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Bed Bugs: What's Really Working - Part 2
1 Apr, 2008 By: Paul J. Bello Pest Management ProfessionalEditor's note: This article is a continuation of a two-part series launched in our March 2008 issue
Regardless of how technically savvy and effective your bed bug program might be, it won't work well without proper cooperation from, and clear communication with, customers.
Defining responsibilities and setting expectations up front helps minimize hurdles and reduces the likelihood of reinfestations and costly callbacks.
"We need 100-percent cooperation of building management," affirms Scott McNeely of McNeely Pest Control, Winston-Salem, N.C. "When an apartment unit has bed bugs, we always inspect and treat all of the surrounding units. That takes good communication, with and full cooperation of, building management."
"We're concerned about all the reports we read regarding product efficacy and bed bug resistance," adds Stephen Gates, director of technical services at Cook's Pest Control in Decatur, Ala. "Because of this, we make sure we treat surrounding units of multi-family housing and hotel accounts before we treat the infested units. We don't want to chase bed bugs from infested units into untreated ones."
Ed Van Istendal, operations manager for Tomlinson Bomberger's Pest Control Division in Lancaster, Pa., notes that the most important information pest management professionals (PMPs) need to communicate to property owners is that furniture and belongings will be moved or dismantled during the course of inspections and treatments. This includes beds, frames, bedding, nightstands, outlets, switches, drawers, books, CDs and DVDs, among other items.
 Time to Train Commercial Accounts, Too |
"No stone should be left unturned," Van Istendal says. "The spot you miss is the spot that will result in a failed treatment."
McNeely agrees: "It's not the 95 percent of the bed bugs that we see and kill that are going to be the problem. It's the 5 percent we can't find."
Customers need to know what to expect and be informed of their responsibilities and what they can do to enhance results. "We provide our customers with a list of instructions they need to follow before we do the work," says Mike Deutsch, technical director for Lynbrook, N.Y.-based Arrow Exterminating. . "We have them sign off on the job preparation instructions to assure they understand what needs to be done."
WHAT CUSTOMERS CAN DO
"We instruct customers to remove bed linens, but leave the bed and box springs in place because we do not want them to move infested items from room to room or apartment to apartment," offers Lynn Frank, technical director at Suburban-Magic Exterminating in Smithtown, N.Y. "We have them carefully place the bed linens directly into plastic bags placed on the beds so bed bugs are not disturbed or moved from the mattresses or bed frames."
Joe Kennedy, vice president of Arrow Exterminating in Lynbrook, points out that many PMPs are issuing a list of customer preparation steps that include placing clothing in plastic bags, removing bed linens and laundering them in hot cycles, clearing clutter from under beds and protecting fragile and valuable items.
Preparing for bed bug jobs requires a lot of work — teamwork. Some customers might not have the time or the ability to do all of the necessary preparations themselves. Smart PMPs offer to help them, sometimes for an additional charge.
"Let's face it, we're not going to get 100-percent cooperation from everyone 100 percent of the time," Kennedy says. "We might need to help some customers more with preparations, but that's just a part of being in the service business."
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