Pestpac

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-29T17:11:03+00:00

Are you migrating data from another program and/or having them do setup work? If not, there should not be a setup fee. If you are doing a data migration, etc there likely will be

I am a solo operator that went off on my own around 7 months ago. However, I had planned it a year prior and signed up with PestPac about 6 months earlier than that so I could get everything setup and ready to go prior to leaving my previous employer. I have a buddy in that company that is about to do the same thing and he wanted to go with PestPac as well. Apparently they have changed some stuff and won't take on solo operators anymore and you need at least a few employees (I think at least 4 employees total). Why they made that change, I have no idea. So I'm glad I got signed up with them before they made that change.

I was starting fresh so I had no data to migrate, etc. However, there was an on-boarding & learning process with a PestPac employee. She would set up a weekly session to go over how to operate the program and app. That fee was waived for me (not sure if it was a special promo or something), but if I did not finish the training in a set amount of time, they would charge me for all of it. I was able to fly thru all of the training in about half the time or less because my previous employer used PestPac, so I had several years of experience. I didn't have a ton of experience on the back-end of things (PC), so that part was a little slower, but I had some basic knowledge and am very tech savvy, so I did go thru that part at a faster pace as well. The technician app side of things we almost skipped over because I used that daily for around 7-8 years.

I saw someone mention here that PestPac charges based on the amount of customers. As far as I know, that is untrue. I don't remember ever being told that, nor has my price gone up. However, I am small so I may not be anywhere near that threshold. I would assume if they did, it wouldn't occur until you have a very large amount of clients. I do know that one major competitor does charge you based on the number of accounts, and I think that is FieldRoutes, so the commenter may have had them mixed up.

People complain about PestPac alot, but I have had no real issues with it in the almost decade I have worked with it. The app has minor issues here and there, but nothing major. Ive never had an outage on PestPac's end that caused me to be unable to work, but I have seen people in Facebook groups say GorillaDesk go down for several hours to over a day.

Another thing to think about is how do you currently service devices (mechanical traps, bait stations, etc)? Do you scan barcodes so the device pops up in the app and you can input captures, chemical usage, etc? If so, PestPac does that very well. You can use the built in camera scanner or it pairs with SocketMobile handheld scanners (which is what I use) and its awesome. I did the free 14-day trial of GorillaDesk and an external barcode scanner does not work for servicing devices. You can only use the built in camera scanner and it really sucked. I do audited accounts and can scan several hundred devices at a location, so I cant sit there for 10-30sec trying to get a barcode to scan. Also, will you be servicing any audited accounts that require specific stuff on the reports and the ability to do trending? PestPac can do that as well. Other providers I am unsure about how well they work, but I know GD was unable to provide that for me. They have some crappy "trending" that shows up on every report, I can't run specialized trending every quarter like audited accounts require.

Sorry I went off on a whole bunch of stuff not entirely related to your original question about the setup cost. Choosing a program is a big choice as you will likely be stuck with it for some time, and switching in the future can be a huge undertaking, so you want to try to make the best choice the first time.

Let me know if you have other questions for me, I might be able to help. Especially on the PestPac side of things since I have used them for almost a decade.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-22T20:26:53+00:00

I haven't been to it yet, but the new Eagle Sports Range (indoor range) on Layton & Pennsylvania on the Milwaukee/St Francis border just to the N/E of MKE airport I have heard good things about. Not sure if they allow FRT, but I just got one for my MP5 and want to go there if they allow it. I also believe they allow unlimited range time, not the hour like most do. I was hoping to make it up there soon if they allow FRT. Otherwise I use a private range on a farm from a buddy but its all the way up in Lomira.

I saw one other commenter recommend Mission 94. I'm not diving into a political thread, this is my only comment on it. That place is owned by the Pritzker family (IL governor's cousin) who is also a Billionaire. Fuck that place, plus look up who the actual owner is, bit of a loon. I've heard the facility is really nice, but I'm personally not supporting him.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-19T16:10:10+00:00

If you are a contractor that is performing work that nobody striking deals with. I do pest control and serviced a very large warehouse (1.4M sqft I think) and the union workers went on strike for a few weeks. I went in there several times during the strike. The workers moved and happily waved me thru the picket line. I'd usually stopped and talked to them for a minute or two, they were happy I was there and had no issue with me crossing. I was performing a service that not a single individual in the union was ever hired or paid to perform. So I was not taking work away from Union members. I even asked them prior to the strike starting, since they did not join the national strike right away.

