Bedbugs Charged in Aaron's Rental

The tiny creatures can sometimes escape detection.

But when they bite, you will know it.

Bedbugs can come into your life quickly and make it a living hell.

Last week, Doug McDaniel, owner of Cates BBQ, a seasonal outdoor restaurant in Niagara Falls, contacted the Niagara Falls Reporter.

His problem, he said, was that furniture he rented, including a bedroom suite that included a "luxury queen mattress" from Aaron's, Inc., on Pine Avenue in Niagara Falls, was infested with bedbugs.

He found out, he said, because, sometime after renting the furniture, his wife, Michelle, became ill.

"At first she thought she had been exposed to poison ivy," he said.

But a report by pest inspector Patricia Nelson indicated that her problem was likely due to bedbugs since there was evidence of bedbugs found in their home.

McDaniel and his wife live in Ohio most of the year but came to Niagara Falls the last two summers to operate an outdoor restaurant located just outside the Niagara Falls State Park.

The rented furniture from Aaron's was for their seasonal apartment they took this year in Niagara Falls.

After he learned the cause of his wife's illness, McDaniel, who said he never had an experience with bedbugs before he rented the furniture from Aaron's, asked the company to reimburse him for the costs of extermination, his wife's medical bills due to her reaction to the bites and other related expenses.

This got him, "flat out nowhere," he said.

The Reporter contacted Aaron's and spoke with the individual who rented McDaniel the furniture. He declined to comment and referred the call to his manager, who also declined to speak with a reporter.

A simple check on the internet shows Aaron's has been literally infested with complaints of bedbugs nationwide, but, to date, if any originated in Niagara Falls, they were not readily found on the internet or in published reports.

In a letter from Aaron's, dated June 25, 2012, written to a reporter at WSMV-TV in Nashville in response to complaints of bedbugs from rental customers of Aaron’s, the company wrote, "Aaron’s takes each customer report of bedbugs seriously and handles each issue on a case-by-case basis. In cases where a customer has a claim, we work hard to reach mutually agreeable resolutions with our customers."

Although Aaron’s company policy is to clean and inspect all returned merchandise before being re-leased, according to several internet forums, former employees allege that corporate emphasis on "lease, lease, lease," results in merchandise that often leaves the store with no cleaning of any kind.

Thousands of customers around the U. S. have complained to Aaron's of bedbugs and Aaron's has been the target of bedbug related lawsuits in Atlanta, Nashville and Philadelphia, to name a few.

According to McDaniel, Aaron's have offered to do nothing and demanded that he prove that the bedbugs came from their furniture.

McDaniel said he plans on providing that proof through the discovery process if he fails to resolve the matter and is forced to file a lawsuit against Aaron’s.