Bed Bug Testimonial - Clark Pest Control

Tweet

 

"When I first realized that I had bedbugs in the adjoining bedrooms, I 
told the roommates that I would do all that was possible to reverse the 
situation.

I did a lot of research on lots of companies and the reports people left 
on the internet. I came to two conclusions, heat treatment was great and 
follow-up, residual, spraying for three times over three weeks was the 
Lincoln of treatments and I'm a Ford man.

The only other posting I took note of was "Hit them hard, hit them fast 
and show no mercy!!!"

After about 6 hours of reading from many perspectives and opinions, I 
settled on Clark's. Although I felt them to be expensive, a news show 
with George Stephanopoulos dated August 2010, said that a good heat 
treatment could run between $2000 - $6000. So I didn't feel they were 
out of range when Eryck Madrigal quoted the price of $3400, a little 
shocked, but everything is more now than it was 10 years ago.

I was impressed with the process of heating my apartment up to a high 
temperature and keeping it there for 6 hours when, as I confirmed, the 
science is that the bedbug can't stand over 112 degrees for more than a 
few minutes. It made sense.

The appointment was set for a few days later. I prepared the apartment 
according to the guidelines. Mechanically I was doing stuff, inside I 
was understanding emotionally to a lesser degree what my sister must 
have felt when she lost her entire home in Katrina.

The morning after the heat treatment, by the way, that crew and their 
supervisor, Tom, David, Tony, did a superb job.

However it was the next day when the technician, Heric Tavera came on 
time to do the residual spraying, that I really got the feeling of 
security back a bit. He answered my questions and explained the process 
and what could be hoped for. I felt that we had reversed a bad 
situation.

He returned for two more times and each time was courteous and 
professional. From his conversations with me, he proved to be well 
informed of latest techniques and the entire science of "bedbugology".

On a fourth visit, I had a concern and he was in the area and came by to 
show me what was going on. One bug had been found and it was very still. 
He was able to show how that showed the spraying was working and did a 
thorough inspection of the bedrooms for me.

That clinched it for me. Customer service, along with the latest 
techniques, have made a bad situation into one of a pleasant memory of 
being treated with understanding for the state of mind the customer 
floats through while this "plague" persists.

Thanks to all the team. May I never need to see any of you again 
professionally and best of success to with you."

Harry 
San Francisco, CA.

Clark Pest Leaves a Lasting Impression with 2,000 6th Graders!

Tweet

 

Thursday April 5th, 2012

The Clark Pest Control Bug Zoo left a lasting impression at a local event called Planet Party. Planet Party is an “environmental celebration” for all sixth graders in the Manteca Unified School District which focuses on environmental stewardship. Throughout the day we would recieve classes of 30-35 students, starting with a presentation about insects and arachnids then moving on to a handling activity where the students could handle a Madasgascar Hissing cockroach and a Whip Scorpion. After handling the students would move up to the Bug Challenge "Eat a Bug, Get a Backpack".

"The level of excitement among the students was also heightened once they entered the Bug Zoo that was the main feature inside the Clark Pest Control booth. Among the main attractions were exotic bugs such as the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach which some of the braver students handled. The students also had the opportunity to taste test three types of flavored larvae. For their bravery and adventurous nature, they were rewarded with a tote bag courtesy of the pest-control company."

-Manteca Bulletin
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/section/42/article/39205/

Why hire a pest pro?

Tweet

 

Jackson Griffith | Clark Pest Control

Do you do your own pest control? That big-box hardware store carries a lot of cool items, but those household products designed to nuke bugs back to the Stone Age aren’t among them.

Why? There’s a lot of science that goes into getting pest control right. Today, it really does take a licensed and well-trained pest professional to know precisely what pest he’s dealing with, what product to use to control it, and how much to use.

In the old days, you’d call an exterminator and a guy would show up to hose down your house and yard with his spray tank. Pest control has changed a lot since then. Today, we know that randomly spraying pesticides everywhere isn’t such a cool deal. With all the scientific advances and better information we’ve learned, along with more stringent California pest control laws to protect public health and the environment, we now understand that this is a job better left to pest professionals.

