to think this guy hasn't done his job

[FlyingSouth]

We have bedbugs. Its crippling our state of mind at the moment.

Over a month ago we contacted a local pest controller who quoted us very cheaply to fumigate the bedrooms, advising us to throw our bed, and that the treatment was very safe and effective. we went with it and he carried out the work.

2 weeks ago we discovered the bugs back. My dh phoned the guy back and he came back and had a quick spray around. He was shocked that they had returned, couldn't understand it, has the whole time been very blase about the whole thing, very reassuring "oh everything will be fine".

Yesterday - they're back. We phoned again and were told we'd get a call today which didn't come. So I phoned a company who claim to specialize jn bedbugs, they have a very impressive website. I was talking to them for half an hour, seemed incredibly knowledgeable, and actually were dissuading me from spending my money with them as they weren't local. gave me advice, which conflicted somewhat to first guy(in that he should have offered at least 2 treatments, shouldnt have advised us to ditch our bed, that only 6% of cases are eliminated with one treatment etc)

Anyway my dh phoned back the original and questioned this, in a non accusatory way. He became completely angry and defensive and basically said "well go with these guys if you think they're so great and don't pay our fee- we won't come bAck" dh and I were flabbergasted, we were only asking questions! Left completely clueless we've contacted a 3rd company locally this time, and explained our dilemma,he thinks the initial job wasn't thorough enough.

So aibu to think the first guy hasn't done a proper job? Do we take him at his word and not have him back and not pay his fee and start again (at what will be an incredible expense both financially and time wise to us)? Do we ring back and grovel and ask him to come back to respray (as he had suggested)? Dh thinks we should go with the latter, doesn't want to upset him and wants him to finish the job. I'm not sure I trust him now.

YANBU. Bedbugs are horrible and very difficult to get rid of. Does anyone in your area heat treat for them. Very effective and chemical free, BTW, if the weather is sunny where you are you can put things out in bin bags in the sun and it kills them. Needs to be really hot and sunny.

I don't think I would get the guy to come back again.

The fact that he is willing to forgo his fee makes me think he knows that he hasn't really done a great job. His response sounds like he doesn't really have the expertise to help you and this is his way of getting out of it. Otherwise surely he would have responded to the questioning by explaining his actions.

I understand that you don't want the expense but this is clearly badly affecting your life so I would say if you can afford it go with a more specialist firm.

Could the people you spoke to on the phone recommend someone local to you?

Good luck.

Can your council offer this service?

When we moved into our house the previous owners had cats and left us with carpets infested with cat fleas.

The council charged a one of fee of £45 and came out twice to ensure the treatment was effective.

But we got into a conversations about pest control and the man said that bed bugs are the worst thing to deal with, usually requiring several repeat visits to ensure they were gone and in his opinion people would be well advised to get rid of everything, bed, mattress and bedding, just to be sure.

Some councils will charge a reduced rate or provide the service for free if you qualify for certain benefits.

But based purely on my conversation with the man who came to see us for the cat fleas, your first company haven't done a proper job and should have arranged at least one follow up visit when they attended for the first time. And I agree with AreWeHavingFunYet, I think he knew he was doing a shoddy job at the time.

They are extremely, extremely difficult to get rid of. We were told that we were lucky to get rid of them when we did because we caught them at an early stage.

I'd like to send my sympathy out to you though, because they are awful. Absolutely vile. And you become completely obsessed with them. It took me about 6 months before I could go on public transport without twitching constantly.

It cost us around £500 to get rid of them in the end. Plus we had to wash at a high heat every item of clothing we could that could go at that heat, dryclean all dryclean items (that was about £300- the curtains in particular. Gah!) and put all other items in storage for a year. Stacking the books and other items in the bath so that they could be sprayed was also a nightmare.....then we left the house for a fortnight.

I'm so sorry, but if you have a very depressing google, you'll probably find out that they reckon the little sods are becoming resistant to the sprays.

Other friends that this has happened to have had to throw out their beds (and in one case, all bedroom furniture).

G'Luck

Tortu Did you have to live in an empty house for a year with all your belongings in storage?

Thank you all. I'm literally at the point now where I want to leave this house and every single one of my belongings and start again. If only we could :( Even just moving house we'd likely take the problem with us. We are so depressed, I'm 5 months pregnant and we have a 2 year old. I've just put her to bed and I feel like I'm sacrificing her to them. I just don't know what to think or do any more, my brain is complete mush and I don't feel like I can think objectively at all.

Tortu, in all of this I've not spoken to anyone who has experienced it, I feel very alone, embarrassed and dirty. I think we must have had them a few months. We don't react to the bites so didn't discover them until we saw one early one morning and googled it. Then the little blood stains on the sheets and itchy feet started to add up.

