Ford’s Hometown Services

We used Ford’s this year for their tick prevention spray treatments. the people I emailed and spoke to were very knowledgable and friendly. the process of evaluating our yard was done online and in a couple quick email exchanges, we had a plan. I think we had 5 applications from May til Oct and there was a discount to pay upfront in full. we always received a reminder call 1 – 2 days before they were coming out to treat and neither of my kids had a tick on them this year! Last year untreated, same yard, same leaf cleanup, we picked at least 4 off my older child (the baby wasn’t mobile yet!). In my experience, 2015 was not a particularly «mild» tick summer to account for this difference. I’ve found the staff at Ford’s Hometown to be very responsive over the phone or email and the whole process was quite simple. We’ve since contacted them about a 2^nd issue and received good (free) advice for DIY as well as a quote if we wanted them to come out and bait some vermin. Although no treatment can be guaranteed 100%, I think the sprays made a difference this year and I was very satisfied with our interactions in total.

Ford’s has now responded to my comment, and I will update my response accordingly, addressing their points (and moving my star rating down in response because they have again chosen to be disingenuous). Their response could not have done more damage to their brand if they tried, in my mind. A mistake happened– I was not notified of their visit, and spent nearly $ 200 to correct THEIR error– and instead of just going «my bad», they lie about it? I was unhappy with the price, and they can only go «well the other guys do it too.» I was told things by their employees, and relied on the information, and the best they can do it «well that’s not true». Well… then why did your employees tell me that information.
I can only advise people to read my complaint, then read their response, and see if this is the kind of company that you want to give your hard earned money.
First and foremost, despite their claims to the contrary, I DID «reach out» to them. I wasted over an hour of my life dealing with them on the phone, explaining my points, asking for clarification and (finally) canceling their service– after I was repeatedly told on the phone this was not possible. I was done, out of their service, and happy. I was sent a letter asking me to change my review. I updated it to reflect the contents of the letter. Yet they come back, telling other customers it’s MY fault because I didn’t «reach out» to them? Bull. I wanted out of their overpriced service, and I wasted a lot of time and effort to accomplish this.
These reviews are to warn OTHERS, not solve what happened to me. I did that by canceling.
To address their other arguments:
1. Pre-​notification service calls were NOT performed prior to work. A bill was left shoved into my door while I was at work. I had no idea they were coming, and quite frankly, I have no idea if they even did the work they were supposed to do. Consider the unmitigated BS they are selling: they actually want you to believe that a guy who was mad enough to cancel because of the extra money… was called and told about my visit and the cost. If the reason I canceled is because of the additional $ 175 charge, why would I have let them come if I didn’t want to pay?
2. This is true– the contract was signed by someone else… while I listened to their salesman and his claims. Their attempt to paint my review of their service as untrue because it was better for us to have someone else sign is a shallow attempt to deflect criticism, which seems to be a recurring theme here. Why would it matter who initialed when the problem is that their salesperson didn’t make the terms clear to both people in the room?
3. IF they allow cancellations by email, it might behoove them to inform the people who answer the phone to that effect, as I was told that I was not able to cancel by phone or email. Significantly, you’ll note their response ignores the point of my complaint– that despite being told «you can’t call to cancel», I spoke to a single woman in accounting and… canceled over the phone. Whatever lame excuses they put forth, the fact that they claim to not allow cancellations by phone is itself a crappy business practice. The fact that they tell you they can’t do it… but can actually accomplish it very simply is worse. That they wish to add to the fact that their employees give out false information over the phone is a strange choice.
4. I honestly don’t know if it’s «industry standard» to charge people more for larger square footage houses, even if it doesn’t involve more work. It’s also unimportant to me. If my house has the same footprint as yours, but has one more story, it doesn’t take them any more time to spray around the house. Nobody was home when they made their visit, unannounced, so the only work they could have done is to the exterior. Yet they charged me more because I have an attic converted to living space? Whether it’s industry standard, or just something crappy they do themselves is irrelevant to me– they don’t charge by the actual amount of work done, but by how much money they think you have, based on the size of your house.

We have had a problem with bats in our attic for over 20 years. I was always told that we could never get rid of them, basically because the house is so old (an English Tudor built in in 1907 and 3 stories) After a particularly frustrating summer with bats getting into the living areas of the house, we researched and found some great testimonials to Ford’s Hometown Services.
In September 2014 I called Bob Brooks, hoping they would come out to Western Massachusetts. Bob was extremely professional and courteous. He listened carefully to our problem and thoughtfully responded in great detail about when they would be able to do for us. He informed me that they do work in the Berkshires and have a of clients here. Leo came out and did a thorough inspection and found hundreds of bats in the attic. He thought we had 3^rd and 4^th generation bats living here! The estimate was where I thought I should be regarding price, considering the vast amount of work to be done.
We arranged for the work to be completed in the spring of 2015 (May). Fords arrange for a man-​lift to be delivered to our house and Leo came out to perform the work required. (with another guy they are training — and I unfortunately forgotten his name :(). They worked for 3 days, sealing up all of the nooks and cranny’s where bats could and did enter the house. In 4 spots they found evidence of activity and put in one way bat tubes and did an inspection in the attic. They returned 2 weeks later to take out the bat doors and sealed up those 4 areas. Again, an inspection of the attic resulted in ZERO bats. We have not had any reoccurrence of bats getting into the living areas (we used to get at least 2 to 3 a summer) this year.
They will come back in May 2016 to inspect the attic for evidence of bats. They guarantee their work and offer and extended guarantee beyond the first year — which, given our history, we will certainly purchase. We should have done this work years ago.
I am highly impressed with their fairness, honesty, degree of professionalism, and genuine desire to help their customers. I would HIGHLY recommend them.

