Pest Control and Bug Exterminator Blog

Now Proudly Displayed in our Gilbert AZ location

Scanning the Bar code for the Boss. To show him this high tech stuff.

This is way cool! Here we are!

You can actually scan this from your computer screen!

Bulwark was honored to receive its first letter last Friday from Google Maps.  The letter boasts a big congratulations on front and a very pretty window sticker.  Then it went on to explain that “Between July 1 and September 30″ each location had been found X number of times and received X number of requests “for driving directions or other information about your business.” After doing some digging online and checking to see how legitimate this honor was, Bulwark’s owner found listed on Google’s site the following

“Over 100,000 businesses were identified as Favorite Places, representing less than 1% of the 28 million U.S. businesses. We believe that our standards for selecting businesses are as selective or more selective than other companies which have run similar initiatives.”

“Google users “decided” based on their actions, and we sent the decals.” http://www.google.com/help/maps/favoriteplaces/business/faq.html

The owner quickly recognized the value in this recognition from Google and a email went out Monday morning to all of our locations to keep their eyes peeled for these envelops.  Sure enough, 3 other branches of Bulwark had received the letters!

“I got the golden ticket.” was the email reply from one of our Austin managers.  While he may have been joking, the owner and web team were not.

“It is an honor to receive this and we are happy to post the sticker in our window boasting Google as well for being an industry leader.” said Adam, the owner and CEO of Bulwark.  “And hopefully more are on their way.”

ThomasB Bulwark Family Austin Favorite Place, Gilbert Favorite Place, google maps, Phoenix Favorite Place

Pest Control Forecasting

What you can take away from the pest control trends is that from Febuary to March pest control will likely increase by 50% and that the Texas pest control season peaks in June 2010. So business should be picking up now and should increase until mid summer, June. Ant control shows no forecastable trend, but should follow closely to pest control with a June 2010 peak.

But does the forecast mean pest control companies will survive the economy? Last year’s economic downturn caused many pest control operators to close up shop. Despite the fact the the google trends only showed a 2% decrease in interest from June 2008 to June 2009. So people may be searching for pest control 2010, but that doesn’t mean that people will be buying pest control.

Reading the Trends

It’s hard to argue that pest control is a seasonal business. Further, it’s hard to argue that what people are searching for is “pest control”. The trends above are specific to the Texas region and it is interesting to see the metros within Texas that get the most searchs by keyword. Exterminators are less likely to find successful traffic campaigns by ignoring these trends. Further, trying to jump in at the heat of the race without doing your off season excercise is futile. Through trial and error sites launched and dedicated to “ant control in Austin” proved to capture very little traffic. Sites launced for “pest control in Austin” beat out scorpions, ants, spiders, and roaches combined. Needless to say, “scorpion control” is less than trendy.

Back to the drawing board. Thanks for the regional pest control insights provided by google trends.

Stay tuned for more information from your online bug channel.

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control, scorpion control austin scorpion control, Houston Ant Control, pest control in Austin, pest control trends

I’ve always liked the sounds that a cricket makes. It’s soothing and reminds me of the countless nights I have spent outside just staring at the sky and wondering what life is all about. It is kind of like a soundtrack for my mind. Others appreciate the noise as well, but they prefer to be outside of their home rather than inside. I was called to a home late in the evening, nearly after sunset. Timing was crucial for me because this lady had a pretty uncommon problem in Georgia, crickets breeding in the walls. Her eyes were bloodshot from having been up all night and you could tell she was irritated. She walked me to the master bedroom and stuck her head against the wall and held up a finger … nothing. No sound, no chirping, not anything. There was a bit of humor in it because it was like man vs. wild, all the little creatures stop making noise when they detect a threat. She was about to give up when the chirping restarted – it was pretty amazing because each chirp had its own unique location along the wall, almost like an echo. One would chirp in the middle and two others on either side of that cricket would begin to chirp. Sometimes, if they timed it right, they chirped simultaneously. I decided the best option would be to flush out the wall voids with an in-wall treatment and re-spray the exterior. I also did a yard spray to stop any crickets around the home from getting closer. I’m not a doctor but was able to provide a cure for insomnia.

Luke F

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control

Many people think that a bed bug is invisible to the naked eye and prior to my experience as a field technician, I didn’t even know they existed. Bed bugs can be very small, a little less than the size of a paper clipping in a hole-puncher. I was told I had to service a home with bed-bugs about 2 days in advance and this gave me some time to do some reading

Bedbugs are bloodsucking parasites. They are typically found around the seams in a mattress and can go as long as a year without feeding. They hide in cracks and crevices and are attracted to the heat we give off when we sleep – before they pierce the skin, they deliver an anti-septic which provides mild pain relief so you don’t wake up and feel a pinch. After getting their fill, the bed bugs will return to a crack or crevice in the room and hide until the next time it gets hungry.

