Florida Shooters Network

First I'll state that I never buy insurance for cars, electronics, or other consumer products. I know they are a rip off.

In case you did not know, Orkin Termite Bonds are a huge rip off. I got the house termite treated by Orkin when we moved in over 20+ years ago, before the area turned ghetto. Being a dumb ass, I bought their termite bond for repair, as they stated that the bond was transferable should I sell. Price goes up and up and up every year. Canceled a few years ago and they kept calling me telling me the repair bond transferred to the new owner. So a couple of years ago, we were thinking of selling to move out of the Mosquito County Ghetto and re-uped for their bond as the realtor thought it would be a selling point to a potential buyer. DUMB!

Fast forward. My son buys his first house. The house he buys has the same Orkin Termite repair bond. Owner says the repair bond transfers, just like I thought it does.

You cannot believe ANYTHING these crooks at Orkin tell you. Well, here is how it really works. The new owner has to pay a few hundred to transfer just the re-treatment bond. No repair bond transfers over to the new owner. They would offer a very limited repair bond for several hundred $ on top of the hundreds of $ for the transfer fees for the re treatment bond. The bottom line is you can repay for a complete re-treatment for less than a few years of their rip off premiums or all their "transfer" fees.

So it made me sick to figure out that over 25+ years I paid over $10k to these crooks.

Don't fall for their crap.

Go on line & look fro any class action law suits.

Start with these guys...might want to contact them and tell you story. questions@topclassactions.com

There are very few insurance plans, service plans, etc. that are legit. You have to read the fine print. You would be surprised what's not covered.

I personally know a case where another national termite company walked away from their obligations under a similar bond covering a townhome complex, to the tune of $4mil. "Go ahead...sue us" was their response.

Best bet is to keep your $$$ and hire local contractor's (e.g. Jim Bob's Termite Service). Save your funds for future repairs, be it termites, appliances or automobiles.

Tenzing_Norgay wrote: ↑Mon Aug 06, 2018 2:49 pm There are very few insurance plans, service plans, etc. that are legit. You have to read the fine print. You would be surprised what's not covered.

Or how it's covered.

Wife purchased ATT cellular phone insurance couple months ago when she got her new iPhone 8 Plus. She asked what I thought and I told her without reading it that it's a rip off. Well, last month she drops her phone and the glass cracks. She calls the number for insurance and they tell her her only option for now is to order a replacemeent phone...with copay of $299 and she will get not a new phone but a refurbished phone. She asked how she can get the screen replaced instead and they tell her when their authorized repair shop get a shipment of replacment screen...sometime next year. She was pissed and cancelled the insurance immediately.
I told her"I told you so" but really quietly

All insurance has to do is bribe the right politicians with campaign donations and they can get out of anything.

You have to be very careful shopping for extended warranties and service contracts.
Walmart has decent ones, other retailers not so much, plus your charge card may provide a "free" warranty extension that most customers ignore.
Extended car warranties (service contracts) have a big markup so shop around. That markup is the reason the car dealers push them hard.
Home repair service contracts have a lot of complaints and the one with the fewest is Broward Factory Service, which has done well by us.
On termites Orkin is taking advantage of the irrational fear a lot of people have of them. You can do a lot better with local exterminators.

I, personally, had a couple of issues with a local pest control company for termite work.

Bought the house in 1984 that had an existing termite warranty on it.
GREAT, one less thing to worry about. Called the company to transfer to my name.
They said that the warranty was with the prior OWNER...
I asked if they "treated" the prior owner or the house? They said, "the house"
They transferred the warranty to me.

Warranty stated a fixed annual price of $35 that "will never go up" (selling point to prior owner)
They tried multiple times to raise my rates, I sent them a copy of the contract with normal check.

Then, one year, they stopped sending me the renewal notice... no bills sent to us, but I'm a CPA.
I waddled my fat behind (actually, it wasn't fat back then) down to their office with the annual check and asked for a stamped copy with the girl's signature as being paid.

Sold the house in 1999, and told the new owner to "keep up the contract" because they have to honor it.

I agree with using local exterminators. It's best to look for those that are good sized, have been around for a while and have a good reputation. Ask around and check references.
I've had mine for 23 years. They had the house when I bought it and after some checking I kept them. Everything transferred. All I had to do was pay the modest annual. Repair bond included. Early on we had a couple localized outbreaks with very minor damage. They re-treated and their contractors were very competent. Haven't seen a termite in about 18 years.
About 10 years ago we had an outbreak of black widows that grew beyond my ability to control, so I added their annual pest control. They took care of the widows, come twice a year to spray the perimeter and come out at no charge whenever I have a problem. Can't beat that.

Good ones are out there...you just gotta find them.