A Mouse in the House: How to Warn Guests

[Ashley264]

Our property is located in an old port city. The house itself is well over 100 years old—charming, exposed wood beams, modern kitchen and original wood floors. All of this invites the occasional critter from time to time. However, we do everything to mitigate this (regular deep cleans and sanitization between stays, monthly pest control, garbage removed from the property, etc.)

We just had a guest who, very late on their last night stay, reported to Airbnb they had found a mouse and separately saw a mouse trap and didn't feel safe on the property. They didn't reach out to me, although I talked to them only an hour earlier. Airbnb obviously sided with the guest, gave them a full refund for their entire stay and is giving us 96 hours to provide documentation of cleaning and pest control or they will cancel all our future bookings and remove our listing from the platform. Since this cleaning and pest control is routine for us, we can provide this. The reaction from Airbnb feels extreme and unfair to the host. They are not willing to share any documentation the guest provided, citing privacy concerns. The guest is also not willing to share the documentation. I can't help but feel like this guest is scamming us.

Airbnb's response to me was that the guest was not aware there could be mice. My question is, how do you make guests aware of the chance sighting and routine precautions taken to avoid mice to:

1. make the guest aware
2. avoid a mandatory full refund to the guest
3. not get booted off the Airbnb platform for mentioning that you may encounter a mouse.

It seems like a black and white issue for Airbnb, and despite years of five-star reviews, one mouse is basically an infestation. So how also do you get any support from Airbnb when they represent only the guest's interests in an issue.

I'm not disputing that mice are gross, and no one wants to see one. I just don't know how to arrive in the middle ground. It seems like having a mouse, having traps to prevent mice, or mentioning mice all violates Airbnb Host Standards. 

[Brian2036]

@Ashley264 

Saw a mouse. Did not feel “safe.”

Stupid, unreasonable and ridiculous, but not surprising.

This guest most likely has a history of cheating hosts out of their legitimate earnings and is very proud of it.

 I posted in my listing, after having a similar complaint, the following: “If you have phobias regarding insects, spiders, vermin or wild animals do not come here.”

I don’t know if that is effective, and it appears that CS generally does whatever is easiest for them, which is often robbing the host, but at least I’m making an effort to warn off imbeciles and con-artists.

[Ashley264]

Thanks for your response @Brian2036. You're likely right. It has a feeling of they (the guests) know what they are doing. 

[Laura2592]

@Ashley264  this thread has some good ideas:

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/The-Fly-in-the-Ointment-All-about-insects-in-your-ABB-sp...

Typically if mice or other critters are possible, its best to put that in your listing. ABB will defer to what you have in your listing if guests start complaining.  We say that our space is not great for insect phobic guests. You could say "Our space is located in a port city. Though we treat the exterior to keep out pests including insects and mice, this is a reality of nature. Our space may not be a fit for those who are extremely phobic of these and other wildlife. "

[Ashley264]

Thanks, @Laura2592. This is a helpful thread and you articulate the concern so well! I haven't gotten beyond my disbelief to be able to put a "warning" into words. Much appreciated! 

[Sarah977]

@Ashley264  Mentioning such things in your listing doesn't violate Airbnb standards. It's important to mention anything that could be a deal breaker for guests, or give them fodder for demanding a refund.

Many of us have listings where various critters are endemic. It's good to head fearful or "eeuw, gross!" or those who would characterize a single mouse or cockroach siting as an "infestation" guests off at the pass.

[Brian2036]

@Ashley264 @Sarah977 @Laura2592 

Just mentioning such things may discourage con-artists who make a habit of using technicalities to pay for their lodgings.

 The US courts long ago became bored with such claims and, unless a plaintiff comes up with something truly shocking, generally dismiss such ridiculous complaints.

This reminds me of an old joke about three men sitting in a dingy, fly infested bar.

The Scotsman sees a fly in his beer, fishes it out, discards it, and drinks the beer without comment.

The Englishman scowls, pushes his glass toward the bartender, and says, “Draw me a fresh one, if you please.”

The Irishman gingerly pulls the fly out of his glass, shakes it vigorously over the beer, and roars, “Give me back my beer, ya thievin’ bahstid!”

[Tony-And-Una0]

I guess if it has been an American fly it would just have been high on Opiods and Meth?????

[Colleen253]

@Ashley264 Airbnb will only bring up 'hosting standards' and shake the finger at you when something like this happens, not because you mention mice in your listing. And yes, this guest scammed a free stay. Unfortunately, Airbnb is more concerned with keeping guests than hosts, so they will appease guests at any cost to the host. As others have indicated, close all possible ' I cry refund!' doors by disclosure in your listing. Guests will even make stuff up and stage pictures to get a free stay. We have to stay ahead of the scammers.

[Brian2036]

@Ashley264 @Colleen253 @Sarah977 @Laura2592 

I’m adding this to my listing:

”Guests should be aware that the forest is home to many creatures great and small. Some of the tiny ones may get into the house from time to time. NO REFUNDS will be granted because someone saw a spider, a fly, a wasp, a mouse, a pack rat, a snake…need I continue?”

The idea is to let the con artists know that I don’t intend to be victimized. 

[A-t0]

@Ashley264 Its simple, if a guest contacts Airbnb directly without trying to contact you first, its a clear scam and they are looking for free holidays. 

I would remove that mouse trap from the house if i were you as thats a no no in an Airbnb listing. Continue the pest control/deep cleaning as a mouse in a house is not a wonderful idea to be honest 🙂 I would suggest you give a general description in the listing ad, but do not put any named "animals" as that will scare guests.

If you see that one of your guests tries to contact you with genuine concern, then you need to think of providing a partial refund but trust your instict and if you see that all is staged then all you can offer is for them to cancel without refund.

[Ashley264]

Thanks, @A-t0. We are pretty reasonable hosts (I think). We definitely have given partial refunds for inconveniences. We certainly would have remedied the situation here as well had we been given the chance. Appreciate your thoughts!

[Debra300]

@Ashley264,

I include this disclaimer in the Guest Safety section of the listing details, "There are deer, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, tortoises, and other critters they attract, that may roam the property."

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ashley264 We have mouse bait in and around our own property and the attached apartments. As a result if a mouse does come in it isn't alive for very long. With historic properties it is neither possible nor desirable to hermetically seal them.

We have a disclaimer for spiders but not mice as we have only experienced 1 in the last 3 years and thankfully that was in our house not the apartments.

[Brian2036]

@Debra300 @Ashley264 @Mike-And-Jane0 @A-t0 @Colleen253 

Whenever someone plays the “I didn’t feel safe” card I become queasy.

For one thing no one has any control over what you feel.

For another thing, if you do “feel safe” you’re delusional. 

Possibly spending a great deal of time in places where bullets and bombs were flying and various people were actively trying to kill me has given me a different perspective.

 In Vietnam I soon realized that, statistically speaking, my risks were not much greater than civilians hiding behind their locked doors in Akron, Ohio.

There is always a significant risk of war, plague, pestilence and famine, not to mention natural disasters, automobile accidents, or a 747 crashing through your ceiling.

Not to mention cardiac arrest, spontaneous brain aneurysm, galloping consumption and leprosy.

In fact, something is guaranteed to kill you eventually, and you will never be entirely safe until that happens.

So get over it and don’t try to tell me that you were traumatized by a mouse. It tempts me to demonstrate what real trauma is like.