Mantis Pest Control LLC

Mantis Pest Control is a family-run exterminator in Lowell, Massachusetts, and it has one of the deeper review records of any small pest company in the area: 4.9 stars from 52 Google ratings and 4.9 from 148 on Angi, with written accounts stretching back to 2018. The owner, Steven Burke, is the person most customers deal with, and he answers reviews himself. The work is residential and commercial pest control — ants, bedbugs, bird mites, cockroaches, mice and rats, mosquitoes, ticks and wasps — offered either as a one-time treatment or on a recurring schedule, with free estimates, 24/7 emergency availability and a 10% military and senior discount. What customers praise is remarkably consistent across seven years and several platforms: he calls back fast, often the same day, and gets out quickly for urgent stinging-insect problems; he explains what he is doing and what the homeowner needs to do; he holds to the price he quoted and stands behind the work with a return visit if the pests come back; and he is careful about pets and children around baiting and spraying. Stinging-insect nests, bedbugs and rodents are the problems that come up most, and several customers describe multi-visit bedbug work and recurring seasonal mosquito and tick programmes rather than one-off sprays. Complaints are essentially absent from the record. A few things are worth pinning down before booking. The company says it is fully licensed by Massachusetts for all pest control work and publishes licence #35638, and its Angi page says the owner's son passed the pest control exam and is a licensed technician — all of that is self-reported and none of it has been checked against the state registry here, so ask to see the current pesticide applicator licence. Its Better Business Bureau file carries an A+ grade but the business is not BBB accredited. The size and age of the business are also reported inconsistently: 13 years and two employees on the BBB file against 14 years and five employees on Thumbtack, and a Thumbtack blurb claiming over 20 years' experience against a 2013 start date everywhere else. Two different phone numbers are published across its own site and its BBB listing. For a homeowner with wasps, bedbugs or mice who wants one experienced person who answers the phone and comes back if it is not fixed, this is a strong shortlist candidate. Confirm the licence, get the guarantee period in writing, and check which of the two published numbers reaches them.