Pest Control Services Temecula, Carlsbad Ca., door-to-door pest control sales
Peddler pitch questioned
Carlsbad Ca. - A pest control offer sounded too good to one Carlsbad couple, but after the fact questions about what they signed up for didn't go away.
A door-to-door salesman offered pest control service for about $50.
“The salesman said we do this onetime fee to spray around the perimeter of your house”, and my husband said “go ahead and do it".
A month later, the Pest Control company withdrew another $190 out of our debit account, so I called the company.
"YOUR salesman never said contract and never showed a contract or anything and when you guys debited my account yesterday we were shocked," I said to the company.
The pest control company claimed my husband signed a contract on the peddler's iPad for a one year, six treatment plan.
“My Husband swiped our card and signed to authorize this transaction. Well if it was a contract he didn’t show us a contract or leave one or e-mailed us one," I said.
The Pest Control address shows a Carlsbad office so I drove there to find the door locked in the middle of the work day and looking through the window I saw it was empty, but the property management company had a sign out front with their phone number so I called them to inquire about the Pest Control company, the landlord said they had rented the unit about a month ago.
I then called the city and found the city doesn't have the address or company name in the records for a Peddlers’ permits which is required to solicit in the Carlsbad neighborhoods. The city said” they shouldn’t be going door- to- door without registering and getting the proper permit”.
I then called The Pest Control Company back and they said that an independent contractor sold the service to them and they are responsible for getting the peddlers license.
“So I said, “you don’t know if the contractor you use has the required peddlers license or not?” They replied, “Ask the sales representative”.
That sales representative is responsible for the peddler's permit.
“Don’t Trust, but verify. Call the Better Business Bureau, call your city and allow them to tell you what they know about that company and you can get the supporting information verified," said the BBB.
She said if any peddler knocks on her door again, she'll spray them with questions.
“I don’t want anyone else to go through what we went through it’s not fair," she said.
Here are the questions you should ask that peddler when they come to your door:
- Do you have a city peddler’s permit?
- Are you an employee of this company or are you an independent contractor employed by this company?
- Is this a yearly contract you’re selling?
- Is there a cancelation fee if I want to stop this service before a year is up? How much is that fee?
- You should finish with “Leave me a copy of your contract so I can review it before I sign it!” This gives you time to think about the service you may or may not want.
