575 5th Ave, New York New York 10017
Ace Bedbug Exterminating was by far and away the easiest bed bug exterminator to deal with and most reasonable price I got when my bed bug issue cropped up about a year ago.
It was a Sunday night when I felt something crawling on my leg while sitting on my couch, and I grabbed at my leg. When I opened my hand it revealed something that looked like a bed bug, and indeed it was.
While our infestation was minimal (we saw 2 bedbugs in 2 weeks of visually monitoring and a canine inspection confirmed it was only in 2 rooms), the estimates I was getting to resolve the issue in my 3 bedroom home were astronomical. A competitor quoted me $6,000+ for a heat treatment which carried no guarantee on it. And the reality of it is, all you need are a few eggs to survive the heat, and you have to start the removal process all over again. Additionally, they suggested a separate treatment with vikane gas, which as it turns out, can be harmful to people if used to treat older furniture. I think that would have been an extra $2K between the gas a truck rental or so. And then we also would have had to remove personal items from the bedrooms, etc. The competitor was happy to refer me to a mover to get the items out of the room. I think that estimate was another $1600 or so.
When I called Luis at Ace, he was able to give me a ballpark estimate over the phone and confirmed it with a free-estimate in-person. It was less than half the price of the $6K estimate from the competitor... But the Ace service included a guarantee. Another one of Ace's competitors wanted to charge me something like $150 for an in-person estimate. Horrible.
Ace uses the Aprehend bed bug treatment, which is basically an amazing science-based bio-weapon that is only harmful to the bugs. The bed bugs crawl through the invisible film left by the treatment, but it doesn't kill them instantly. Instead it clings to them, they bring it back to the nest, and it's there at the treatment spreads through the colony and begins breaking down the bed bugs' from the outside in.
Ace's competitor that quoted me $6K+ for the heat treatment also lost points because they bad-mouthed the Aprehend treatment when I asked them about it. They said it was oily, messy and would leave a residue and mess. Maybe that happens with amateur exterminators, but that was not my experience. After Luis left, I inspected everywhere he was supposed to spray and there was no visible trace of the Aprehend.
Suffice it to say it has been a year, and we have not seen a beg bug since.
In addition to treating my home, Luis treated my car with another product called CrossFire (the Aprehend would not have survived in the heat of the car).
Additionally at the time, my father was living with me and he was a chair-bound dementia patient, which would have made treating the house a major challenge if not for Luis' kindness. Luis came and treated the house on the first day, and we isolated my Dad in his room for about 3 hours. Then, the next day, Luis came back and treated my Dad's room at no extra charge. What can you say about someone like that, other than to know there are good people in the world who will go above and beyond in difficult circumstances.
The problem with bed bugs are the exterminators. Most of them are bottom feeders who are looking to sell and upsell you on expensive treatments that carry no promise of success. That's not the case, thanks to Ace's guarantee.
Dealing with bed bugs has been the one of the worst experiences of my life. But it's not the bugs. They're actually easy to get rid of and more of an inconvenience, as they are harmless and unlike, say mosquitoes, which actually carry and spread disease. But Luis was not only a great exterminator, but very kind in going above and beyond given my Dad's situation. Thanks Luis!