Buried in the controversy surrounding the exit of consumer reporter George Gombossy from the Hartford Courant was his article that looks at complaints against mattress company Sleepy’s. We though this bit of wisdom from Sleepy’s COO was worth repeating:

Adam S. Blank, Sleepy’s general counsel and chief operating officer, said last month Sleepy’s was unaware of Blumenthal’s investigation and said bedbugs do not originate in beds, but come from people.

We didn’t know any executives today still believed in spontaneous generation, but apparently Blank does. Worms come from mud, maggots come from meat, and bedbugs come from people.

Less funny is Blank’s threat to anyone who suspects Sleepy’s has sold them a used or infested mattress and reports it:

“Sleepy’s does not now, has never, and will never, sell a used mattress. Any claim to the contrary we find to be defamatory,” wrote Blank.

The investigation Blank is referring to involves a man and his wife who received a box spring in which the outer plastic wrapping had been opened before delivery. Shortly after delivery, they began noticing tell-tale bug bites each morning.

They hired the Stern Environmental Group of Secaucus, N.J. to investigate and to exterminate the bugs. The company – which specializes in ridding homes of bedbugs – dismantled the box spring and determined that it was the cause of the infestation, Maier said.

Stern Environmental Group’s report, made available to me, states that the “box spring … was the culprit. There were bedbugs inside and the box spring did not look like it was new.”

Thankfully, now we know that all of these people are lying, because bedbugs come from people.

“Sleepy’s: The bedbug column The Courant refused to publish about its prime advertiser” [CTWatchdog]
(Images: Barbarellaa, beneneuman)