Sierra Pest Control

In 2013 we noticed a small pile of what looked like sawdust on a window sill in our living room. I was out of the country when my wife called Terminix a few weeks later. Their rep came by, dressed in street clothes, glanced at the sawdust, stated we had termites and proceeded to show my wife pictures of termite damage in what appeared to be a a fear tactic. He told her they would excavate around the foundation and inject insecticide into the foundation walls and set up a contract during which they would make monthly visits to keep the termites under control all for only $ 2600 plus a monthly contract fee.
We happened to be in skype contact while the rep was at the house, so while she stalled him, I checked Terminix reviews online and read horror story after horror story about their tactics. I quickly got back to her and told her not to sign anything.
Next, she contacted Cat’s Eye, who, after similar scare tactics, offered to rid us of termites for only $ 1600.
Finally, she contacted Sierra Pest Control. Their rep, Mike Brown, arrived dressed in work clothes and a heavy jacket (in mid-​summer). My wife asked him why the jacket on such a hot day, and he replied that he had to be ready to get under homes with low crawl spaces. She showed him the sawdust, which he rolled between his thumb and fore finger. He said, «I think this is caused by velvety tree ants, not termites. Lets take a look outside» They went outside to where our wooden yard fence attached to the house near the window where the sawdust was located. There, he pointed out a trail of small ants making their way along the fence from a nearby tree whose branches were resting on the top of the fence. The ant trail departed the fence where it attached to the house and disappeared under some trim boards on the exterior siding of the house. He explained the ants normally live and nest in trees, but will invade homes when access permits. He recommended we trim the tree branches so there was no direct access from the tree to the fence and said he could inject insecticide through the inside wall around the window to treat the problem. MY wife said she wanted to wait until my return before signing a contract. Mike had no problem with that and provided her his business card and left.
When I returned home, we called Sierra back and had them return to treat the problem. In the meantime, I trimmed the tree branches, noting the trail of little ants Mike had shown my wife. When he arrived, he explained my trim job will prevent the ant’s access and his treatment should take care of any ants already in the walls. He drilled several holes about the diameter of a pencil lead around the window frame and injected insecticide into the walls. The operation took less than half an hour. He said the treatment should take care of the problem, but to call if we noticed any additional sawdust. His bill. .. . $ 260! That was three years ago and we have had no problems since!
For ¹⁄₁₀^th of what Terminix would have charged us in addition to tying us to a monthly service fee, Sierra Pest Control correctly and successfully diagnosed and treated our problem. The proposal Terminix put forth would not have solved the problem, and would probably give them grounds for trying to convince us continued «service» was necessary. Cat’s Eye, who also did not correctly diagnose the problem, would likely follow a similar route.
I will use Sierra Pest Control for any future pest problems and have recommended them to several friends and neighbors.

They did a termite inspection for me for a refinance. He told me he would e-​mail the report the same day they did it which was a Friday. I did not get the report by Monday and I called the office to find out that they sent it to the wrong email address. The funny thing is is they had communicated to me via email when I set the appointment so I don’t know why they had the wrong email address. I provided the correct email address and I still did not have the report later that day. I had to call the office again and provide the correct email address to find out that they again had sent it to the wrong email address. Based on the fact that this delayed providing the correct information to my mortgage company, I could have ended up with a higher interest rate. I asked for a $ 25 refund and got no response in regards to that. I thought requesting a partial refund was fair since they did not do their part in providing me the report as promised and I had to follow up not once but twice.

Almost a year later to review… Mike came out for Ants and also talked about Mice problem. I have not had either since! Hooray. Very professional and prompt.

Just had Robert with Sierra Pest here at the house spraying for earwigs and spiders. Robert was very personable, professional and best of all, on time… actually he was a little early but it worked for my schedule. He spent nearly two hours and did a very thorough job. Even evicted the last living earwig from my entryway! 5 stars for Robert and Sierra Pest. I will definitely recommend their services.

On time for the appointment — told him my concerns, he addressed everything and went beyond so I am pleased with the service, will use them again.

I used these guys last year and they were great! I had an appointment today and they didn’t show or call. This is the second time this happened. I thought the first time was my mistake but now I don’t think so.
I am not sure what happened in the last year but I will not be using them this year or ever again. If I have to beg you to take my money then I will got somewhere else!

I’m really surprised at the pleasant experience we had with Sierra Pest Control. Mike B came out to do a mouse exclusion, and found all the entry points where mice were coming in quickly. After they did the exclusion, we still had mice a few days later, and when my wife called to follow up, they actually came back out to check their work, rather than just saying «give them a few more days to clear out.» In fact, the exclusions were good, and the mice did disappear within the timeframe they gave us originally. I was really impressed that they followed up like this on such a small job.
On top of this, Mike found we had substantial water under the house. We had a leaky pipe fixed, and so far have taken out nearly 400 gallons of standing water. This was not going to dry out on its own, so we were fortunate that he helped us understand the extent of the issue.

I have a contract with Sierra Pest Control. They showed up for their monthly appointment ten days late, on a day when no one was home. They billed for several gallons of product, yet the ants are still there.
If they cannot provide treatment when working people are home, on a schedule made by the customers not arbitrary scheduling, what good are they?
Not only will I have to find a new provider, but I would not recommend Sierra Pest Control to anyone.
At least if they were in business, you could expect they would answer their phone.
Yes I will pay their bill, if I don’t they will file litigation for Breach of Contract.
It would be more effective to pay them off, and hire someone else instead of their workmanship.
How do I rate them with a –1?

These guys are great! Every time they come they are fast, I’m able to do it on my lunch hour and all the staff I have talked to have been very friendly and helpful. Before they came I was finding bugs everywhere and had a big ant problem in my kitchen and bathrooms, their treatments are super effective and I love it!

They were very attentive and communicated well when I was scheduling an appointment and they were collecting my credit card information. But once I had questions about if the service was even really done correctly and the wrong charge appeared against my credit card, they would not return my messages or give me a call back. I had to go through my bank to get a monetary credit. Will not use again — would rather deal with a big company like Terminix.