We have already thrown away our bed and mattress (on original guys advice) and our bedside tables. We had hot washed and tumble dried all items of our clothing and emptied our and DD's bedroom. But moved it all back in when we thought the job was done. He sprayed the first time and we left it a week and a half before bringing the new bed in. Which it seems is now infested. Cost us £400+ as well as cost of new pillows, duvet, bedding. As well as throwing away a lot of stuff - bags, suitcases etc. I've since been told we shouldn't have thrown away the bed unless it was encased and properly removed, we could have spread the problem to other rooms. The guy didn't tell us this.

MrsTP nowhere locally does heat treatment, gutted as it would have been my first call, the use of chemicals doesn't sit well with me, especially with a young child and being pregnant.

Council weren't much help when I phoned. The local guy I spoke to this evening seemed knowledgeable and thorough so I think I'll ask him to come around and do us a quote.

Do you think its reasonable to not pay for this first guys service? I don't want to be unfair, I know they are hard to eliminate, but surely he shouldn't have promised something he couldn't deliver. He also promised me the chemicals were safe around pregnant women, now I'm scared that's not the case How naive have I been?

I wouldn't pay for the first guys service simply because I think he has offered to waive the charge because he knew it wasn't done properly. He hasn't helped has he, in fact from what you're saying he may have made the problem worse.

Is there any way you can find out what chemicals he used and check? The chances are you are fine, though knowing may put your mind at rest.

Do you know what chemicals he used? I am not in the UK but here pyrethrum is common and you should probably check in pregnancy. However, there are other things like diatomaceous earth, which I think is probably completely safe (but obviously still check). The heat thing is the best because it is non-chemical but also much more effective.

I wouldn't pay the first bloke. He obviously isn't a bedbug expert and should have told you that.

Don't feel dirty or ashamed. Posh places that have had bedbugs... The Empire State Building, The Ritz in NY, stopping before I get sued . They are not respectful of class or cleanliness.

how do you know if you have bedbugs? DH was bitten in his sleep last night and I'm scared to google incase i never sleep again!

I wouldn't pay the first guy but I'd write him a letter confirming that as per your DH's converstion with him, you're not paying (which is what the guy suggested) just to cover yourself if he tries to make out you owe him money somewhere down the line. I'd also hire someone else. You might want to think about contacting trading standards as well.

lardylump lots of different things can bite in your sleep so its not necessarily bedbugs. The signs we had were little bloodstains on our bedsheets (where they poop or lose a bit of their feed as they gorge themselves). Then if you inspect closer you may find little black dots where they are living. Often in the headboard or slats of the bed (top 3 slats apparently). DH pulled back the mattress and found live bugs the morning we discovered it all, about 9 in total, they are about 7mm adult ones. Google the pictures, please do, don't leave it if you do have a problem, and please get expert advice, don't trust the first person you speak to.

MrsTP The Ritz!!! Actually i've heard that hotels suffer badly with them, makes me never want to stay away again Oh and I know one chemical he used was Ficam (I googled it but couldn't find anything substansive, but it didn't put my mind at rest) I don't know if he used other chemicals and I'm a bit dubious to ask now.

Good advice maxpower re the letter. The actual worst thing is this guy is a "friend" (I use that term loosely) of DH's mum. I just can't understand his reaction, surely that's not good business sense?! The guy who offered to give me a quote suggested I contact BPCA for impartial advice, which I will do tomorrow.

bed-bugs.co.uk/
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00xpk18
heatandgo.pestokill.co.uk/

this might be what you are looking for,

www.heatandgo.co.uk/

To avoid bring into your house,when traveling, on return
You must remember that suitcases should always be unpacked outside; everything thoroughly shaken away from the house,then put straight into the washing machine.
Anything not able to fit into the first wash to be left outside until it gets its turn in the washer.
And the suitcase to be hard brushed and hoovered and still left outside for as long as possible and store your luggage outside or treat it with insecticide. .good advice from else where*.and don't let anyone who has been to NY stay with you, or traveled on the central line.
www.raveable.com/

*"Apparently the number of bedbug infestations in the UK is steadily climbing. And they are very difficult to eridicate. One case I know of ended up needing to strip back the plaster. Modern habits of washing at lower temperatures don't help deal with the problem. And if everything isn't dealt with then you just get re-infestation....."

wash all fabric at 60 degrees, dry outside, then seal in those vacuum pack storage bags, get your mattress treated then have bed bug proof coves put on,

get a karcher steamer, steam everything all nooks and crannys,everything you own , keep going with the treatments, eventually you will crack it,

If you have any neighbours who share a party wall with ,above or below,next to, they have to treat to, or you will never solve it.

If you write the letter as manpower suggested, copy it and send it so you have proof of postage and so he has to sign for it when he receives it.

Also restate your reasons for your complaint in full as you have here so he can't argue with them later on.

And make sure you say that you are confirming in writing that he told you that you did not have to pay his fee based on your complaint and the advice you had been given from the other company and not that you had refused to pay him.

