July 2006 / Vol.3 / Issue 7

Hello and Welcome to the July Greenpest News. Each month we aim to provide you with some useful information, keeping it short, sweet and pertinent.

Contents

1. Pest Talk
2. Bindii Warning
3. Customer Question of the Month.
4. Story of the Month.
5. Monthly Special

Pest Talk

Misleading quotes - what some companies aren't telling you.

It has come to our attention lately that some quotes for termites are not what they seem. Just recently we asked one customer why she had decided to use a different bait system to ours and the answer surprised us. She said it was cheaper.

So we decided to investigate and asked her a series of questions which she was happy to answer.

Here's what we discovered:

She was quoted 12 baits only for her entire house (which is not nearly enough), where as we quoted 25 baits, plus an internal inspection and retreatment, plus a partial treated zone to expose and protect the existing termite entry point.

Also, they had not informed her of the true ongoing costs. She knew there was a monthly monitoring fee, but she didn't know that she would also have to pay extra if and when the baits had termite activity.

Where-as the Green Termite Bait System full service plan is ALL-INCLUSIVE, no more to pay.

We asked if she was concerned about the plastic baits not being ant-resistant?

It didn't seem to bother her, yet this one point alone is vital as to whether a bait works or not. Once a plastic bait has ants, it is no longer useful as a termite bait, not only because the ants are repellent to termites, but also because even if you do eliminate the ants from a plastic bait, very often the ants have left behind pheromones that keep the bait repellent to termites. There is also the possibility that the treatment used to kill the ants in and about the plastic bait is also repellent to termites.

Interestingly, pest control companies that only do traditional chemical soil treatments use this valid argument to knock ALL bait systems.

Shame really, since the Green Bait System is truly ant-resistant and doesn't suffer any of the frailties of most other termite bait systems. Compare here.

She had not received this information but instead had been distracted by being told that every bait system had its weaknesses including ours. Curious, we asked what weaknesses she believed that our system had and she mentioned one or two complete lies that had been fed to her by the plastic salesman desperate to get her work (and his commission). It seems the opposition will say and do anything to get a sale. Of course it is interesting that the opposition was able to make a bunch of misleading and derogatory remarks about the Green Termite Bait System even though they have never tried it or tested it for themselves.

To close the sale on the spot and prevent the customer from conducting her due diligence, they then told her that she would get a five year warranty that termites would not re-enter her house, plus $100,000 timber replacement warranty even if termites did! It sounds like the deal of the century until you check out the real facts.

Fact:

The reality is this home owner was being bamboozled by a slick salesman with fools gold warranties and sucker prices that would escalate once she's suckered into their initial apparently cheaper program.

The saddest thing is that this happens regularly to many people who either don't check around and compare products fairly or are in such a state of panic that they fall hook line and sinker for the first treatment method that is presented to them.

These crooks in our industry (and yes, let's call a spade a spade) are able to do this to their victims (a.k.a. customers) and be able to sleep well at night because they are protected by the fine print in those clever sounding warranties; wording that will only be pointed out and clearly explained to you when you either have a legitimate claim or they want to get more money out of you.

We beat this (due diligence) drum regularly, as all our long term newsletter subscribers will know. We admonish anyone thinking about termite management options for their home to do their home work first. When we suggested this to the lady in the above story she said that it was all too hard, all too confusing and she didn't know who to believe, she just wanted the termites out of her house.

Because she wasn't prepared to do her home work she was going to end up buying a pack of lies, and more than likely in the next twelve months she'll be facing an even bigger bill for termite control and she'll be wondering why her warranties didn't pay for any of it.

That's the plain truth.

If you've got or suspect you may have termites, stay calm, there is no rush. Don't disturb them. Shop around and get some quotes. Ask questions (even the ones you think may be silly) and check that the answers are correct. Ask to see the warranty in writing - all of it - especially the small print. Termites won't do a whole lot more damage in the week it takes you to shop around, and shopping around can save you money, stress and further expenses if the initial problem is taken care of correctly in the first place.

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Bindii Warning.

Every year we give the Bindii Warning. There is nothing worse than having your own yard off limits because of bindii, especially if you have young children. Bindii are a nuisance even for dogs and cats, especially if they get into the folds between the pads on their paws.

Now is the time to spray for weeds in general and Bindii in particular. Don't wait any longer because once the Bindii go to prickle it is too late to spray. Do it now or if you don't feel up to it give us a call and we will do it for you. Remember, that if you do a good job of spraying for Bindii this year before they get a chance to flower and go to seed, then next year you will probably not have any Bindii at all.

The price is still only $165 to spray an average size family yard. (Southeast Queensland only)

Bonus: This treatment will also help to control other broadleaf weeds such as clover.

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Customer Question of the Month.

