Last Call Pest Control Uses Compassion When Treating Multi-Unit Housing

Editor’s note: Since March is Women's History Month, PCT Magazine will be highlighting women-owned and-operated pest control businesses throughout the month to spotlight their contributions to the pest control industry.

QUINTE WEST, ONTARIO, Canada — Rachel Mendes A.C.E., owner, Last Call Pest Control, Ontario, Canada, was working at a funeral home when she suffered a work-related injury. This led to her looking for something “different and interesting,” she said.

This curiosity led Mendes to the pest control industry – not realizing the adversities she would face working in a male-dominated industry.

© Rachel Mendes

“I had a significant pay gap issue at my first pest control company and that’s the reason why I left,” Mendes said. “That was my first experience with women inequality in pest control. For a good five years, I didn’t know many women in pest control, and I wish I did because that would have provided me with a lot of support, even just as simple as [finding] work pants that fit.”

After several years working for a larger pest control company, Mendes felt this was the right time to start her own pest control business. In June 2020, she took the leap of faith and started Last Call Pest Control.

Now, Mendes prides herself on being an inclusive, judgement-free women-owned and-operated pest control business that primarily services low-income housing and apartments for bed bugs and cockroaches.

Mendes and her husband, Justin, and her father, George, are in-field technicians and Mendes, along with her mother, Rhonda, handle bookkeeping and administration, while taking care of her and Justin’s son, Dante.

Scroll to continue with content

Mendes said she has trained her family-owned team to bring a sense of empathy when communicating with customers.

“Our job is not to get people in trouble, we just want people to have the pest-free living they deserve,” she said. “Sometimes you are the only person these people see, so if you see something, say something. Our advocacy and compassion really go a long way.”

Mendes and her family have learned over the years how to separate home and work life, while not stepping on each other's toes. She has grown the business almost entirely through word-of-mouth referrals, she said.

“My parents are very helpful, and we all just try to respect each other’s spaces,” Mendes said.

Southern Ontario’s warmer climate over the last few years, especially during the winter months, has increased rodent populations, Mendes said.

“We really didn’t get snow until January and now it’s starting to get warmer, so rodents are busy for us all year,” she said. “There really hasn’t been a slow season in several years.”

Mendes plans on keeping the company manageable within the family scope and hopes to hire another technician down the road.