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Category: Technical
Why should you join the Sentricon Users Group? Let’s explain it through a Dow version of the fairy-tale - "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".
One day in 1996 a Pest Management Professional's technician (Goldilocks) was monitoring Sentricon stations for termites. She loudly exclaimed “Oh My!” when she opened many stations at a home and found dead termites in the top of the recruitment chambers. She had been taught by Dow that this clearly was not something she should see. She grew very concerned.
On the previous trip to the house she remembered recruiting the termites into those same Baitubes. She continued on to other properties and saw the same thing - dead termites in the recruitment chamber of Sentricon Baitubes. This concerned the termite technician so she called the Dow Rep on her cell phone. The Dow Rep hadn't heard of this before (or so she told her) but gave her advice that the termites were probably dying from the paper bait being too dry and told her to wet it when she recruited the next time. The tech thought about this for a moment and it didn't sound quite right because she recalled that it had rained on the day she had last inspected those properties. She called her boss and explained her dilemma. He offered to call the Dow District Manager.
The boss called the Dow Sales Manager but didn't say anything about the technician's call to the sales rep. The Dow Sales Manager also said that he hadn’t heard of this problem (or so he told him). The Dow Manager was silent for a moment on the phone. Then he offered the thought that Dow had increased the amount of paper bait in the baitube and that the bait was too dense for the termites to eat through. This really didn’t sound right because everyone knows termites can eat through very dense hardwoods. So why couldn’t they eat through some rolled paper towels? He just couldn’t believe this explanation, and after all it was a sales person he was talking with, so the Boss decided to call his Dow Technical Rep.
The boss called the Dow Technical Rep but didn't say anything about the technician's call to the sales rep or his call to the District Manager. After hearing what the technician had seen the Dow Technical Rep said that he too hadn't heard of this before (or so he told him) and asked, “Is the technician screwing the cap on the bait tube”. The Boss responded, “Of course she is”. The Dow Technical Rep quickly responded with a much more technical answer as one would expect. The Dow Technical Rep made it sound completely obvious that the termites were dying from not getting enough oxygen in the recruitment chamber. This again sounded crazy but the Pest Management Professional trusted Dow and believed what Dow was telling them.
No, the bait wasn’t too dry. No, the bait wasn’t too dense. And no, the termites weren’t dying from oxygen depletion. If you don't know, join the Sentricon Users Group and learn why termites were dying in the recruitment chambers of baitubes at Sentricon sites across the nation. You'll also now understand the impact of this event on your ability to protect your customers' properties and on the costs it caused your business. Dow has never admitted to this event. Doing so would have resulted in massive fines and lawsuits. For Dow it was easier to hide it and have you pay the consequences.
The moral of the story is Dow will tell you all kinds of fairy tales but you as a Sentricon AO need a place you can trust to share thoughts and get ideas concerning Sentricon. If this communication medium had been in existence in 1996 it would have saved your business from the additional costs you incurred. It would have had an impact sooner on how Dow treats you as a customer. It already has had a huge impact on your business that you may be unaware of but you have been a beneficiary. Join your colleagues in the Sentricon Users Group.
If you were an AO back in 1996 and 1997, did Dow ask you to return Sentricon Recruit bait? Recruit AG Stations? Which reason did Dow give you to explain away the problems with Sentricon Baitubes or Recruit AG stations you were seeing? According to most Sentricon User Group members they were never asked to return their's nor given a reasonable reason for the problems they experienced. Don't you believe a "Partner" should warn you of a problem that the "Partner" created and that will affect you. Don't you think a "Partner" should show enough good character to step up and help you overcome the problem they created and not cause you to pay the expenses of cleaning up their problems.
Join and find out what really occurred. Join and learn what Dow's attitude was about this event and how they felt about compensating you for the trouble and expenses they caused you, and the liability to which they exposed your business.
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