[tps_title]I’m sorry, Ms. McFarland, we did find the bedbugs[/tps_title]
A. I don’t know if she called me or I called her. I think I called her initially and she called me back. But that she called me back. And I told her that I would — I think I told her I went to the doctor. She was calling me to let me know that they found bedbugs. That was why she was calling me — that’s why she was speaking to me. So her initial conversation was, I’m sorry, Ms. McFarland, we did find the bedbugs, they were located in the dust ruffle —
Q. Okay.
A. — that’s why we couldn’t find out where it was coming from. They had festered — the word she used — they had festered in the dust ruffle.
Q. Okay.
A. And so she’s saying to me that obviously — apparently while I was sleeping they must have came up from the dust ruffle.
Q. Okay.
A. So whoever checked it out, I don’t know if it was the exterminator at that time or just the cleaners, when they initially checked it, she said that they weren’t on top of the sheet as much, but when they pulled the better part and seen in the dust ruffle, that’s when it got infested.
Q. Okay.
A. She said that was infested. And then she also told me that they’re going to take the room out of commission, she said. And she explained to me what that was. I didn’t even know what that meant. They had to keep some kind of heat for a period of time, has to be out of commission for three or four days. And I told her at the time that I was still not feeling good. And at that point she said, Well, we did find the bedbugs there. And then she started telling me how her daughter and her grandson went through the same thing, so she was advising me what to do.
Q. Okay. What was she saying?
A. So she told me that her daughter and her grandson, they had the same exact situation with the bedbugs, except I think her daughter had to throw away her furniture, it was like $3,000 or $4,000 of furniture, whatever. And she said she felt upset because her grandson got bit. So she’s going into detail. And so she’s telling me all of this, and then she goes to her personal life about that to try to let me know that she understands what I’m going through, I guess. So then she says, We will refund the room for you. And I told her — I was like at this point, You have no idea what I’m going through, you know. I mean, when I was there the first night obviously — if they took a picture of me then, they probably could have seen it. But I said, You have no idea what I’m going through right now. She was like, Well, no, I have an idea because my grandson went through this. And I said, No, you have no idea. So I went to the doctor. She says, Well, we’re going to refund the room. Because initially when I asked her, she said, We can’t do a refund unless we find something. So when I asked her the first day for the refund —
Q. So when you say “initially,” that was when you were still there?
A. When I’m was still there. And I was like there’s something wrong. I said, You got to do something about it. She goes, Well — her — she came out — I didn’t ask for a refund. She said, Well, we usually don’t do a refund unless we find — if we find something wrong, we will refund you. That’s why she asked me my information. I never went to her and said, Oh, I want a refund for my room because I have bedbugs. That wasn’t even on my mind.
Q. So it wasn’t until the next conversation when —
A. Yes.
Q. — she mentions refunding you the room?
A. Yes, because she said she had found the bed — they found the bedbugs under the dust ruffle.
Q. Okay.
A. And then I spoke to her. And after I went through what I went through as far as those videos, I sent the letter that same day, stating since I got injured then I need to be compensated for my injury. And, of course, then that’s why we’re here now, because now Desiree apparently was instructed to deny that there was any bedbugs.
Q. Okay. There was someone you wrote in one of your answers called a Timothy Kelsey?
A. Yes.
Q. Who is that individual?
A. I don’t — they called me — I mean Timothy Kelsey called me because I sent a letter directly to the Super 8 saying since I’m going through all of this, I need to be compensated. And I knew I needed to be compensated for the injury. And when I contacted Super 8, apparently they passed it to Timothy — I don’t know who he was. So I sent the second letter so it wouldn’t get to this point. So I said, Listen, it’s — obviously, if you — if you did something wrong, you need to be liable, in the letter, you need to be liable. So it’s not like I’m going after you, the fact is I got bit, I need to be compensated for my pain. So I sent them a letter. Timothy Kelsey called me — because I told them I’m going to take it through a claim. And Timothy Kelsey did not want me to do that, because apparently somebody dropped the ball.
Q. Do you recall who this person was?
A. Timothy Kelsey? I have no idea. I just know he called me one day out of the blue basically and said, They’re going to pay attention to what you’re saying, someone is going to call you, apparently somebody dropped the ball, they will contact you. Because my second letter was: I’m going to file a suit unless we can take care of this between us. And then that’s when I got the call from I guess your insurance, because — Liberty Mutual.
Q. Okay. And that’s Nichole Meyer; is that correct?
A. Yes. Yes. She called me either that same day or the very next day.
Q. Okay. And then it looks like you’ve had, that you recall, about two conversations or e-mails with her?
A. Yeah, several e-mails.
Q. Okay.
A. And then she did a — what I thought was a deposition by phone. Because I don’t have an attorney, I didn’t know — she did what I thought was a deposition by phone, because she did the same thing you’re doing here. Again, not knowing my rights or whatever, she did pretty much everything you’re doing here on the phone.
Q. Okay. And then after that, what happened?
A. After that, because they began to ignore me, that’s when I told them I’m going to file a suit. And they sent me a letter saying we didn’t find anything, so basically I have to prove — they’re going to leave the burden of proof on me. That’s basically what the letter said. And that’s when this all started.
Q. Okay. And since then, you had no contact with anyone from Super 8 or Liberty?
A. Not from Super 8, no. Liberty or — Imie — I’m sorry. Well, you. I’m sorry. You started sending me letters saying this is what’s going on. But Super 8 stopped contacting me. And the letter I got stating that there were no bedbugs found.
Q. Do you have a copy of that letter?
A. I think so. (Indicating.)
Q. Thank you. We’ll attach this as an exhibit. This is a letter dated January 27, 2015, from claims specialist Nichole Meyer to Ms. McFarland regarding her investigation of this claim. And then do you have copies of any e-mails between yourself and either Mr. Kelsey or Ms. Meyer?
A. I didn’t bring any e-mails, no.
Q. Okay. Do you have them still in — have you saved them?
A. Yes.
Q. Is that something you could produce as part of discovery?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. That’s to Mr. Kelsey and Ms. Meyer, and the people at Super 8, if you have any e-mails —
A. Mr. Kelsey was just a phone call.
Q. Okay.
A. He never contacted me after that — after that it was Liberty Mutual. From that point, I didn’t hear from Mr. Kelsey anymore.
Q. Okay. And did you have any e-mails exchanged between yourself and anyone at Super 8?
A. No.
Q. Okay. So just the ones that you’ve had with Liberty Mutual prior to me coming in?