Termite company falsely claims no live activity
We live in Chicago, IL. We bought our house in OCT '05 and received the termite inspection showing there was evidence of an old issue with subterrean termites in one area of our basement, but that there was no evidence of live activity. In APR '06, we started seeing what turned out to be swarmers and called the company that did the termite as there was a warranty given. They came out and inspected and treated. We were told that seeing swarmers doesn't mean there is live subterrean termite activity. We didn't know much about termites so we believed this 'expert'. Each Spring we have the same problem with swarmers in one area of an interior basement wall and each spring since '06, we call the company and they come and do a treatment. This year, we received a notice that our warranty was up and it would cost $350 to renew for a year. We had no idea how much these things typically cost, so we decided to shop around. We called Terminix and Orkin to see what they would tell us. Both said that we certainly do have live termite activity and in fact, there is activity in some wood joist re-enforcements we put in last summer.
We called the original company and the same guy came out to inspect. I had told him on the phone that we had brought in two other companies and both had seen new activity. I also said that swarmers mean live activity and that he'd been telling us that wasn't the case, etc. He came out to inspect. I told my husband - who was home at the time - not to hold his hand and show him the new activity, but to let us see what the guy found. Again, he said that there was nothing live. My husband showed him the spots that were new. Suddenly he says he can do a treatment, etc.
We then receive a notice about a week later saying they did the last inspection on our property which closes out the warranty that we had and that there was no evidence of live activity at our residence.
While we understand that Terminix and Orkin are chain companies and may try to get us to do some extra work at a higher cost, surely the fact that they both independently saw live activity makes it clear we have a problem here.
My question: Can we sue the original company for saying there was no live activity and have them pay for the work we need done to treat the areas? It definitely makes us question the report they submitted for us to buy this home as well.