When I arrived at the woman’s home she showed me her arms – curiously, her and her children were the only ones with bites even though the husband slept in the same room. He didn’t have a single bite – the woman was devastated and preparing to burn her entire house down. She wanted to throw away every ounce of furniture and every mattress in the house. I couldn’t blame her; you can’t even relax in your own home without fear of being bitten by parasites while you sleep. The point of this story is simply this, to draw out the extent of the infestation. I also wanted to share with you all of the areas I found bed bugs in:

Bed frame, mattress, box-spring, pillow, behind wall electrical plates, inside a TV remote battery cover, children’s toy cars, alarm clock, and an Xbox 360 just to name a few items. 

The Craziest place I found them was in the screws that held most of her bedroom furniture together. Behind a shelf, a cardboard backing was attached to the shelf frame for support and aesthetic purposes. When we move the shelf I observed 5 tiny bedbugs in one of the screw holes and a few even fell out onto the floor.  

Bed bugs are no joke. Throwing your stuff away will not get rid of them and short of burning your house down (kidding), not much can be done treatment wise to guarantee elimination.   This is because they can go long intervals without a food source, lying dormant in walls and hiding in luggage cases long after any product has expired. But they CAN be eliminated. There are a few chemical and non-chemical treatment programs that can help.

How do you stop yourself from getting bedbugs? Use your eyes. It is believed that most people bring them home from hotels, where they will crawl into your clothes and luggage.

You can avoid getting bedbugs by checking the bed when you get into the hotel room – lift up the sheets under the mattress starting at the end with the pillows. Are there brownish / reddish stains along the seams of the mattress? If so, this is an indicator of bed bugs. After a blood meal they can be observed making deposits of fecal matter around the host and room. Good luck!

Luke F

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control

My name is Svea Owens and I work for the Phoenix branch of Bulwark Exterminating. Over the past several months, we have been using the 602pest.com website as a way for our customers to share with others about the jobs our technicians do for them. The first few weeks of using this website, we had a couple of customers call in saying they couldn’t figure out how to leave reviews. As the calls came in the other girls in our office would transfer these people to me and I would get on the website and walk them through step by step on how to do it. One customer in particular was very appreciative of this. She called in wanting to leave a review for one of our technicians, Jason. She said he always does an outstanding job and she really wanted him to get the recognition he deserves. I got onto the website with her and walked her through it and by the end she was so thankful. She told me that she wasn’t very computer savvy and that I explained everything very well and made it very easy for her to follow. She was happy that she was finally able to give Jason the gratification she felt he deserved. I also let her know I would relay her comments of Jason’s performance to my service manager as well.

Svea

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control

I was an Initial Service Technician, meaning I only was only servicing new customers and providing the Full House Clean Out, for one of the best salesman in the history of Bulwark.  I had a full day of services in one of the cities more influential neighborhoods.  As normal I begin to scan the customer’s property as soon as I exit the work vehicle.  I noticed that there was a paper on the driveway so I picked it up and carried the paper with me to the door.  This is one of the advance tactics that you learn as a seasoned technician.

I rang the door and after a few minutes a kind women who spoke broken English opened the door and greeted me.  I introduced myself and with a smile tried to hand her the paper I had kindly retrieved from the driveway.  She looked at me skeptically and opened the door widely allowing me to see that there was another woman in the home, possibly the homeowner.  After a short conversation (in a language I dare not guess at) the kind women told me in broken English no, they “don’t want.”  I again tried to hand her the paper so that she could see the signed service agreement in my hand.  Again the homeowner kindly refused.  I sat the paper down on the front porch and then presented the contract to the women in the doorway.  At this time she had given all the time she was willing to and slowly closed the door on me.  I was a little surprised but it wasn’t the first time a customer has refused service.  I then called the next customer of the day and told them I had an opening in my schedule and would they allow me to service their home.  The customer allowed me to and I was about an hour ahead in what I thought would be a demanding day.  Late that afternoon I received a phone call from the office asking my why I never showed the earlier stop of my day.  I explained to them that I did, and that the customer refused my service.  The person I was speaking with sounded confused and asked if I went to the correct address, I told him yes that I even recalled verifying the address on the corner of the home after the customer refused service.  The person then stated they would call the customer and speak with them again.  A short time later I received a second phone call from the office; the customer thought I was a newspaper salesman.

