FTC Mailing Refunds for Bed Bug Treatment Products

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The Federal Trade Commission announced that it will be sending refund checks to consumers who purchased bed bug treatment products claiming to contain cedar oil.

The bed bug treatments include Cedarcide Original and Cedarcide Best Yet, manufactured by Chemical Free Solutions LLC.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), more than 800 checks for approximately $250 will be sent out. The total monetary amount of all of the checks will be more than $200,000.

Chemical Free Solutions was ordered to pay the refunds as a part of litigation over Cedarcide products. According to the FTC, the company violated a 2013 ruling that barred the company from promoting or selling any bed bug products.

The FTC notes that consumers will receive about 95 percent of the money they paid for Cedarcide products. Consumers who receive checks from the FTC over Cedarcide products will need to cash them within 60 days, or by Aug. 31, 2018.

Earlier this year, Chemical Free Solutions was hit with allegations that it deceptively advertised Cedarcide bed bug treatment products. According to the complaint, the company claimed Cedarcide could treat and prevent bed bug infestations better than other products.

According to the FTC, Chemical Free Solutions claimed that the cedar oil in its Cedarcide line of bed bug treatment products would treat and prevent future infestations.

The company also asserted the bed bug treatment products had been created for the U.S. Army. Further, said the company in its advertising of Cedarline, the U.S. Department of Agriculture had also endorsed the products.

The FTC launched a lawsuit against the company, noting that a 2013 order barred Chemical Free Solutions from making these sorts of advertising claims “unless the representation is non-misleading, and the defendants already have and rely upon competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate the claims.”

In addition to the $224,356 payment Chemical Free Solutions must pay back to consumers, the company will also continue to be barred from promoting or selling bed bug products in the future.

“The defendants also are barred from claiming that their products can effectively treat head lice infestations unless those claims are non-misleading and they obtain FDA approval prior to making those claims,” noted the FTC in an announcement. “The defendants are further prohibited from misrepresenting the results of scientific tests or studies, and from claiming that a product or service they sell is endorsed by a government agency or by any other third-party entity when it is not.”

Additionally, the time of the bar resets under the new order.

The company was also hit with fines for compensatory contempt.

According to the FTC, consumers should take care when assessing advertisements for bed bug treatment products.

“The resurgence of bed bugs has caused more than the creepy little blood suckers to come out of the woodwork,” notes the FTC in its Consumer Information page entitled “Batting Bed Bugs.” “Some self-proclaimed pest control professionals and marketers are trying to take a bite out of your wallet by peddling products that claim to prevent or remedy bed bug infestations”

Questions regarding the FTC Cedarcide refunds can be directed to the refund administrator at 1-877-906-1610.

UPDATE: February 2019, the FTC mailed a second round of checks to consumers who bought Cedarcide bed bug treatments. The two checks will reimburse consumers for 100 percent of the cost of the ineffective product.