin Pest Control has been a nightmare... After more than six months of return visits every two weeks to treat my home for bed bugs the manager told me there is no evidence of bed bugs and they will not treat my house any more... and the second last time they were here the technician found bed bugs in my couch.

Let me start at the beginning, more than six months ago. After the initial visit I called for a follow up. The person on the phone said "that's not possible!" and that she would have to confirm with the technician. She called back and confirmed the appointment. I sent an email demanding that on future visits their technician steam cleans my furniture, bed frames etc. as promised on their website and by their sales agent. On the first few visits my partner stayed home from work to let them in, and hung around in the backyard while they completed their treatment. The only equipment they brought was a $20 garden sprayer and an aerosol can... no steam cleaner. While my partner waited in the backyard the technician took all of 20 minutes to treat our house; likely only spraying the baseboards. This went on for the first four or five visits while I repeatedly demanded by email and by phone that they do as promised and steam clean my furniture. Finally they complied with this, although I'm not convinced the technician did a much better job steam cleaning.

As a side note, my partner and I spent days preparing our house to be treated (washing clothing and fabrics, bagging and isolating outside in tents; vacuuming; moving furniture; taking furniture apart etc.) Most of our clothing has been kept in our backyard in tents for more than six months now. All the time we spent preparing and the technician spends 20 minutes in our house, until we repeatedly demanded that they do a more thorough job... This experience has been more than a little bit insulting... and infuriating considering we paid $1000 for the service. So far we've had to cancel friends staying with us who were visiting from out of the country in the fall, and more recently christmas dinner with family at our place. We've been dealing with this since August.

Fast forward six months, on the second last visit the technician found bugs in my couch. When I called for a follow up the manager told me we don't have bed bugs any more and that the technician won't be coming back. I had to remind him that we're guaranteed for three months from our last visit. Hopefully this nightmare is over, as I don't think Orkin will honour their guarantee.

For anyone dealing with bed bugs, here is some interesting info: the pesticides that companies like Orkin use are available to order from Amazon.ca or buy at specialty stores. If you consider applying these yourself I suggest you research their safe application thoroughly. You need to purchase a proper respirator and goggles (~$50); Tyvek coveralls / hazmat suit (~$15): both can be purchased at Home Depot; you need to vacate your house for at least 4 hours after spraying; and you NEED to READ THE INSTRUCTIONS on the chemicals; also do your own research about their safe application (baseboards and underside of furniture; not surfaces where you'll sit or lay and breathe chemicals or get them on clothing). But for anyone interested, knowing what I know now, I would never pay $1000 to a company like Orkin to spray my baseboards with chemicals I can easily order online and apply myself. If you do this safely it's far from rocket surgery. Basically, for less than $200 you can order a lifetime supply of the materials to do the exact same job as Orkin and save yourself the money and frustration of dealing with these people. The pesticides to search on amazon or in store are: Tempo / Countdown ; and ; Permethrin (WARNING: if you have cats be sure to get them out of the house for 24hrs after spraying Permethrin... it's toxic to cats... but ok once it's dried). Start with the Tempo and if it doesn't work move to Permethrin; bed bugs can develop immunity to pesticides pretty fast so it might be necessary to switch from one to the other. This is the exact treatment that Orkin provided me and the only reason I know is because the wrote the name of the pesticides they used on my invoice. I did my own research and now I'm sharing the info with you.

Please share this info far and wide... I live in Hamilton and we have a bed bug epidemic happening. As I said, the chemicals can be ordered on Amazon or bought at specialty stores; in Hamilton there is a store on Barton St. If you or someone you know is dealing with bed bugs and can't afford a heat treatment, I recommend saving money and treating the problem yourself: follow the instructions in the paragraph above, but please do your own research, use common sense and follow any and all instructions and safety procedures. Just don't give any money to Orkin, they suck.

Used them to remove carpenter ants from house. Took 9 months of a 12 month contract to find nest, Did not treat adequately to kill nest. Saw areas outside where they were coming in. Called to have them come and bait several time always took a couple weeks as they overbook, Contract ran out I still have carpenter ant problem. Now have to get an exterminator again. Would never recommend this company to anyone,

Last summer I noticed an abnormal amount of bees on my front lawn. I called Orkin and a service member came the next day. He inspected the lawn area were the bees were accumulated. He said they were actually going into tiny holes they had made for nesting. He sprayed the area and the bees were gone in a few hours!

Orkin was very professional. Got rid of the spiders as we had asked. They even came by once to check on the situation without being asked. The only issue was that the spray around our windows left marks (although this is understandable), and they don't clean off the webs as I've seen other companies do.