Children brought me rat poison.

[Mike2715]

I recently stayed in Idanha, Oregon USA for a week during independence day. Had my family come for a get together at the bnb I was staying, and my kids brought me rat poison they found from around the place, not disclosed in bnb info. These traps were set all over the house hidden and in areas unable to see from "walk arounds". I contacted air bnb and they said that there's nothing they can do after 72 hours. I didnt know it was there until after 72 hours. I have since then been contacted by multiple bnb people but with no answers. I have uploaded pictures/ proof and have every intention to seek further legal action if my payment for this is not fully refunded. Having a family with multiple upset parents about this will clean up this mess. Don't mess with parents I suppose. 

If anyone else has had trouble with bnb support or refunds for safety concerns feel free to contact me and you can join in on moving forward. 

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Only solution I have found to be really effective is cats. Even then, the cats sometimes decide it's a great idea to bring a live mouse into the house. 

Have you tried those plug in mouse repellents? I did for a few months before I got my kitties and it seemed to do the trick, but I don't know if the mice had already departed with the filthy tenants I evicted...

[Mark116]

@Huma0  Yes, our neighbors whose cat died, now have a mouse problem they never had before and have had the exterminators out almost half a dozen times by now.  I don't think I have it in me to use poison on mice, if there was an issue I would opt for the humane traps.  Thankfully our cats appear to be a strong deterrent.  The OP never mentioned whether the listing was pet friendly, which to my mind would make a big difference.  You wouldn't expect children to be crawling around on the floor, under furniture, etc. but pets, absolutely.  I still find it very strange to refuse to contact the host and instead go straight to Airbnb and then post about it on this forum, but whatever, everyone has their own issues.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

Same here. I would prefer not to use poison or any traps that aren't humane and those sticky sheets are just horrible (I won't go into details of why as it's really vile). 

Mice are a problem in any older property over here. Anyone I know who lives in one, even a 1930s house, who doesn't have cats has had issues with mice. You can try to seal the property as much as possible, but you'll never get it totally sealed against mice because they can squeeze through the tiniest holes. 

I was thinking the same about you RE pets. That is another reason why I would never use poison. I do sometimes put ant traps in the garden, but I'm super careful to make sure they are covered and surrounded in a way that the cats can't get to them.

I think that small children do crawl around the floor and under some furniture. I also wouldn't be happy with rat poison being put out in trays etc. However, it's the OP's refusal to contact the host about it that riled me. Perhaps I could have been less aggressive in my responses, but the review is really terrible and the rat poison is not the only allegation made. I think this host must have been completely blindsided by it.

[Helen3]

Also @Mike2715  has now admitted it didn't say on the packaging it actually was poison so he may have created all this drama and caused a host to lose their livelihood for nothing 😢😢😢

[Mike2715]

@Helen3 You're really hosting properties? I thought you had to be able to read. Hm. 

[Mark116]

@Huma0 Agree.  I just found it really striking that all the other reviews were great, and then the OP review is a total outlier...mirrors are about to fall down, wood is splintered, entire rooms are hazardous and unkempt, listing is inaccurate, yard overgrown and then the cherry on top...rat poison laying around the inside of the house.  Seems very odd.  Usually a bad listing, vs. a bad guest you will see in the reviews mentions of similar issues over time.  I keep telling my neighbors to just go adopt another cat, but I think they are enjoying the freedom of not need to get cat sitters and so on.  But that exterminator truck keeps returning......

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Huma0 our cats have brought in live mice, rabbits and ducks. In our experience they are not overly helpful! I tried an electronic mole repeller once and was convinced it attracted the little beggar back to destroy the lawn.

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Ducks? That's impressive. I think I would freak out if one of my cats brought in a live rabbit or duck though. Did you manage to save them?

Luckily, my cats don't have such a selection of prey to choose from so mice, small birds and (for one summer only) frogs are the only critters they've brought inside, sometimes alive, sometimes not. 

The cats have also gotten lazier as they have gotten older, so dead birds are now also rare. For a while, my tulips were safe from the squirrels but now the kitties usually can't be bothered to chase them anymore. I get it. It's hard work catching a squirrel. My neighbours used to have a pet bunny and the cats didn't bother with it at all. They just thought it was weird.

