Bed-bug denial. Don't trust PCO. Continue cleaning while awaiting 2nd opinion?

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Bed-bug denial. Don't trust PCO. Continue cleaning while awaiting 2nd opinion?

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kazoo

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Oct 6 2010 18:49:44
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Fuming.

Squashed and live bed bugs found, blood on sheets and bites, though no evidence of 'nesting' found on or around our 5-month-old mattress.

Apartment complex management gave no expression of surprise on me reporting bugs and handed me a sheet, which I had to sign, on how prep for PCO. I've been up half the night washing, drying and sealing bedlinen, clothes etc. I also took the bed apart and vacuumed thoroughly, per instructions.

Many, many bug reports in this area (Tenderloin/SOMA area of San Francisco).

PCO guy (who has terrible review on Yelp) turns up hours late, and on arrival takes a phone call saying he'll be free in fifteen minutes. Showed him the bedbugs I'd captured, found under and in our bed. One, admittedly, was squashed out of recognition, but I'd taken a photo of it and the big red splodge of our blood that stained our sheets. He said that the squashed one was unidentifiable, the photo wasn't zoomed in enough and the other 3 bugs weren't bedbugs, but something else, though he wasn't sure what. But they look exactly like the bug pictures I've seen on the internet.

Then he said he wouldn't treat (he was carrying a small sprayer), and asked to take the captured bugs away to show their entomologist. I said no he couldn't, and that I would get a second opinion.

Then he looked upstairs at the dismembered bed for 5 minutes max and said he couldn't find anything, that it was clean. It was very clean because I'd vacuumed thoroughly per instructions. He did leave some traps next to the bed.

I've phoned up other, better-rated PCOs and, maybe unsurprisingly, they say it's probably bedbugs, especially because of the bites and the blood on our sheets. They've offered a free evaluation of the captured bugs. They said sometimes people mistake carpet beetle larvae for bedbugs, but they don't bite and leave bloodstains. I've checked carpet beetle pics but they bear no resemblance to what I've caught.

We're leaving our apartment anyway in 3 weeks. I've contacted public health and will get them or other PCOs to ID the bugs asap.

In the meantime, should I continue cleaning and bagging our clothes?
toledo

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Oct 6 2010 19:36:08
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Whatever you do, don't part with those sample bugs. I had several people that wanted to keep ours. You will need them when you get a new (hopefully) PCO. When you say "leaving the apartment in 3 weeks", do you mean moving? If so, I'd continue washing and bagging all clothes and linens. You don't want them to hitchhike to your new place. Just remember, drying is the key. Dry on high heat for 30-60 minutes. That will kill anything you have.
kazoo

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Oct 6 2010 19:45:41
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Yes we're moving (hooray!). I'm most concerned not to move the infestation, if there is one, to our new apartment.

I'm looking on the washing and drying as early prep for the move, if nothing else.

But then maybe I'm being paranoid! I'm a new immigrant from the UK and am convinced that the US is full of bedbugs after being badly bitten in a 5-star hotel in Vegas on our honeymoon. My husband thinks I'm nuts.
toledo

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Posted 2 years ago
Wed Oct 6 2010 19:51:35
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You do have bad luck. Check out the bed bug registry to make sure no one has reported bed bugs at your new place. You've got the bugs to prove that you are not nuts.