I use Fords for both turf and pest control. The first time I called them was when I lived in my previous home in Worcester and had a significant ant problem. They provided the service and said if there was any additional problems to give them a call back and they’d be back out to handle it.
Fast forward a month and we found the source of the issue in our attic, so I called them up and the tech went up into the attic to take care of a sizable ant «home». This service was included from the first service and I was overjoyed they took care of my problem.
Fast forward to my next house when I had a rather serious grub issue, they again came out, took care of it, and I figured since they were here quoting me on the grubs that I would see how much it would be for the premium turf management program.
Much to my surprise, the total was very competitive. I figure if I was to buy all the fertilizer and then you add up all the application time, this was a real bargain.
I have now been using them for the preventive pest maintenance for my house and turf management since 2013 and I love dealing with them. I get a courtesy call before every visit. I get honest, friendly service representatives visiting telling me what is worth to do and not worth to do.
I am now the envy of the neighborhood and frequently have people tell me that my lawn looks awesome.

I had contacted Ford’s Hometown Services about a week ago re: noise I heard in the walls of my home. It sounded like scratching. They provided me good advice and advised me to purchase some mouse bait. They have been great at providing customer follow up and answer any questions I have. Joe Blake has been fantastic to work with. He actually came to the house to perform an inspection. He was very meticulous, courteous and knowledgeable. This is a top notch group.

I’m a new Ford’s customer. I’ve been battling any number in pest species. who visit my 200-​year-​old antique Cape from time to time and season to season, for the past 35 years. I’ve finally found a competent, friendly, Eco-​friendly and economical solution to my pest problems in Ford’s.
So far, I’ve had direct dealings with three of Ford’s reps. All three have been very knowledgeable about problems we’ve had with rodents, several varieties of ants, bats and biting insects. I didn’t hesitate to sign on for automatically-​recurring maintenance visits once I understood the broad scope of their maintenance plan. But they also respond just as quickly for ad hoc, reasonably-​priced pest-​control issues
Know, too, that Jeff Ford, the company owner, is always available if you have any questions or comments. I highly recommend.

We have worked with Ford’s Hometown since moving to Worcester over three years ago. They are prompt, courteous and always on time. They provide routine, regular pest control for us and last year provided a bat exclusion service. We have not seen a bat since. The only reason I didn’t rate Ford’s 5 stars was due to a small issue we recently had. While the bat exclusion was successful, the service technician damaged gutter helmets we had installed. The damage caused the lifetime warranty to be voided. When I alerted Ford’s of this issue I was expecting a battle. However, Ford’s took complete responsibility and are reimbursing us for the cost to have the gutter helmets replaced. This was not a cheap fix but Jeff Ford personally worked with me. Mistakes happen… it’s how you recover from those mistakes that demonstrates true customer service. Ford’s excelled at working to resolve the mistake to my 100% complete satisfaction. Kudos to Jeff and his team of professionals!

Bedbugs are disgusting. I do not recommend that you get them. I’m sure they could come in handy if there is ever somebody that you are extremely displeased with, such as someone who gifted you with an upper decker in your bathroom at home. You could covertly install these horrific creatures in their house and walk away laughing maniacally. That’s what I would do in that situation.
I manage a six-​family building in Northbridge. Once upon a time, there were bedbugs in one of the units. Before we tried Ford’s Hometown Services, which is awesome, we hired a different pest control company, which was not awesome. This other company was presented with a unit that had been empty of the residents and all of their belongings for an entire two hours before treatment. This was an ideal scenario, as I was given to understand it.
What happened next was 3+ months of nightmares. We hired this company to reduce the number of affected units from 1 down to 0. Apparently, they misunderstood. They were successful in changing the number of bedbug-​infested units from 1 to 3.
Perhaps this company had a special «Torture Everyone For 3 ½ Months And Make The Problem Worse» package that I had unwittingly signed up for, as our units were all full of very good residents whose children were being eaten by these appalling harbingers of bloodsucking misery. When I mentioned to the pest control company the fact that we were not all that impressed with their performance, the manager offered to charge us more money so they could inspect and treat the other units. If I could set a person on fire over the telephone, I probably would have.
Cue Joe Blake at Ford’s Hometown Services (insert appropriate superhero-​themed music here).
Joe Blake told me exactly what needed to be done, and exactly which team he would send in to do it. He put together the action plan, and, in an apparent gesture of pity, gave me a discount on the price. Then, they got the job done. Period.
They showed up when they were supposed to, they were courteous with all the residents, and there were no unpleasant surprises. Joe and his team made certain that everything went exactly as it should have gone, and it only took them about four weeks to kill every last one of those crawling vampires.
I share my tale of woe for two reasons: 1) So you, dear reader, can see what my consequences were for choosing the wrong pest control company, and 2) I like to complain.
The bedbug problem cost this building thousands and thousands of dollars in lost revenue while the bedbugs were doubtlessly pointing and laughing at me, ridiculing me behind my back. Nobody wants that. Bedbugs, as I may have mentioned, are horrible and disgusting. Joe Blake, in contrast, is not horrible and disgusting.
The moral of the story: call Joe Blake at Ford’s Hometown Services. The End.

