My sofa left me riddled with insect bites: Father, 53, reveals how

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A father has said he is ‘riddled’ with agonising insect bites after buying a second hand sofa from a furniture shop in Yorkshire.

Andrew Wolff, 53, was left covered in itchy red blotches from a suspected flea infestation following his purchase of a three-seater settee from ScS.

The recent divorcee claims he was offered the sofa for half-price at £300 as staff at a store in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, said a ‘dog had jumped on it’.

But two days after he got it home, he claims his arms and legs were coated in bites, which he has been treating with antihistamine drugs and tubes of steroid cream.

Mr Wolff said: ‘My children are desperate to come and stay with me, and now they have not been able to come for up to four weeks. I’m going through enough stress and now not seeing them, it’s compounded with this whole issue as well.’

Recently-divorced father Andrew Wolff, 53, has said he is ‘riddled’ with agonising insect bites after buying a second hand sofa from ScS

Two days after he got a cut-price settee home, he claims his arms and legs were coated in bites, which he has been treating with antihistamine drugs and tubes of steroid cream

Mr Wolff claimed staff at ScS in Wakefield offered him the sofa (seen) at a half-price £300 because ‘a Golden Retriever has jumped on’ it, while ScS insist the bakehouse worker was told it was a ‘returned item’

A spokesperson from ScS insisted Mr Wolff was informed when he bought the sofa that it had been ‘returned’ from another customer.

However, the bakehouse worker denied this and said he has been unable to see his children for weeks due to the bug infestation at his new address.

He said: ‘They [the bites] are massively itchy but also big and blistered. 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.’

Mr Wolff, from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, had gone to his local ScS store to buy a sofa for his new property while waiting for his other furniture to arrive after leaving his marital home.

He claimed the staff had offered him the settee from the ‘back warehouse’ – which he then brought back to his new address on June 24 in a rented van.

However, he says bites soon started appearing on his limbs and body and by June 26 he was covered in the agonising red blotches.

Mr Wolff added he has had to take time off work because he is unable to cover up his bites with long sleeves and gloves on a food manufacturing line which is ‘between 30 and 40 degrees’

He added the need to take time off work has cost him ‘a few hundred pounds’

‘They offered it to me for £400,’ he said. ‘I said, “I’ll give you £300,” and that’s what I bought it for. Immediately, they were like: “Yeah no problem, you can have it for that.”

‘The only words they ever said to me, it was a kind of passing comment, was: “We’ve got this sofa that a Golden Retriever has jumped on and for that reason, we’ve got to sell it off.”

‘That’s why I bought it. I didn’t really think any more of it.

‘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.’

Andrew said he contacted ScS customer support and later spoken to staff at the store, who had offered to replace the sofa with another one.

But after he suggested he should also be entitled to compensation, he claims the offer was withdrawn.

The father, who works at a food manufacturing company, said he had been forced to take time off work and still has bites four weeks later.

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.’

Mr Wolff 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’

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’

Pictured: What appear to be dog hairs on the sofa purchased by Mr Wolff

‘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.’

ScS have been contacted for further comment.