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#1
08-03-2008, 08:12 PM
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Vacation and Bed Bugs! (Long)
We returned last week from a major road trip with the family. Toured through Bryce Canyon Ntl Park, Grand Canyon North Rim, Zion Ntl Park, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, G-C South Rim, Mesa Verde Ntl Park, Canyonlands Ntl Park, and then Arches Ntl Park. Put many miles on the old G!
My family and I checked into a Utah motel on Wednesday, 23-July-08. It appeared to be a very clean motel, and the Nancy, the proprietor was very friendly. We were quite delighted with the appearance of Room 126 which we were told had been renovated recently. The only disappointment that evening was that the Wi-Fi signal was very weak and our computer was not able to connect to the internet. During the night, I suffered a very restless sleep, and many parts of my body became very itchy. I got up at about 3 AM to discover that my body was covered with what appeared to be red, raised areas and thought that I might be having an allergic reaction to something, so took an antihistamine and returned to bed. I continued to have a restless sleep, and remembering a brief in-service from work about recent problems with bed bugs, at 7 AM, I lifted the pillow and inspected the sheets carefully with a flashlight that I carried in my laptop case. I spotted a few very small (size of a pinhead) specks and to my shock when I touched a bright red one, it started to move! I quickly got a clean plastic water cup, and flicked the creature into it. The other specks did not move, but I also flicked one of the brownish ones into the cup. By this time, the rest of my family was awake, and I carefully lifted the mattress cover and mattress. There were numerous similar specks under the cover and between the mattress and box-spring of various sizes ranging from pin-head to a few elongated shells of about 1/8" in length. Also apparent were brownish-red smears on a few areas. I was convinced at that point that I had been fed upon by bedbugs. To my relief, my wife and children did not seem to have suffered the same fate as myself. I went to the Lobby to speak with Nancy, and we looked up some information about bed bugs on the lobby computer. She seemed very concerned and graciously offered a refund of our money and assured me that every effort would be made to address the issue and apologized for my experience. She was concerned however that the room was already booked up for the next several nights and wasn't sure what to do. She said she would have to speak to her husband about it. I returned to the room to pack and wash and bag the clothes that might have been exposed. At that time Rick, Nancy's husband knocked and entered the room stating that he did not believe that I had been bitten by bed bugs. He stated that mowing the grass the day before might have disturbed some 'grass ticks' and that I must have been bitten by them. He then went on to say that he knows bed bugs, and they leave a spot of blood on the sheets if they bite. I told him what I had found, and he discounted everything that I said, stating that I would still have to pay for the room. "We don't give money back for things like this!" Prior to checking out, I returned the cash that Nancy had given me, and asked him to please investigate the matter further. He assured me that he would take the bugs to his 'expert' to identify and that if they were discovered to be bed bugs, he would mail me a refund for our stay. He still insisted that the small insects were ticks of some sort and his rooms were bed bug free. When we arrived at our next motel, I counted about 38 bites on my arms. This makes sense as I sleep on my stomach with my arms tucked under the pillow. My back and stomach had about 16 bites, and my legs about 14! Going to bed, no bites the night before, and waking up, 60 to 70 bites (difficult to accurately count as there are some areas that have very closely spaced bite marks)! And this fellow Rick says he has no bed bugs! Further research on bed bugs leads me to believe that the bed may have been in the early stages of infestation and the bugs were in earlier stages of development (they molt 5 times, feeding on a blood meal each time) which could explain the very small size of the live specimen that I captured. I did not know to look in the folds and seams of the mattress for the adults which are 1/8" to 1/4" in length. Many of my bites are in linear sets of 3s which is consistent with what I've read about bed bugs. One week later, still taking antihistamines to help the itching and the occasional Tylenol for the discomfort and using a topical steroid ointment, the bites are still very apparent but just starting to settle down as of yesterday. I believe that Rick is in denial, and that he is being irresponsible for discounting what is likely the beginning stage of an infestation and is risking other travelers by continuing to rent out the room. I believe that Nancy was right in refunding my money and my impression was that she was genuinely prepared to follow through with addressing the concern, however decided to give in to her husband's denial. I called her a few days ago and she said that no one else has complained that has since used the room. Her bug expert is out of town for a few days so could not verify bed bugs. I'm trying to figure out who to contact re my concerns. Is the Utah Board of Health responsible for bed bugs in motels, Utah Tourism, or since the motel is AAA approved, should they be notified? Is there another agency in Utah that should be contacted? I just Emailed the motel to request the refund that I was initially offered and requested an update on their findings and action. Your thoughts and comments? 
