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Suspicions Confirmed...Now what???
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OverlyAnxious
newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 5
Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 30 2009 13:30:16
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After noticing a few strange bites I decided to have a bed bug detecting dog from M&M come inspect my apartment, even though my own visual inspection didn't reveal any evidence. According to Champ the dog, we've god bed bugs! Champ hit two out of three bedrooms and our livingroom. In one bedroom he hit the bed and a shoe rack and in the other bedroom (mine) he hit the bed and a suitcase I kept under my bed. Champ also hit the couch in our living room. I immediately called my building's management company and they were initially pretty defensive that I had called in the dog without letting them know and contacting the building exterminator first. We just moved in and according to them, there have been no reports of bed bugs in the building before, but one of the mattresses that Champ hit was left by the previous tenant (stupid to hold on to it without at least encasing it, I know) and I can't help but suspect that they had a bed bug infestation, whether they realized it or not. I guess determining how this happened is a moot point and either way, our building's extermination company will handle the treatment free of charge.
While I'm glad not to have to pay for it myself, I spoke to the exterminator and I'm pretty wary of his knowledge. He immediately told me that we need to throw out the mattress that was left in the apartment. I agree that we'd probably feel safer with that mattress gone, but he suggested we just toss it on the sidewalk. When I asked, "Don't we need to take certain precautions when getting rid of these things?" he replied "Just toss it out in the middle of the night. Your building has 30 tenants. No one's going to notice and come knocking at your door to yell at you." No concern for spraying the mattress or covering it with plastic, whatsoever. Ummmmm..... not really the words of wisdom I was hoping to hear from the man in charge of remedying this situation. Basically, I'm wary of the building management's PCO but I know that they're wary of me and my roommates and want to maintain control of the situation. Obviously, its in both of our best interests to take care of this quickly and effectively but I have a feeling we might not agree on what that means and as much as I'd like to have M&M do the treatment, I don't want to pay for it and I'd rather spend my money on a prep service since I'm in the middle of writing my graduate thesis. I'm waiting for the exterminator to get back to me about when he can come in, but in the mean time... any thoughts about how I should handle this and the questions I should be asking my management company/PCO? I'm totally as a loss....
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spideyjg
oldtimer
Joined: Jul '08
Posts: 1,405
Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 30 2009 13:44:10
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Did they find hard evidence? An actual bug, cast skin, fecal trace, or egg? Anything other than a dog alert and skin reactions?
Jim
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OverlyAnxious
newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 5
Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 30 2009 13:50:59
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No hard evidence, but the handler didn't do any visual inspecting himself, just passed along what the dog was reporting and gave me some general advice. While I have thoroughly inspected my room and haven't found anything, the living room and the other bedroom haven't been thoroughly inspected yet.
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OverlyAnxious
newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 5
Posted 1 month ago
Wed Sep 30 2009 13:58:49
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I should also note that I did actually find one tiny brown spot on my sheets and one tiny brown spot on my duvet. Tested both with hydrogen peroxide and neither reacted. Not only that, but I'm really not sure how long either of those spots have been there.
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OverlyAnxious
newbite
Joined: Sep '09
Posts: 5
Posted 1 month ago
Fri Oct 2 2009 10:26:23
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I'd just like to update everyone and if you can, please provide feedback! We'd really appreciate it.
We had another disturbing conversation with our PCO. After being very flakey and not returning our phone calls or telling us anything about prep work though we're supposed to have the treatment done this weekend, our PCO finally picked up the phone last night. We asked him what his treatment procedure would be and he said that typically he only sprays in the rooms were evidence of bed bugs has been found and that he would only be spraying once. When we asked him about doing standard follow up visits he got very indignant and was offended that we were implying that his work would not be good enough to get the job done in one go. He also told us that the whole process would be done in an hour, no mention of waiting a few hours before it was safe to return to the apartment. I know different PCOs have different procedures, but it seems like we've got red flags everywhere. I wrote an email to our building's management company politely expressing our concerns and reminding them that it's in everyone's best interest to insure that we're handling this correctly but I have a feeling that we have a battle ahead of us.
In the mean time, I've hired a bed bug prep service to help me prepare my room for treatment since I have a mountain of school work to do. My roommates are doing their own prep work. Prepping before I actually know when our treatment will happen and who will do it worries me a little but I figure that the worst thing that'll happen is I'll have to live out of bags for a little while and I might have to put a few things like my bedding in the dryer again before the exterminator comes.
Any thoughts on what we should do???
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