We’re not just saying that as a California pest control company that dreams of becoming your family’s pest management provider; we say it because we care about this issue deeply. At Clark Pest Control, we practice what’s called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM. Our well-trained and state-licensed pest professionals will inspect your home and property first, then tell you what specific pests we find and what conditions should be corrected – like areas hospitable to pests that need cleaning up, or entry points where pests might be getting in that will need to be blocked. Once we do start treating for pests, we’ll only use minimum amounts of pest control products we need to do the job effectively.

One big mistake that many do-it-yourself people make is that they use way too much pest control material to do the job, and what’s left over goes into a garage cabinet, or under a sink.  We bring what we use with us, and when we leave, we take it away – so you’ll never have to worry about any toxins accidentally leaking, spilling, or ending up as in ingredient at your kids’ lemonade stand.

Peace of mind with no worry about pests is what we offer. Ask us about our Pest-Away^® service plan, which will keep your life pest-free without having to take matters into your own hands. At Clark Pest Control, we’re so confident that we can meet every one of your family’s pest management needs that we guarantee everything we do. We’re here for you. 

2012 Clark Commercial Pest Control Conference - Part 2

Tweet

 

Jeff McGovern spoke after the morning break, beginning by asking how many technicians in the audience were carrying flashlights. Only a few. "How many flashlights do you carry in your truck?" he asked. Three, most answered. His presentation was titled "Tools of the Trade." Flashlights are essential, and not having a working one can make you lose an account.

McGovern started with Google Earth, zooming in on Florida where he lives, to illustrate how geography determines pest issues. He zoomed in further to find Palatka, where the meat-packing plant he would be discussing is sited. "You want to know a secret?" he asked. "Don't be their bug guy, or rat guy. Be a member off their team, helping to protect their assets." He zoomed in even further to look at the meat-packing plant and its surrounding area -- a bus yard, a wooded area, a railroad track, a retention pond. "What are the first four factors in pest control?" he asked, answering: "Access, food, water and harborage" -- mentioning a nearby homeless camp that keeps removing rodent bait stations. "You're a detective. Think.

What happens if a rat goes through that facility? That USDA guy's going to shut them down." McGovern, a 37-year veteran of pest management, insisted that salespeople price jobs accordingly, by the services rendered and not by the number of bait stations installed. He went around the plant using elevations to show overhanging trees and power cables, all rodent access points. "You have to look underneath, around, behind and top of," he said. "You're looking for access, food, water and harborage." Documentation is important, too.

"How many of you carry digital cameras?" he asked, telling the audience to take pictures and register those pictures' existence in the onsite logbook. McGovern mentioned a light-leak audit, at night to see what light leaks out, and by day to see what light leaks in. He also advised to make friends with the HVAC service guy and the sprinkler guy, because they can provide valuable information about rodents. "They can tell you where your problems are," he said. McGovern concluded by saying that the backbone of the pest control industry is the people out running routes in their trucks.

Rather than start by talking bed bug biology, entomologist Gail Getty began by discussing working dogs trained to sniff out bed bugs. Dogs have good days and bad days, and it's important to have a good trainer. Yadda yadda. Then she went into visual inspections, before mentioning that bed bug behaviors are cryptic, they are thigmotactic, or touchy-feely with each other, and photophobic, or afraid of light. Then she showed a pie chart on where bed bugs are most commonly found, and went into some animated recollections of personal experiences in hotel rooms. "They were just raining down on me," she described to much laughter.

Next up, traumatic insemination and how it makes female bed bugs run like crazy, thus dispersing the insects. Then she showed a series of slides from cases where she's served as an expert witness, and then she showed a series of slides from attorney Jeff Lipman's presentation on a Des Moines two-tower apartment complex and how bed bugs spread through the buildings. Then, the practical: bed bug monitors, mattress encasements, vacuums, traditional pest control materials, steam. "We know that it's always a function of time and temperature," Getty said about killing insects. She also went into heat remediation, a method of control that Clark Pest has embraced. Freezing, she also mentioned. "Not a fan," she said. "I love fumigation," she added. "I only care one thing about bed bugs," she said. "Don't bring them home." Getty's advice to customers: "Hire a professional."

