--- title: "Bell Pest Control Review" description: "Bell Pest Control has a Handshake Score of 6.1 out of 10, ranking #157 of 164 in the West. It has 2,343 Google reviews averaging 4.9 and a BBB grade of D-." url: "https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control" markdown_url: "https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md" updated: "2026-11-05" site: "Handshake D2D News & Reviews" --- # Bell Pest Control Review By [Uri Mittelman](https://handshakereviews.com/authors/uri-mittelman.md), Editor · Research and verification: Handshake Research Desk · Updated November 5, 2026 · Verified October 27, 2026 Review · [Is it legit?](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control/legit.md) Bell Pest Control ranks #157 of 164 in the West, with a Handshake Score of 6.1 out of 10. The score is provisional because its confidence rating is Low; what holds it back is under “What we couldn’t verify.” This page draws on 18 public sources retrieved between October 27, 2026 and November 2, 2026, and the record was verified on October 27, 2026. The sources are listed at the end. ## At a glance - Rank and score: #157 of 164 in the West, Handshake Score 6.1 out of 10 (provisional: its confidence rating is Low); data confidence low. - Door-to-door selling: partly (badge “Partial”), per sourced sales evidence. - Ownership: PE-backed, parent CERTUS (Certus Pest, Inc.; Tampa, Florida), per a PrivSource deal listing that says CERTUS acquired Bell Pest Control (listed August 21, 2025) and describes CERTUS as backed by Imperial Capital and Liberty Mutual Investments. BBB shows ‘Date of New Ownership: 6/10/2025’. No CERTUS or Bell announcement was found, and the Bell site still says ‘family-owned’.. - Headquarters: Elk Grove, California. - Founded: 1978. - Services on its record: general pest (ants, bed bugs, cockroaches, earwigs, mice and rats, mosquitoes, moths, silverfish, spiders, wasps), insulation (listed on website navigation), mosquito control (monthly). - Record verified October 27, 2026. - Legal name: Bell Pest Control Corporation. - Website: https://bellpest.com ## How we scored it Handshake Score: 6.1 out of 10, #157 of 164 in the West (provisional). Each factor is scored from 0 to 10; every point added or taken away is listed with the fact behind it. - Customer satisfaction (weight 38.89%, nominal 35%): 9.6/10 - Google 4.90 across 2,343 West reviews - Blended 4.90/5 - Complaint record (weight 11.11%, nominal 10%): 6.5/10 - 3 BBB complaints in 3 yrs ÷ 2,343 (Elk Grove, California Google review total: the BBB file covers only the Elk Grove corporate location) = 1.3 per 1,000 → 8.5 - 3 of 3 complaints unanswered (−1.5) - BBB grade D- (−0.5) - Sales and contract fairness (weight 16.67%, nominal 15%): 7.0/10 - Early-cancellation fee $150 (−1) - Customer accounts of terms misstated at the sale (2 documented) (−1) - Unpublished renewal, cancellation-channel & dispute terms (−1) - Licensing and compliance (weight 16.67%, nominal 15%): 9.0/10 - Advertised license number doesn’t check out: Website footer advertises “License #: 11923”, a former Operator license number (the Dec 2023 footer reads “OPR#OPR11923”) that is not on the SPCB roll; the company’s own record is registration PR 9951 (−1) - Legal and regulatory record (weight 16.67%, nominal 15%): 10.0/10 - Workplace score (weight 10%): not scored (< 20 employee reviews) - Weighted average of the factors above: 8.8/10. - Review volume −0.8: 2,343 of 5,000 Google reviews. - Verification depth −0.4: 0 of 250 other reviews · 0 of 20 employee reviews. - Locations −1.5: 1 of 10 locations. - Handshake Score: 6.1/10. ## What customers say - Bell Pest Control has 2,343 Google reviews across 1 West listing, averaging 4.9. - BBB (Elk Grove, California (corporate profile)): 1.0/5, 3 reviews, retrieved November 2, 2026 - Yelp (Elk Grove, California): 3.7/5, 220 reviews, retrieved November 2, 2026 - Negative themes recorded by our researchers: billing/refund problems after the sale; cancellation difficulty; sales-rep contract dispute. ## Better Business Bureau - Its BBB profile shows a D- grade and 3 complaints in the last three years. - Not BBB accredited. - BBB customer reviews: 1.0/5 average from 3 reviews. - Retrieved November 2, 2026. ## Contracts and sales practices - Door-to-door badge: Partial. - Sales notes: One first-hand BBB review (Oct 2026) describes a door-knocking rep who offered a discounted $50 first service; no recruiting page, job post or solicitor-permit record found (job searches returned other companies). Post-sale (2025-26) sales also run by phone. The pre-sale company looked referral/mailing based. Recorded as partial on one report. - Company site publishes no contract length, renewal, cancellation or arbitration terms; only a “five-star service guarantee”, a “money-back guarantee” and a 30-day bed bug guarantee. - Customer report (BBB complaint, unanswered, July 