From WikiHow: Carpet beetles are persistent pests that can cause severe damage to your carpets, clothing, and other fabrics. Getting rid of carpet beetles takes patience and persistence, but the job can usually be done without calling professional exterminators.
I’ve done hundreds of rentals and this one is still fresh in my mind even though it happened several years ago. It’s a great example of how very successful people can have very little common sense.
A few years back a young lady was referred to me whom we’ll call Linda. Linda was a young professional in her early twenties, lived with 2 roommates in Midtown West and was looking to move out on her own into a studio apartment in Chelsea, one of Manhattan’s pricier neighborhoods.
Linda’s well-healed parents would be her guarantors since she did not meet the annual income requirement. And so on a nice summer day, Linda, her parents and I set off to visit studio apartments in some of Chelsea’s most luxurious rental buildings.
That same afternoon she fell in love and applied for a studio on the 12th floor of a very swanky building off 26th street. The 400 sq ft apartment had been vacant for weeks, was newly renovated and clean as a whistle. I should also add that there was no carpeting anywhere in the unit.
Three days later Linda was approved (as I knew she would be) and was ecstatic. Everyone was happy – she got her dream apartment, her parents knew she’d be living in a secure building and I would earn a one month commission paid by the landlord. All in a days work right?
Wrong. Two Friday’s later, on moving day, as Linda was unpacking her boxes she made a shocking discovery. On the OUTSIDE of her windowsill sat a tiny black bug. This bug, she determined, was the infamous, pesky Attagenus unicolor, otherwise known as ‘Carpet beetle’.
Consequently, all hell broke loose.
At approximately 5pm that afternoon my office phone rang. I answered to a static connection and a blustery male voice on the other end shouting that he was in London, his daughter was moving in to her apartment and had an infestation.
Once I was able to calm him down, I established that this was Linda’s father, on a business trip – calling me from London(!!) because they had an emergency situation on their hands and his daughter would not – under any circumstances – move in to her new apartment until it was exterminated thoroughly and deemed livable by beetle sniffing dogs.
When he finally admitted that he had not seen the louse in person , I decided it would be best to conference-call Linda and her mother who were in possession of the pest.
The four of us then spoke at length. Linda obligingly texted me a grainy picture of the bug which, after seeing it and googling the words: ‘carpet beetle’, I suggested could be any number of completely harmless vermin. Not to mention, it was on the OUTSIDE of her windowsill. By the end of the conversation they all reluctantly admitted there was a small possibility that it might not be a carpet beetle but they needed assurance nonetheless.
Now, the last time I checked, I’m not an exterminator nor did I ever give them that impression so the only thing I could do was try to get one in there that evening, which proved to be impossible. The landlord, who had the building treated regularly, wanted nothing to do with this ridiculous situation and literally laughed out loud when Linda requested that her rent be pro-rated for the time she couldn’t reside in the apartment. After several phone calls that evening I reached a very pleasant entomologist who studied the grainy snapshot. He positively I.D’d the critter as a common, garden variety beetle that posed no threat to Linda or her apartment. Although I conference-called Linda and her mother in with the entomologist who gave them the good news, they still needed more proof which they received the following Monday from an exterminator that they hired.
Did they apologize for grossly overreacting? Surprisingly yes, which I appreciated immensely. Most people would’ve felt too stupid to admit they blundered. I of course laughed it off, told them it was no big deal and was just glad that Linda could now relax and enjoy her fabulous new apartment. But here’s the thing- it was a big deal. As silly and ludicrous as it was, they were coming to me. If they couldn’t be satisfied I would be the one they blamed and my reputation was on the line. That whole weekend I angst-ed over it. Luckily it all worked out.