No Bed Bugs Found

[Laura4680]

We have had 3 different guests in the last 60 days complain that they were bitten by bed bugs. Both the cleaners and myself have checked the bedroom in question top to bottom with no evidence of bed bugs. We have an exterminator contract at this property and they have also come out to inspect the entire house twice in that timeframe. They did not find any evidence of bed bugs on either occasion.

Three different guests cannot be coincidence. My question is, if there are no bed bugs, what could potentially be causing these complaints? We have three other AirBNBs and all four properties use the same laundry detergent and we have not had a complaint at any of our other properties. What could be making the guests think there are bed bugs?

[Helen3]

It's difficult for hosts on a forum to comment. If your pest control people have done an inspection twice and confirmed that it is not bed bugs (or any other type of insect or rodent) it's a bit of a mystery.

You don't have down pillows by any chance or are you using bio washing powder for your laundry.

The only other thing I can think of is as you allow pets that there are fleas? @Laura4680 

[Tina183]

I have had 1 complaint about bed bugs in my time hosting and also had an inspection done by an exterminator at the request of Airbnb. I did wrap the mattress and box spring for that space in the bed bug bags so make sure that I was doubly protected in case it was bed bugs. I haven't had any other complaints since then.

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Laura4680 

Do you allow pets? If so, fleas are a possibility. Fleas love me, and their bites create quite a reaction.Fleas are everywhere out of doors, and drop off dogs into carpets, corners  and the like

[Lorna170]

@Laura4680  If you haven't done so already, get your mattresses and box springs into bed bug encasements.  Replace any mattress pads or foam type cushioning that you have on the beds, or put those also inside bed bug encasements.  Doing this will ensure that if your guests strip the beds to check for bugs that they will see that you have taken proactive measures.  

If you are pet friendly, you will want to treat for fleas.  We "bug bomb" whenever we have a few days between guests, and we have an ozone machine that is run regularly.  That seems to really keep down the spiders, gnats, no-see-ums and other insects that populate our mountains.  

The bed bug complaint is a oft-used scam by guests.  When we first started, we had at least one guest a season complain about bed bugs, especially after reports by local newspapers that such and such hotel chain had an issue.  We knew it was a scam when one guest supplied pictures of their bites -- looking at the metadata of the picture, we found that it was taken off of a medical website.

Do you have a hot tub?  When a hot tub is not chemically balanced, the guest can get a rash from it that can be mistaken for bug bites.  We drain, clean, refill and treat our hot tubs between guests and have had no complaints since we began this practice.

Lastly, you can try posting a "Certificate" from your pest control company  -- that might help.

I hope that you have no more complaints.