Moxie Pest Control - of Raleigh, NC & it's door to door salesman here in Raleigh, NC, are scamming homeowners into thinking they are signing a one time pest control treatment for the small price of $35.00, when in all actuality they are signing a one year contract for a heavy price tag of $435.00 a year. These scams are occurring nationwide, mostly in the California area, as I am now researching the company's consumer reviews.
I am currently a victim of this scam, a young salesman by the name of Chase came to my door last month, and was very pushy in his sales tactics, he arrived at my door, close to 5:30pm, and while on my door step he cleverly pointed out cob webs and spiders on my front porch. Chase was very persistent in his sales approach, explaining how several of my neighbors had been complaining about ants, and that he was treating several of my neighbors the next day, he went on to ask if he could arrange a time to come and spray my yard for pests as well. I initially told him my husband was not home, and that he made these decisions for our household, I suggested him return when he could speak to my husband.
This was my way of trying to get rid of him. Sure enough an hour later he showed back up, now 6:30pm asking if my husband had returned, I responded no, he hadn't, but that he could leave a business card. He then suggested that I just go ahead and sign up for a one time treatment, and if I indeed liked the service, we could sign up for an annual contract. He jotted join a bunch of numbers, then crossed through them all, saying he was slashing the price for a onetime special, the price was something ridiculous like $1200, he marked it down to $435.00 and said this is a great deal for annual pest control, I proceeded to tell him I was not interested in that price, nor was I interested in a year service agreement.
He went on to say, alright we will charge you $35 for a one time outdoor treatment, and we can spray tomorrow, as we are already in the neighborhood doing a few of your neighbors. He said that the treatment was all organic, and safe for children and pets, ECT. I said, this sounds great, $35 sounded wonderful, and honestly we too were experiencing an ant problem.
Then Chase asked me for my credit card number…….This was a red flag for me!! I said, I am not giving you my credit card number, I will write you a check in the amount of $35 for this ONE TIME TREATMENT, but I refused to give him my personal credit card information. He hesitated, but agreed to accept my check as a form of payment. After, I gave Chase this check, he held onto a clip board and handed me a pen and said initial here, here and here. He went onto say, initial here agreeing to pay $35, initial here agreeing that you will not be home at the time of service, and initial here stating that if you wish the interior of your home treated you will contact our scheduler. I signed everything, without reading the fine print and he went on about his way, and I went back to tending to my boiling spaghetti noodles and my screaming 3 year old.
To my knowledge, Moxie Pest Control may or may not have even serviced my yard! I say this for several reasons, one, we still have ants, and two, I was in Maryland vacationing with my mother, the next day when the Moxie Tech was scheduled to arrive and my husband was at work. But my husband and I both felt confident, that they would service the yard, as we paid them to complete a service.
Today, June 17th I received a call from a young lady named Erin, who worked for Moxie Pest Control, she was calling to schedule an appointment for this quarter. Her call caught me off guard, after all I hadn't signed up for one year contract, just a onetime yard treatment, which was scheduled to be completed while I was on vacation in MAY! I went on to explain this to her, and she told me I would need to speak with her manager.
I was then transferred to the manager, whose name is Phillip Nielsen. Once on the phone with Phil, I addressed myself, and told him, I was trying to clear up a misunderstanding, I informed him that I made myself VERY clear to his sales representative, Chase, when I told him, I was not interested in a yearly contract, only the one time treatment for $35. I further explained that this is why I paid by check, because I didn't want to get ripped off or robbed by a stranger.
Phil went on to say that a lot of people call him trying to “GET Out” of annual contracts but that he had my initial, which clearly stated that I was signing up and agreeing to a one year pest control agreement. He said this was his “protection”. I thought my “protection” was payment by form of check, but apparently that's not even safe anymore! Unfortunately, I threw m y copy of this agreement/invoice away, as I was under the impression this was a onetime treatment, and I had paid by check, so I really thought I was playing this safe!! Well, here I am totally screwed. Phil's attempt to resolve this issue was to charge me a onetime cancellation fee, for a service I never even agreed to in the first place.
I think it's unfortunate that I was taken advantage of in this manner, I feel very violated and deceived. I refuse to pay Moxie for services I did not ask for, and in addition to this I refuse to pay a cancellation fee for a service I verbally declined. All in all, I want to inform other local residents, not to utilize Moxie Pest Control, as they will SCAM YOU, just as they are attempting to scam me. Moxie Pest Control failed to disclose key conditions, fine print, and lastly their verbal representations are not consistent with written contractual terms and agreements. I have reported Moxie Pest Control's shady business tactics and unethical sales tactics to the Better Business Bureau, but I want to inform the world, DO NOT USE MOXIE PEST CONTROL, THEY WILL SCAM YOU! In this economy, you can't trust anyone! Businesses are struggling to keep afloat and in desperate times, they are forced to scam you, their clients! It's a sad, sad world! In the future, I will never ever open my door to a stranger! TRUST NO ONE! In addition to this, I might add, that these sales representatives are working on a commission bases, so they will scam you into a yearly contract, just to EARN MORE MONEY!
Best Wishes-
Jacqueline
Raleigh, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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