What is also very weird is the mystery mouse that appeared in my light well the other day. I had no idea how it got there. The only access is if you climb out of a bathroom window using a step ladder. The window is normally closed so that the cats don't get out there. I have no idea how that mouse got there unless a bird dropped it. I mean, mice don't get up on the roof of a four storey house. Or do they?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Huma0 The duck survived - Played dead until the cat let go and then flew around until ushered out. The rabbits used to survive until our Labrador realised how tasty they are so unless we see them coming in they are eaten (whole) I am afraid.

[Huma0]

Oh no. Poor rabbits. My neighbour's bunny died too but I have no idea if it was a fox or their dog as they were a bit cagey when I asked what happened 😞

[Lorna170]

@Mike2715   I looked at your profile and found your review of the property.  

First off, you rented a property that the owner had placed with Evolve, which is a huge “property manager” that is a business operated to clean and host properties for owners who need assistance and do not handle the daily maintenance of their properties themselves.  They are another middleman between the host and the guest, and while they profess to do due diligence, IMO they do NOT.

I have no confidence that Evolve would care for a property that I own and present it to guests in the way that I would.  They are middlemen and do not have pride of ownership.  They hire cleaning companies that may or may not adequately clean the STR.  It appears to me that Evolve may have contracted with an exterminator who placed traps and bait around the property, not understanding that an owner is not present and that persons other than the owner would be on site.  The exterminator probably explained to the cleaning lady what the traps represented as hazards.  Who is she going to tell?

Did you contact Evolve, i.e., call their faceless, nameless customer service agency and complain?  They are the “owner” you rented from via AirBnB.  Did you immediately upon arrival contact them about the condition of the property that you detailed in your review?  I would guess that the absentee owner who is paying this company probably has no idea that the property is run down and in need of maintenance.  However, you can bet that the owner is being charged for proper cleaning, maintenance, general upkeep and for the traps and bait placed by Evolve’s exterminator.

I do not agree with the placement of traps and bait that would put persons at risk who are not advised of it’s presence, and I would never rent out or remain in a property that has created such a risk.  But I would have known who to contact first (Evolve) and gone after them for the hazardous conditions.  If Evolve was non-caring and unresponsive, then I would have gone to AirBnB, knowing full well that an advertising agency that is strictly in the business of putting properties up for rent with a considerable expense to the guest (15%!) and outsources their customer service is NOT going to help.

I don’t ever rent a property that is in the hands of a property manager like Evolve or a property that is hosted by a person who has a huge number of properties listed on AirBnB.  They are not hands on hosts who are available to solve problems and assist in making my visit enjoyable. They do not represent the many individual property owners who work hard to offer a guest a wonderful experience and who take proper care of their listing and property.  They are not the hosts that AirBnB built the backbone of their business on.  

In conclusion, you rented a property from a faceless agency.  Based on your review, you did not like the condition of the property, but you did not immediately complain or terminate your booking.  When you discovered a serious hazard on your last day(?) and before anyone was hurt, you did not call Evolve or the owner and immediately vacate.  You went to this forum to complain because you did not get a refund for a completed stay, and used a tactic that has been used by many a scam artist.  Good luck with your lawsuit.  

[Huma0]

@Lorna170 

I don't know anything about Evolve but, like you, I probably wouldn't book from an agency with hundreds of listings. I couldn't figure out which of the properties the OP rented in order to check out the other reviews for that particular property and figure out if it was indeed run down or not, but overall the reviews and ratings for Evolve are very good, so his review does look like an outlier. Anyway, despite that, everything you say might be true. You have more knowledge about it than me. 

Since the original post, the OP has reported that he did indeed receive his refund from Airbnb and someone else I think mentioned the listing being suspended so, once again, CS has sided with a guest who did not give the host the opportunity to address the problems. He says he only discovered the rat poison (if that was indeed what it was) on the last day and that he did not feel comfortable speaking to the host about it.

However, if the property was as bad as claimed in the review, why on earth wait until after the stay to complain about it to Airbnb? If he is so concerned with the safety of the family, why stay a week in a property that is apparently so unsafe? And if these were genuine concerns, surely this property would have been delisted already due to other guests complaining. It just does not add up to me, which is why I'm willing to give the host (even if it is a faceless agency) the benefit of the doubt.

[Mike2715]

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[Lorna170]

@Mike2715   Takes one to know one.  

[Mike2715]

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