Once Upon A Mom

From the Hilliard, Ohio location, I purchased a queen bed and the bed contained bed bugs.

On February 23, 2013, I purchased a queen size sleigh bed (headboard, footboard, and side rails) from the Hilliard, OH New Uses store (3658 Main St

Hilliard, OH 43026). The headboard and footboard had large water stains, and the insides of the side rails were dirty an contained animal fur.

Since the price was only $45.00, I figured it was still a good bargain. I was sure there was a product to clean the water stains and a little soap and water would clean the side rails.

I brought the bed home and put it together. I cleaned the headboard, footboard, and the outside of the side rails. I put the mattress on the bed and started using it the next day, which was a Sunday.

The following Wednesday morning, I noticed red spots on my arm that became horribly ichy. When a couple days past and I kept having red patches/bumps on other parts of my right arm and a few on my left arm, I thought maybe I had gotten something from our cats. One of my cats scratched their chin and ears often. I was concerned she had mites. I took both cats to the vet ([redacted]) in Dublin, OH) and the vet inspected them for ring worm, fleas, ticks, and mites. Neither cat had any of those problems. The cat that itched often was diagnosed with chin acme and allergies. The vet recommended I change the type of food bowl and use unscented cat litter.

My cat's scratching stopped but I continued to have bumps and itchy red patches on my arms and feet.

I went to a dermatologist, around Mid-March, and the doctor diagnosed me with hives. A few days later I found out I was pregnant and thought maybe the hives started as part of my pregnancy. The dermatologist and my obstetric doctor confirmed that pregnancy hormones can cause hives. I was informed to take [redacted] to stop the itch. That didn't prevent me from still getting the bumps, however.

Around the end of March and beginning of April, one of the bed rails broke. So, I removed the mattress from the bed and placed it on the floor in a spare bedroom. I slept on the mattress for a few days. The "hives" continued and started to get worse.

One night, I was about to go to sleep and was listening to music on my phone. I cut the light off and lay on my stomach near the front edge of the bed. While I was listening to music, I noticed something crawling up the side of my bed, from the bottom (floor) to the top. I immediately turned the light on and noticed a small bug, which I had never seen before. The bug started running back down and went under the bed. I panicked and called my husband, who had been sleep on the couch (don't ask why). He came upstairs and I yelled that I think I just say a bed bug. He stood the mattress up and we found two bugs, one a full adult and a small baby bed bug.

We contacted our landlord and they sent an exterminator out a few days later to inspect our townhome. They confirmed we had bed bugs on the mattress and bed frame only. They did not see bed bugs anywhere else in the house.

We threw away the queen bed and mattress.

Our townhome was treated for bed bugs and the exterminator said that since the itching started shortly after purchasing the bed and since the only place the bed bugs were was on the bed and mattress, it's highly likely the bugs came with the bed. He informed us how to check for bed bugs on used beds but said there are a lot of places bed bugs can hide in wooden frames.

I called the New Uses store and informed the store manager of the issue and that I was unhappy. I said that I did not expect my money back but wanted to mention that they need to do a better job treating furniture for bed bugs before selling it. He asserted that they treat everything that the sell for bed bugs before it goes on the floor and said that there was no way I purchased the bed from his store. He wouldn't believe a word I said until I brought in a receipt showing that I purchased the bed.