by R.W. Delaney, Business Writer
Bats in the belfry are a mild irritation compared to birds bestowing their droppings on unsuspecting customers below. Jack Geiss, Director of Operations for Lyden Corp. in Youngstown, Ohio, faced precisely this problem as customers pumped fuel at one of the company's many service stations. Lyden Corp. is Amoco's largest and oldest jobber -- that is, distributor of Amoco to all of Lyden's 180 locations.
In the Youngstown site, Geiss says, the fuel pumps are under a large steel canopy supported by exposed trusses that attract birds. "The birds were defecating on our customers and employees," Geiss says.
Bad Scene
"First, we tried squirting the birds with water and throwing things at them," he continues. "It didn't work. And in Ohio it's illegal to bait or kill pigeons," he adds.
"We were apologetic to customers," Geiss says. "If bird droppings hit their clothing, we paid the cleaning bill. It was terrible," he says. Once, he recalls, bird droppings landed on a woman's newly coifed hair-do. It doesn't get much worse than that in Customer Relations.
"This station," Geiss says, is among the top stations in the state of Ohio in terms of the amount of gas pumped -- "more than 2,000,000 gallon a year," he details. "Our customers are loyal to us, and we didn't need to irritate them."
Timely Advice from the Experts
About that time, an advertisement in a trade publication caught Geiss's eager eyes. He read about an ultrasonic device that deters birds with high-pitched variable sound waves above the normal human hearing threshold but highly annoying to birds and other pests. Intrigued, and aware of the money-back guarantee, Geiss phoned the manufacturer, Bird-X, Inc., in Chicago.
"When I called Bird-X, they suggested taking three actions," he says. "First, power-wash the underside of the canopy to get rid of the bird odor and mess. Then install a QuadBlaster QB-4 ultrasonic unit to annoy the birds without harming them. Then put up a number of Terror Eyes' balloons that look like beach balls with big eyes to frighten the birds," he reviews.
Geiss took the company's professional advice. He cleaned the huge (180' X 60') canopy, installed a single QB-4 unit, and hung a total of six Terror Eyes balloons (two balloons per section of canopy). The birds were bothered by the combination of visual and sonic deterrents, he says. "Within three weeks," he says, "no more birds! It was a cheap solution for us."
Unexpected Side-Effect
The installation of the Terror Eyes had an amusing, unintended side-effect. "This is an inner-city location with a drive-off problem -- that is, a certain percentage of the customers drive off without paying," Geiss explains.
Since installing the Terror Eyes, "we've had fewer and fewer drive-offs," he says. It turns out that a number of drivers thought Terror Eyes were hidden video cameras. The rumor spread, and Geiss just let it be. "The Bird-X devices paid for themselves simply by curtailing drive-offs," he notes. "We've used them for more than a year and have been very satisfied."
Spreading The Good Word
Geiss is not shy about sharing Lyden's successful solution. Because Lyden is a large jobber, smaller operators call Geiss for advice about business and other issues. "I've already done their R&D on the subject," he says. "When they ask if I've ever had a problem with birds, I say, 'Sure. But not anymore.' I recommend Bird-X products to others."
He tells them the details of his story, too -- how sparrows and blackbirds left the first week after installing the devices, followed soon thereafter by the pigeons. "Pigeons are devils," Geiss says. "If you can get rid of a pigeon, you can get rid of anything."
So far, he says, "they haven't come back." Customers and employees are most appreciative. Putting it in the vernacular, Geiss concludes, "Customers noticed there's no more poop all over the place."
Pigeons in Pennsylvania
Jim Connelly, Plant Manager of Overhead Door Corp.'s plant in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, had pigeon problems, too. "We have a 200,000-square-foot building with 25 bay doors," he says. "The bays are open to receive goods and raw materials used to manufacture garage doors." About 20 pigeons were nesting in the structural rafters. "It was a tremendous mess and a health hazard," Connelly summarizes. And the mess had to be cleaned up. "It consumed two employees for a couple of hours every two days," he says.
"We tried to run the pigeons out," he says. "We tried to scare them out with props such as owls." All they succeeded in doing was to drive the pigeons to other sports in the large building. The problem had been going on for years before Connelly joined Overhead Door Corp., and it looked like it would continue unabated.
"The mess was getting onto products," Connelly continues. "It was out of control." And, he says, it also posed a health issue to Overhead Door's 200 employees at the Lewistown plant, because pigeons are known carriers of disease.
Blowing the Whistle on Pigeon Poop
"About then, I stumbled on an ad for Bird-X products," Connelly recalls. He ordered one Bird-X ultrasonic unit (the QB-4) and installed it about 20 feet up. Within two days, the birds departed. "But," Connelly says, "they moved to another location in the building."
Not to be outflanked, Connelly installed a second QB-4 unit at the opposite end of the building. That did it. "The two units have successfully deterred the pigeons," he states. "It emits a varying ultrasonic pitch," he explains, "and a changing pulse pattern so birds and animal can't get used to it as they do with a constant tone," Connelly explains.
"These units work," he confirms.
Overhead Door, with headquarters in Dallas, Texas, is the nation's first garage door manufacturer and has been in business for 75 years. Connelly assumes that the company will be in business for at least another 75 years -- without pigeon problems.