“I gave my daughter a bath, laid her down, and I started watching TV, and before I turned the TV off I seen a bug crawl across my cover,” said Jessica White.
But, she says it wasn’t just any bug and it wasn’t just one.
“I pulled all the sheets back and that’s when I seen all the bugs. I grabbed my daughter, I gave my daughter to my sister, and just started recording.”
She says she grabbed disinfectant spray and, “sprayed every single thing down. I shook everything. I sprayed my luggage so bad that it changed colors.”
Reese Boyd III, the lawyer for Sandcastle South Beach, confirmed that the Facebook bed bug video was taken at their resort. However, he said there was no infestation.
Sandcastle South Beach said, while the resort maintains an aggressive industry-leading pest control regime, unfortunately there’s nothing they can do to prevent guests from bringing in bedbugs.
They also said, when the situation was brought to their attention, they handled it immediately.
After telling ABC 15 News this information over the phone, Boyd later released a formal statement.
Boyd said, as soon as the guests complained, they transferred the group to a new room, and had the room in question inspected and cleaned by an independent pest control company.
Sandcastle South Beach says the company assured them there is no infestation in the room or hotel.
Boyd said the group was also given a discount on their stay and on future stays.
“Seventeen dollars and we haven’t gotten the $17. She said 10 percent off and 20 percent off of every time we decided we wanted to come stay again. I’m not coming again,” said White.
White posted her video of what she says are bed bugs on Facebook. Since posting, it’s gone viral.
As of 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, it has been shared almost 18,000 times and viewed more than 670,000.
With that many views and shares, there have been thousands of comments.
Linda Ward commented and said she was cancelling her reservations at the Sandcastle Resort. Ward lives in Lumberton and plans to come to Myrtle Beach in June.
“I’m not going to stay there,” said Ward. “If I contracted them, I know I would have to get rid of the carpet, clothes, linens.”
She said doing that would be more expensive than paying for the hotel room.
Ward said she talked to her coworkers about the video on Wednesday and found out one of her coworkers had a similar issue.
“Bed bugs all over the place, on the walls. I saw it with my own eye. We left because I didn’t want to get bed bugs in my luggage and in my clothes,” said Larry Hearne.
Hearne said he stayed at the same hotel around this time last year and was shocked to see the video.
“I was appalled because I thought it would be taken care of by now,” said Hearne.
After reviewing the video posted by White, Sandcastle’s pest control team said they do not believe the bugs in the video were actually bed bugs.
We reached out to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control about the viral facebook bed bug video and a spokesman said they do not handle bed bug cases, unless they are at “state-licensed, inpatient healthcare facilities.”
“We do not have the regulatory authority to intervene in bed bug-related issues except in cases involving state-licensed, inpatient healthcare facilities. Bed bugs are not considered carriers of disease and are, therefore, not a public health threat,” said Robert Yanity.
Hotels must be cautious because Facebook bed bug videos can become viral content. This is why it is best to have an in-house treatment method like heat.
Source: WPDE