There are the travel nightmares that you can walk away from after you leave the plane, and then there are those that stick with you. Literally: British Airways has apologized to a family who claim they had to endure an overnight flight while being bedeviled by bed bugs. [More]
bed bugs
Unhappy Guests Claim Bahamas Resort Infested With Bed Bugs
By 1.19.17
Regardless of how much time you spend outside in the sun, sand, and surf when you’re on vacation, you still want to be able to end your day in a bed that is nice and clean. Yet some guests at a popular Bahamas resort say they were attacked by a colony of bed bugs living in their hotel room. [More]
How To Check Your Hotel Room For Bed Bugs Before You Start Itching
By 12.27.16
Bed bugs aren’t in the news on a daily basis like they were a few years ago, but they’re still with us, ready to travel from infested areas back to your home. You can avoid them in part by not bedding down or stashing your luggage anywhere that’s infested. [More]
Man Burned While Trying To Rid Rental Car Of Bed Bugs
By 4.15.15
The list of things we didn’t think needed to be explicitly stated has just grown, after a man trying to kill bedbugs with alcohol in his rental car ended up burning himself instead of delousing the vehicle. [More]
Finding An Old Mattress Within A New Mattress Is Even Worse When It’s Filled With Bed Bugs
By 2.11.14
Bed bugs are already the pests of our worst nightmares, but usually when a customer buys a brand new mattress, that fear is allayed by the fact that well, the mattress is a new one, wrapped in plastic, and thus safe from bugs. But what if some freaky mattress inception had gone on and there’s an old mattress inside the new mattress? [More]
The Best Way To Rid Your Home Of Bed Bugs Is Definitely Not Setting It On Fire
By 6.14.13
Anyone who’s ever been plagued by bed bugs knows how the little critters can turn your world into an awful, creepy crawly nightmare. But while one man didn’t mean to set his home on fire while trying to rid the house of bed bugs, trying to heat up the suckers with a hair dryer, space heater and heat gun accomplished just that. [More]
Slumber Soundly In Vermin-Infested Hotels With This Bed Bug Sleeping Cocoon
By 2.27.13
Most of us are about a kajillion percent sure, or we should be, that the pillow where we lay our heads each night isn’t crawling with vermin. But what if Yelp fails you, and you end up at a hotel where things might be a bit dicey? Perhaps you just don’t trust the look of that roadside flophouse or maybe you’re paranoid — in either case, SkyMall has just the thing for you. [More]
FTC Goes After Marketers Hawking Natural Remedies For Bed Bug & Head Lice Problems
By 9.10.12
If you’ve ever had bed bugs or known anyone who’s endured an infestation, you know what a nightmarishly awful, stressful and expensive problem it can be. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission doesn’t want two companies to prey on consumer distress by offering up natural remedies for bedbugs and head lice if they’re not really that effective at getting rid of the critters. [More]
Would This Bed Bug Billboard Keep You From Shopping Here?
By 4.12.10
Over on Rick Moser’s blog, he posted this photo of a billboard in NYC featuring a mammoth bed bug looming over a strip club, a souvenir shop and a pizza joint. Aside from it just being creepy-to-the-max, might this billboard not also be doing damage to the businesses below? [More]
Nighttime Itching? Bed Bug Infestations Up 500% Worldwide
By 4.20.09
Call it the Twilight phenomenon. The EPA held its first ever “bed bug summit” last week, to discuss the rise in infestations of the tiny nocturnal bloodsuckers. There was talk of more ‘bed bug task forces’ in big cities, possible federal research into new technology such as steaming or freezing the bugs, and lots of icky close-ups of parasites.
Walmart Refuses To Take Back Air Mattress, Makes Up New Return Policy On The Spot
By 10.3.08
Jacob writes, “I have been trying to make Walmart take back an air mattress for two months now, and they refuse.” The store manager at the Walmart on South Duff Avenue in Ames, Iowa (shout out to Leslie Hall!) has started making up new rules on when an air mattress can be returned—including that the federal government limits returns to 15 days “because of the bed bugs, you know.” No, we didn’t know that, Walmart manager. In fact, after thinking about it, we’re still not sure we know it. Because it sounds like you made it up.
There Are Bed Bugs On The Subway Benches. Yes, Really.
By 5.14.08
Bedbugs are usually thought of as something that only hotel guests have to worry about, but apparently New Yorkers who like to sit on benches while they wait for the subway should be concerned about the bloodsuckers as well.
Hey, Thanks For The Bed Bugs!
By 4.14.08
Sarah is experiencing every traveler’s worst nightmare. Bed bugs!
I just started reading The Consumerist. I did a search on bedbugs to see if you had any posts, and then thought I’d tell you my own story after reading about the people who found bedbugs in a Santa Monica hotel. In August of last year, I stayed at the Holiday Inn in Santa Monica.
Consumerist Ask Metafilter Round-Up
By 8.10.06
• Can bedbugs survive an airplane flight if they hitch a ride in your (checked) luggage? [Link]
