He woke up in a Sumter motel bed to find a 'disgusting' new frie - wistv.com - Columbia, South Carolina

What was supposed to be a night away from home for a Sumter man turned into a nightmare after he said he woke up to find bed bugs in his room at the Mount Vernon Inn in Sumter on Tuesday morning.

Matthew Richburg and his girlfriend live in Sumter but decided to treat themselves to a night out of the house.

“Everything was good at first,” he said. “It wasn’t until the next morning we realized they were there.”

Richburg said when he woke up Tuesday morning, he found a bed bug on his pillow.

“It was gross,” he said. “It was crazy, just disgusting.”

Richburg took pictures of the bug as well as large blood splatter on the sides of the bed sheets and was able to capture the bug in a plastic bottle to show hotel management.

“I took it to the front office and showed the manager on duty and asked him if there was anything he could do for me,” Richburg said. “He said no and didn’t offer a refund or a new room. He asked me if I was ready to check out.”

The manager refused to speak with us on camera but visited the room to examine the bed sheets. He told us the blood splatter is not from bed bugs but would call his exterminator to investigate. He also said he has never had anyone report bed bugs in their room prior to this incident.

However, we spoke to an exterminator from Mills Pest & Termite Control in Columbia who confirmed the bugs in the photos were, in fact, bed bugs.

“I just wasn’t expecting that at all,” Richburg said. “I thought it was a good recommendable hotel, but no.”

Despite the manager refusing to address the issue on camera, the motel did end up refunding Richburg for his stay.

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