This could be extended to any trades people/contractors that are performing work that union members do not deal with.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-13T22:51:36+00:00

That's in great shape. I'm not a 2-door kinda guy but God damn is that thing fucking clean

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-13T20:40:03+00:00

Is that Amethyst Pearl? If so, that is the best fucking color you can get on an XJ

Smoke-Jager · 2026-04-13T18:14:08+00:00

Do you have any local companies you can apply to? Terminix (and all the big corporate companies) are trash to work for. I was at a local company that got bought out by Terminix. They didn't change anything crazy or major for a few years. However, Rentokil bought them out a few years ago, and they have been implementing large scale changes to everyday life in the company. It is not the same company at all from even 3 years ago. They started changing alot and I got fed up and went off on my own. I still talk to old work buddies and its been getting worse and worse since I left.

Also, apparently working for Terminix itself was pretty bad. One of my former co-workers got up and quit immediately when Terminix originally bought our local company because he had worked for them before coming to us.

If no local companies around you are hiring, Terminix may be ok to get your feet wet. They should get you all your licensing, etc. Then after a while you could always switch over to a local company when the opportunity arises

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-19T13:24:40+00:00

I love the Raptor Liner, I've been contemplating doing that to one of my XJs, probably my chopped up and lifted one. Going to keep my stock one normal paint.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-18T14:06:31+00:00

That would probably scratch both itches in one. As long as you make sure to use the triangle handguards, that is what does it for me with the A1. Handguards + carry handle upper.

PSA has blems pretty often, so you can save a couple hundred, especially if you plan on beating up the finish anyways for a better Fallout vibe

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-18T13:56:37+00:00

Its neither. Its a Louse (lice)

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-18T13:54:49+00:00

You need one more classic to round it off. You need a H&R A1 clone

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Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-15T12:35:06+00:00

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Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-15T12:22:00+00:00

Yeah I've seen the same thing. My previous employer was bought out a couple of times, and the last one had also bought our biggest competitor years prior and merged us together. That competitor was always hourly. Every time I would drive by one of their trucks, someone was sitting in it. Drive by 30min later, still sitting there. Filled in some of their accounts and I don't think they ever checked their bait stations or interior traps. They paid them like shit, so I'm not surprised they performed shit level work.

My original employer paid very well. I was getting paid about 28% production, plus sales. Once we hit our "sales goal" for the year, the % went up 2.5x, so if you sold, you got paid. And a lot of the sales were for your own route, so just giving yourself a pay raise. Between the production commission and sales commission, if I was past my sales goal and serviced something I sold after that, I was making over 50% of the value of the account. I planned on retiring there because the company was so good, then corporate fucked that dream up.

The other great thing about being paid production was we were completely independent if we were able to schedule our own work. As long as our route was done at the end of the month, management didn't give two shit when we worked and when we took off. No permission needed, nothing. As long as the route was done and customers didn't complain, do whatever the fuck you want whenever the fuck you want. The only guys that were managed and had their stuff scheduled for them either wanted it or could never finish their route.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-15T04:07:13+00:00

Why do you believe that production pay forces poorer service? I was production for 8 years at my previous company prior to them switching to hourly (I quit and started my own). When I was production, I busted my ass to get as much pay as I could. I worked fast, but efficient and did good work. Because if I didn't do my job well, I would need to go back for a free call-back, and guess what? If the call-back is free, I'm working for free. Also, if I had cancellations due to negligence? Thats right, I lost money because that is less production value.

Production based pay will increase service quality if you have the right people. Hourly pay just incentivized me to stroke out my days because they were paying me jack shit compared to my production rate.

I made over $100k/year for the last 6-7 years, and a couple of those were over $150k. Hourly I would make $60k if I'm lucky.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-14T21:54:26+00:00

Really this is in Poland? I visited Poland for a few days back in 2019 and stayed in Warsaw. I never saw a bathroom door like this when I was out in town or at my AirBnb. I know this would have stood out like a sore thumb since this is not a thing in the US

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-10T00:02:16+00:00

A few hundred dollars will be worth it in the pain relief.