I called Bob Brooks at Ford’s when I had bats in our house, hoping they would come out to Western Massachusetts. Fortunately, they did. Leo came out and did an inspection and gave me what I thought was a very fair estimate, and gave me a detailed explanation of the work to be done. He thought I had a squirrel issue also so they referred me to Berkshire Wildlife Solutions to deal with the squirrels, since BWS is located closer to my house and the squirrel exclusion had to be monitored frequently, and taken care of before the bats. Then, once the squirrels were out of the house, Leo came and sealed up the house and put in the one way bat tubes. Within days, all the bat noises were gone. Leo then came back and finished sealing the house and put on a chimney cap. Leo and Bob let me know all the work that had been done, and Leo explained in detail what he had to do, and other issues he found with my house that I should take care of. So far, no more animal noises in the house, I should have done this years ago. I am highly impressed with their fairness, honesty, degree of professionalism, and genuine desire to help their customers. I would highly recommend them.

Called to arrange service. Nobody called me back. I followed up to be told that they are not taking new customers.

I had a nice experience with having to deal with unwanted house/​yard guests. I spoke with Joe Blake and he was very knowledgeable and immediately sent the proper technician to my house. The first attempt to rid the pests did not result positively (which they explained might happen) and they came out a second time as they said they would without questions and without an additional cost to me. The fees were explained upfront and Joe Blake even said that if that did not correct the problem he would personally come out and take care of the problem. Wonderful customer service, reasonably priced and prompt courtesy service.

We are on the pest control plan and very happy with it. We moved to Boylston 7 years ago and the house clearly had a mouse issue. I haven’t seen any evidence of mice since we started the service. They also spray for bugs (I really hate those big ants!). Being surrounded by so much woods you have to expect the occasional bug but when they start to show up we call Ford’s and if we are not already on the list for that week they send someone out to spray.

I recently moved to Seattle, and contacted Ford’s back in Worcester for a potential mice problem in the house I was selling in Shrewsbury. The customer service was very good up front. They came on time for their initial visit, and came for their follow-​up visit 4 weeks later.
Since I was across the country, I was not able to visually inspect the work they were doing. I assumed the follow-​up visit would be to collect and dispose of mice. When my tenant recently complained of a smell in her apt., I contacted Ford’s as to what could be done. I then learned from Bob that all Ford’s does is put out poison (on both visits) that the mice eat, and then go elsewhere to die. I was told that the smell will go away. This is not reassuring information to tell my tenant from across the country. I have friends that have had to cut into walls to remove dead mice, since the smell was so bad.
This very well may be standard practice in the industry, and it may be partially my fault for not asking enough questions up front. But as of now, I am very disappointed that I did not know their procedures up front, as I could have had a friend just put out traps or poison and saved the $ 365 that I was charged by Ford’s just to drop off bait.
Summary: Good customer service up front, but be sure to ask specific questions about the services you are receiving.

I’ve been on a service plan for pest control for about a year now. I don’t like to judge a company on one interaction because anyone can have a good or bad day. I figured a year of service has given me a good enough sample size to write a review.
I have been very pleased with Ford’s Hometown in the year I have used their service from the top down. They are honest people and they never try to sell you services that you do not need. They stand behind their work and I really have nothing negative to say about them. It says a lot about a company when a company has been around for as long as they have been.

Its funny, I start my rating by giving them 5 stars and google says «Whoohoo! As good as it gets!» That’s how i felt with Fords Hometown after all the estimates and conversations with the two guys in a truck meetings…
I had 11 trees removed from my back yard and could not get anything but weeds and patchy grass to grow. For over a year i tried with poor results…
Fords did a soil analysis and found that i had a mix of dry and acidic soil that they neutralized and eliminated all the grubs (my patchy spots lol)
Its been two years now and I have an amazing lawn that is just beautiful. The service men are professional and courteous each time they visit they even pick up the kids toys before they treat WHO DOES THAT!!!

What a great company — particularly on rtheir esponse time. I had a small problem with big ants at my new home and called Ford’s Hometown Service and immediately spoke with a technician and had a date/​time scheduled for an extermination. They are great!!!