1, 2026): signed a one-year agreement at a $45/month rate that, per the complainant, the contract described as quarterly service although a rep verbally agreed to bi-monthly. (counted in the score) - Customer report (BBB review October 9, 2026): staff said an additional $150 was needed to terminate the contract. Single report. (counted in the score) - Customer reports (BBB complaint March 17, 2026 and review August 24, 2026): difficulty canceling via phone/virtual assistant and bot scheduling. - Customer report (same BBB complaint, unanswered, July 1, 2026): asks to be allowed to cancel without “the $250 early termination fee” in the signed one-year agreement. Single report of this amount; the October 9, 2026 review reports a $150 termination demand. (counted in the score) ## Licensing and registrations - Status and expiry are as the issuing agency’s record showed them on the date retrieved. - California · Structural Pest Control Board · Company Registration (Pest & Termite Control) · no. PR 9951 · status: Active · expires 12-31-2099 in DCA file (BBB lists 12/31/2035); the bulk-file expiry dates are placeholders, not renewal dates - California · Structural Pest Control Board · Field Representative (Pest Control), individual at 9136 Elkmont Way Suite C · no. FR 61591 (Jay T Bell) · status: Active · expires June 30, 2027 - California · Contractors State License Board · Contractor license, class B General Building (Bell Pest Control Corporation dba Bell Pest Control, PO Box 427, Elk Grove California 95759; issued 10/10/1990) · no. 604425 · status: Expired (expire date 10/31/2026); CSLB: “This license is expired and not able to contract at this time.” Contractor’s bond canceled 02/22/2026; workers’ compensation policy shown expired 03/26/2026. · expires October 31, 2026 ## Legal and regulatory record - Only resolved government actions count toward the score. Summaries are our researchers’ wording of the source. - [COMPLAINT RECORD, a count or summary of complaints, not findings; not counted in the legal score] November 2, 2026 · California · complaint-summary: No county agricultural-commissioner civil penalty found for “Bell Pest Control” in the DPR CAC file (Sept 2024 to Sept 2026): 0 rows for “bell pest” and “bell”. - [COMPLAINT RECORD, a count or summary of complaints, not findings; not counted in the legal score] November 2, 2026 · California · complaint-summary: No SPCB accusation/decision PDF found at guessed file names pr_9951_acc, pr-9951_acc, pr_9951_do, pr-9951_do or the old operator number (opr_11923_acc/_do, opr-11923_acc/_do): all 404 on pestboard.ca.gov (November 2, 2026). A miss proves nothing. - [COMPLAINT RECORD, a count or summary of complaints, not findings; not counted in the legal score] November 2, 2026 · California · complaint-summary: CourtListener RECAP search for “Bell Pest Control” in the four California federal districts returned no results. State courts not searchable statewide. - [COMPLAINT RECORD, a count or summary of complaints, not findings; not counted in the legal score] November 2, 2026 · California · complaint-summary: California AG press-release keyword search “Bell Pest Control” loaded but showed no results list; no AG action found. (The AG publishes no per-company complaint data.) ## Mentions, awards and claims ### Mentions - [Aptive Pest Control is the Worst](https://www.reddit.com/r/ElkGrove/comments/hzonut/aptive_pest_control_is_the_worst/) (r/ElkGrove · reddit): Commenter says they have been fairly happy with Bell (pre-sale; thread is about Aptive door-to-door). ## On Reddit - Reddit hasn’t been searched for this company yet. ## Locations - States with a location on file: California. - Cities: Elk Grove, California. ## What we couldn’t verify Overall confidence in this score: Low (provisional), 4 of 11 points. [How confidence is set](https://handshakereviews.com/how-we-review#confidence). What keeps it from rating higher: - 2,343 western US Google reviews behind customer satisfaction (3,000 or more earns a point; 10,000 or more earns full points). - 14 independent websites cited (25 or more earns a point). - Too few independent non-Google reviews to blend in (Google only). - Verifier rated the legal and regulatory record medium (high earns a point). - Verifier corrected or removed 23.3% of the items checked (10% or fewer earns a point). Verifier’s confidence by section: Identity medium; Licensing high; Legal and regulatory medium; Customer reviews high; BBB high; Employee reviews low; Mentions low; Sales model medium. ### Gaps in the record - Live Google Maps page not opened (Maps terms forbid automated access). Address matches the company site and BBB (phone +1916-252-4703 is listed as an additional BBB phone). - Buyer: no CERTUS or Bell announcement found. A PrivSource deal listing (August 21, 2025) says CERTUS Pest acquired Bell Pest Control, and PR 9951 carries the CERTUS Support Center address (Tampa); that