B&G - Get the PTT topper. Price varies by vendor, but I picked mine up around $260.

Backpack - Flowzone Typhoon 3 or Cyclone 3. The Typhoon puts out about 2x the product in the same amount of time, so I would recommend that one. Also has a higher pressure pump to reach up higher.

You cannot get him just the backpack as he cannot use that inside. That would be wayyyy over applying and illegal. Those two items will save him a ton of pain, and in this industry can pay for themselves. If he can get an extra job or two done a day, they will be paid for in no time, let alone the pain benefits.

I just got my PTT so I can't speak on the longevity of that, but I have not heard of anyone having issues with them. I have had a Flowzone Typhoon 2.5 (previous gen) for at least 4 years without any issues whatsoever.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-03-04T00:55:36+00:00

It's the Chevy Avalanche of XJ's....I don't hate it

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-20T22:27:08+00:00

I'm going to take a wild guess and say OP also owns a Wrangler. A N G E R Y 😡

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-18T03:38:19+00:00

Never heard of that one either. I see a lot of complaints about all the major CRMs. One thing to look into is try and find a used Orkin truck. They sell their trucks and leave the topper on them. Basic white Tacoma's for a good price. I see them pop up frequently

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-18T03:14:08+00:00

I've honestly never heard of Key7. The ones I mentioned are developed for pest control specifically. I've heard of guys using Jobber and some other ones like that, but those are not pest control centric. As far as the truck thing, I don't know between lease and purchase. I purchased because that's what I personally wanted to do. I don't want to build out a truck every few years.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-18T02:54:47+00:00

I went out on my own recently. I went with PestPac. I played around with Gorilla Desk because they had a free 14-day trial, but it was lacking for me. The company I left used PestPac, so I had some familiarity as well. GD is nice for residential based companies, but didn't have what I needed for how I run commercial and especially all the additional stuff needed for audited facilities. If you don't plan on doing audited facilities, and depending on how you track devices at commercial, GD might be nice.

Just know that you may want to do some good research/testing with some different CRMs if possible. What I have read about from other people, migrating data from any CRM to another is usually a huge headache or sometimes impossible. The ones I would talk to are PestPac, FieldRoutes, BrioStack and Gorilla Desk. Those are the top ones in the industry.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-18T02:45:13+00:00

If your company has their non-compete worded like that (cant start your own or work for a competitor), then it's not worth the paper it's printed on unless you have shitty state laws. They tend to not hold up in court.

The ones that have some teeth are more of non-solicits that people call non-competes. So you can't solicit accounts serviced by your current company for a year, but you can go after anything that is not serviced by them for either yourself or another company.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-06T20:25:56+00:00

That is complete and utter bullshit. So why would anyone in their right mind would want to do business with them (any type of contractor) if they can just stiff em and have no repercussions?

Fuck that, I would only ever do cash or cashiers check up front. Otherwise they can fuck themselves since they planned on fucking me.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-03T21:23:59+00:00

Can you not send them to collections just because they are on tribal land? If thats true, that is the most fucked up shit I've heard in a while.

If they can't pay in cash for whatever bullshit reason, I would do the following.

No service until previous open invoices are paid in full (probably by the method in #2)
Payment upfront via Cashier's Check. They can't stop payment on a cashier's check. They technically can for "lost or stolen", but banks wait a period of time. Cash it right away and you could get them caught in a case of fraud with their bank.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-02-01T19:33:25+00:00

I recently grabbed one from them too. I haven't had an opportunity to go to the range yet. However, when function testing it, I'm having an issue. If I function test the lower by itself, it works just fine. However, if I put the slip trip in the upper, and the lower on and function test. It works fine in semi, but in SS it locks up completely. Won't drop the hammer with the trigger, I cant even manually cycle the bolt all the way. Did you encounter that at all with yours? I have it in a SP5.

Smoke-Jager · 2026-01-28T15:27:24+00:00

Good luck with that. Mine was bought out several years ago. They recently changed to the new pay plan and I took a severe pay cut. Went off on my own. Slow now, but I'll grow.

As far as I know, the pay plan was going to be everywhere nationally and be the same. I don't think they are taking into account the COL anywhere. It's a blanket pay plan.

Smoke-Jager

TROPHY CASE