A dad has been left feeling itchy with flea bites after he bought a sofa from a high street store.
Andrew Wolff, 53, found red bites all across his body two days after buying the sofa from ScS in Wakefield, North Yorkshire, on June 26.
He says he was offered the sofa at half price from the ‘back warehouse’ at £300 and staff told him ‘a dog jumped on it’.
ScS says it told Andrew that the sofa had been returned by a customer but he denies knowledge of this.
He is also recently divorced and says the bites mean he can’t see his children at his new address because of the infestation.
‘The bites are massively itchy but also big and blistered,’ Andrew said.
‘I’m not too sure if it’s fleas or bed bugs.
‘I went to the pharmacist on the weekend it happened and showed him because I was concerned.
‘He said: “You’ve been bitten and had a huge reaction to it as well.”
‘Now I’ve nearly finished my second course of antihistamine and countless tubes of steroid cream, which I apply to myself with Savlon Antiseptic three times a day.
‘It’s like I’m on holiday, putting blooming suncream all over my body just to give me some relief.’
Andrew added: ‘When I got the sofa back to my home, there were hairs all over it, underneath cushions – on the back everywhere.
‘At that point, I realised, hang on this isn’t just a Golden Retriever that’s jumped onto it, this has been into somebody’s house. I’ve been sold it as second-hand, basically.
‘I started getting the bites the next day, but by the 26th of June, I was riddled everywhere.’
He later spoke with ScS customer support staff who offered to replace the sofa with another one.
But when he asked for compensation this offer was withdrawn, he claims.
Andrew said the bites are so bad he has been forced to take time off from working as a bakehouse operative.
He said: ‘The line I run is in the warmest place. It’s literally between 30 and 40 degrees where we’re working.
‘You are allowed to take your hat off and keep your hair net on, and just wear a short-sleeved t-shirt.
‘But I’m having to wear a jacket on top of it to cover my arms and gloves to cover my hands so that I don’t get more of a reaction from the rusk and powdery bread.
‘I’ve already had to have some time off because it’s been too overwhelming and I’ve had loss of earnings from that as well. I’ve lost a few hundred pounds.’
A spokesperson from SCS said: ‘We were very concerned to hear of Mr Wolff’s complaint regarding his recent sofa purchase and since being made aware of the issue, our customer care team have been in active contact with Mr Wolff to investigate the issue further.
‘We can confirm that prior to purchase Mr Wolff was informed that the sofa in question was a returned item, and as such was being sold at a significantly reduced price.
‘ScS had no prior awareness of any flea infestation in the sofa in question, and there is no confirmation that the sofa is the source.
‘We are currently liaising with Mr Wolff to help him resolve his concerns, as well as coordinating collection of the furniture.’
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