Recently released documents from the National Consumer Affairs Center (NCC) reveal a significant uptick in complaints regarding pest extermination services, particularly among young consumers who report charges far exceeding those advertised online, with complaints in the year ended in March seeing a 1.5 time increase compared with the previous year.
The NCC's data show a surge in pest and vermin extermination related inquiries, climbing from 972 in fiscal 2020 to 1,612 in fiscal 2022 and jumping to 2,290 in fiscal 2023. Young adults, notably those in their teens and 20s, are frequently enticed by low advertised rates only to encounter substantially higher fees upon the delivery of services.
Among the inquiries, the number of complaints from contractors aged between the teens and 20s jumped from 212 in fiscal 2022 to 552 in fiscal 2023, a 2.6 time increase, with the majority involving cockroach extermination.