Back just before Christmas our landlord moved me, 10m DD, and OH, to a new bedsit as our previous one was being refurbished.
Within a week or two of living there, we were being bitten in bed... A LOT. So we stripped the bedding and checked the mattresses. We had bed bugs... They were on our mattress and pillows etc. The bed and mattress were already there when we got there btw, as it was a furnished property.
We never suffered from this at our previous address, so I'm guessing the bugs infested the room prior to us moving in, although landlord claims we are the only ones to have ever complained about bed bugs.
We sent the pics to the letting agent, who said they would tell the landlord and get it sorted.
We threw out our bedding, got new stuff, went mad washing and tumble drying clothes and stuff - we use launderette, so not cheap!
A few weeks later and the letting agent is ringing saying they have informed the landlord, and asking us what has been done about them... Nothing! Our landlord has form for putting off anything that will cost him money for as long as possible. I even tried sending him pics of the bugs directly, no response.
We ended up clearing out our savings account and borrowing money off family to sort the issue ourselves. We had a £500 super dry-heat steam treatment, as research suggested heat treatments were more effective than chemical - but so much more expensive! We bought a new bed and new mattress.
The letting agents never sent anyone around to collect the old bed before our new one arrived, and living in a bedsit we had nowhere to store the old bed. We ended up breaking it down into small parts and bagging it up outside, nobody collected it until two months later, despite us asking them to...
So, new beds and everything, treatment done... We still had bugs! Luckily we had a guarantee so treatment was repeated for free. All seemed fine... Then we started getting bitten again! Our guarantee had run out by this time, the pest control guy said we would need to pay again... We simply couldn't afford it. We asked why they kept coming back, PC guy said he would bet money on the bed bugs being inside the walls, coming out through skirting boards.
We asked the landlord directly this time to help us. He said we should find some quotes and then come back to him... Surely not my job!? I spent ages ringing up, getting quotes, finding the best deals, sending texts... Just for landlord to ignore all of them and call-out his standard pest control guy to do a chemical treatment.
While waiting for this treatment, we noticed a blood patch on DDs cot-sheet...Stripped and searched bed, there were families of bugs hiding in the wood and the screws that hold it together, we could see little white eggs and shed skin etc. It was vile. There was no saving that cot, they were inside the wood-work. We had to throw it out.
We also had to throw out our fabric suitcases that were under the bed, which contained winter clothes... A baby bouncer I was going to sell that had been infested, and our hoover. Plus, all the extra laundry is costing an arm and a leg!
We simply can't afford to be throwing out our bed and mattress again (we have wrapped it in 20 rolls of clingfilm), or to have DDs new cot need throwing away again... I cant afford to replace all the things that are being ruined.
Showed DM a pic of DDs new cot today... she replied 'very nice, hope your landlord footed the bill for it!' Now, I think she has a point?
He has refused to pay us back the £500 for the steam treatment we paid for, which I will accept (although its not like, he was doing anything to help us at the time...), but AIBU to think our landlord should be paying for the items that we have to throw away due to infestation?