BORER TREATMENT WARNING GIVEN

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31784, 14 September 1968, Page 19

BORER TREATMENT WARNING GIVEN

Fast-talking salesmen panicked many householders into signing up for expensive borer eradication treatments during September and October last year, the main borer treatment season, says the latest issue of “Consumer,” the magazine of the Consumers’ Institute. As well as beng exorbitantly priced, the treatments were often not very effective, the magazine says. “The salesmen, like the insects, are seasonal.” Last year the approach used by some salesmen was to offer a free examination, then say borer damage had been found, the magazine says. The tactic was then either to give the impression that unless speedy action was taken the house would slowly crumble into the ground or to suggest that certain Government departments would force the owner to take action against borer at a much higher price than the salesman was offering. “This is quite untrue," the magazine says. “At the time, the departments mentioned were very concerned that their names were being used in this way.”

The magazine warns against such excessive claims as that a single application will completely rid a house of borer.

or that a particular treatment will give protection for many years.

If you discover borer in your house, the magazine advises, study the matter, make inquiries, and find a reputable firm which will do a good job at a fair price. Quotes should be sought from several firms, and compared. If the infestation is slight, the home-owner may be able to do the job himself.