Newegg Fly Infestation!

[KidNiki1]

best way to trap and kill flies, fruit flies, gnats that I have ever tried was this:

bowl that you dont care about having a shit ton of dead bugs in
apple cider vingar
dish soap

add 1-2 cups of apple cider vinegar to bowl
add 2-3 drops dish soap
stir gently (dont need to make bubbles)
watch as bugs go in to die

 

[Ichinisan]

Haven't read the thread yet, but it's NOT related to your Newegg purchase. It's complete coincidence.

There would have to be something in that package that the maggots could subsist on.

I've had several temporary plagues of small flies and never made an illogical association like the OP does.

It's just ridiculous.

 

[Ichinisan]

2. We're talking about massive amounts-- if, 4 days later, I'm able to find and kill 38 on a 1-hour lunch break, you know the quantity we're talking about is not insubstantial. I'm not complaining about there being a few critters taking a ride in a box. I'm talking about what would easily be a total of at least 100 flies.

That proves the OPPOSITE of what you say.

You might want to read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Redi

He is most well-known for his series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti (Experiments on the Generation of Insects), which is regarded as one of the first steps in refuting "spontaneous generation" - a theory also known as Aristotelian abiogenesis. At the time, prevailing wisdom was that maggots formed naturally from rotting meat.

The "massive amount of flies" have to consume mass in order to have body mass. There is a food source somewhere.

 

[jhansman]

Boy, usually you have to pay extra for those (ba doom boom!). Generally speaking, maggots from eggs deposited in rotting food or flesh. If your shipment contained none of these organic materials, it's unlikely they came in the shipment. Is is possible this infestation is just coincidental with your package's arrival, and actually came from somewhere around your house?

 

[Ichinisan]

Boy, usually you have to pay extra for those (ba doom boom!). Generally speaking, maggots from eggs deposited in rotting food or flesh. Unless your shipment contained none of these organic materials, it's unlikely they came in the shipment. Is is possible this infestation is just coincidental with your package's arrival, and actually came from somewhere around your house?

Fixed that for you.

 

[Wangstang]

Haven't read the thread yet, but it's NOT related to your Newegg purchase. It's complete coincidence.

There would have to be something in that package that the maggots could subsist on.

I've had several temporary plagues of small flies and never made an illogical association like the OP does.

It's just ridiculous.

If a person in the distribution/packaging section happend to spill a drink on a stack of boxes they left their beverage of choice out of convinence or happend to drop the last bite of a snickers bar in the box while closing things up...

Of course the spilled drink could have happend in transit as well.

Wes

 

[jhansman]

Fixed that for you.

Yes, thanks.

 

[Ichinisan]

If a person in the distribution/packaging section happend to spill a drink on a stack of boxes they left their beverage of choice out of convinence or happend to drop the last bite of a snickers bar in the box while closing things up...

Of course the spilled drink could have happend in transit as well.

Wes

I think OP would have mentioned the sticky gunk in his package. He also would have noticed the dark and noisy cloud of flies emerging from it.

 

[lxskllr]

You probably have maggots somewhere. If you didn't see them in the box, I doubt the flies came from newegg.

I had this issue earlier in the summer, I never saw the maggots, but they had to be somewhere, because the flys kept coming. After a week they disappeared. I figure something died in a wall or right outside the house somewhere or maybe the source was compost outside my house, etc, etc.

But if the box caused an infestation you should have seen maggots in it.

Pretty much this. If a cloud of flies didn't come out of the box when you opened it, that isn't where they came from. In any case, I wouldn't worry about it if they did come from Newegg. Sometimes life shits on you, and you just have to deal with it. It isn't worth hassling with a company over.

 

[makken]

My bro ordered some olive oil from Amazon. He opened the box and a few bees flew out. One stung him. He called Amazon mad as hell and got all sorts of credits for future orders. Even though it wasn't their "fault," they're lucky he wasn't allergic.

