Discount Price
When to discount services
We often get requests for reduced or discounted pricing. We provide a very good value of service for the price in our market and we do not offer any discounts without good reason. The main reasons we would offer a price reduction would be for 1) Barter or Trade, 2) to compensate for mistakes we have made, 3) in exchange for referrals. All employees have the authority to discount services for any of these reasons by as much as 100%.
Outside Only Treatments - No Discount
We will not reduce price for treating outside only. Our entomologist-designed treatment program outside targets the areas that pests originate so that we can prevent pest problems inside. That means our warranty is on the inside of the house, even if the treatment is outside. The inside does not need to be treated usually, as pests do not originate there. If problems occur inside at any time after treatment, we will return, for no charge, to re-treat outside or, if needed depending on the pest, inside. The small amount of time and material required to do an inside treatment in addition to an outside treatment are minimal - usually less than 10 minutes. That is why we don't mind doing inside while we are there, but it certainly isn't needed for pest control purposes.
Size of Home or Yard - No Discount
Significant differences in square footage of houses does not result in significant changes in the amount of time or product needed to service the house. A 3,000 square foot house takes about 3 minutes longer to treat than a 1,500 square foot house. This amount of time is not enough to justify any difference in price. We do charge a premium for houses over 5,000 square feet. This premium is decided by the technician at the first service.
Similarly, yards from 1/10 to 1/4 acre take about the same amount of time for yard services like mosquito or flea control. Yards larger than 1/4 acre may take longer since we have to refill our tanks. In those cases, we may charge a premium as decided by the technician.
Proximity to other Clients - No Discount
Clients that are close together do save us in travel costs - the biggest cost to us. However, our experience has shown that any "deals" made with clients to service them at the same time as other nearby clients always fall through. Invariably, clients will switch appointment times, be unavailable, have conflicts, or move, removing any savings we had.
Why we don't discount services
Our service is a results driven service. Our goal is to provide a valuable result for the client. This result should be more valuable to the client than the price they are paying. The quality of this result and the quality of their experience with us is our value.
From a business perspective, internally, our cost to provide a valuable result is very important. We have to charge more than our costs to remain profitable. For each client, our main costs are associated with the travel to the appointment. These are the costs associated with vehicle purchase, repair, maintenance, fuel, insurance, and travel time. They are not affected by spending a few more or a few less minutes at a house.