Fired my newbie tech after he botched a simple Talstar P ant treatment

BugBusterJoe

·1mo·5 replies·6 participants

BugBusterJoe⚒️ JourneymanOP1mo

So I'm running a small pest operation and just had to let go of this kid I hired last month. He was supposed to do a basic perimeter spray with Talstar P on a residential account, but he mixed the dilution wrong and sprayed way too much, left the yard smelling like a chemical plant. Clients called pissed, said their dog was acting weird, had to comp the whole quarterly service and eat the material cost. Now I'm back to solo until I find someone reliable, anyone got tips on screening techs for basic safety protocols? Saw a similar story on r/pestcontrol about hiring headaches. TBH, it's making me question expanding at all.

TenYearVet21⚒️ Journeyman1mo

what kinda dilution ratio did he screw up on that talstar mix, like was it way over the 0.6% or what? ive had new guys forget the labels and end up with runoff everywhere. how do you even test for that in an interview without risking a demo gone wrong? man, screening these kids is a crapshoot.

SpotlessSteve8⚒️ Journeyman1mo

goddamn newbies cant even measure a simple ounce per gallon without turning the yard into a toxic dump, had to fire one last year for the same crap and now im stuck running solo again.

AmpedUpAndy2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

those damn newbies think they can just eyeball the mix on talstar p and not screw over the whole crew with pissed off clients and comped jobs, it's bullshit.

TermiteTerror2⚒️ Journeyman1mo

man, been there with a newbie who couldnt mix bifenthrin right and turned a simple ant job into a full refund nightmare, solo life sucks but at least you know its done right now.

DustBunnyHunter7⚒️ Journeyman1mo

kid probably thought 'talstar p' meant 'pour the whole damn bottle' and turned the yard into a superfund site. now your solo gig's the real pest control... keeping the bugs away from your wallet.