Discreet Bedbug Inspections

I first heard about Discreet Bedbug Inspections from family friends who highly recommended them. I’m glad to join the chorus of people who have had a positive experience with this company. Diana and Sherlock paid a visit to our apartment after we spotted a bedbug in our bathroom. After dealing with bedbugs last year, we know the amount of work and stress that an infestation can bring on. Although we had no bites or signs of their presence aside from this one bug, we wanted to make verify that our apartment was bedbug-​free. Diana answered several of my questions as Sherlock sniffed around closets, furniture, and luggage. I’m pleased to report that no other bedbugs were found. The peace of mind they brought is well worth the money.

Highly recommended. Tony and Dexter visited our home. On time, very courteous. No issues but totally worth the peace of mind.
We used a pest control service before but always worried they were incentived to find something as they make their money on the treatment. Discreet BB is not affiliated with any service so they have no incentive to find issues.
Tony took the time to explain the process. Always make sure the service does a visual inspection if they dog finds a hit (which Discreet does). Also, Tony had no issues with us following them around the house. The other service asked us not too. Now, I am wondering if that is so they can «detect» issues without us witnessing it?
Its pretty amazing to watch as the dog can detect the smell several feet away or more.

Diana and Sherlock were life savers during a very stressful time. They inspected the house well and helped our house discuss best steps to treat and prevent bed bugs. I highly recommend their services, they are professional and very good!

So my husband and I decided to get inspected because we are moving soon to our new love nest. We were concerned because I want our new place to be perfect and bugs creep me out. We didn’t think much of it except the hubby has been getting a few bites which we thought were mosquitoes. The inspection took about 20 minutes.
Here is where things get a little weird. When we hired Discreet, we were expecting the big dog in the photos. Instead, we got a small tiny dog named Dexter that looked like a house pet. The inspector Tony asked a lot of leading questions almost like he was trying to determine if we had bed bugs based on how we answered and not so much as on what the dog would determine. If the dog scratched anywhere then that is where the bed bugs were hiding. The inspector provided a demonstration on how this worked by having the dog find a towel. We thought it was kind of strange that the inspector had this towel, which supposedly smells like bed bugs (!?), that the dog would try to find and if he did that this some how proved the dog worked. So the dog did find the towel and didn’t find bed bugs. The odd thing is that the dog kind of scratched on our bed. However, this isn’t exactly how it works. Even though the dog «scratched» at the bed, it’s not exactly the same as how he «scratched» at the towel. There is a slight difference between scratching at the bed and the towel because the dog looked different?! My husband saw the process and couldn’t tell how it was any different.
Turns out we do have bed bugs. My husband found the gross thing and we now have a gross pet in a plastic jar that I would rather spare you guys from seeing. We are getting all of our stuff fumigated before we move to the new place because I refuse to live with bed bugs. I think we lucked out. If we relied on this company for an accurate result, then we would’ve moved into a our new place infested. For a service that cost $ 330 this was a total rip off. I also did some research and found out that this dog is not even certified. Check out this website:
. You wont find Dexter or Tony under the company name Discreet Bed Bug inspectors. Their only dog that is certified is Sherlock and handler Diana. Be warned. Do not use these guys. Stay far far away.

Tony & Dexter came by to inspect and the service was amazing.
Tony was on time, professional, informative and a pleasure to deal with.
Dexter was adorable and well behaved.