2012 Clark Commercial Pest Control Conference - Part 1

Tweet

 

February 17, 2012

This year's Clark Pest Control Commercial Conference opened with Judy Dold, Chairman of Rose Pest Solutions outside of Chicago. Ms. Dold also is a past president of the National Pest Management Association. She opened by stating that 83 percent of household decisions are made by women, and women make decisions in many other arenas of life. "Every woman you meet looks at three things," she stated, "your eyes, your hands and your feet." Basic stuff, but she went on to discuss the importance of communicating and by building and establishing relationships.

Next, pay attention to details, like showing up on time. "Women are masters of multitasking," she said. Taking note of what your customer needs and attending to them will keep them satisfied in a poor economy where Also, appearance is important. "Deodorant is cheap!" she insisted, after putting on an old kitchen apron and a backward baseball cap. She illustrated her point by tossing deodorant, toothbrushes, mouthwash and other items into the audience from the stage. "Your appearance is critical to the success of the relationship you've established," she said, adding that your vehicle needs to be clean, too. Respect is important, too. Don't talk down to a woman. "Don't judge a book by its cover," she said. "You don't know with whom you are doing. Trust is the bottom line, and integrity determines your identity.

And your integrity is so important to a woman when you're establishing trust. Results are paramount." She went on to explain that a woman won't tell you she's unhappy with your service. She'll just go elsewhere. "A lot of the time," she explains, "you won't know you've lost an account until you see another company is doing the job."

Drains, Jeff Tucker, an entomologist, was the morning's second speaker at the Clark Commercial Pest Control Conference, spoke on small flies. "Some people call them gnats," he explained.

He launched into his presentation on phorid flies, small fruit flies, moth flies and fungus gnats. "The phorid fly is the most insidious of this group," he said. They scuttle around, there thousands of species, the live in mausoleums where they munch on dead people. They also attack fire ants, lay eggs on them and the larvae eat the ants until the ants' heads fall off.They also control ticks. They live in feces. They have small heads, humped thoraces and longitudinal veins in their wings and no cross veins. They also have flattened femurs on their hind legs. Their life cycle can take 15 to 30 days, but may live longer in cooler temperatures.

They love insect light traps, and they don't bite. Their larvae is creamy and have crimped seams like a turnover. The adults move in jerky fashion. Tucker threw a lot of information out there very rapidly. He showed slides from a hospital job, showing how he did detective work in a hospital to find a phorid fly infestation, which began in a drainage line from the kitchen, which channeled over a sterile area; a leak from a construction defect allowed them a place to breed. "Sometimes you'll end up solving a construction problem," he told the pest  technicians.

Tucker's visual presentation was gnarly in the way anyone who revels in the aesthetics of ugly bug funk could appreciate -- huge masses of pupae, rotting food crawling with insects, et cetera. "This is a mausoleum," he said, pointing at some crypts on the screen. "Sometimes you have to be a detective. How does the larvae live? What does it need? You have to solve that problem." Tucker's stories were hugely entertaining. Next up were fruit flies, or Drosophilidae: small gray bodies, red eyes, with wings that have cross veins. He talked about the difference between Drosophila repleta versus the more common D. melanogaster. They love rotting vegetables and fruit. "Ground zero for Drosophila melanogaster is bananas," he said, before listing a lot of these flies' favorite places -- rotting plants, rotten cacti, salad bars. They live eight to 10 days, sometimes longer. D. repleta, on the other hand, likes feces, and is found in nursing homes, and is the number-one pest in poultry facilities. It also likes sewage and rotting fruit. Shore flies like algae, and are found aims overwatered plants.

