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Original poster

Mice in Air BNB

115 replies

Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 16:45

Hi there … we stayed in an Airbnb and discovered a mouse in the middle of the night after hearing rustling in the kitchen. We went into the kitchen and saw a mouse in a carrier bag we had put down that had food in it. As soon as we opened the bag it was gone as quick as a flash- so unable to take any photos or even see where it went.
We have emailed the owners . No reply as yet but just wondering what , if anything, we can expect from them regarding this?
For context: the kitchen smelt “off “ and weird when we first entered the property and I opened a kitchen window- but my husband told me to close it as it was cold. I have no evidence as proof as such and no photos.
It was a rural property and we are home now.

Any advice would be appreciated please .

OP posts:
confusedlots · 09/04/2023 17:02

What sort of advice are you looking for? Surely now you're home and far away from the mouse that's the end of the it?

BennyBlancofromtheBronx · 09/04/2023 17:04

How much compo do you think you need to get over the trauma?

ReadersD1gest · 09/04/2023 17:05

I'd expect a full refund, tbh. Doubt you'd get it, but a vermin infested AirBNB is appalling.

Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:08

I mean, as in an apology. We’ve got children. The kitchen smelt off as I said and we had prepared food . Kind of turns my stomach to be honest thinking it may have been on our food as we’d had things on the sides etc. As they say, there is never one mouse …
Also, from looking at Airbnb policies, mice are pests and so this is pretty serious until
dealt with by pest control etc and properties should be considered inhabitable 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:09

BennyBlancofromtheBronx · 09/04/2023 17:04

How much compo do you think you need to get over the trauma?

Don’t need “ compo “…. and it’s not so much a trauma just pretty disgusting given we had paid a fortune per night to stay there.

OP posts:
daisy1765 · 09/04/2023 17:10

where was it? Out in the countryside? We used to live near a field in the middle of nowhere and all the houses had visitors from time to time. The cats helped keep the population down!Grin

Comfies · 09/04/2023 17:11

If it's rural, it was probably a field mouse? They aren't part of an infestation usually. They just wander in to get warm.

We've had this in a cottage. We just chased it out with the help of the owners and we didn't see it again.

SlipSlidinAway · 09/04/2023 17:18

How long were you there for and did you see any more mice or signs of them? As Comfies says, it could have just been a field mouse that wandered in. We live rurally and have lots around us.

WateryDoom · 09/04/2023 17:20

You get the odd mouse in rural properties, to be honest. I've always lived in the countryside and never had a house yet that didn't occasionally get a mouse.

I'd have shrugged and not bothered about it. It doesn't sound 'infested'. I'd have let the owners know so that they could put a trap down, but that's all.

Viviennemary · 09/04/2023 17:22

I dont think the mouse would realise you paid a fortune for the air bnb. Imwould have hated this too though. But probably could be just a field mouse rather than an infestation.

BennyBlancofromtheBronx · 09/04/2023 17:22

You saw one mouse that could have come in through the door with you. Not an infestation of pests with faeces all over the work surfaces and bite marks in all your food.

JackHackettsMac · 09/04/2023 17:24

Field mice are perfectly ok and fairly common in the country. I'm pretty adept at catching them using an old tea towel and putting them back outside, if the dog or cats don't get there first.

However, if you felt that the property was generally unclean, hence smelling musty (?), then it's probably worth asking for a partial refund.

Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:24

We had cheese that had been bitten into - a slice left on the children’s plate the day before.

There was black things on the kitchen floor when we first got there and me being as naive as anything, just picked them up with kitchen roll and carried on. Now think they could have been droppings as they was all over the kitchen floor.

Overall though, it was the smell that got me in the kitchen upon entering: a musty “ hay “ like smell and as I say I opened a window straight away. Just a weird smell and very off.

OP posts:
Kranke · 09/04/2023 17:28

So you left cheese out overnight? No wonder the mice came in. I’d be annoyed if it was my house and guests had left food lying around, that’s just inviting them in.

I don’t know why you’d complain now? Will someone saying sorry really help now?

