Why the Bedbug Come Back?

For those who experienced the nightmare of having bedbug in their house or apartment, they would know that it is not easy to get rid of these bugs. The victim has to clean up the house, throw away all infested furniture and needs to do a lot of cleaning. Normally, after 2 treatments, the problem will be solved. As long as they are careful not to bring back the bedbug to their home, they won’t have to worry anymore.

However, we do have some customers who called back after the second treatment and claimed that they still get bites from the bedbugs. From our survey, we found out that the tenants have indeed followed our instruction in cleaning the house and it is impossible for the bedbug to come back again after the second treatment.  

After more surveys and inspections, we finally found the answer to why and how the bedbug returned. Bedbugs came back because the time period between the first treatment and second treatment has been more than two weeks; close to a month. Now, why does that matters? In summer, the second treatment is normally one week after the first treatment because the temperature is higher and the eggs hatch within 7 to 10 days. In the winter, when the temperature dips, the eggs take more than 7 days to hatch. So, the second treatment is scheduled 2 weeks after the first treatment. When the second treatment has been delayed for over 2 weeks, there is a chance that those eggs hatch and the baby bedbugs will grow into adult bedbug and the adult bedbugs start lying eggs again. So, the second treatment kills the live bedbug, but leaves the eggs there. That’s why some tenants still have the bedbug problem after the second treatment.

Bedbug Issues

This morning I received a frantic telephone call from a couple dealing with a severe bedbug infestation. This couple live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband. They have been living in a 1-bedroom apartment for over 2 years and have never encountered these creatures before in their entire lives until recently. They have traveled overseas for 2 weeks prior to his phone call, and when they returned they found hundreds of small oval dark red insects crawling all over the walls in their apartment.  At first they thought these insects were cockroaches and sprayed them with over-the-counter pesticides. Needless to say, the pesticide didn’t work and the next several evenings left them sleep deprived and inflicted with bedbug bites. Since they are renters, they contacted their landlord and management company who recommended that they contact us.

As they described their experience in detail to me, I tried to determine where the bedbug originated from. Could they have brought the bugs back with them from their travel abroad? Without identifying the source of the infestation, we will not be able to effectively eliminate and prevent new bedbugs from further infesting the apartment. Unfortunately they had mentioned that their building management company is not as alarmed by this incident as they should be and is insisting that the incident is isolated to their apartment only. Since we didn’t know where the bedbugs came from, I asked them to check with their neighbors to find out if they have a similar issue, and to confirm that the infestation is indeed isolated and confined only to their apartment. Since most of the neighbors were not home, they were going to contact them this evening and give me a call back tomorrow.

What We Do For U besides Pest Extermination

What comes across your mind when you see / hear the phrase “Pest Control Company” ? We are pretty sure, you will be thinking about the process of killing rodents, roaches or other insects, etc. BUT, as a pest control company, our roles and responsibilities are not limited to just sending our technicians out for extermination. It also covers a whole wide range of services.  

Imagine the following few scenarios to help you better understand that we are NOT only about exterminating pest: -    

Scenario 1:- A restaurant calls us up and tells us that they just got a violation ticket from the DOH (Department of Health). So what can we do to help? One definite solution to this is we provide services to help the restaurant clean up its building to meet the standards laid out by DOH and subsequently, the restaurant can pass the DOH’s future inspection. Bear in mind that cleaning up here is not just limited to EXTERMINATION is also about providing consultancy services such as best practices to keep the building clean in the future, etc. 

Scenario 2:- A customer calls the office for help. However, he is not able to pay for the services provided due to financial constraint. What can we do to help? In such a scenario, our customer service will give advice and consultation to the customer in ways to resolve his problems. Did we send out our technicians for extermination in this case? NO !!  

Scenario 3:- A tenant calls and complaints about his landlord not willing to help him solve his pest problem in the apartment. What can we do to help? In this case, the company will become the 3rd party person and takes the roles of both a messenger and a liaison between the tenant and the landlord so both of them can work out a solution. Was an extermination technician involved in this case? NO !! 

As you can see from the above scenarios, it is truly evident that our company CAN take on many different roles, at one point of time or at different time. No matter when and what type of roles the company needs to take, our professional staffs will always do our best to help the customers out.

A Centipede Tale

Last year, there was a customer who called us for emergency service to a centipede problem in her apartment. I’ll call her Miss C. Miss C was hysterical on the phone and wanted us to send someone to her place right away. Money was not an issue to her at that point because she was terrified of this insect and wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible and hopefully, never have to ever see it again. Miss C knew it was going to cost her more than the normal price since she requested for immediate service and also, it was after working hours.

M&M dispatched an evening technician to her apartment right away. At 7pm, Mr Centipede Hero arrived and was ushered to the problem area by Miss C, who, by the way, was a very nice lady with a young child. The treatment process took approximately 1 hour, where detailed inspection and careful pesticide application was performed. Miss C was very pleased with our service and gave Mr Centipede Hero a generous tip. The following morning, Miss C even made a personal call to M&M office to compliment on the wonderful service we have given her. She also commented on Mr Centipede Hero’s patience and calmness during service. Mr Centipede Hero has apparently given Miss C a lot of information on centipede control and the cause and effect of it.

Mr Centipede Hero has become Mr M&M hero overnight. He has since been promoted to Supervisor for evening routes. But of course, he has had many other heroic stories prior to his encounter with Miss C’s centipede tale. As for Miss C, I haven’t heard from her since that night, but I’ve heard from other customers who were referred to us by her.

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