BED BUG NIGHTMARE. Without Cary (owner of Bed Bugs and Beyond) I don't know where I'd be. If you don't have time to read my story, know that he took care of us above and beyond, and I'd recommend him to anyone. I moved into what I thought was the place I'd stay until I bought a home. Rude awakening. Only a month after moving in I started getting bites, I was told it was spiders. Since my room mate wasn’t being bitten I believed it. 4 months later I woke at 3am with my face itchy and swollen, turned on the light to find a bed bug under my pillow. Full panic, sat researching until dawn. What I found was that this chemical treatment sounded bogus. The bugs only die if they are sprayed dead on, because they have these crazy exoskeletons. They live in the baseboards, mattresses, furniture, clothing, and they only come out at night... ( to be specific when you have reached your REM sleep. creepy) soooo, how is spraying them in the day going to work? Not to mention they want to spray a chemical all over your apartment, at least 3 times. Not my favorite idea. Oh- and 30% of people don’t react to bed bug bites...which explained why I was the only one being bitten. Finally I found what was said to be "the silver bullet". The Heat Treatment. Fairly new to Canada, only three companies licensed, and most with a 90 day guarantee. Bed Bugs and Beyond was the first company I called and was on the scene that day in fact. Of course it is the pricier treatment, and my cheap landlord was against it, Cary felt so bad for us he gave us a deal just so we could get the landlord on board. He ended up treating our place 5 times, two of which were after the 90 day guarantee. Only too late we found out that the problem was in the adjoining household, and they did not want to pay for the heat treatment. They preferred to spray, every sunday, themselves. Right. So, the problem couldn’t be solved and we had to move. Cary gave us a moving treatment complimentary just to get us out of there, he heated all our stuff as it left the house, little tricky in a snow storm. He really was great, dealing with my abrasive landlord, and not abandoning us when the warrantee was out. This is 6 months since my initial call, and he was only paid once. He stayed in contact with me in my new place (brand new still under construction condo, wasn't taking any chances), and when I found ONE bug, he came to treat again. He gave me the best deal he could since it was me paying this time (and he was already out $8000 from our last place) and treated my new place. I am now finally BED BUG FREE! And I can say the heat treatment works, as long as you aren’t sharing a wall with someone who has the bugs and wont deal with them. I know this is a long story. When I was researching I found bits here and there, so I wanted to give a full account to the next person dealing with this nightmare. The heat treatment can melt a few things that are cheap plastic, mostly because it was a 6 months nightmare for me and Cary cranked it higher than usual just to be sure. He helped us out when we were in a horrible place, and he stuck with us even after he was free of any obligations. I can't tell you how strung out we were, the psychological toll it took...that we are still trying to get over. One last thing...my landlord did the chemical spray once we were gone, the woman living downstairs wrote me to tell me she has never seen so many bugs before. Fair warning. Cary still checks in now and again, and he is replacing any and all plastic casualties. ;)
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,400.00