"No new activity was found" and Thanks to KillerQueen

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"No new activity was found" and Thanks to KillerQueen

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Ratorja

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jul 16 2010 16:03:32
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This post is REALLY long, so if you just want the summary, scroll to the bottom

The best thing anyone in our situations could ever see on an invoice is "No new activity was found." KillerQueen just did my follow-up treatment yesterday and we are now cautiously optimistic, which is about the most anyone can hope for!

I've been posting bits and pieces of our story around the board, but in case you're interested, here's the whole scoop:

We had bed bugs 3 years ago, either from a hotel we had stayed at, or from our apartment building, which I constantly saw mattresses coming in and out of. Our neighbors had 12 and 14 people EACH in their apartments, so they would never approach our landlord if they did have a problem, so I'll never really know. At that time, we hired BedBugPatrol (after doing just about everything we shouldn't have to try to get rid of them ourselves, except for bombing), who used chemicals and dust, and they did take care of the problem. We didn't have an issue after that. We moved about 4 months later and didn't take much with us since I was having my furniture (that was in storage in Iowa) brought up to NY for our new place. We were in the new apartment for 2 years, absolutely no problems.

We just moved again this past February and still did not have any problems, and it's not for lack of checking--having gone through bed bugs before, we always checked the bedding and mattresses. Around the beginning of June or so, we started getting bites. They looked like mosquito bites, and we've been getting a lot of outside critters coming in once in awhile, so we just passed it off. They did not look like the bed bug bites we got 3 years ago so I didn't immediately think of them. Then almost 4 weeks ago, I was sitting on the couch and the back of my arm started itching. When I started scratching it, I noticed there were 3 bites all together and freaked out. I flipped all the cushions and checked the couch. We found 3 adult bed bugs. I called BedBugPatrol first since we worked with them before, but now they wanted more money to treat a one bedroom apartment than they did then with 2 bedrooms. Plus their prep list was way more than I really wanted to deal with after just moving a few months ago.

That's when I saw reviews for KillerQueen all over these boards and gave him a call. He was able to schedule us for the next week. The only prep work we had to do was wash/dry and bag all of our clothing, and pull stuff out of the closets. I have to admit that he costs more than BedBugPatrol would have charged, but at that point, just not having to do all of the prep work was worth it to us.

The conversation with my landlord did not go well. It's his house and we live in his basement apartment. I thought maybe he'd offer to pay for it or maybe a rent break or something, but the extent of the conversation was that there was no way the bugs were there when we moved in, and that we better take care of it quickly before they went upstairs.

We had our mattress and box spring on the floor, so we voluntarily got rid of our box spring and got a steel frame for the bed that has the support of a box spring. While wrapping up the box spring before disposal, I did not see ANY evidence of bed bugs on it and we still could not find anything on the mattress or bedding, either. We saw 2 adults on the bed a few days apart but that was it. I couldn't understand where they were coming from.

KillerQueen arrived on time for the first visit and we had a brief chat about areas I was concerned about and things like that and we left for the treatment. We had taken our pets to a friend's place and while there, we found out that they have bed bugs! They had known for over a month and did not say anything to us. His building has 10 apartments that have to be treated. To this day he still has not said one word of apology or acknowledgment about us getting them from him; my husband had stayed overnight there when I was in the hospital in May, and the friend visits our house a few times a week, with no precautions.

I talked to KillerQueen over the phone that evening and found out that the main source of infestation in our bedroom was a set of framed artwork over our bed, no wonder we couldn't find the little suckers, I never would have thought to check there. They were treated and disposed of. Our infestation was pretty mild, as I had suspected. However, my landlord stopped by during treatment and KQ showed him some tears in our sofa that made him a little nervous about being able to get all of the bugs on the first try. KQ told us that while he would have tried the sofa and just see what happens, our landlord pushed him to encourage us to get rid of it. Because we felt we already rocked the boat pretty badly with our landlord, we got rid of it. Thankfully for my landlord's sake, we were already planning to get a new one in the next few months, or else I would have raised all hell about the cost to dispose of it and replace it. KQ's first treatment was to steam the mattress and sofa, apply dust to all of the baseboards and such, and treated furniture with Bedlam and Demand (simplified version of the whole treatment).