is the basis for the PE-backed/CERTUS tag. Dates conflict (BBB new ownership 6/10/2025; complainants say August 2025 and ‘last October’; PR issued October 14, 2025). The October 28, 2026 capture is cited. - DCA license detail page blocked (Turnstile); licensing read from the bulk SPCB file only. No Branch Office (BR) record for 9136 Elkmont Way was found in the file under any name; the file omits canceled registrations, so this proves nothing and is not scored. The pre-sale registration number is unknown. - Advertised “License #: 11923”: no SPCB record of any type has that number. The Dec 2023 archived footer reads “OPR#OPR11923”, so it is a former Operator number; the individual holder is not identified in any source opened, and the October 1, 2026 roll (which omits canceled licenses) has no Operator 11923. - CSLB license 604425 looked up November 2, 2026: class B General Building, expired 10/31/2026, bond canceled 02/22/2026; not a pesticide license, not scored. DPR pest-control-business list not checked. - California Secretary of State and OpenCorporates not reachable (bizfile blocked; OpenCorporates timed out): business registry status not verified. BBB lists incorporation 3/18/2021. - No state-court search possible (California has no statewide name search); county District Attorney actions not searched beyond the one web query. AG press search and CourtListener (federal CA districts) found nothing. - Yelp, Facebook, Reddit, Indeed, Glassdoor not opened (bot-forbidding terms or blocked); Yelp 3.7 (220) seen in a search snippet only. No Indeed/Glassdoor/RepVue ratings obtained. Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Trustpilot, Nextdoor: no listing found in searches. - bellpest.com /reviews and /contact-us timed out; company publishes no service agreement or terms (renewal, cancellation, arbitration undisclosed). - No news or trade-press coverage of the sale found in the 27 searches used. Cal King Pest Control (Yuba City, SPCB PR 4095) came up in a Bell Facebook snippet; that mention was removed (Facebook not opened) and any relationship is unconfirmed. - No Cal/OSHA or OSHA workplace-safety record checked (OSHA establishment search is human-check blocked). - Reddit: the three r/ElkGrove comments came only from search snippets. Facebook post mention removed (Facebook not opened). - A June 11, 2026 BBB complainant says Good Earth Pest Control ‘was taken over by Bell Pest Control’. Not added to locations (no address, 4 reviews); the goodearth-pest.com site timed out, so the relationship is unverified. - Current bellpest.com pages were reachable only through the automated browser; some pages timed out intermittently on November 2, 2026. Contact page not captured. ### Open questions - Who held OPR 11923 and when it was canceled; the company registration and branch-office history before PR 9951 (October 14, 2025) is not in the October 1, 2026 roll. - Whether a CERTUS or Bell announcement exists; the ownership tag rests on a deal-tracker listing plus the shared Tampa address. - Whether Good Earth Pest Control was folded into Bell (one complainant says it was taken over by Bell). ## Common questions about Bell Pest Control ### Is Bell Pest Control licensed in California? Bell Pest Control holds a current company pesticide license in California. Statuses are as each state agency showed them on the date retrieved. [Licensing record](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) · [Is Bell Pest Control legit?](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control/legit.md) ### Does Bell Pest Control sell door to door? In part. Door-to-door selling by Bell Pest Control is documented, but only for part of how it sells or only in the past. [Sales evidence](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) ### What is Bell Pest Control’s BBB rating? Bell Pest Control’s BBB profile shows a D- grade and 3 complaints in the last three years. [BBB record](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) ### Does Bell Pest Control charge a cancellation fee? Customers of Bell Pest Control report early-cancellation fees such as $150. We found no published renewal, cancellation-method or dispute terms. [Contract terms](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) ### How does Bell Pest Control rank? Bell Pest Control ranks #157 of 164 in the West, with a Handshake Score of 6.1 out of 10 (Low confidence). Strongest: legal and regulatory record (10.0/10). Weakest: complaint record (6.5/10). [How we scored it](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) · [Full rankings](https://handshakereviews.com/rankings/pest-control-west.md) ### Has Bell Pest Control faced government actions? No resolved government actions count against Bell Pest Control in our scoring. [Legal and regulatory record](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) ### Where does Bell Pest Control have locations? Our record