Termite inspection dispute settled

By NANCY PARADIS

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

I would like to solicit your help with an exterminator problem I am experiencing. When I bought my home, I inherited a termite contract with Royal Termite and Pest Control. I paid the insurance premium each year. Two years ago I had to have the house tented for termites. I was given a new contract after the tenting was performed, at twice the price of the old one. I have paid it each year since.

Last May, during the annual inspection, I pointed out some areas of concern to the company's inspector, namely holes in the floor and little black pellets, which appear when termites are active, around the windowsill of the bedroom. I was told that these were just shaken out of the woodwork as I walked around in the room.

Last month, holes started appearing in the windowsill. Upon inspection, the whole right half of the sill was riddled with termite damage. I called Royal Termite to report this. I was told someone would be over the next day to inspect it. An hour later, the secretary called back to say there was no record of my having paid my contract for this year. As you can see by the enclosed copies of the check and bank statement, I paid on time and the check was cashed the next day.

I called Royal Termite back with this information. No one showed up for the inspection on the appointed day or the day after, despite my being home both evenings by 5. After calling several times and not having my calls returned, I received a message that the inspector had waited 45 minutes at my house for me and then left. He obviously was either at the wrong house or didn't bother knocking on the door.

I have not had a call returned since that message despite my leaving messages each day. Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated. I hope this can be resolved before my house disappears. Walter Illes

Response: Sharon Roberts, owner of Royal Termite and Pest Control in Riverview, said your house was fumigated for drywood termites on May 21, 1993, for the previous owner and the contract has been renewed each year since. According to Roberts, the company's contract states there must be a live infestation for refumigation. (You did not send us a copy of the contract and Roberts said she could not because it contains personal information such as the name and address of the former house owners, credit card numbers, and so on.) She said Royal Termite has no record of fumigating your house two years ago.

Roberts said the inspector has been to your home twice since you contacted the company on March 14. On March 15, he waited in front of your home from 5 to 5:15 p.m., and on March 16, from 5 to 5:45. There was no answer at the door on either day. She said her company would not tolerate employees who did not show up as scheduled.

You called again on March 28 and an appointment was subsequently made for April 4. Roberts said you are unable to get calls at work and the only way the company can communicate with you is by leaving messages on your home phone. Two inspectors met with you at your home on April 4 and investigated the area you were concerned about. No infestation of live drywood termites was found. Roberts said you were made aware of this and are now satisfied.

Times delivery

You are my last hope in getting the St. Petersburg Times to correct an address label. I've written letters, which is all I can do considering I'm in prison. My family has called on numerous occasions trying to get the address corrected to no avail.

Mail to correctional facilities has to be addressed a certain way and the paper can't seem to get it right. My subscription started on Jan. 14. Up until March 27, I had missed 39 issues. The expiration date was extended from April 3 to May 3 to make up for some of the missing papers, but the address is still wrong. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated. My family spent a good deal of money on this mail subscription. M.K.

Response: Brian Brady, customer care manager for the St. Petersburg Times, apologized for the errors related to the handling of your account. Your proper address has now been entered, which should rectify the problem immediately. Your account has been credited with an additional two weeks of delivery service for the missed papers you noted. Your new expiration date is May 17.

Given that prison addresses are unlike any others and require special handling, if you are transferred, we suggest you contact Brady by mail to ensure your address change is correctly entered.

If you have a question for Action, or your attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write: Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, or call your Action number, 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, (800) 333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request for Action. Names will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.