After receiving a complaint from an individual who claimed to have bought a new bed that was infested with bedbugs, I started looking into the question of whether new mattresses and bedding could be infested with bedbugs.
I found a Dateline NBC report from 10 years ago that suggested not only was it possible, but that it is fairly common, especially in the context of “rebuilt” mattresses.
An online search found more than one claim of bedbugs associated with products from Wayfair. (Of
Wayfair is a relatively large company that sells reconditioned furniture including bedding.
An online search found more than one claim of bedbugs associated with products from Wayfair. (Of course, I have no way of knowing if these complaints are valid or accurate. I am just pointing out that the complaints exist.
If you buy a new, used or reconditioned piece of furniture or bedding, and it has bedbugs, what should you do? First, don’t call me. You aren’t ready for a lawyer yet. You need to document the product. Show the product and the evidence to some friends, and document it by taking pictures and video. Call the county or state department of health, and ask them to come in and do an inspection. If you can, encase the product in plastic sheeting or get it out of your house If you have a garage, you can put it in the garage. If you are going to ask for compensation, though, don’t get rid of the product yet. don’t get rid of the product until the health department or an independent inspector can come to inspect it. Either the board of health or the pest control expert needs to do a detailed inspection of the product and of your residence. For there to be the core of a legal claim against the seller of the product, you have to prove that it is more probable than not that the bedbugs came from the seller’s product. There are two main ways that you can do this. Of course your testimony that you had no bedbugs pefore you had the product is useful, but more useful is being able to show evidence that there is long-term evidence of bedbugs on the product and no long-term evidence of bedbugs in your residence, or, you could come up with evidence of bedbugs at the seller’s or manufacturer’s facility. Obviously, you would need help in getting evidence of bedbugs at the facility.
If you or your family members are injured by bedbugs, and you can prove where they came from, at that point you can contact either a personal injury lawyer or a consumer lawyer
in your area. You can ask for the cost of the product replacement, the cost of disposal of the infected product, your medical bills, pain and suffering, the cost of treating yoru residence and any other residences that you were forced to contribute to treating due to lease covenents. You might also get compensation for your attorney fees.
You may also want to contact your homeowners or renters insurance company.
How does a “new” mattress get infested by bedbugs? On the local news clip below, the homeowners speculates that the bedbugs jump from the used mattresses in the delivery truck to the new ones. This suggests that it may be negligent for delivery companies to transport mattresses this way.
I can take complaints relating to individuals in the central Indiana region only. To find a alwyer in your area, go to the National Association of Consumer Advocates’ “find a lawyer” page.