High street store transporting old and new beds in the same van!

[Londonmum14]

I was vacuuming my DD'S bedroom today and when I pulled her bed away from the wall the back of the headboard had loads of black marks!
On closer inspection it's riddled with bedbugs!
I've had it less than 4 months and I know there were none in her room or the flat before then. When I called customer services I asked if they offer a service where they collect old beds when they deliver new. They do, so it doesn't take a genius to work out that someone's grotty old mattress has infected it.
The wrapping wasn't sealed when it was delivered but I didn't think anything of it at the time.
Having not received a call within the 4 hour window I was advised their twitter bod is now telling me it could take until Monday for them to get back to me!
WIBU to email their CEO now to try to get this sorted and not wait?

Do not wait they will have tool over your house. I would get them to give you answer today.

Tell them you will be getting your house fumigated by exterminator at weekend and forwarding them the bill.

Good luck!!

Thanks. I'll email the CEO in the morning then I think.

Eugh, you poor thing. If they are doing that, i think the mattress should be properly sealed in heavyweight plastic (to avoid accidental tears).

We had bed bugs last year and it was horrific. No idea where they came from and don't want to scare you but it's like a living nightmare. We had to empty our house - down to every last piece of paper - twice to be fumigated. Even then you can't be sure to be rid of them as they can live for up to a year without feeding. Don't mess about with the blame game, get it sorted. Cost us around £3k all together. Worth every penny not to wake up with bugs crawling on me. Good luck xx

£3000! There is no way I could afford that!

Are you suggesting the bed bugs climbed from an old mattress in a van (which would only have been on the van for a short time) and climbed to the unsealed part of your mattress?

That sounds unlikely to me- as goldwrapped said- they sometimes just turn up and you don't know how they got there

I wouldn't go ranting to the CEO if you've had it 4 months- they'll just say 'how come you didn't notice earlier'

Have you stayed in a hotel/sleepover etc?
They can survive on your nightclothes and infect your home.

I think it's unlikely that the bedbugs get from the old mattresses to the new ones on the basis every new mattress I've got has been wrapped in plastic.

I think £3000 is a bit of an exceptional circumstance, so try not to worry too much! We had bed bugs last year after a holiday in Greece (literally never going near the country again) and it was horrific and I definitely lost a bit of my sanity during the whole process... It cost us £210 to get the room treated. If we'd used the company the council recommended it would have been subsidised and only cost £50, but they couldn't come out for another 10 days.

Definitely don't wait for the company to get back to you before calling pest control, you can argue with them over the money later. Check your local council website to see if they offer bedbug treatment, otherwise google it. You want someone who can come out as soon as possible as they do breed quite quickly.

In the mean time, try not to go too crazy (I must admit I drank a lot of wine...). Try not to move anything out of that room if you can help it. And as grim as it is, someone should continue to sleep in that bed, otherwise they'll just wander out trying to find a source of food and spread to other areas. They are hardy little bastards, but your pest control officer will tell you everything you need to do to get rid of them. Just for information, my flat wasn't fumigated (I think that's very unusual?), it was treated with a pesticide which took like an hour (which I spent in the pub) and then a week later treated with a residual pesticide which was a lot quicker and I didn't need to leave the flat for (which was a shame because I was looking forward to the pub...).

Just a final comment, I'm sure you have googled, but are you sure it's definitely bed bugs? Black spots on the mattress or sheets is more common than on the wooden parts of the bed I think?

When the bed arrived it was all sealed in plastic except for the headboard. That was in plastic BUT it wasn't sealed.
The headboard is the only part of the bed that is affected. I have caught 7 live bugs. They were living in the folds of the material. There have been some black dots on the top of the headboard for around a month but not many, it's the back that is bad.
Having Googled I have found adult bed bugs can go a year between feeds so I think it is possible that they have been transferred from the van.
Yes someone has been away but the suitcase is kept in another bedroom. The bed (and the people sleeping in there) aren't showing any signs of infestation.

That's so annoying!

I know carpet firms can't transport old and new in the same van so surprised bed and other furniture can.

I wrapped the headboard in clingfilm to attempt to contain the buggers! Should I unwrap it?

OMG! Which company? I am about to buy a new bed

It only cost us that much because of the lengths we went to, to ensure we got rid of them properly. The fumigation cost about £400 and involved the whole family being out for 6 hours-I went to the pub too Spam! But our pets needed to be out for longer so we put them in boarding kennels/cattery. I insisted on new beds for the whole family - by the time we realised what was going on, me going to snuggle my kids at night or vice versa meant there were bugs in all the bedrooms. I only saw them on our fabric headboard but the bug man set traps & found some in every room .... We had to put all our belongings through a heat treatment tent which cost hundreds in electricity. We were very thorough but there no way we were cutting corners and risking them not being exterminated!! Funnily enough we'd just been to Greece too ... But we'd moved house recently so they could've been in the removal van, or they might have already been in the house... Thinking of you OP x

I've pmed you madmomma

I had them when lived in London and the exterminator chap told me they most likely came in to the flat on me (or someone else) from public transport - specifically in this case he blamed the number 24 bus, and told me I should never sit down on public transport! He was clad head to toe in leather, presumably as protection when he was out and about. Sorry you're dealing with them, it's a horrible thing to go through

Oh no! Poor you, my parents had these and it was expensive to get it all sorted. Everything that could be, was washed at 60 degrees and things that couldn't be washed but could be removed got taken away and put in the deep freeze for a few days. Then a man came and did something to the house. It wasn't standard fumigating as far as I'm aware as that can send them into hiding until it's over and they come out again. I heard they can go 18 months between feeds...

Think the company was just called the bed bug man. He was based in battersea I think.

OP, can you PM me details too? I am horrified at the thought of the beds I've ordered for my new house being infested

How long have you lived in the house,? They could have already been there.
Bed bugs usually live in the walls and only come out at night, attracted by the carbon dioxide you breathe out.

Has your DD got very itchy bites in rows on her arms, legs or torso, if not they are unlikely to be bedbugs?

Is it Benson for Beds?

The fact that they live in the headboard doesn't mean they arrived by the headboard!

They could've come from anywhere. To decide that it must be the company,after 4 months, is a tad extreme and unfair.

Not Bensons.
It's a new build so they weren't here before us. Will pm you Ravioli

An update for anyone interested.
The pest control company came out and agreed with me that it started in the headboard.
The high street chain have accepted the report and are paying for the treatment