In May, 2012, my boyfriend and I began receiving strange bites while sleeping in our bedroom. We thought it might be mosquitoes and used some hardware store pest products to try to take care of the problem. The bites continued, with us getting at least one bite every other night, always on uncovered parts of our bodies, including our faces. Most often the bites were in clusters, were intensely itchy and caused painful swelling.
We did some Googling, and started worrying about bedbugs. We inspected our mattress for the telltale signs like blood spots, bugs in the seams, etc., and found nothing. An exterminator came out (arriving two hours late) and also found nothing, but did a 'general spray.' Things were better for about two weeks, then the bites began again. We eventually did find a live a bug on the night stand and captured it with clear tape. An interweb image search revealed that it was definitely a bedbug.
We freaked out. BEDBUGS. It was a relief to finally know what was happening, but it also brought up a lot of questions. Where did they come from? Why us? Once you get bedbugs, you have to burn down your house and move away, right? The exterminator came back (again, late) to do an official, guaranteed 'bedbug treatment,' which consisted of spraying chemicals and sprinkling dust everywhere.
After the 'bedbug treatment,' things were OK for a few weeks, then we started getting bitten again. Frustrated (and itchy), we looked into extermination alternatives and discovered heat treatment, where the entire house is heated to an extreme temperature for several hours, killing all stages of the bedbug life cycle.
Looking for companies that offered heat treatment in Philadelphia, we came across Prodigy Pest Solutions. We checked some review sites, and Prodigy's reputation was overwhelmingly positive. We contacted Matt, the owner of Prodigy, and he responded within 24 hours. Matt was calm and reassuring as he outlined the plan for heat treatment. He quoted us a price which, while not inexpensive, was in line with what we'd expected after our research. He assured us that the heat treatment was guaranteed, and that Prodigy was committed to fixing our bug problem for good.
We arranged a date, and Matt and his crew arrived right on time. We spent the entire previous day preparing the house per Matt's instructions. We left, Matt called later to let us know that everything was finished, and we returned home to our superheated house. We found a few dead bugs and fell asleep confident that the bites were over. We slept well for a month, then the bites were back. After another couple weeks of itching, we again found a live bug. We contacted Matt, who, true to his guarantee, brought his crew back out and heated the house again. As before, they were kind and professional.
Things were great for a month, then we were being bitten again. We called Matt, who, while understandably skeptical that we were still getting bitten after two heat treatments, offered to steam and spray our place. He also suggested that we ask our neighbors if they being bitten, as bedbugs have been known to infest whole city blocks and spread from house to house.
We swallowed our pride, asked our neighbors, and learned that the people on one side had been getting bites for a year, and could see bugs running along their walls. Their house was apparently infested, meaning that the heat treatments on our house were killing the bugs there, but that the bugs at the neighbors' were then making their way back over to feast on us. We alerted Matt that the neighbors' house was likely the source of the problem, and he offered to take a look; apparently they possessed one of the worst infestations that Matt had ever seen. After a few days of back-and-forth with the neighbors, Matt and Prodigy heated our house for a third time (a record, apparently), as well as heating the neighbors' house on the same day.
A few weeks after the third heat treatment, we began receiving bites again. Once again, Matt and Prodigy came out, this time to steam and spray in the hopes that it was just a rogue bug that somehow survived the bugpocalypse next door. As always, Matt and Prodigy were positive and professional, confident that this would be our final meeting. That was approximately six weeks ago, and we have been bug-free ever since, the longest interval without any bites for the last 18 months.
Throughout our entire ordeal, Matt and the Prodigy team were professional and courteous. Our bug situation was not typical, but Matt was always kind and willing to listen to us, and more than accommodating with each and every treatment. It took a while, but our problem has been solved and we have Prodigy Pest Solutions to thank for it. Though we only have experience with their bedbug treatments, I'm sure that they put just as much attention towards all of their services, and would unhesitatingly recommend them for any pest problem.
A huge thanks to Matt, Quincy, Bill, and Brian! read more