I had an appointment this morning scheduled with Diana and Sherlock. Answered the door, on time, to a man whose name I don’t remember and a dog named Dexter. No big deal, but a little surprised. Man asked what’s been going on, told him that I saw a bug on my bed a few nights before, crushed it and blood came out. We tore the bed apart, saw nothing. I’ve also been getting a bite every 10 days since June between elbow and wrist and have a horrible reaction. He showed me a vial with live bed bugs in it (they use as a positive control for the dog to find), asked if the bug looked like them. I said no, and it seemed that he was just going through with a perfunctory inspection.
He placed the bait in a kitchen cabinet then brought the dog into my bedroom (across the hall) and told him to search. He sniffed around the bed & furniture, but kept pulling toward the kitchen, knowing that the bait and the reward for finding it were in there, and had to be continually redirected to search the room. After searching the room the man brought him into the kitchen to search where he eventually went to the bait cabinet, started scratching and pointing until the man took the bait out and gave him a treat.
The man then put the bait in the bathroom cabinet next to our guest room. Then brought the dog into the guest room to search the bed, furniture, etc. Again, the dog pulled toward the bathroom the whole time, and even when he lingered on certain areas, the man just moved him through the room. With the room declared clean, the man brought him to the bathroom to find the bait so that, in his words, the dog could find it, get a reward, stay motivated, and show me the difference when he found something, a change in body language. Maybe too subtle for me to see or maybe a result of finding the bait, but I didn’t see it. Overall the whole thing felt like it was a game of find the bait. I said something to this effect and he told me how the dogs cost $ 15 000, are trained only 2 per month. Not relevant… Not that I want bed bugs, but if I’m spending $ 300 for a 20 minute inspection ($ 900/​hr!!!), I’d like to see that the dog is actually given a chance to do a thorough search.
We went back into the first bedroom so that I could write a check, and the man made a comment about how the goverment is using ticks to transmit lyme disease and how bed bugs would be much smarter, but they have an enzyme that breaks down viral load, which is a relief, imagine if your neighbor had AIDS and bed bugs, you could catch it! He asked how old I am, realized we’re the same age and said– I only knew about them from «don’t let the bed bugs bite,» insinuating that they were created in a lab somewhere, if there are two males for a long time one can become female, if eggs are sprayed with poison, the ones that survive and hatch will be immune to that poison. Some useful facts, some major conspiracy theory nonsense. After this, he moved on to how unpasteurized milk has a protein in it that reverses autism and can kill cancer cells. Why is there such a low rate of autism in the Amish community? Combination of raw milk and no vaccines. Something about immune systems. This was surprising to me since I have a PhD in cancer biology. This went on until I asked him point blank are you telling me that vaccines cause autism? Because Andrew Wakefield lost his license to practice medicine, retracted his publications, it conflict of interest hoax. I told him that I study cancer biology for a living and have a PhD in it, he can believe whatever he wants, but the scientific community does not share that belief and he is factually wrong. At this point, HIS body language changed, he took a few steps toward me and said that Wakefield got his license back (false) and other scientists believe him (again, false). So now I am feeling threatened AND think this guy is a total quack and the whole thing is a scam. I asked for the total so I could write the check and get him out of my apt.
I called the owner, Jeff, to share my concerns. To provide a semi-​scientific service (at $ 300 for 20 minutes!!!) and have an employee ranting that bed bugs were created in a government lab and vaccines cause autism gives me very little reason to trust any of this and makes me feel like I’m being ripped off. The owner listened to all I said. He agreed with me that it was completely inappropriate, and the employee is authorized to talk facts about bed bugs. He thanked me for sharing my concerns and said he’d talk with the employee about it.
Maybe we don’t have bed bugs — I hope! but maybe he never would have found anything? Especially since he also said, based on what you told me, I didn’t think you had any, which leaves me wondering how thorough the inspection really was. So, buyer beware. I remain thoroughly unconvinced that this is not a complete scam and people are trying to recoup the cost of these dogs now that NYC has so many of them and so many fewer infestations than a few years ago.

Jeff was super helpful and knowledgable about bedbugs. Caught a bug with tape, took a picture with a magnifying glass and sent him a pictures, and he and an entomologist quickly ID’ed it as a bird mite. Saved me a lot of money and stress. After removing the bird nest in the downstairs apartment and vacuuming everything, my apartment is mite free.

The trainer and dog were very nice, but the positives stop there because the diagnosis was completely inaccurate! The problem is the reward system. The trainer rewarded the dog with a treat every time the dog indicated the presence of bed bugs, so obviously the dog is going to confirm the presence of bed bugs every time he approaches a mattress or couch. After a 30 minute visit, the trainer assured us that we had a bed bug infestation despite any visual evidence of bed bugs, eggs, or fecal matter. He recommended a $ 1200 treatment and put us in touch with an exterminator immediately. We panicked and contacted our building management in hopes that they’d pay for the inspector and exterminator. Building management insisted that we use their own trusted inspector to get a 2^nd opinion. We resisted, but eventually agreed. The 2^nd guy arrived without a dog, but ended up being much more thorough in his inspection. He slowly and methodically checked my bug bites, sheets, seams in the mattress, box spring, and surrounding area and found no traces of bed bugs. This guy was much more knowledgeable, as if he’d been a bed bug in a former life. It’s not that the dogs are scamming you, it’s just that they’re dogs and they want treats. These are unqualified handlers capitalizing on the bed bug hype. Make sure there is visual evidence of bed bugs before you freak out and throw away all your belongings. Lesson learned!