Wayne Bryant

Las Vegas, NV

Pest-Control-Stories Story 3, C, Las Vegas NV, Misunderstanding

Doing pest control you see the best and worst of people’s homes. As a technician for our East Atlanta branch, I would often find myself walking through a series of webs in both crawlspaces and unfinished basements, even some garages that were just totally covered. For whatever reason, these areas tend to be hotspots for spider activity; my guess is because they are usually poorly sealed and cool or moist. A young woman had called in regarding a mouse in her basement and it was no surprise to find a maze of boxes and cobwebs littering the unfinished floor. She took me to the corner where she suspected the mouse had hidden and I began to examine the area… there was a chewed up bag of some bird seed and a couple shreds of what almost looked like press board. And who can forget the line of droppings delineating the inner wall. The woman had been raised in another country and described to me a level of fear associated with certain animals per culture. She was relatively calm, but she also carried an anxious undertone as well.  We followed the droppings along the wall and went around a corner and to the basement door. To my surprise, sitting by the door was fat long snake, at least 3 feet in length and a ½ an inch in diameter. I almost fainted because the lady had let out such a blood curdling scream. It’s a good thing that snakes don’t have ears, I am positive it would have attacked her. She grabbed my shoulders, as if to use me as some sort of shield, which I thought was kind of funny. I have an affinity for reptiles and this little guy just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time … the trail of droppings had disappeared about 3 feet from the snake and its my guess he had a fat little meal prior to our encounter. Animal control is not really our cup of tea (beyond rats and mice), but I was able to find a stick and pick up the snake gently removing it from the basement. The lady said her basement door is never open but I am not so sure how the snake could have gotten in. To this day I do not have that answer. Why do you think basements are so high in pest activity?

Luke F

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control

My name is Svea Owens and I work for the Phoenix branch of Bulwark Exterminating. Over the past several months, we have been using the 602pest.com website as a way for our customers to share with others about the jobs our technicians do for them. The first few weeks of using this website, we had a couple of customers call in saying they couldn’t figure out how to leave reviews. As the calls came in the other girls in our office would transfer these people to me and I would get on the website and walk them through step by step on how to do it. One customer in particular was very appreciative of this. She called in wanting to leave a review for one of our technicians, Jason. She said he always does an outstanding job and she really wanted him to get the recognition he deserves. I got onto the website with her and walked her through it and by the end she was so thankful. She told me that she wasn’t very computer savvy and that I explained everything very well and made it very easy for her to follow. She was happy that she was finally able to give Jason the gratification she felt he deserved. I also let her know I would relay her comments of Jason’s performance to my service manager as well.

Svea

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control

Working at Bulwark Exterminating has been the most full filling job that I have had. Hello, my name is Tarria and I have been with Bulwark for about three and half years. Working for the pest control branch in San Antonio, TX. One experience that I had this past summer is a customer who called in to get scheduled for a callback for interior ants. Of course with our summers we are very busy and it can be very difficult to find a time and day to schedule an appointment for a customer. After, searching the routes I was not able to find an appointment for at least two days out. The lady was very understanding when she had to wait for two days for an appointment, to have the interior service done. However, later that afternoon, I noticed that someone had rescheduled a service and I got the customer scheduled the very next day. The “Mrs” was very pleased with the customer service that she received and how quick we could get someone out to her home. She told me she was very happy with our service and that she has been a customer for over four years. It makes my day to know that we continue to do such wonderful work and have great customer service.

Pest-Control-Stories Story C, customer service, San Antonio TX

I spoke with a current customer that was concerned about something in her walls, she just couldn’t figure out what it was, she is an elderly lady and was a little scared. She just kept asking me what it could be. I told her I didn’t know, but I would be glad to send out a technician to see, maybe it was rats or mice. I tried to find something as early as possible for this poor little lady was terrified, so I scheduled a service for her for the next day. Later on that same day, this customer calls me back….she starts out saying “I’m so embarrassed”, I hate to call you, but I won’t be needing the service after all.  I asked her why, she said it was her grandson’s toy in the closet making the noise. Her daughter was the one to find it, so we just laughed together and I told her not to worry and I would cancel the appointment. She was pleased that we would have come out so quickly to take care of the problem, and was very happy that it wasn’t an animal or rodent of some kind.

Jill B

JillB General Pest Control

Last April is a month one of our customers will never forget.  While in her laundry room, she noticed an odd, gray bug clinging to the wall.  She showed it to her husband and neither of them knew exactly what it was, so into the garbage disposal it went.  Afterwards, she went out of town leaving her dogs and husband at home for about ten days.  When she returned, she found another odd bug in the laundry room.  At this time she also found ticks crawling on the walls, floors and embedded in her poor little pups!  She immediately called the vet and picked up some very expensive tick guard.  She went to the local pet store and bought even more expensive sprays and foggers to try to stop these horrible little creatures from their massive invasion. After that, she had to take all of her dogs to the groomer and have them shaved so she could check them for any more ticks, for the problem was still not gone.

Her tick problem was just getting worse so her neighbor, vet and groomer suggested she seek professional intervention.  Heeding the neighbor’s advice, she called Bulwark and spoke to Chris Benham.  I made a special trip to their home the very next day to take care of the problem for I could hear and feel the frustration and overall panic in her voice.  The technicians and I went to their home several more times treating the yard, inside the home and even provided them with some tick spray for our dogs!  We answered their calls and their questions in a caring professional manner.  It took about two months, but they are happy to report they are tick free!  Bulwark sprays their home once a month and they continue to be pest free.  Living in the desert of Phoenix is beautiful but leaves everyone more susceptible to many critters, large and small.  The small ones are oftentimes the most irritating and destructive.  Mrs said, “Thank goodness for the professional team of Bulwark and their ability to take care of all our pest problems.  I will always recommend Bulwark and Chris Benham to anyone who does not want a pest problem!”

Chris B

Pest-Control-Stories General Pest Control