Then give him a reasonable deadline in which to reply to you if he disagrees with anything you have stated in the later and that if you do not here from him within this time you will consider the matter closed in its entirety from that point on.

And dear god I am crawling with phantom (hopefully) bed bugs now. Threads like this always make me itch.

It would be very unusual for one or two treatments to solve the problem,

That is why some companies offer the ongoing service, which is why you have to decide when starting to tackle an infestation, care package or pay per treatment.

www.heatandgo.co.uk/5_star_treatment.html

lots out there, growing industry.

www.heatandgo.co.uk/5_star_treatment.html

sorry.

NoOnes I'm sorry I am the same reading stuff like this, the crawling skin - I'm living with it right now. And thank you, yes will do that.

quote bedbugs.co.uk were the specialists I spoke to this morning, ideally I'd get them in but we're just too far away from London and it would cost a fortune for them to travel (£30 per hour travel and £150 per hour of treatment) Heatandgo seem to be more commercial?

Oh golly I did phrase that badly, didn't I? We had to put our clothes that could only be handwashed/washed at a low heat in storage for a year as well as the electrical items from next to our beds. We have actually just been able to get them out- felt a bit like Christmas!

OP, I didn't need to move out for two weeks inbetween treatments- but it just got the stage where (I had a new baby at the time....sharing our room with us. Sob) I needed to leave.

Erm....I did actually get as far as looking at our insurance documents and, in the dark hours of the night breastfeeding whilst watching the feckers crawling, fantasised about just setting fire to the house. It really did feel like that was the best solution at one point!

Talk to the council. It's actually in their interest to get them exterminated, or they will spread. If they are vague, mutter darkly about how your two year old hangs her coat next to those of other children...after putting it on in the bedroom. That sort of thing.

Do you have them in any other rooms, or is just the bedroom?

They are definitely in our room and our daughters room. I suspect the spare room too. Upstairs just feels like a war zone. I moved out with DD for 10 days after the first treatment, partly due to chemicals, partly due to not having a bed (DH stayed and slept on the sofa). I feel ya about needing to leave.

Might try the council again.

It's okay OP, I'm the one who keeps coming back for another reading/scratching session.

If it helps, when I realised the previous owners of our house had left us with fleas (as wall as a flood and a suspicious looking stain on one of the carpets) I plugged the steam iron into an extension cable thing and I steam ironed everything, carpets, curtains, sofa etc.

I don't know if that would work on bed bugs but perhaps it would be worth a try.

Steam is actually very effective against bedbugs. The problem is that you won't get them all that way.

Good luck, OP.

So I've had a second guy out to assess our problem and I'm now convinced that the first guy has been completely shoddy, my daughters bed should have been taken apart, he hasn't done plug sockets, wallpaper cracks, underneath the carpet etc. Only used 1 chemical instead of the 5 this guy recommends on 2 treatments two weeks apart, and crucially, we apparently should have had a post treatment report including a list off the ingredients in the chemicals for safety reasons and in case we reacted to them.

I'm definitely not paying the bill, and will be writing a letter. But I'm most aggrieved about the time, money and stress that we've gone through that cannot be reclaimed.

Guess its the price I paid for naively thinking a good job could have been achieved by spending £60. This full retreatment (we need to start from scratch) will cost us around £275 (he does claim to have a 100% success rate and has offered for me to talk to previous customers). He also suggested I talk to the professional body fr impartial advice before committing. I just don't want to be taken for a fool again.

Thank you for your kind words and advice.

I am on your behalf that the first guy didn't just say that he didn't have the expertise to sort your problem rather than wasting your time. I would be tempted to send him a bill for the bed you needlessly threw away.

We had a bad flea infestation once and even waiting a couple of days for the pest control people to come felt like weeks.

This new guy sounds good though. I hope he was able to put your mind at rest about the chemicals used too.

Did he give you any idea how long before he can treat and when you can expect to be free of them?

Fingers crossed you are bed bug free soon.

Thank you. This new guy did fill me with confidence, but I'm so so wary now. I will phone back tomorrow and hopefully he can get it done in a couple of days.

I hope so - every night I go to sleep in that bed imagining them all over me, I wake up in the early hours and it's all I can think about for hours on end, but I'm too scared to look. I haven't slept well in weeks, I'm turning into a paranoid nervous wreck, see them everywhere. I feel like I'm sacrificing my daughter to them every time I put her to bed.

But regardless. I feel like a complete idiot for not knowing what chemicals were used, I'm most cross about that. I'll be ringing the BPCA (British pest control association) in the morning for advice as to how negligent this is, and go from there.

The 2nd treatment will be 2 weeks after the initial, I believe 2 weeks after that, with no new activity, we will be considered clear.

Bristol uni has this problem at the moment so i'm told!