Contest Submission 3: That beautiful couch had beautiful bed bugs!

Submitted by Dennis in Hoboken, NJ

I found the most kick-ass sectional couch on Craigslist. It was the exact size my girlfriend and I needed for our living room. It was only a year old and in great condition. It was also pretty darn cheap.

I called the number and the guy seemed cool and normal. My girlfriend and I picked up the couch that weekend and brought it home, and everything was great. 

About a week later we started noticing bites on our arms, legs and bodies. We figured out by process of elimination that it must be bed bugs. We searched our bed and mattress for the usual signs we read about on the internet. Nothing. We had never heard of any cases of bed bugs in our building and our neighbors didn't seem to have them (yet!), so it was a mystery.

We finally called the exterminator and he asked if we had gotten any hand-me-down furniture or curtains or anything like that recently. It was the couch! What do you know, we pulled up the couch cushions and found an insane amount of bed bug poop and blood droplets! We were infested! GROSS!

They were a nightmare to get rid of, not to mention costly (our landlord would not pay because our exterminator told him we got them from a couch off of Craigslist. That fucker.) I still cannot think about that experience without cringing a little. 

I love Craigslist don't get me wrong, but be careful what you buy!!!!