Greg Mills

After sending that fax I had one company phone me back, specifically Greg Mills who was a co-author of the Code of Practice for the control of bed bug infestations in Australia. I couldn't believe it! That's practically been my bible since this whole ordeal started.

I was really honored and shell shocked.

He agreed that the PCO had not followed the guidelines and advised the properly follow them would take about 3.5 hours and cost about $1500. He also explains he has a guarantee but that most people cannot claim it because they do not follow the full instructions of the guidelines, ie: refusing to throw out some electrical items that can't be guaranteed to be bug free.

He also gave me some advice for when this goes to court:
- Not to mention that back packers had stayed in the room prior to my moving in, because that would be discriminatory against back packers when bed bugs can really come from everywhere. And I agree.
- Not to bring up the price of the work that was done, because that's entirely up to the landlord to shop around for the lowest price, but instead to focus on the scope of work and service that was provided.

He also suggested I contact some of the people on Page 47 if I require references for court, and that the code of practice itself has been peer reviewed and should stand up well.

I was planning to use the code of practice, luckily the landlord has violated many parts of the actual legislation for renting an apartment, so their poor dealing of the bed bugs afterwards is just a sad note on the end of the story.

Oh yeah, and how quickly could he respond to a call? USUALLY THE SAME DAY. NOT 16 DAYS LATER!