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#2
08-03-2008, 08:27 PM
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I would look to recover the monies and contact Dept. Of Health. At least if BOH finds something they will notify you and then you'll have some leverage
__________________
'06'-(6-MT) JWT-TT (530's) F-I Exhaust / MREV-2 + 5/16 /R-E Shifter /Hotchkis /Wilwood 6-4/GT-7's 20"
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#3
08-03-2008, 08:29 PM
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thats ****ing gross man. im sorry you had to go through that...
__________________
SFLG35 Driver. 
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#4
08-03-2008, 08:33 PM
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Quote:
Bed bugs can happen in the most sanitary environments. They are most commonly transported to hotel room on luggage. If they truly were bed bugs and the hotel is not taking steps to eliminate them, that is serious and could leave them open for lawsuits. Was it a chain hotel? If so I would certainly contact the home office as well as AAA. I have heard that in large numbers, they smell like raspberries.
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#5
08-03-2008, 08:39 PM
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#6
08-03-2008, 09:42 PM
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Ohhh man that suckkks, yeah I'm sure Rick knew he had bed bugs and was in denial, get your refund!!!!
__________________
08 Blue Slate G37S 6MT - 03 DG G35C 5AT Parting Out & Selling!!! - Team OCGs - Orange County Gs Club http://www.myg37.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=359
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#7
08-03-2008, 10:02 PM
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Board of Health is absolutetly the first place to go. Also, the consumer affairs division of that State's Attorney General should be notified.
I REALLY hope you didn't bring any home. I saw an episode on Datline about bedbugs that were brought home from Cruises... nasty.
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#8
08-03-2008, 10:03 PM
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Yikes, that really bites Gord (pardon the pun). I think the first thing I would do is to contact the State or County Department of Health. I am assuming that they would go to the motel and do an investigation. I did a search online and found the Department of Health's phone number for Public Health Assessment is 435-538-6108. Good luck, I hope you get your money back and the owner of the motel realizes he's got a serious issue on his hands. Hopefully the itching and discomfort will go away soon too.
__________________
2007 G35 Sport Garnet Ember Premium|Navi|3M 35% Tint|Bat's GTR Headlight Overlays "Do, or do not. There is no try!" 
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#10
08-03-2008, 10:34 PM
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There are a lot people now suing hotels because of bed bug attacks, and are successful.
I used to work for a major manufacturer of poison, and one of the industries I was involved with was Pest Control. There were surprisingly a number of succesful cases of people suing... and this is worldwide.
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#11
08-03-2008, 10:47 PM
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Maybe you should just mention that you think you should get a lawyer and that the bugs are inexcusable regardless of what the bugs were.
__________________
My photography: www.infinusphoto.com My Car: 05 IP G35 coupe | HKS | Eibach | SPC | JWT | Z-tube | Motordyne | Grounding Gear | Tenzo-R type M V1 wheels | AAC | Valentine 1 | Carbign Craft
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#12
08-04-2008, 09:37 AM
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Quote:
I think Rick needs an azz kicking or a phone from the BBB....
__________________
Sold - 2003 G 6MT Coupe with mods Sold - 2006 Lexus IS350 with mods New - 2006 Audi A4 Quattro blk/blk mods duh! When did it become cool to be stupid 
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#14
08-04-2008, 10:01 AM
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I would not have given the money back and forced him to explain why you had so many bites.
__________________
2005 IP 6MT G35 Coupe
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#15
08-04-2008, 10:30 AM
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yikes thats gross! that old guy is an idiot, doesn't matter what type of bugs they were either bed bugs or ticks. He should of refund your money and gave you some extra!
I would never stay at a motel either  But I have always done research on any place I would stay even if it was only for a few days.
__________________
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