We have been a customer with Cavanaugh since 2005. We did the termite treatment on the perimeter of…read moreour house to prevent termites coming from our neighbor's house which had a severe termite issue. Since then, we have the annual termite inspection contract with "Cavanaugh Termite and Pest Service".
Cavanaugh has been displaying its utmost professional standard since 2005 until this year (2020). Our annual termite contract expires on May 31 every year. Cavanaugh sends out the contract renewal two months prior to the expiration date. We always schedule the termite inspection on the last Saturday of May for the 8~12pm appointment immediately receiving the renewal notice. The inspection time lasts about 20 minutes. The inspector walks down to the basement and checks the house perimeter, then check out the garage and outside of the house perimeter. Once the examination is done, the inspector writes done "No termite activities found on the house" on a company's worksheet and accepts payment on the spot, then gives us back the worksheet with the payment paid-in-full receipt. Every year has been the same routine without fail until this year.
A series of mistakes made by Cavanaugh's internal problems from the appointment to the final billing greatly inconvenienced us and caused us the loss of precious time solving their mistakes are one thing; Cavanaugh's staff lacking professionalism manner to resolve their own mistake is unforgivable. Here is the detail:
We scheduled the inspection appointment as usual on the last Saturday of May, between 8~12PM. Due to the coronavirus, we called Cavanaugh two weeks prior to the inspection date to make sure the inspection would still be on. And then two days prior to the inspection, we called them again to make sure that the inspector who is coming will be wearing a mask and shoe covers before entering into the house, and the appointment time is also confirmed during that phone call.
On the inspection day, we waited for the whole morning until 12 pm. We called Cavanaugh to find out why was no one showed up? Mr. Tiff answered the phone and apologized to us that there was no indication that we were scheduled on that date. He immediately called East Brunswick division and scheduled to send an inspector over no later than 1:45 pm. No one called nor came until 2:38 pm. The inspection lasted until 2:55 pm. Due to CoVid-19, there was no paperwork to write and show that "no termite's activities were found from inspecting interior and exterior of the premise" nor did we get a pay-in-full receipt after we gave the inspector our credit card information to input to his iPad. He said that he would send that worksheet and payment receipt to my email address. So he left without giving us any evidence of the inspection.
Four days later, on June 3, we were still waiting for the worksheet with our payment receipt. I called Cavanaugh and spoke with Kristen to find out where was the email that shows our inspection worksheet and payment receipt. She immediately sent over a totally BLANK invoice (without company printed logos) with nothing on it except some strange numbers showing "termite inspection charge" $0.00, tax $6.82, payment & credit $0.00, and total due is $6.82" Not a word about the termite inspection conclusion nor our paid-in-full payment receipt. I emailed her "The receipt you sent still didn't show the correct payment amount nor did it show "No termite was found at the property" detail. Please resend a rectified version!"
We went back and force with email replies and went nowhere because she kept replying to me: "The contract is now expired so I cannot state that it has been paid for." And totally ignored what I repeatedly stated in my email clearly "The current display figures in the invoice do not make sense on an invoice. I believe the right amount of dollars figures to be displayed as "termite inspection charge" $103.00, tax $6.82, payment & credit $109.82, and the total due is $0.00. Your invoice does not make any sense nor does it display that I had paid in full of the charge of $109.82."
Finally, I had to pick up the phone and talk to her in person. As soon as she knew it was me, she gave out a loud, impatient "Uh" then said, "What can I help you?" I asked her to just send me a paid-in-full receipt to which she had been refused to do and did not tell me the reason in all her emails except "The contract is now expired so I cannot state that it has been paid for".
I realized that she assumed we didn't pay for the $109.82 inspection fee. I said, "How could we not pay for the inspection at the end of the service?" She mumbled something like "you don't need to pay when service is done..." that statement greatly confused me, but I had to stop wasting my time to figure out what she was saying or doing in all these. I simply asked her to just send me a payment receipt and I am still waiting for my receipt with a worksheet detail on a proper company logos stationary.
