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Man dealing with pest control scam buzzes 2 On Your Side for help

1 year 9 months 6 days ago Tuesday, June 21 2022 Jun 21, 2022 June 21, 2022 10:42 PM June 21, 2022 in News
Source: WBRZ

BATON ROUGE - Pest control services are becoming a nuisance for one man in Baton Rouge. He says he canceled his service after he wasn't satisfied with the product. Soon after, he discovered charges in his bank account that he couldn't explain.

Edson Oppong told 2 On Your Side he enjoys taking care of his yard. He says he was in his backyard last month cutting the grass when a man selling pest control services approached him.

Oppong says he was sold on an outdoor pest control service. At first, the price was more than Oppong wanted to spend, but that's when Hawx Pest Control told him they were running a special.

"He said, 'This week we're running a special,'" said Oppong. "'If you sign up today you're only going to pay $50 a month.'"

At first, Oppong didn't have his credit card. The salesman told him he would come back to get the card number later that evening and did. Oppong says he asked the salesman if he needed to sign anything and he was told that he didn't, all he needed to do was provide a credit card number.

A week later, Hawx came back to Oppong's house to spray the outside for bugs. After a few weeks, Oppong says he wasn't satisfied and called to cancel before the second spray.

"The last time they came what they did, I don't see no difference," he said.

Then he looked at his bank account. Oppong saw two charges, one for $100 and another for $448. Nowhere did he see a charge for the price he was quoted.

Oppong says he never saw a contract. He did have an email with an attached document for the services. When he looked at it he saw it was a contract for an "Outdoor Package" that was signed and initialed. Oppong says he never signed or initialed anything.

He showed a side-by-side of the document with his driver's license noting the differences in the signature.

"He went and signed my signature," he said.

Oppong is warning others about the experience he says is a scam. He's hoping to get his money back.

When called, Hawx looked up Oppong's account and found two contracts with them. Over the phone, a Hawx representative explained that Oppong had signed two contracts, which would explain the charges for service and cancelation. The representative told 2 On Your Side that because Oppong's signature is on both of the documents, there isn't anything they can do.

Oppong maintains he did not sign a thing and only agreed to one package.

A couple of days after the story aired, WBRZ heard back from Hawx. A spokesperson says Hawx Smart Pest Control stands by its pest control treatment plans with a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Hawx plans to reach out to Edson to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and apologizes for any confusion. Hawx says it takes the allegation of forging a signature very seriously and will be investigating to make sure policies were followed.

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