Moth flies, or sand flies, (Psychodidae) are covered with hairs and don't like to fly. they can cause Leishmaniasis, a festering skin infection. Larvae are found in drains, sewers, plumbing lines and poor drainage systems. They like slime, and in the water itself. "I'd be willing to say that every office drain in America has moth fly larvae," he said. Last was fungus gnats -- Fungivoridae, et al. They look like mosquitoes but don't bite. Indoors, they are house plant pests. Their season runs from Halloween through New Years Day, typically on poinsettias. They are a big problem in office plants. He concluded by saying that in every detective story, there is an answer: larvae. Find the adults to identify the pest, then find the larvae, and then talk to the customer.

Bed Bug Conference News Coverage - San Diego Bed Bugs

Tweet

 

If there’s one pest that has Halloween-style scare value these days, it’s the bed bug, or Cimex lectularius. An infestation of these blood-sucking, appleseed-sized insects can trigger a real case of the frights, especially if you’re a hotel operator, hospital administrator or property manager. Which is why, over the first three days in February, Clark Pest Control offered three free educational seminars to professionals whose livelihoods might be affected by this difficult-to-control pest – in northern California at Rohnert Park and San Mateo, and in the southland at San Diego.

The “2012 Bed Bug Tour” featured three speakers: Entomologist Gail Getty of UC Berkeley on bed bug biology and why this insect has become such a problem, National Pest Management Association Technical Director Jim F. on new advances in detecting and controlling bed bugs, and attorney Jeff Lipman on the legal precedents and liabilities of bed bug infestations as they affect property managers, hospitality-industry operators and other professionals. All three speakers were present for a question-and-answer session that followed, which also featured Clark Pest Control Technical Director Darren Van Steenwyk.

The San Diego session on February 3 at the Hilton Mission Bay was picked up by the local news media there, with Jim Patton reporting for CW 6 News (XETV) and Loren Nancarrow featuring a segment on “Your Health” for Fox 5 (KSWB). As Van Steenwyk pointed out on Patton’s segment, the first order of business is getting an inspection to make sure you have bed bugs; once that fact is established, treatment options include heat remediation and conventional treatments. Patton mentioned dogs that are specially trained to find bed bugs, as a tail-wagging pooch pawed a specimen during a demonstration. “Looks like he’s just having fun there,” the newsman quipped. Nancarrow also showed a happy dog on the Fox 5 newscast (Clark itself doesn’t employ bed-bug dogs, which work for independent contractors, but because dogs are always a winner with viewers, they seem to get lots of camera time), and Van Steenwyk named a few other places where bed bugs are turning up – in coffeehouses, and on trains and airplanes.

Termite FAQs

Tweet

 

Termite FAQs | Clark Blog | Jackson Griffith

There are two kinds of houses, an old saying goes: Those with termites, and those that someday will get termites. This pest strikes fear into homeowners for good reason: each year, termites cause billions of dollars worth of damage, and most of that damage is hidden from sight – often until it’s quite extensive, and it requires structural repairs.

• What are termites? Termites are wood-destroying insects of the order Isoptera. They have been around for at least 100 million years, and it’s believed they evolved from wood-eating cockroaches. Termites are eusocial insects, which means that – like ants and bees – they live in colonies organized into castes, with a queen (and king), soldiers and either workers (subterranean termites) or nymphs (immature dampwood and drywood termites).

• What purpose do termites serve in nature? Termites break wood and other cellulose-containing plant material down into components small enough to be reabsorbed by the soil. Ground-dwelling termites also help aerate soil by tunneling through it. Without termites, we might be up to our necks in dead grass and trees.

• That sounds pretty good. Why, then, are termites a problem? The trouble starts when termites can’t tell the difference between a dead tree and the lumber from a dead tree used to build your house. Both contain cellulose – or as termites might put it, dinner.

• How do termites eat? Termites will chow down on anything containing cellulose – wood, plant material, such products made from plant materials as paper, cardboard, cotton fabrics and more. Workers (or nymphs) chew off pieces with their mandibles and ingest them, which are then broken down by bacteria and protozoa in their digestive tracts and transferred to other termites by trophyllaxis:  mouth-to-mouth (or anus-to-mouth) sharing. Some termite castes, such as queens, kings and soldiers, can’t feed themselves; they depend upon liquid meals from workers or nymphs.

