ClearDefense Pest Control vs. J&J Exterminating

Residential pest control is sold as Gold Shield 365: one inspection, then a quarterly exterior barrier treatment with 365-day guaranteed protection. The site publishes no price, term, renewal or cancellation terms: ‘Contact us for rate information in your area.’⁷

Company claim: unlimited call-backs, 365 days a year.³

Termite wood-replacement warranty (pre-construction program) continues a minimum of five years ‘as long as the agreement is renewed on an annual basis’; liquid protection lasts about seven years; the post-construction liquid and baiting programs do not include the wood-replacement warranty (sold separately).⁸

Company statement in a BBB reply (Hammond branch manager, April 14, 2026): a termite contract belongs to the address and its owner is responsible for the bill to maintain coverage, and canceling carries ‘no penalty or fee’. Read as the company’s stated cancellation fee for termite coverage (none) and as coverage that continues, with renewal invoices, until canceled. This concerns termite coverage inherited at one address, not the Gold Shield 365 pest-control service, so it is not used as the general service contract’s cancellation fee or renewal term.⁹

Company statement in a BBB reply (New Orleans, December 2, 2024): a customer canceled pest control but ‘termite was not canceled’; the $275 billed was termite protection renewal. The company’s reply separates the canceled pest-control service from the uncancelled termite protection, so this describes termite renewal only and is not scored as the general contract’s auto-renewal.¹⁰

Company statement in a BBB reply (Lafayette, January 2, 2025): the termite bait-station service requires an annual inspection ‘once a year’; if the customer does not continue service the stations have to be pulled; the company cites ‘our contractual obligations’. No contract text is published.¹¹

Company statement in a BBB reply (New Orleans, May 1, 2024): J&J’s insurance provider does not cover liquid treatments after 10 years without retreating; a 14-year customer who refused to retreat had the policy canceled and was refunded the $171.60 renewal.¹⁰

Customer report (BBB Lafayette complaint, September 25, 2026, Billing): signed up in 2025 for ‘a 1 year contract’; when calling to cancel in April 2026 was told ‘we were not on a contract’. One report; the company reply does not address the term.⁹

Customer report (BBB New Orleans complaint, August 15, 2025): annual termite/pest renewal requested by the company in April 2025 ‘with a fee of $300.00 for the year’. Reddit snippet (r/NewOrleans, not page-verified): a J&J customer says annual renewal is $276.¹⁰

December 12, 2023 · EnforcementScored: legal record

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Structural Pest Control Commission (SPCC)

Case 23-SPCC-2516, Robert W. Soileau d/b/a J & J Exterminating Co. - Lake Charles (P.O. Box 6358, Lake Charles). The Commission accepted a signed stipulation with a $1,500.00 penalty at its 12 Dec 2023 meeting; the case had been continued at the 21 Sep 2023 meeting. The minutes do not list the charges, and Mr. Soileau was not present. Attribution: Soileau is the responsible licensee on the Lake Charles place-of-business permit 0020DP, whose LDAF contact e-mail is a jjext.com address; the Lake Charles operation is the company-run J & J Exterminating Company of Lake Charles, Inc. (Louisiana SOS, officers Robert L. John Jr. and Robert Lewis John III, principal office 1717 W Prien Lake Road, the permit address), not a franchise or separately owned operator. The same person appears in the SPCC’s October 2018 minutes as attending for J & J Exterminating (see the 2018 case below). Classification: the Commission accepted ‘the facts set forth in the stipulation’, signed by all parties, so it is a stipulated settlement (not a bare fine). Review of every posted SPCC minutes file from 2016 to 3 Jun 2026 (text, and OCR for scanned files) found no other J&J case besides the 2018 case below.^{39, 48, 49}

October 28, 2026 · Complaint summaryUsed in complaint record

BBB Serving Acadiana, J&J Exterminating of Lafayette file (headquarters and corporate-owned locations)

BBB rating A+, accredited since 12/13/2000. 5 complaints in the last 3 years, 3 in the last 12 months, all five with a business response (none unanswered). Types: billing (4) and one 2025 refund dispute. Themes: renewal invoices after the customer says they canceled, collection referrals for small or paid balances ($1 balance in 2024), and refunds for termite renewals after a home sale. Statuses on the page: 2 Resolved, 3 Answered. No pattern-of-complaints alert or government-action notice on the page text read.^{9, 32}

October 28, 2026 · Complaint summaryUsed in complaint record

BBB of Greater New Orleans Area, J and J Exterminating of New Orleans file (headquarters and corporate-owned locations; alternate names Houma and Mandeville)

BBB rating A+, accredited since 5/22/2015. 3 complaints in the last 3 years, 0 in the last 12 months; all three have a business response. Types: product issue (2025 refund after a home sale, Resolved), billing (November 2024 renewal billed after the customer declined; collection referral) and billing (May 2024 renewal refunded after the company declined to cover a 14-year-old liquid treatment).^{10, 33}

October 28, 2026 · Complaint summaryUsed in complaint record

BBB of Southwest Louisiana, J & J Exterminating Co. of Lake Charles, Inc. branch file

Branch file (links to the Lafayette headquarters). Its summary line repeats the headquarters’ 5 complaints / 3 in 12 months, but the only complaint listed on the branch’s own page is one dated 10/30/2023 (Customer Service, Resolved): an annual-renewal invoice the customer did not renew was sent to a collection agency; the business said she was ‘never in true collections’ and cleared the balance; the customer accepted. It falls 2 days inside the 3-year window and is counted once as the branch’s own complaint. BBB rating A+, accredited since 8/1/1990.^{34, 50}

October 28, 2026 · Complaint summaryUsed in complaint record

BBB branch files for Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Monroe and Tyler Texas (each shows ‘View Headquarters’)

Each branch page is A+ and BBB Accredited (Baton Rouge since 7/15/2013, Monroe since 3/15/2018; Shreveport since 5/8/2006) and shows the headquarters’ summary line (5 complaints in 3 years, 3 in 12 months) with ‘There are no matching results’ for complaints of its own, and the headquarters’ single review. Because the numbers repeat the Lafayette headquarters file, they are not added again. The Tyler, Texas file (accredited since 5/21/2018) shows the same headquarters summary, which also shows the Lafayette headquarters file spans Texas branches.^{38, 51, 52, 53, +1}

October 28, 2026 · EnforcementShown only

US EPA ECHO facility search (name ‘J & J Exterminating’, state LA)

EPA ECHO returned 0 facility rows. Not exhaustive: it covers EPA-tracked facilities; FIFRA cases against a pest control firm may not appear.⁵⁵

October 28, 2026 · EnforcementShown only

US EPA ECHO facility search (name ‘J and J Exterminating’, state Texas)

EPA ECHO returned 0 facility rows. Not exhaustive.⁵⁶

October 10, 2018 · EnforcementShown only

Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry, Structural Pest Control Commission (SPCC)

Case No. 2090, Robert Soileau (listed in the minutes as attending for J & J Exterminating; later the responsible licensee on the Lake Charles permit 0020DP). At the 10 Oct 2018 meeting the Department charged him with seven violations of La. R.S. 3:3371(A)(14), specifically LAC 7:XXV.141(A)(2), involving the concentration at which product was applied during a pre-construction treatment. Facts were agreed at the hearing and the Commission found they supported the charges; the Department recommended $200 per violation ($1,400) and the Commission set $1.00 per violation, $7.00 in total. Earlier hearing dates (Apr and Jul 2018) were continuances. If it were read as a stipulated settlement it would be legal and regulatory record -1 (5 to 10 years); the neutral reading is taken.⁵⁷