Furniture eaten by bugs

TOWACO (WABC) -- Homeowner Joe Bono is talking about hungry, wood-boring beetles he says he found eating away at his furniture, turning his new desk into dust.

"It's hard to believe, but you would come home and find a pile of sawdust," said Joe.

Joe hired exterminator Kenny Biss. He fumigated the Bono's home, and also took the insects he found in the desk to an entomologist for analysis.

Biss discovered that the beetles were powder-post beetles, which are pretty common in wood. The beetles' eggs can hatch in months after the insects lay them inside of the wood.

When asked if there was any chance that the bugs were in the house and went into the desk, Biss said that just couldn't happen, because it was a newer house.

Just about every stick of furniture in Joe and Pamela's new house was bought last December from Ashley Furniture.

"We furnished our whole house with them. Thirteen thousand dollars," said Pamela Bono.

Joe says the desk was the only problem, and after the bugs bored out, he sent Ashley's customer service pictures of the sawdust - the beetles, and his exterminator's report.

"I would just like it replaced, and pay for the exterminator. I'm not looking for something that's not mine," said Joe.

Instead, Joe says his salesperson at Ashley Furniture offered him 25 percent of the purchase price of the desk.

7 on Your Side called Ashley Furniture. A representative said that this is the first time they've had this problem. The company had offered to send out a service technician to assess the problem, but the customer didn't allow them in their home. However, Joe says that offer never happened, and that the company never got back to them, even though he kept calling back.

Just days after 7 on Your Side's calls, Ashley did get back, delivering a brand new desk, hauling away the old one. They also refunded the exterminator's bill with a $266 check.

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