Diana and Sherlock were professional and thorough. They were flexible and worked around the schedule of an entire building. I cannot recommend them enough.

This is the best most accurate way to know if you have bedbugs… not only will this dog detect then but it will even let you know in what area of your home so you know where to focus your efforts. All around great service and very good!

Great and thorough search, I got an immediate appointment for the next day. Jeff was very friendly, professional and helpful. I would definitely recommend this for any bedbug troubles.

I was afraid of a bedbug problem in my boyfriend’s apartment, so I went on the NESDCA website to find a certified dog with a company that had no conflict of interest– and came upon Diana and Sherlock. The company was super responsive, very professional, and friendly. Also, Sherlock is a bedbug-​finding Robot! They performed 2 inspections (one with me outside the apartment and one with me inside) and watching them work was amazing. I know Sherlock is a dog, but this was the most professional dog I had ever seen– he was all about the work. Diana handled this dog so well and was super specific, I feel that this inspection was true and top notch.
Thank goodness that nothing was found, and I can rest assured that the results are accurate. I will call them in the future for sure (but hopefully, I won’t have to).
Lastly, if you mention Unilocal,they give you a discount. Thank you Diana and Sherlock!

If, God forbid, you ever have a bedbug scare, use this company.
Professional, honest, prompt, thorough service. After I bought a NEW linen set that turned out to have a live bedbug in it, I understandably wanted to make a pre-​emptive strike. Diana and her dog, Sherlock, arrived within an hour of my call and searched every nook and cranny to give me the peace of mind I needed. They were both incredibly respectful and calming as I cowered in the corner, awaiting a tell-​tale bark. (Diana listened and confirmed that some large NYC linen companies do often close down for nights to handle bed bugs, so be careful…)
And extra kudos to the owner for reminding me of the Unilocal discount when I’d forgotten to tell him my referral method. That’s customer service, kids.

I never in my wildest dreams thought I would need a bedbug inspection, but alas, I moved to NYC and began noticing little bugs around and on my bed. So, like most overly-​neurotic people, I assumed I had bed bugs… after 3 days… Jeff came with I believe Arnie :) and spent a good 30 mins sniffing around. Jeff also checked the mattress and all areas I was concerned. And he even looked at the bugs I had collected, and then showed me actual bed bugs (alive and well) in a sealed jar. Best $ ever spent. I never thought I would say that since it is the cost of a pair of Lanvins (discounted at least), but I can sleep tonight… and that is priceless.

Monday morning we found what seemed to be a bed bug. I began to panic. I found Discreet BedBug Inspections on Unilocal and gave them a call at 7:30am. Thankfully, Jeff picked up and scheduled for Diana and Sherlock (the dog) to stop by that day. When they arrived, Sherlock barked at our suitcase and a strip test of fecal material found on the headboard by eagle-​eyed Diana confirmed we had bed bugs. Diana was patient and professional which helped counterbalance my panic-​striken state of mind.
The next day (still panic-​striken) I asked Jeff to stop by again to make sure the bugs had not traveled to any of the other rooms since we decided to go with a heat remediation treatment to get rid of the critters (which for the record is rather costly but effective), since they only treat the infected and adjacent rooms. He kindly agreed to stop by with Arnie and eased my anxieties.
I’d highly recommend them if you suspect you may have bed bugs. The process is quick and easy and both Diana and Jeff are great. Better to find the bugs sooner rather than later! But remember, they specialize in finding the bugs not exterminating so if it’s confirmed you have bed bugs, you’ll have to do another search for the type of extermination service (chemical, heat, steam) you’d like to have done.

I had been experiencing itchy marks for a couple of weeks, so I thought I would be worth getting it checked in case there was something.
Jeff came by with his colleague and the hero himself, Arnie the dog. They where really professional and Arnie did not find anything. Thank God for that!
He sniffed around for a good 20 min, and the men checked the matress and box spring thoroughly.
Jeff showed me how Arnie would have reacted, had there been something, by hiding a sample under the matress. Arnie reacted instantly, it was amazing to see. What an extraordinary being, and he was rewarded with treats for his good work!
I am so relieved, and happy we decided to do an early check. We paid 200 plus tax, it was really worth it for the peace of mind. I would recommend them to anyone!

