Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Area Woman: My Sleepy's Mattress Pad Came With Free Bedbugs!
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 29, 2011
Modified Jul 29, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gothamist
View all 3
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jul 29, 2011
Modified Jul 29, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
We've got bedbugs in our schools, our Reebok sports clubs and in our brains, but we thought we had dealt with the bed situation. But reader Annie M. wrote us today to relate her bedbug tale of woe—she claims that a mattress protector pad from Sleepy's came with the added bonus of two bedbugs, and Sleepy's has been uncooperative in her appeals to pay for fumigating her apartment. Read it below:
Would it be of any interest that Sleepy's delivered a mattress protector pad to my apartment last week, and when I opened the plastic and unfolded the pad to remove the cardboard insert there were bed bugs in it? There was a dead adult and a small living one which I immediately killed and froze. Sleepy's has been incredibly uncooperative and uncommunicative, not an uncommon problem apparently. There are several issues on RipOffReport.com of people who did not receive adequate attention, although all these deal with discounts NOT infestations. The company is also not an accredited member of the BBB and has a poor history of resolving issues they are at fault for.
Series of events starting Friday, July 22
- Mattress protector pad is delivered to my apartment. I open the plastic and begin to unfold the pad to remove the cardboard in the center. As I open the tri-folded material there is a bedbug (adult sized) lying in the folds. The delivery men witness this, eliminating the possibility that it was transferred from my apartment somewhere, and due to its location in the product, making it impossible for transference en route. Must have been packaged with them inside.
- Wrap up the bug and the pad in the plastic wrapping the box spring came in and remove from building. Examine chair for anything else and notice a living bug that I squish and freeze.
- Delivery men call Sleepys delivery contact and tell them exactly what happened. I call the store I ordered from and explain the situation. Salesman notes what happened and advises I call 1800Sleepys and ask to speak with customer service manager. I speak with the women, explain the situation and then speak with the delivery woman and explain the situation again: mattress pad brought into my apartment with actual living bedbug in it.
- I speak with several people at Sleepys who all claim this is not something that has ever happened before. They do not answer my questions about how they plan on handling the situation since it has now actually happened. Insufficient answers, am told it is awful that this has happened and they understand I am upset and will be in touch first thing on Monday due to the weekend.
- Call Customer Service woman Joann on Saturday and leave a message just to follow up. Call again Monday at 2.20, leave a message, again at 5. No answer and no call back.
- Call regular customer service agent and explain that I have not heard back. He tells me the complaint was only lodged Sunday afternoon and it takes 24-48 hours to hear back so expect to hear by Tuesday at 2pm.
- Receive a call at 8.20 on Monday night from Oscar in their corporate office. Hes sorry, he meant to call earlier but was unable to. Obviously NOT a priority. Explain again the situation (no internal communication apparently) and how it is unacceptable for their product to come into my apartment with bugs in it. He says its awful and he understands. I explain that I want Sleepys to pay the expense of fumigating my apartment. I haven’t said anything about free mattress or cancelling the order, just cover the cost of fumigation. He says he will see what he can do and will call me back Tuesday or Wednesday.
- No call Tuesday
- Wednesday 4pm, I call Oscar because I have not heard anything and he says they do not think it is bedbugs, Sample might be something else. I need to take the sample in my freezer to a pest control tester and verify. Seeing as how the salesman at the Sleepys store showed me a dead bed bug when he was selling me the mattress protector, I am confident that it is a bed bug. Am appalled by lack of customer service and cooperation. If it is bedbugs, Sleepys will refund me $100 but the rest of the fumigation charges will be at my expense.
- Thursday bring sample to pest control tester and they say they can't tell immediately what it is because it is too crushed, but unofficially would say it is a bedbug. Am awaiting results of further tests before I contact Sleepys again.
- Friday July 29, discover dead bed bug in my bedroom - definitely not crushed and identifiable. Mild (to say the least) freak out.
This is not an issue of an extra 10% off a mattress or bed bugs that were transferred in from the truck or somewhere en route. That would be unlucky but not their responsibility. Nowhere have they disputed that the bugs were not in the product when I received it. They have acknowledged that they were actually inside the pad, and even though I have not asked for anything other than that they pay the fumigation charges, they do not cooperate. I'm not trying to get anything free, just want them to take responsibility for their problem, and they are not so I am interested in applying some external pressure.
Annie added that she ordered the bed ("the pad was style STMAX5/0 (on the invoice)") from the Sleepy's store in Long Island City. We've called the Sleepy's manager of customer service operations for comment.
Sleepy's had been under intense scrutiny in Connecticut, after former Attorney General Richard Blumenthal opened an investigation into whether 25 customers had been sold mattresses that had bedbugs, but new Attorney General George Jepsen dropped the investigation in April, saying they had "found no evidence of bed bug infestation of company warehouses or delivery trucks, which are regularly inspected and fumigated."
You can check out Sleepy's consumer affairs report here—it seems there were several reported incidents of bedbugs in 2008 and 2009, but not as many in the past two years. We've contacted the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs to ask where consumers should do in such situations.
Tagged
bedbugs
long island city
mattress
queens
sleepys
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC Council to consider earlier Legionella reporting after deadly outbreaks
A bill facing a hearing Monday would require cooling tower owners to notify city health officials when bacteria levels reach a much lower threshold.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:36 p.m. ET
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
News
Staten Island fire injures 2, but spares historic 'Godfather' church
Dozens of firefighters responded to the blaze, which started in a vacant warehouse. It was contained within three hours.
By
Giulia Heyward
Bail reform remains major issue in NY governor's race, 7 years after it became law
By
Gino Fanelli
NYPD identifies Bronx man, 26, killed in Midtown subway shooting
By
Ryan Kost
,
Elizabeth Kim
and
Phil Corso
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .