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Aurora man says new mattress was delivered with bed bugs

Posted at 9:28 PM, Aug 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-08-12 00:43:46-04

AURORA, Colo. -- It was supposed to bring a good night’s sleep to the Godin family. But when their new mattress was delivered, they say it brought nothing but nightmares while they were still awake. 

“You can see the scars I have from the bites,” Ken Godin said.

He bought a new, nearly $4,000 king-sized mattress from the nearby Mattress Firm. A month later, he started waking up with bites. 

“Bed bugs,” he said. 

But how could they come from a brand new mattress? He blames the delivery method.

“The truck was full of used mattresses on one side with the new stacked on the other side,” he told Denver7’s Jason Gruenauer. 

“My theory is that the truck had bed bugs in it from someone else’s mattress, jumped either an egg or a bed bug got on my new mattress and came in the house,” he said.

Denver7 spoke to an exterminator that works exclusively on bed bugs. He said the size of the infestation lines up with the timing of the mattress delivery, and that it is very possible that they transferred from one mattress to another inside a delivery truck.

So Ken moved his family out, hired an exterminator, and a month later was finally clear of the pests. But not from the bill. 

“From extermination to moving out of our house to damage I’m well over $10,000,” Ken said. 

Denver7 reached out to Mattress Firm for a response. Below is their full statement: 

“Our customer service team initially spoke with Mr. Godin on July 19 regarding the issue of bed bugs. He noted that he contracted an exterminator to have his home heat treated for bed bugs, and stated that the exterminator confirmed the bed bugs were the result of the mattress. Despite multiple attempts to obtain the documentation from the exterminator - from both the service provider and Mr. Godin - it was not provided. We contacted Mr. Godin to let him know that we would not be able to cover the cost of his pest control services without documentation from the exterminator confirming that Mattress Firm was at fault. However, because, we work very hard to ensure that our customers are pleased with our service, we offered to provide Mr. Godin a full refund for his mattress, which he declined. We are happy to work with Mr. Godin to find an amicable resolution.”