I moved into a new apartment and started getting a rash and bites on my face and neck. I tend to get spiders, centipedes, millipedes and all kinds of other bugs coming in (I live right next to a park) but I wanted to make sure. Diana came by with Sherlock and they sniffed everything and found nothing! YAY. She was super nice and Sherlock was really adorable. They were both attentive and calm. I highly recommend them as they are qualified and experienced.

Although there were no BB’s roaming around, the bldg mgmt was giving a relative a difficult time for inspections, blah blah blah… In order to eliminate conflicts of interest, I wanted to leverage an independent company. I found these guys on Unilocal and decided to give them a buzz. Jeff was able to schedule an appt for the very next morning (New Yorker’s hate to wait). Additionally, it turns out that Jeff & Diana do not perform exterminating services which eliminates any conflict of interest for detection AND extermination.
Diana arrived with Sherlock (?) and cleared the apartment.
It was a small price to pay to prove something that I already knew. no buggies.

Let me start this long and convoluted story by saying that last year my grandmother started complaining of itchy bites. We all thought it was mosquitos. (It was fall and the mosquitos were especially bad in NYC)
Her building management company sent an «inspector» in and they found nothing. These itchy marks continued, so I called Discreet, Jeff the owner sent Diana and Sherlock (whom is a lab/​pointer mix) the same day that I called.
Diana tied Sherlock to the door handle and went around the apartment without the dog to make sure everything was ready for him to sniff.
Once Sherlock got to my grandmothers bed room he sniffed the head of the bed area and alerted to bed bugs by sitting and barking. I came running into the room. Diana finished the rest of the inspection and then went back to the bedroom to search for evidence.
Well guess what? She found plenty. Underneath the box spring there were 3 – 4 fecal stains, (she has eagle eyes) which she tested with a product called Bed Bug Blue and it came up positive. She also found a few live bed bugs, which I caught on tape to show the management company. These bed bugs were hiding inside of the box spring underneath the stapled on dust cloth.
The dog also alerted at the outlet and when I took the plate off I found 1 bed bug sitting right there.
Why it went into the outlet, is a good question. (My grandmother tends to shake her bed sheets, so I am thinking while she was shaking them a bed bug got deposited onto the wall where it just crawled into the outlet.)
Sherlock also found bed bugs in my grandmothers chair and couch. We found evidence here as well.
This is when I began freaking out because I sat on this couch.
To save money I had a k-​9, that my building uses come to my apartment to inspect. I will not mention the companies name but the Beagle said I had bed bugs all over my apartment. The dog handler did not confirm any of these «positive hits».
It just didn’t seem possible, I was not getting bit and I could not find any evidence.
So I decided to fork over the $ to get my place inspected by Sherlock and guess what? He found NOTHING.
Now it has been over 6 months and I am still in the clear. Thanks to Sherlock for finding them at my grandmothers and not finding them at my place.
On a side note, her and the dog are extremely professional, and she patiently answered my hundreds of questions. She even emailed me a peer reviewed scientific article on bed bugs.
You might wonder why I am writing this now, since it happened last year? Well because I ran into them on the street and it jogged all of those unwanted bed bug memories.

I called Discrete BedBug Inspections after I woke up to a suckling mother f-​er on my décolletage. I squished it, turned the light on, saw rusted looking blood on my hands and knew exactly what it was. *Cringe* Though I knew intellectually I obviously had some sort of bedbug issue, I was in denial and wanted to get «scientific» confirmation via a cute beagle.
I scheduled an appt for the next day and Arnie the dog «found his gift» at the foot of my bed as Jeff, the owner instructs him to. It seemed as though the bugs were localized only to my bed.
That day my one brave girlfriend and I wrapped the contaminated sleeper/​sofa up and got it out of there!!! As we were prepping for the exterminators (an endless arduous task of removing and heat drying every piece of clothing you own) she asked if the dog had checked my closets. I realized he hadn’t as they were at the opposite end of where the bed was located. I called Jeff and he offered to come back free of charge. He came back the next day and not only checked my closets but the rest of my studio as well. Good news! Arnie had no more gifts from me! I was lucky to have it localized to my bed.
Jeff was kind enough to come back free of charge which is definitely above and beyond. He was prompt and they are definitely «discrete» which is something you want since you automatically feel a HUGE sense of shame having these buggers. In case you were wondering it totaled $ 217 for my studio. He doesn’t take credit cards at the moment but took a personal check instead.
Call them for sure if you want a prompt reliable bedbug inspection. Mention Unilocal to get a discount. I didn’t but that’s ok since he more than made up with that second visit.