Question:

For 3 years now I've had your Green Termite Bait System installed around the outside of my home . I'm very happy with it and the service each month is fantastic, thank you. I'm thinking about putting the Ec2c Termite Windows inside my home , but I'm not really sure if it is worth it. If my baits are as effective as you suggest, then surely I won't get termites in my home, so I won't need the Ec2c Termite Windows, right?

If I do need them, then I need more convincing.

In anticipation,

(Name withheld at clients' request)... (Wavell Heights QLD)

Answer:

Once again this is a great question and we are very happy to address it in an open forum.

You are absolutely correct in saying that they are probably a waste of time for you. The odds are that you won't get termites in your home whilst your Green Termite Bait System is fully maintained. Our statistics show that the Green Termite Bait System is better than 99.5% effective when correctly installed and maintained.

The only purpose of the Ec2c Termite Windows is to give you an extra method of detecting termites in the high risk timbers in your home behind the walls where the Ec2c Termite Windows are located.

The risk may be extremely low, but as of July 2006, there are still no 100% proof methods for preventing termites. Why? Simply because termites are living creatures with variable behaviour patterns, and although their behaviour can generally be predicted, they do not always behave as predicted - hence the ever present but slight chance that termites could get into your home .

The odds of your home catching fire are also remote, but we are all encouraged to install fire alarms.

Let us demonstrate three ways that termites could slip past your Green Termite Bait System (or any other termite control system including chemical treated zones for that matter).

In scenarios 1 & 2 only the Ec2c Termite Windows, a regular inspection or accidentally finding the termite damage is going to reveal the termites. There is some slight chance that if the termites actually ventured outside your home in search of additional moisture that they would be either killed by a NON-repellent termite treatment zone OR gathered in a Green Termite Bait where they can also be treated and effectively eliminated.

In scenario 3, there is a strong chance that the termite nest would also be venturing into other areas around and about your yard, so they would more than likely be intercepted and destroyed in a Green Termite Bait or your NON-repellent treatment zone if it is still functioning and not in need of renewal.

Just a quick sideways point: A Green Termite Bait System is always functioning at or around 100% effectiveness where-as termite barriers and treatment zones function from 100% effectiveness reducing to 0% over time because the chemicals are biodegradable.

Back to the subject. Ec2c Termite Windows are a 'once off' investment that will last for the life of the home. You can easily check them yourself, so there is no ongoing cost unless you prefer for us to check them for you every now and again.

We developed the Ec2c Termite Window System to compliment our Green Termite Bait System. They are simple, low cost, back-up system which can help to reassure you that your Green Termite Bait System is fully functioning and that your house is safe. It is a part of our duty of care to encourage all our clients to consider installing these neat little windows wherever possible and practical.

In the end the decision is always yours.

What are Ec2c Termite Windows? Click here for more details.

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Story of the Month.

It's Raining Cockroaches...

Written by Jerry Furnell.

It was 1991.

I had just pulled up outside an old weatherboard home in Albion, Brisbane. Stepping out of my van I could already smell the millions of cockroaches infesting this house from its front gate at the footpath. This house literally reeked of german cockroaches.

Beginning in the kitchen I commenced work. Soon there were hundreds of cockroaches scampering about everywhere.

The pop-up toaster was still warm from making toast for breakfast. I dusted it with a non-toxic insecticidal powder and hundreds of cockroaches bailed out of it. Yuck.

The microwave was the same, as were all the kitchen appliances. Soon the walls and ceilings were covered in escaping cockroaches. But it was too late for them, and they started to die en-masse.

Do you know the song 'It's raining men'? Well... it was raining cockroaches in that nightmarish kitchen. It made me think about the plagues of Egypt in Mose's time. I was constantly flicking cockies off me, thinking Alfred Hitchcock would have loved this as a scene in one of his movies. When I finished and was back outside, I had to take off my shirt and shake out the last ones.

After this, it was always easy for me to say 'Don't worry, I've seen worse,' to reassure clients who were embarrassed by a handful of cockroaches that may have scampered out during a treatment.

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If you have an interesting pest story that you would like to share, please send the story via email and we will consider using it in our next newsletter. If published, you will receive a $25 Coles/Myer voucher.

Thank you.

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The Greenpest News is Published by J & A Furnell Nominees P/L; Shop 23a Franklin Square, 60 Railway Street, Mudgeeraba, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of Jerry Furnell. The reader is encouraged to seek further information from appropriate government and statutory departments before taking any action based on this material alone.

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See you again next month.

Always... At your service,

Jerry Furnell
Green Pest Control & Green Termite Bait Systems.
Phone 1800 6 12345.

Copyright 2006 Green Termite Bait Systems & Green Pest Control. All rights reserved.

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