L3ThirtySeven · 09/04/2023 17:28

You’re in a rural property and you leave out some cheese overnight on a plate, and a bag of food on the floor. That’s like putting out a neon sign for an all you can eat buffet to mice. I’m not sure you have a leg to stand on, you did everything possible to attract a mouse into the kitchen.

SlipSlidinAway · 09/04/2023 17:31

Sounds like there were droppings on the floor when you arrived. I wouldn't be happy about that either.

Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:34

Kranke · 09/04/2023 17:28

So you left cheese out overnight? No wonder the mice came in. I’d be annoyed if it was my house and guests had left food lying around, that’s just inviting them in.

I don’t know why you’d complain now? Will someone saying sorry really help now?

No.. there was food unopened and these were on the side. Nothing was left open and uncovered in the kitchen
That’s what the mouse was in and it had bitten through the plastic bag.

The cheese on the plate was in another room and I never knew this until the next morning as my son had left it on the side table before he went to bed . This was not in the kitchen.

OP posts:
Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:36

I’m just asking as I have never used Airbnb before . First time.
Really don’t feel that this is my fault that there was a mouse ( mice ) in the property. That is unsanitary whichever way you look at it.

OP posts:
L3ThirtySeven · 09/04/2023 17:37

Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:34

No.. there was food unopened and these were on the side. Nothing was left open and uncovered in the kitchen
That’s what the mouse was in and it had bitten through the plastic bag.

The cheese on the plate was in another room and I never knew this until the next morning as my son had left it on the side table before he went to bed . This was not in the kitchen.

Show quote history

Doesn’t matter that food is unopened…if you leave it in a carrier bag on the floor it will attract mice. And as you say the cheese was left out overnight on a plate, doesn’t matter which room it was in, will still attract mice.

Littlepiglet123 · 09/04/2023 17:38

It's not acceptable at all. I would want a full refund.

Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:38

L3ThirtySeven · 09/04/2023 17:37

Doesn’t matter that food is unopened…if you leave it in a carrier bag on the floor it will attract mice. And as you say the cheese was left out overnight on a plate, doesn’t matter which room it was in, will still attract mice.

Show quote history

But what about the hay like musty smell in the kitchen and the black things all over the floor? Surely that’s a sign they are already there ?

OP posts:
Original poster
Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:39

L3ThirtySeven · 09/04/2023 17:37

Doesn’t matter that food is unopened…if you leave it in a carrier bag on the floor it will attract mice. And as you say the cheese was left out overnight on a plate, doesn’t matter which room it was in, will still attract mice.

Show quote history

Bag wasn’t on the floor. It was on the side .

OP posts:
L3ThirtySeven · 09/04/2023 17:56

Oneglassisnotenough · 09/04/2023 17:39

Bag wasn’t on the floor. It was on the side .

Show quote history

I misread “put down” as put down on a the floor. But regardless you have any food left out, even unopened, and not put away in secure closed cabinets, mice will be attracted by it. The cheese left out probably got them in the house and after that they went foraging and found the carrier bag of food.

The fact you are quibbling with me indicates you are not used to living in the countryside or being in rural properties. A carrier bag of food left out anywhere and on any surface will attract mice. They can climb on tables, chairs, counters, up walls, up curtains, up bedding, etc.

SlipSlidinAway · 09/04/2023 18:02

I'm not sure why anyone would think the op is at fault here. The mouse/mice were clearly already in the property. It's not as if leaving a bag on the side or a bit of cheese out on a plate attracted them into the property from outside.

It would spoil my holiday if I thought there was a mouse/mice sharing my accommodation. I've never used Airbnb but a quick google tells me complaints should be submitted online via their resolution centre. That's what I would be doing. You swept up the droppings before you knew what they were op, but did you take any photos of the bitten cheese/chewed food items that you could attach as evidence?

BungleandGeorge · 09/04/2023 18:07

If you’d recognised the droppings (if that’s what they were) and acted then they could have done something about it. There’s no proof that you didn’t let a mouse in through the open window so there’s not much can be done now. Apart from report it so that they can check it out before new people arrive