 

[lxskllr]

:^D

I love that comic. That was the first XKCD comic I saved :^)

 

[Bignate603]

I certainly understand your point, and don't want to make a big deal out of it. However, I disagree with you for a few reasons:

1. Before opening the boxes, we had not observed any flies. A disproportionate amount of flies was not observed around garbage or food, and after disposing of the garbage and food (veggies in a bowl) the problem has barely lessened.

2. We're talking about massive amounts-- if, 4 days later, I'm able to find and kill 38 on a 1-hour lunch break, you know the quantity we're talking about is not insubstantial. I'm not complaining about there being a few critters taking a ride in a box. I'm talking about what would easily be a total of at least 100 flies.

Putting both of those together makes it seem reasonable to me to contact Newegg, if only to make them aware of a problem.

Unless you saw flys or maggots in the box you didn't get them from new egg. Also, if you're seen tons of flies now it means that they are living and breeding in something in your house. Have all your family members been showing up for dinner? Any missing pets?

In all seriousness though, until you get rid of them you're going to need to be very careful about cleaning up anything they could live off of. Clean out your sink trap and garbage disposal, take out any garbage that has food in it every night, don't let any dirty dishes wait around, check and spray down any house plants, etc. Note any areas or rooms where they seem more numerous and look for things they could be eating. Until you get rid of the source you're just going to have more and more.

 

[Eluros]

Oddly enough, we went out to dinner that night (and we were at work for lunch), so there wasn't anything else we brought into our home. No kids or pets, so no one snuck something inside. We threw away (took to the dump) all the garbage in the house, but the flies remained. We hadn't gone grocery shopping that day. It may not have been Newegg's boxes, but I honestly have no idea what it could have been.

We've put fly strips up and kill them as we find them. The massive war against flies has hurt their numbers pretty significantly. Hopefully we'll be able to find some sort of source soon enough.

 

[CZroe]

Uhh... flies show up on their own and find their own way in. You didn't have to "bring them in." Who doesn't know this?!

 

[2Dead]

Maybe you've got a dead mouse somewhere.

 

[twinrider1]

...Shortly upon opening everything up, we were beset...

It sounds like it wasn't a case of opening a box, and immediately seeing flies pour out.
Yes, that is a lot of flies. And I understand questioning the boxes, since that's probably the most obvious variable...No flies...opened boxes...flies appeared. But unless you saw the flies emerge directly from the boxes, you don't really know for sure that they were the source.
Open a few windows, they'll disperse.

 

[jtvang125]

I would say there's a dead mouse in your AC.

 

[Eluros]

So, I have an update:

Newegg contacted me and said they would fully refund shipping and give me a $10 credit. All things aside, this was a great response from Newegg. Regardless of whose fault the problem is, they took full responsibility and rectified the problem. Glad to hear that their customer service is as great as I had always remembered.

 

[Born2bwire]

Yeah, I'm wondering too. Did the arrival and opening of the boxes just coincide with the plague or did you actually have flies come out of the boxes when you opened them?

 

[fustercluck]

That's a pretty interesting situation. Also got a lot of flies in our house lately, I don't know where they are coming from. Sick little bastards. The flies are taking over!

 

[Wyndru]

So, I have an update:

Newegg contacted me and said they would fully refund shipping and give me a $10 credit. All things aside, this was a great response from Newegg. Regardless of whose fault the problem is, they took full responsibility and rectified the problem. Glad to hear that their customer service is as great as I had always remembered.

Just wow.

 

[fustercluck]

Also I'm guessing you weren't an isolated incident, but who knows.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Oddly enough, we went out to dinner that night (and we were at work for lunch), so there wasn't anything else we brought into our home. No kids or pets, so no one snuck something inside. We threw away (took to the dump) all the garbage in the house, but the flies remained. We hadn't gone grocery shopping that day. It may not have been Newegg's boxes, but I honestly have no idea what it could have been.

We've put fly strips up and kill them as we find them. The massive war against flies has hurt their numbers pretty significantly. Hopefully we'll be able to find some sort of source soon enough.

So you apparently were storing trash, but the flies had to come from Newegg?