A suburban homeowner says her kitchen table carried a surprise guest that emerged one year after she brought the furniture into her townhouse.
Marcia Rau of Elgin told NBC 5 Responds she woke up one morning in August to find a sawdust-like substance piled on one of her kitchen chairs. The chair was positioned directly under the table. And when she looked above the chair, she noticed tiny scrapes and holes under the table top.
“It’s not anything anybody wants to see in their kitchen,” Rau said.
Rau said she became concerned that the table was carrying insects and that they could have escaped into other areas of her home.
Rau contacted Amazon to inquire about a refund but said she was told her request fell outside of the company’s 30 day return policy.
“I felt that they should have made an exception to my individual situation because I couldn’t possibly know in thirty days,” Rau said.
She also contacted furniture wholesaler, Coaster Fine Furniture, which told Rau in an email that they were working with the manufacturer in Vietnam to see if this was a known issue and how best to resolve it.
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“With my situation, time was of the essence,” Rau said.
Rau had also contacted the US Department of Agriculture to inquire about what may have been causing the damage. According to a USDA spokesperson, a member of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service conducted a visit and observed damage on the table that appeared consistent with powder post beetle damage. Although, the APHIS employee found no insects and no evidence to convince them of the presence of more significant wood boring insects.
Entomologists told NBC 5 Responds wood boring beetles are common across the world. The insects lay eggs in wood and the larvae tunnels and feeds on the wood.
“The larvae will then pupate and emerge as an adult and that’s when you’ll find these little boreholes and little bits of frass around and that’s how you wind up with insects in your house that look like they’ve bored into the wood,” said Crystal Maier, collection manager of insects at The Field Museum.
Maier said the beetles could be in the wood for several years before emerging.
NBC 5 Responds contacted Coaster Fine Furniture to inquire about Rau’s concerns.
Rau then received a replacement table.
“NBC 5 Responds did one heck of a job for which I’m deeply grateful,” Rau said.
A company spokesperson later told us the company attempts to find resolutions whenever possible.
“As a Good-Faith effort, Coaster coordinated and covered the cost of sending out a new table to her residence, assembling the table to ensure it was in new condition and then removing the table in question,” the spokesperson said.
Amazon declined to comment.
Rau told NBC 5 Responds she spoke out so other consumers would know not to give up if they are dealing with similar situations with companies.
Entomologists told NBC 5 Responds that in most cases, furniture damage from beetles is limited to only a few inches. They said homeowners typically should not worry about an infestation because the beetles don’t attack finished wood.
Phil Nixon, extension entomologist for the University of Illinois, said beetles could also be living in wood figurines from other parts of the world. He said there is a simple way to solve the problem if you notice a beetle presence.
“Put the item in a plastic bag and in a freezer for three days,” Nixon said. “Shock of the cold will kill them.”
