To tell you not to go to Costa coffee in the Trafford centre

[CharityBurbag]

We decided to stop for a little coffee pick me up in the Costa coffee in next at the Trafford centre yesterday.

Mum went to order and I got a table. Every table was covered in cups and plates and used tissues. I managed to find a fairly clean one and sat down.

To be clear it was open!

Then I noticed a lot of staff on the left hand side of the shop all looking at something under one of the booths and trying to get sorting into a cup.

I heard them say 'I don't think that's a mouse I think that's a rat I saw it on one of the tables back there and then it ran under here' and then they closed the coffee shop to try and catch the rat

They must have managed to catch it as it was back open and serving food about an hour later 🤢

Just go somewhere else if you find yourself in next and fancy a coffee!

Yes we were being unreasonable to go into a Costa inside a next and expect a good coffee but we didn't expect it to come with a side of large mouse / rat

Sad to say but they aren't harmless. They can carry some very nasty diseases and you certainly wouldn't want to be bitten by one 🤢

So do cats but most people don't panic when they see a cat.

Cats are less likely to enter food establishments, nibble through food ingredients and them shit everywhere.
I've worked in supermarkets, cafe and takeaways and the only time a cat has have ever entered a premises was a neighbours cat who fancied a stroke and a bit of fuss 😀

Best not go out anywhere. They are everywhere.
I work in Central London and had a chat with the pest control guy who comes to our offices - they have seen it all.

Lol sorry to break it to you OP but there are rats fucking everywhere and most of the coffee shops and eateries you've been to in your life, especially in cities, will at some point have also hosted a rodent or two. Even the ones with the 5* hygiene ratings.

Having initially thought I need to burn down the Trafford Centre, I now might have to burn the world, which seems extreme but I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate them 😭😭😭😭

A singular rat isn't really cause for histrionics. If the place HAD rats it would be infested and you'd see more than one, a singular rat has probably wandered in and they caught it, closed and likely cleaned all the surfaces then reopened. Ditto a mouse.

I assume this hand-wringing is about their advert with the picture of the trans man? Grow up.

OK Costa is a huge chain, but I wouldn't try to damage someone's business on this basis.

😂 this is exactly what I thought. Imagine, your mere presence causing people to scream or faint, it must be very upsetting. Poor rat 🐀

You realise this is a franchise? Someone's business?

They closed the store to deal with the rat. What else were they meant to do. Loads of eateries have rats you just don't see them.

They won’t attack unless cornered.

I work in a different big shopping centre, (INTU size) in England and my store had a mouse recently. We only sell very minimal food... Bird seed. It was seen in our cash office having a wash lol. It took a couple of weeks to catch it.
The centre has a massive rat and mouse problem along with a massive food court.

I know someone who contracted weils disease (really nasty) after coming into contact with rat urine.

Indeed, they dealt with it appropriately. What else can they do OP? There’s rats all around the TC, I have a vivid memory of my dad accidentally running one over when we were leaving when I was a child 😨

My Dad used to be a shop fitter and he said if you saw the loading bay areas in the supermarkets you would never eat. Pallets of eggs left out on the deck for days and more, rats and others running all over the place and he said if you are there when they move the freezers out 🤮 it turns your stomach at what lies beneath them!!

I was warned on a health and safety course that you should never drink beer straight from the bottle in pubs because there are rats and mice in most pub cellars and they pee on the bottle necks.

You can report that to Environmental Health and they will do a check.

I honestly think it's worse because so many places are just bloody grubby these days- ( it's lack of council money but also people's and businesses lack of clearing away ( staff and punters) - Manchester was I think one of the grubbiest I've been too- I do like it but blimey it could do with a deep clean.- and as I say I don't just blame councils, I blame many people for not giving a shit.

Yeah - I'd much rather eat somewhere that closed and dealt with the problem than one that tried to carry on

Like most of us, up the escalator, I would imagine

The toilets in my local Costa are disgusting.

AIBU to tell you not to visit the Trafford Centre full stop? Dreadful place. It's the 9th circle of hell.

This is because they are often very kind and let anyone who is desperate come in and use them

I don't go to Costa because their coffee is disgusting, but I don't think they are the only establishment to have a rat problem. Rats are everywhere, unfortunately.