• Are there different kinds of termites? Yes, many. In California and western Nevada, where Clark offers its services, there are three basic termite species: dampwood termites, drywood Termites and subterranean termites.

• Can you tell me more about dampwood termites? Dampwood termites (Zootermopsis angusticollis; Z. nevadensis) generally only live where the weather is damp, e.g., along the coast and in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, and need downed wood with high moisture content to survive. If you live in a forested area, they can infest if you have a long-term leak in your home.

• What about drywood termites? Drywood termites (Incisitermes minor), more common in coastal areas, infest homes when winged reproductive termites (alates, or “swarmers”) enter attics and upper parts of homes, where they mate and start colonies.

• And subterranean termites? Subterranean termites (Reticulitermes hesperus), common in California’s central valley, live in colonies deep underground and tunnel to the surface to feed. Subterranean termites are the most destructive kind commonly found in the Western U.S.

• Really? The most destructive kind? No, that notoriety belongs to Formosan subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus), which have taken hold in other areas in the U.S., like the Southeast, but fortunately have been contained before they have been able to establish colonies on the west coast.

• Are termites visible?Yes, they often are quite visible during their mating phase, typically in early spring, after a good rain. It’s common to see thousands of alates, or winged reproductives, swarming en masse and looking for mates. Some species swarm in the fall, but the timing is always related to optimal local climate conditions that trigger swarming from multiple colonies in the area, maximizing the opportunity for successful mating.

• Termites? I thought those flying things were ants? Like termites, there are flying reproductive ants. The three ways to tell them apart are, 1) termites don’t have narrow waists that separate their thoraces from their abdomens, where ants do; 2) termite antennae are straight and beaded, where ant antennae are elbowed; and 3) the two sets of wings on alate termites are the same length, where the upper pair are longer than the lower pair on ants.

• Are there other signs of termite activity? Yes, but it usually takes a well-trained eye to find those signs. Subterranean termites, for example, will build tubes from the ground where they nest to the sources of wood where they are feeding. Drywood termites often will eject tiny fecal pellets from holes in wood where they are active.

• How can I tell if my house has termites? The easiest way is to schedule an inspection with a licensed termite inspector. The inspector will examine your home’s exterior and interior, along with your attic or any voids under your roof, and then any crawl spaces below your house. The inspector will look for leaks and damp areas, as well as dry rot and other wood-destroying fungus activity – all of which provide conditions conducive for termite activity.

• What steps can I take to make my home less prone to termite invasion? Termites need moisture to survive. You can divert water away from accumulating around your home’s foundation by installing downspouts, gutters and splash blocks so they drain away from the structure. Add proper ventilation to crawl spaces and attics to reduce humidity. Make sure shrubs and vegetation don’t grow to cover vents. Remove old tree stumps and random wood left under your house when it was built. And get rid of any direct contact between wood and soil. An 18-inch gap between wood and soil is ideal.

• Can I buy any kind of termite alarm system? Clark Pest Control offers a program called Term-Alert^®, which involves placing monitors in and around your home and property, which are routinely inspected by a service technician for termite activity.

Termites may be a reality, but they don’t have to be a source of free-floating anxiety for you. The termite experts at Clark Pest Control are here to answer your questions and bring you peace of mind. So call today!

Bed Bug Tour 2012 - San Diego Update

Tweet

 

Today we hit our last stop on the Bed bug conference 2012 tour. Our very own Darren Van Steenwyk‎ was interviewed by San Diego's FOX 5 and received a visit from Bed bug detection dogs! Stay tuned for more updates throughout the day!