We got ClimbUps a few days later and the bed has been isolated ever since. I was still getting bitten by something around our computers, and I was still waking up itchy in bed in the mornings. We put white sheets on the bed, no evidence of bugs, but I was still itching. Two days later, I removed the comforter just to see what would happen, and I haven't woke up itching since. We DID wash and dry the comforter to all hell before treatment, but something about it was just irritating me, apparently, and we threw it out now since we planned to get a new one anyway.

Since the first treatment, we have not seen any bugs at all. I think the itching I get around the computers is either from some other bug, which is completely possible, or I'm just paranoid, which is also possible. KQ came yesterday for the follow-up, we had a great chat with him and got lots of good information and some stories. He applied more Bedlam and this time Phantom, and most importantly, didn't find anything new!

During this whole ordeal, KQ was great about answering our 50 questions, even when I tried to ask the forums instead of bothering him in PM! We had no doubt in our minds about his competence and he's great to work with. I knew that even if some bugs HAD survived the first treatment, I really had no concern that they wouldn't eventually be wiped out, which turned out not to be a problem anyway.

The short version:
Only had to deal with bed bugs for about 4 weeks total, appear to be bed bug free right now, but not taking any chances yet. We are incredibly lucky that we caught the infestation early and that we had great treatments.

KillerQueen was awesome and treated with a combination of steam, chemicals, and dust and it looks like everything was killed during the first visit, but he still treated during the follow-up just in case. He's responsive, friendly, and VERY knowledgeable about what he's doing. There's no guessing about his success, no point-shoot-and-pray like so many other PCOs seem to do.

I HIGHLY recommend him, and I'm sure my landlord is thankful as well after getting a good report from him last night.
kirads09

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jul 16 2010 16:15:20
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Fantastic success story! Gives me hope. Killer Queen, excellent!!
KillerQueen

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jul 16 2010 21:28:46
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Hi Ratorja,

Thanks for the kind words!! I'm sure we gottem and life will soon get back to normal. The success story is a bit early .. but I have confidence that what we both did worked.

As always, keep me posted.

Thank you, John
DeedleBeetle

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jul 16 2010 21:40:30
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That's great...

I only want to remind you that some of your itchiness may be a reaction to what was used to kill the bugs.... and that goes away...

and, Ratorja, i want to ask you something:

What about your friends who knew they had bedbugs for a month and who, without informing you and without taking precautions, visited your home several times a week over that month and where your husband stayed? What do you think and what do you feel (those may be different) about them not telling you and not taking any precautions? What does it say about them as people and as friends? And what will your relationship be with them in the future?

Thanks.
Ratorja

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Posted 2 years ago
Fri Jul 16 2010 22:09:31
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Deedle,

To be perfectly honest, I'm furious about the whole situation. One thing I forgot to mention is that this same person had bed bugs at the same time as us last time we had them, which is one of the reasons we suspect it was from a hotel we all stayed at around that time. We didn't even KNOW about this little snippet until we found out this time! Also, the friend wasn't even the one who told us they have them - he lives with this parents, and his MOM told us when we were there. He personally never said a word about it to either of us until it was out in the open.

I find it completely disrespectful. I wouldn't be SO angry if he didn't tell us but was at least taking precautions against spreading them, but he wasn't. The whole family just seems so relaxed and casual about it. They saw the bugs weeks and weeks ago but didn't even call about an exterminator until their building management told them a neighbor had bed bugs. I believe they used bug bombs, though (great idea). I don't know how people can just live with them. As I was talking to him yesterday about his upcoming treatment and what other apartments were being treated, I was concerned that the management didn't check the whole building, only two floors. He just shrugged and said "If they come back, it's their fault." It's like they don't even care if they're gone! These creatures destroy lives and I just don't get it.

Right now nobody is allowed in our place until we are sure we are bug free. This person won't be allowed back into our apartment until his own place has been declared bug free, even if that is months away. One of our other friends has completely banned him from his apartment, and also banned him from an outdoor barbeque we're supposed to have in a few weeks. I gladly told the rest of our close group of friends about not only our situation, but the person we got them from, since we all get together frequently. One guy drives the other around all the time, and he never told him, either. Now he's worried about his car and his family's home as well, and rightfully so. He's been over at the infested apartment many times without knowing anything, so no precautions. It honestly sickens me how many people he could have spread them to ONLY because he never told anyone! As for the future, I personally wouldn't mind cutting the strings. Some things are hard to forgive. Unfortunately, he's my husband's best friend so I'm sure things will be back to normal in time.

Yes, I know it's not quite a "success story" yet, but I wanted to keep one thread together for updates and I'm thinking positive!