lists 1 location for Bell Pest Control in California. It appears in our area rankings for Sacramento. [Locations](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control.md) · [Best pest control in the Sacramento area](https://handshakereviews.com/pest-control/sacramento.md) ## Pest control in California - [#22 of 38 in California](https://handshakereviews.com/rankings/pest-control-california.md): [Sacramento area](https://handshakereviews.com/pest-control/sacramento.md) ## Similar companies in California - [Official Pest Prevention](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/official-pest-prevention.md) · #20 of 38 · State Score 7.7 · [Is it legit? (Official Pest Prevention)](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/official-pest-prevention/legit.md) - [Preventive Pest Control](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/preventive-pest-control.md) · #21 of 38 · State Score 7.6 · [Is it legit? (Preventive Pest Control)](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/preventive-pest-control/legit.md) - [Truly Nolen Pest & Termite Control](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/truly-nolen-pest-and-termite-control.md) · #23 of 38 · State Score 7.5 · [Is it legit? (Truly Nolen Pest & Termite Control)](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/truly-nolen-pest-and-termite-control/legit.md) - [Fast Action Pest Control](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/fast-action-pest-control.md) · #24 of 38 · State Score 7.4 · [Is it legit? (Fast Action Pest Control)](https://handshakereviews.com/companies/fast-action-pest-control/legit.md) ## Sources 18 distinct pages, numbered in the order they appear in the record. Dates are when our researchers retrieved each page. 1. [Company website](https://bellpest.com) — bellpest.com · Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 2. [bbb.org](https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/elk-grove/profile/pest-control/bell-pest-control-corporation-1156-12000190) — Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 3. [privsource.com](https://www.privsource.com/acquisitions/deal/liberty-mutual-investments-and-imperial-capital-invest-in-certus-pest-control-ane_ArSajj) — Company facts · retrieved October 28, 2026 4. [bbb.org](https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/elk-grove/profile/pest-control/bell-pest-control-corporation-1156-12000190/customer-reviews) — Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 5. [bbb.org](https://www.bbb.org/us/ca/elk-grove/profile/pest-control/bell-pest-control-corporation-1156-12000190/complaints) — Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 6. [dca.box.com](https://dca.box.com/s/oss6hf8jys2bmgxqd2gdz7w4oepm2il9) — Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 7. [certuspest.com](https://certuspest.com/locations) — Company facts · retrieved November 2, 2026 8. [bellpest.com](https://www.bellpest.com/about-us/) — Contracts and sales · retrieved November 2, 2026 9. [Google — Elk Grove, California](https://www.google.com/maps?cid=6188715191113807087) — google.com · Customer reviews · retrieved October 27, 2026 10. [Yelp — Elk Grove, California](https://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=Pest+Control&find_loc=Elk+Grove%2C+CA) — yelp.com · Customer reviews · retrieved November 2, 2026 11. [Contractors State License Board](https://www.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/LicenseDetail.aspx?LicNum=604425) — cslb.ca.gov · Licensing and registrations · retrieved November 2, 2026 12. [California](https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/cac_admin_civil_penalties-092024_092026.xlsx) — cdpr.ca.gov · Legal and regulatory · retrieved November 2, 2026 13. [California](https://www.pestboard.ca.gov/public/pr_9951_acc.pdf) — page no longer online · pestboard.ca.gov · Legal and regulatory · retrieved November 2, 2026 14. [California](https://www.courtlistener.com/?q=%22Bell+Pest+Control%22&type=r&court=caed+cand+cacd+casd) — courtlistener.com · Legal and regulatory · retrieved November 2, 2026 15. [California](https://oag.ca.gov/media/news?body_value=Bell+Pest+Control) — oag.ca.gov · Legal and regulatory · retrieved November 2, 2026 16. [Aptive Pest Control is the Worst](https://www.reddit.com/r/ElkGrove/comments/hzonut/aptive_pest_control_is_the_worst/) — reddit.com · Mentions, awards and claims · retrieved November 2, 2026 17. [web.archive.org](https://web.archive.org/web/2023/https://www.bellpest.com/) — Mentions, awards and claims · retrieved November 2, 2026 18. [bellpest.com](https://www.bellpest.com/service-area) — Mentions, awards and claims · retrieved November 2, 2026 _Markdown version of https://handshakereviews.com/companies/bell-pest-control. Every page on this site has one: add `.md` to the path or request it with `Accept: text/markdown`. 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