News CW 6 Also stopped 

Clark Pest Control's Arnold Molina touring the news crew around a Bed bug heat trailer

2012 Bed Bug Tour : San Mateo Live coverage

Tweet

 

Todays line-up:

8:30 - 9:30 Gail Getty (UC Extension) - Bed Bug Biology that effects your business bottom line

9:30 - 10:30 Jim F. (NPMA) - Detecting and controlling bed bugs in the 21st century

10:45 - Jeff Lipman - Beb bug liability, the legal precedence being set

On deck... Gail Getty.

Bed bug History:

DDT

• One application did the job
• No prep needed
• Inexpensive
• Resistance hit in 1947

Today

• People are NOT vigilant
• More clutter in the homes
• Key to control: through treatment

Behavior

• 90% of lifetime is hidden
• Feed 3-4 days
• Often go days to a week or more without a blood meal
• Tend to live in aggregations

How big are they? - the size of an apple seed

Let me say it right away

• Can't fly
• Don't jump
• Coloring differs from opaque to dark brown

Life cycles

• Adults
• Eggs
• Babies

Mating and dispersion

• Tramatic insemination and female dispersal
• male pierces females abdominal
• Females matted repeatedly reducing longgevity of females by 25-30%
• Female disperses
• Result eggs deposited in unpredictale fasions

Adult life cycle

• Thin with no blood meal
• Female can lay eggs from 6-18 months
• Eggs to egg 2 months

Eggs

• Lays 2-5 eggs a day
• 200-500 in her life time
• Eggs 'glued' to surfaces
• Tggs hatch in 6-10 days on average
• Temperture makes a diffrence

 Babies/Nymths

• Molt 5 times
• Must feed to molt

EARLY DETECTION IS KEY

Feeding

• Poorly understood
• Carbon dioxide
• Heat
• Maybe movement in room
• inject anticoagulant and numbs area
• Some people are allergic to injection
• Draws out blood

Adults

• 1 year no blood meal

Nymths

• 3 months without a blood meal
• leave dark fecal spots behind
•  One bug inflicts multiple bites
• will travel 20+ feet

Bites

• Different reactions to bites
• Proteins in bugs saliva can cause a progressive sensitivity to repeated bites
• None - delayed up to 3 weeks
• Misdiagnosis
• Most common misdiagnosis - carpet beetle

Biting marks

• Arms, legs, neck, back, shoulders and face

Disease

• 40 human pathogens
• Neven proven to biologically transmit any human pathogen
• Secondary infection
• Not considered to be medically important

Customer Anxiety

• It's real
• Handle with care and empathy

Where

A study in infested aparments showed

• 935 FOUND IN ASSOCIATED WITH BED
• 23% furniture
• 7% less predictable places

Thank you Gail!

Next Up Jim F. of the NPMA

 Understanding Bed bug treatment and inspection methods

Survey

• more than 400 PMPs surveyed
• 99% treated bed bugs
• 84 % indicated bed bugs were increasing in their region

NPMA task force

Industry -Regulators - Academics

• Consumer protection
• Identify active infestation
• Communicate fees
• Communicate details of service
• Communicate realistic expectations
• Provide bed specific information with agreements
• Canine teams require 3rd party certification
• Non-chemical
• Steam
• Vacuum
• Heat
• Freeze
• Traditional options

Community wide approach

• Discourage disposal of mattress and furniture
• Recommdations for inspection and treatment of surrounding areas and ajacent rooms
• recomendations for training and educating hotel and facility staff about bed bug identification

 Visual Inspections

Pros

• Humans can integrate facts to enhance search parameters
• Visual confirmation

Cons

• Labor intensive
• low level

Monitoring Devices

Pros

• Can be used to monitor when visual inspections are conclusive
• Proactive approach
• Can be used to measure post treatment success 

Cons

• The most effective bait is a human
• detect bed bugs over days or weeks 
• Low level infestations can be missed
• Cost 

Mattress and Box Spring Encasements

Pros

• Makes inspection easier
• Seals bugs and eggs inside mattress and box spring
• Easy to install 

Cons

•  Not all encasements are created equal
• Ripped covers don't work
• Covers can't be removed for Laundering

Traditional Product Application

Pros

•  Mulitiple formulations available for diffrent treatment sites
• Many effective products available

Cons

• Labor intensive
• Resistant populations have been reported
• Sensitivity may be a concern

Steam Treatments

Pros

• No residue
• Destroys all life stages, including eggs
• Penetrates fabrics and cracks 

Cons

• Labor intensive
• No residual
• Some surfaces are heat sensitive
• Temp must rapidly exceed 122 F

Thanks Jim!

