A Cheap Quote and a Complete Quote

Two companies quote for the same apartment and the numbers differ by a factor of three. The natural reading is that one is expensive; the more accurate reading is usually that they are describing different work.

Neither is dishonest. A single-visit spray treatment is a legitimate service that some situations genuinely need. The problem arises when it is compared against a two-visit programme as though the only difference were price.

What a cheap quotation usually contains

One visit. Spray only. The rooms where the customer reported seeing something. No follow-up. No monitors. No written report beyond an invoice. A short warranty or none.

For a single large cockroach that came up a drain, that is close to the right scope and the price reflects it. For an established German cockroach population it is a fortnight of relief.

What a complete quotation adds

• A survey before treatment, and a stated finding about where the harbourage is.
• A follow-up visit at ten to fourteen days, which for several species is a requirement rather than an extra.
• More than one method: residual treatment along the routes, gel bait in cracks, drain treatment where relevant, not one spray across open floors.

Monitors, so somebody can tell whether it worked.A written report naming the species, the areas, the products and the aftercare.A warranty with a stated response if the problem returns.

The follow-up line is the one that matters most

For German cockroaches and for bed bugs, eggs are substantially more resistant to insecticide than adults, so eggs present on the day of treatment hatch afterwards. A second visit inside the hatching window is what completes the job.

A quotation without it is not cheaper; it is quoting the first half. This single line accounts for most of the price gap in residential quotations here, and it is the one worth asking about explicitly.

How to compare them properly

Uplift the cheaper quotation to match the fuller scope and see what it costs. Ask what a follow-up visit would be charged at, what a monitor set would cost, and whether a report is available. Frequently the gap closes substantially, and occasionally the cheaper company becomes the better value once the scopes match.

What you must not do is compare the totals as though they described the same work, because that comparison systematically selects the shortest job.

When cheap is the right answer

A one-off treatment for a clearly identified, contained problem where the diagnosis is not in doubt. A drain-associated cockroach issue. A single ant trail. A pre-handover treatment of an empty apartment where nothing was found.

In those cases paying for a survey, monitors, a follow-up and a report is paying for infrastructure the situation does not need, and we would say so.

The warning signs at the low end

A quotation with no named target species. A price given over the phone for a restaurant or a house without a site visit. An unwillingness to state the active ingredient in writing. No tax code or business registration on the document. A warranty that is described verbally but does not appear on paper.

Any one of these is worth a question. Two or more together is worth a different company.

The other thing a fuller quotation frequently buys is somebody who will tell you no. A company that surveys and then says the drains are the problem and a treatment is not needed has done work it cannot bill for, and it can only afford to do that if the pricing supports a survey in the first place. That is an argument worth weighing against a headline number.

The warning signs at the high end

A proposal far above the others is not automatically thorough. Ask what the extra money buys in concrete terms — more methods, more coverage, more visits, documentation — and be sceptical if the answer is simply more frequent visits of the same type. Frequency is the easiest thing to add to a proposal and the least likely to change an outcome.

Related reading

See what a quotation should tell you and reading a Vietnamese quotation. On comparison, comparing two proposals fairly and how to choose a company. Our rates are on the price list, and our parent company publishes its Vietnamese services at khutrungtoancau.vn.

Global Pest Control is the English-language arm of Khử Trùng Toàn Cầu, based in Thu Duc City.

Common questions

Is the expensive quote just a foreign-facing price?

It is a fair question to ask directly, and the honest answer is that a scope difference explains most gaps in this market. Ask both companies for the same six lines — survey, methods, follow-up, monitors, report, warranty — and compare on that basis. If the prices are still far apart for identical scope, then the question is a reasonable one to put to them.

Can I ask a cheap company to add a follow-up visit?

Yes, and it is the most useful single question you can ask. Many will quote it as an add-on, and the combined price is sometimes still lower than the fuller proposal. What you are testing is also whether they understand why the follow-up matters, and the answer to that tells you a good deal.

We took the cheap option and it did not work. What now?

A common and recoverable situation. Tell the next company exactly what was applied and where, because insecticide residue on surfaces changes where bait can be placed and can add a fortnight to the job. Do not spray anything further in the meantime — that is the single most useful thing you can do between now and the visit.