How much to refund this guest?

[Inna22]

A guest just saw a field mouse at the house. She snapped a picture, so I know it’s real. I’ve never seen droppings or had reports from other guests.  

I’ve had this problem at another house in the past so I had good supplies already.  I came right away with some poison that should work pretty fast. They didn’t want me to lay out traps, which I don’t blame them. They didn’t have pets with them  – I check that first so poison was ok. In the conversation they mentioned they would be cooking tomorrow at the house. I messaged them asking if could I deliver something to complement the meal or perhaps more champagne – they were drinking champagne as I was there. I know, I know, I should not have asked but just did something.

They responded with no thank you but a small discount would be nice. How much do you think I should offer? This was not a cheap reservation at all. 

[Mark116]

@Inna22  So, they went from wanting a 'small discount' to wanting a full refund.  I can't say I am surprised.  But, there may still be an entry point that you don't see, some small hole somewhere behind an appliance or through a cabinet.  

[Emilia42]

Ugh, this makes me angry. I really dislike people like this. They got a free vacation, at the expense of a good and honest person, for 3 minutes of mild discomfort. At least I know I will never be like them.

[Mark116]

So, I guess in hindsight, the thing to do would have been to ask airbnb to cancel with no penalty and rehouse them.  At least that way they aren't using your space for free.

But, I wonder if airbnb would have done that, refunding only takes them a couple minutes, where if they had to do actual work to help rehouse the guest, that might take some effort.  It's hard to win this game that is now so stacked against the hosts.

[Ute42]

Hi @Inna22 

Pls mind the airbnb guest refund policy:

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3. Conditions to Claim a Travel Issue

To submit a valid claim for a Travel Issue and receive the benefits with respect to your booking, you are required to meet each of the following conditions:

(b) you must bring the Travel Issue to our attention in writing or via telephone and provide us with information (including photographs or other evidence) about the Accommodation and the circumstances of the Travel Issue within 24 hours after the later of

1. the start of your booking or

2. (ii) you discover the existence of the Travel Issue , and must respond to any requests by us for additional information or cooperation on the Travel Issue;

----------------

If Your guests have reported the mouse to airbnb after check out, I think they are not entitled to a refund at all.

https://www.airbnb.ie/terms/guest_refund_policy

[Alice595]

@Ute42 That is a good point. Hopefully Airbnb will stick with their policy, which they often ignore in many different cases.

[Inna22]

@Ute42  This is great, thank you! I will bring it up to them right now

[April96]

Nothing if it's not a total infestation kind of thing and the place shouldn't be rented out.

You came over right away and did what you could. Rodents happen...as do mosquitoes, weeds and mold.

My area of FL has a rat problem - we're near the marsh and woods. We all do what we can about it, but they breed and it is what it is. I'm not refunding anyone because of it. We also have alligators. Again...no refunds.

[Kelly149]

@Inna22  You said, when I went back the second time... so did they see the mouse again or was this after they left?

you know, you can buy mice at the pet store. Who is to say where this mouse came from??

This is why anytime a guest raises a complaint it is good to both 1) fix the problem & 2) offer to let them leave. 

Bc the only thing worse than not getting paid for a stay that should have happened is not getting paid for a stay that DID happen. 

And as someone else pointed out it is a real pain to move for the guest & abb. And while I don’t trust abb completely it seems like a guest admitting in the thread that there has been a problem but they still want to stay would be much less likely to get a refund. 

Please let us know how the refund/review plays out

[Inna22]

@Kelly149 they claimed they did and also claimed they had to throw open food out. I just do not understand why they would keep open food out knowing that there is a mice "infestation". There are two refrigerators at the house. And yes, so true about getting paid for a stay that did happen. I am also thinking - what if there is a mouse there? They are so hard to get rid of. Should I be closing the airbnb?

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Okay, so maybe they didn't totally lie. But a full refund when they stayed the whole time and aparently continually left open food out? I love Emiels idea of having a list of refunds per pest, hilarious.  A mouse warrants $10, a cockroach $15, a rat $20, a cougar maybe $50, depending on whether it attacks anyone 🙂

I don't know if you have a full calendar right now, but if not, you might want to block a couple days just to make sure- mice aren't that hard to get rid of, unless there's an infestation or the neighborhood is full of them. Just set out some traps around and if there's nothing in them after a night or two, there probably isn't an issue. Borrowing a good mouser cat for a couple of days and leaving him/her in there for a night or two would also work. (Not some fat, overfed, pampered cat).

[Inna22]

the house has been literally covered with traps since yesterday: glue traps, old fashioned traps, battery operated traps. Plus poison and sonic repeller. And apparently the sonic repeller increases mice activity at first as they run away so all those running mice should have been caught in my traps. It is like a minefield and NOTHING. So all in all I agree with you, if not lying than gross exaggeration. I have thought about trying to find a cat. I allow pets so that's another thing- I would think mice would not establish a permanent residence somewhere with a regular pet encounter. Even if not a cat, I would imagine they stay away from dogs also. 

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Not so sure about dogs- mice are not their prey, even wild dogs, I think (although I may be wrong) So I don't think the smell of dog would discourage mice or rats, as their instinct wouldn't alert them to dogs as a threat. I know a mouse managed to make a nest in one of my living room bookcase drawers, complete with squirming baby mice, and my dog didn't even sniff around that drawer. But a resident cat would most likely keep them away. 

Yeah, I put one of thse sonic repellers in my shed to try to get rid of bats that were nesting in there- the bats actually moved closer to the device 🙂

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 usually your late night posts give me a good laugh before I go to bed. But as funny as your bat and mice stories are, somehow I am not laughing this time. I better start looking for a cat to borrow

[Suzanne302]

@Inna22 I cannot believe that! I'm so angry for you!!!

Reminds me of the bed bug stories where the guest still wants to stay but complains afterwards.

Bottom line, if the problem is bad enough the guest wants a full refund, the problem is bad enough the guest should leave as soon as the problem occurs.

As someone else mentioned, it's a lesson learned, unfortunately due to deceptive guests. The next time a guest complains about something I guess we need to spell it out like this:

GUEST: There's a bug in my room.

HOST: Oh no! I'm so sorry! I will remedy the situation asap or I can arrange to have you moved to another Airbnb. Is the situation bad enough you feel uncomfortable and would like to leave?

GUEST: Well, no, if you could just take care of the bug.

HOST: I'm on it and will offer you 10% off tonight's rate for your trouble. Are you sure it's not bad enough that you'd want to leave the property?

GUEST: I'm sure.

Probably still wouldn't matter to CS, but at least you have the guest admitting it's not bad enough for them to leave. I'm still fuming for you! Ugh.

[Inna22]

@Suzanne302  this is an excellent idea. By the policy, guest has to give me an opportunity to remedy. If I tell them, for example, I’m coming out with mice supplies but clearly I cannot get rid of them instantly, do you consider this resolved and want to stay?  I think CS would take that into consideration.