Got Critters

Do not call this guy — he charges outrageous amounts of money for very questionable techniques and then refuses to stand by his work. His guarantee is worthless.
I called Ken to remove a very large snake that had gotten into my basement and was stuck in a sticky pad snake trap. It took him two days to get to my house — when he finally arrived, the snake was still in the trap, and I asked him to remove it immediately. However, he didn’t do this — his primary concern was that removing the snake from the sticky pad would hurt the snake by peeling off some of its skin. Instead of putting the snake, trap and all, into a bag and removing it from my house immediately, he took about an hour to «inspect» the entire outside of my house to figure out how the snake entered. I realize now that this was to evoke maximum fear on my part so he could charge me to remediate possible entry points. He certainly used my fear to his advantage.
By the time the «inspection» was done, and Ken returned to my basement to actually deal with the snake, the snake had escaped the trap and was now loose in the (finished) basement. It took Ken an hour to locate the snake, now wrapped around the leg of a skirted chair. Long story short, he ended up killing the snake with my shovel and getting snake blood and guts all over my new carpet. He didn’t clean up either the guts or the blood.
I paid him a fortune to remediate several places around the outside of my house that he said the snake could have entered, even though it was obvious that the entry point was a pretty large crack/​hole in the foundation — the inside insulation on the other side of that crack had been pushed out of place, and that area leads to my basement. Ken’s remedy for this area was to put a little screening over the crack on the outside of my house. The screening did not stay in place — it is still hanging on by a thread, but the foundation crack is totally exposed, and the crack is large enough that a snake would have no trouble entering there. I have seen chipmunks dart into the crack to hide, and knowing that a snake might pursue them there scares me to death.
I have called Ken twice to request that he return to install the screening so that it would stay put. During the first call, Ken told me to get some steel wool and stuff it into the crack myself. I find it interesting that I had asked about the steel wool remedy on the day of the snake removal, and Ken told me that steel wool would not work, only this screen he wanted to install, for which he charged a very large fee. Because there have been many snake sightings in my neighborhood recently, I called Ken again and asked that he honor his guarantee and repair or replace the screen over the foundation crack. He was extremely rude to me and told me that I must have done something to remove the screen, and that if he came to my house to reinstall it, he would charge me again. When I reminded him that the reason I hired him was that he guaranteed his work, he said that I must have done something to mess up his installation and, therefore, I invalidated his guarantee. He told me he was taking a day off to go to the pool, and he hung up on me. This guy is a loser — don’t hire him.

Save yourself the trouble and pay a little extra for a company that will honor the contract and warranty. My girlfriend warned me about being thrifty, unfortunately I did not heed the advice. He came out and set some traps and sealed the house and it worked… for 5 months. Then we had critters again, I called and he came out, after he told me to set traps (which is why I paid him). Then they came back (they are currently in my walls, I hear them while I write this review) I called and he told me he would call me back. I waited and never received a return call, so I called him back. He seemed very agitated that I was calling him to fix a problem he was supposed to have fixed. He asked me to leave a second message and he would get back to me. He never did (it has now been a couple of months).
I completely understand there is a chance for squirrels or rats to find a hole unseen to the human eye, but that is why there is a contract and warranty. As long as the company is honest and adheres to the contract. Now here I stand with critters still in the walls, out the initial amount money I paid and having to pay someone else… listen to me and Debra, pay the extra it’s worth it.

i am very disatisfied with the service i recieved from ken. For $ 750 he came out and put up some screening and laid some traps which i had to check myself. I still heard mice (rats) behind my refigerator and called Ken to come back out and instead he told me to lay some traps with peanut butter to try to catch them. I believe that is what i payed him to do. I did put down two traps and caught two mice. My furnace when out two weeks later and when Cool Ray came out to fix it… they informed me that a rodent had chewed one of the hoses shutting off the system. I once again called Ken to come out and rectify the situation but was given a hard time and told to lay some more traps. This is why i called him in the first place and his warranty means absolutely nothing. I am having to have another company come fix the problem and have also lost use of my dishwasher. I am not able to crawl around under my house or in the attic and that is why i called someone to begin with to solve the problem… obviously i called the wrong person… buyer beware he does not deliver what he promises and i would not reccommend him at all.

Ken was very quick to respond to my message and came to my house faster than I would have expected. He got the entries sealed up, helped to catch a varmint in my basement and gave me tips on what to look for and what to do on my own, so that I could get a better price. And the price came in lower than I anticipated.
Steve M.