Next, Jeff Lipman (Attorney/Judge) - Real legal cases

Bed bug litigation

Document you Advise - PCO are at risk of being named in a lawsuit. Improtant to document your action plan.

Follow the Action Plan

• Hotel/Motel and apartment managers will be named  in most lawsuits extremely important to follow the action plan and document compliance:
• Written actiona plan approved by the PCO
• Written engagement contract specifing bed bugs

Have PCC provide requirements for treatment readiness

Landlord and Hotel's duty to tenants and guests

1-provide a habiital premises

2-protect from clear and present danger

Landlord or Hotel Act

1-warn guests of dangers

2-evict tenants who interfere with bed bug eradiction

3-assist tenants who are mobility impaired with preparation for treatment

 Ongoing Duty to Investigate

1-Bed bug monitoring

2-Periodic inspections as recommended by your PCO (Pest controlPest Control operator)

Implied warranty of Habitability

An implied warranty of habitability

When a Liability arises

The law commands that you inspect bed bugs

Landlords Obligation

To do what is reasonable under the circumstances

Unfair Deceptive Acts and Practices

• Rental units may not contain illegal hazards that endanger the occupants well-being or make the unit unfit for habitation. UDAP violation

Jeff is now walking us through the Spaulding v. Young Case (1992)

Mathias v. Accor, 347 F .3d 672 (2003) This is a great case to research, this is regarding bed bugs at a motel.

Reliance not required (most of the time)

Generally courts are more receptive to consumer fraud class actions than common law fraud class actions.

 Fee structure

• In writing
• Req. PCO to provide written estimate
• PCO should specify work to be performed (Bed bug)

Insurance for Building (covers bed bugs risk and exposure)

Getting Sued - Call your Insurance company

• Do not speak to the client
• Do not speak to the clients attorney
• Do not speak to the press
• Speak to your Insurance company, they will do the talking for you

Burdons of proof

• Reasonable doubt
• Clear and convincing evidence
• Preponderance of the evidence

What Jury hears in bed bug cases

• Blood sucking pests
• Fecal smears
• Nymphs
• Carry diseases

What the jury see's

• Photos of sheets
• Bites (Photos)
• Suffering (Photos)
• How bb travel
• PCO records

Bed Bug Conference Tour 2012 is just around the corner

Tweet

 

Clark Pest Contol is proud to announce its 2012 Bed Bug conference tour! 

 

This event will provide guests answers to many common myths about bed bugs and experts will also educate guests on the newest ways to detect and control bed bugs, as well as how a bed bug infestation can affect a business’ bottom line. 

The 2012 speaker line up will include, Jim Fredricks from the National Pest Management Association, Gail Getty from the UC Extension, and Jeff Lipman of the Lipman Law Firm that deals with bed bug litigation and other industry experts. 

2/1/2012 -Rhonert Park
8am - 2pm
Doubletree Rohnert Park
One Doubletree Dr., Rohnert Park
Breakfast and lunch will be provided 

2/2/2012 - San Mateo
8am - 2pm
Marriott San Mateo
1770 South Amphlett Blvd., San Mateo 
Breakfast and lunch will be provided 

2/3/2012 - San Diego
8am - 2pm
Hilton Mission Bay
1775 East Mission Bay Dr., San Diego
Breakfast and lunch will be provided
 

Managers Can Register Now for FREE Bed Bug Educational Training Hosted by Clark Pest Control  
 

Anyone interested in registering for either Rohnert Park, San Mateo or San Diego “Bed Bugs: Know The Truth” event may call 877-918-9988 or email salesteam@clarkpest.com.