Coronavirus Questions

Universal Pest & Termite is dedicated to protecting our customers and employees through this concerning time. Our industry (Pest Control) has been deemed an Essential Industry due to the immediate concern that pest can cause to public health if left unaddressed. I have had many questions with regards to what type of services we can offer, how service adjustments will affect your service fee and how we are protecting our employees. I have addressed a few immediate questions and concerns below. If you have additional questions, please feel free to contact our office directly or ask to speak directly to me.

Our quarterly pest control service Border-Guard as well as our combined pest control and termite control service Flex-Guard focus on the exterior of the home. These two programs are important in the spring and summer seasons due to the applications to the perimeter soil where pest typically nest and live.
If there is an immediate need for the interior due to active pest activity we can enter, treat and exit your property if no one in the home is showing symptoms of the Coronavirus, we have a direct path to the location of application, and nothing needs to be moved by our technician. No preventative applications for the interior are being offered at this time.
Termite inspections are being limited to the exterior and under structure of the home at this time.

No contact:

Our employees are each equipped with a handheld device that generally requires a signature from you. The technician will now enter a code that indicates the service was performed and no signature was requested. You will not be asked to sign for any services performed. The invoice and service ticket will be emailed to you. Please verify we have your correct email and contact number

If you do not feel comfortable with a technician entering your home and have an active pest infestation, please contact our office for direction and options. 757-502-0200

What about my current service fee?

Every one of our employees have been informed they can adjust or reduce any service fee that needs to be addressed.
We are offering a few options:
1. We can adjust the service fee to reflect the service provided.
2. You can skip your current service (If you are a Flex-Guard or Uni-Guard customer this may affect your termite warranty. Please contact our office for options)
3. We can adjust any pre-paid or auto-pay customers if service was not provided or a limited service was performed.
4. If you have termite warranty or any other service warranty with us and you are concerned with us entering your property, rest assured your warranty will not be affected. We will address the issue as soon as we can gain entry and treat or repair as necessary. Please communicate with our office as we will have a backlog of work to perform.

How we are protecting our employees:

Due to the vital service our industry offers we are still on the front line protecting our customers from bed bugs, rat infestations and allergy issues (Duct Cleaning). With that said, we have implemented a few internal policies:
• Our pest technicians and inspectors are not coming into the office daily. Rather than entering our office every day to turn in payments or paperwork we now have them pull out front of the office, stay in their vehicle and one of our office staff retrieves their previous days work. This is important as your technician has very limited to no contact to other employees or office staff.
• Every employee has been provided PPE (personal protective equipment). Due to the shortage of mask we are asking to provide one to your technician or inspector if you have any to spare. All employees should be wearing goggles and rubber gloves (using new gloves at every stop).
• Every Universal Pest & Termite vehicle has an antibacterial soap or hand sanitizer inside. Our employees have been trained to clean their hands when they arrive and once again before they leave every stop.

If you are having a pest emergency and need to speak to someone right away call 757-502-0200. We are getting to each customer on a first call first service basis. We understand spring brings active insects and swarming termites. Please visit our termites page for identification.

If at any time you would like to contact me directly to speak about our policies or if you have a question, please feel to email me directly or contact me here at the office.

George Pilkington
(President, Universal Pest & Termite)
george@universalpest.com
757-502-0200