An unwelcome mention of rodents in guest review

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Hi folks,

I just got a 4 star review from some Germans. They saw rats/mice in the balcony garden at night and were not happy about it. But it’s impossible to keep rats/mice out of here - they are a major infestation in this city. But we do our best to keep them out of the house proper. The balcony sort of counts as outside - there’s a low wall, the terrace is connected to it, there are a million ways mice/rats could get in there.

Fortunately the review was in German, and Airbnb puts these at the bottom, at least for Indian locales. Would anyone care to comment on the position of this review for their location? Presumably it will come at the top for Germans - it’s the only German language review thus far. So maybe I’ll never get another German guest again. :slight_smile:

They actually mentioned that to me in person, so I thought they might mention it in the review. I asked them not to, but they did, and left a 4 star review. Which means significant problems, so maybe they thought this (or something else) counted as significant problems. Fair enough. Anyway, it’s fortunate that they didn’t complain to Airbnb, because if they had, they would have got a full refund.

I’ve had another guest (Spanish) mention a rat in the house (they get in occasionally), but he didn’t put it in the review. And nobody else has mentioned them, which is perhaps a little surprising.

There has been discussion elsewhere about rat/mice, see for example the long thread
http://www.airhostsforum.com/t/guests-found-a-mouse-and-want-a-refund-help/10749/. I actually mention my mouse/rat problem in there.

I’ve actually being expecting a problem with this for awhile. So I suppose I should be grateful that the guest was thoughtful enough to write it in German. Presumably it wasn’t his intention to make it less visible, though.

Incidentally, rats/mice actually getting into the guest room is pretty unlikely. It’s fairly closed off. Unless they leave everything wide open, I suppose.

Question: does anyone think it would make any sense to mention that there might be rats/mice in the balcony garden? I don’t think so, but I thought I’d solicit opinions.

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Hopefully, potential guests (and Airbnb) will realise that in a city like yours will have a rat problem. We do too but never inside. THat’s because we’re on the water and there are always one or two rats around. I’m so very glad that no guests have ever seen them - or if they have, they haven’t mentioned them.

I suspect, although I have no evidence to support this, that there’ll be more native English speakers than Germans looking at your listing.

I think that if ever a guest mentioned seeing a rat here I’d have to say they are sometimes seen in Florida because they are on vacation looking for their Uncle Mickey from Orlando. :slight_smile:

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A four star review doesn’t mean significant problems @faheem. It means an OK stay. And there’s a chance your four star review is more because your guests were uncomfortable with you trying to influence their review.

I saw a massive rat hanging out in my buildings car park happy as Larry. We also have A LOT of foxes that will stroll up and down the street bold as brass.

Welcome to city life. I wouldn’t add it to your listing. Even in London you’re never more than a few metres away from a mouse or rat.

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Hi @jaquo,

Yes, I think they should. But as we all know, sometimes guests have unreasonable expectations.

I forgot to mention that there are some steps that we can take to make the garden less rodent friendly. The closest thing to a big tree that the garden has had a big pot which it seems they burrow into. I’m reluctant to get rid of that tree - it’s been in the garden all my life. But we might end up removing it, and the big pot as well. And we spent to much effort to rat-proof the birdcage, but they are still getting in.

But you didn’t answer the question. should I mention this to guests? And where are you seeing the German review? I’m seeing it second to the bottom, about the review (in French) from the crazy Frenchman.

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I don’t think so. Or to be precise, I don’t think Airbnb thinks so. It’s on record here that Airbnb have threatened people with a 4 star average rating with closure. And in a couple of cases, actually shut down the listing temporarily.

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I agree with @Zandra. If I stayed at an Airbnb where the host asked me not to mention an existing problem in a review, I would give them a review much lower than four stars and I would report them to Airbnb. How would you feel if you had a guest who caused a significant problem then asked you not to mention it in the review?

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I can only speak from my experience. To date I have received 70% 5 star reviews, 23% 4 star and 7% disgruntled so I will try to ruin you reviews. I’ve never so much as had a warning from Airbnb despite racking up one 1 star review and three 3 stars.

Airbnb don’t delist because you got one or two 4 stars. They delist when a pattern of low reviews is established…

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Hi @EllenN,

a) It’s debatable whether it’s a problem with the rental. It’s a fact of life in this city, and entirely outside my control. One might equally well mark down the listing because it’s too hot here. Which it is - often.

b)[quote=“EllenN, post:6, topic:14511”]
How would you feel if you had a guest who caused a significant problem then asked you not to mention it in the review?
[/quote]

I’ve no idea what you’re getting at here. I did not cause any problem. If a guest mentions it in a review, it might scare people. People often overreact at the mention of rats or mice. Ditto for spiders too, though it’s hard to find any residence that doesn’t have spiders in there somewhere.

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Shrug. An average of 4.2 stars (I think it was), isn’t a pattern of low reviews, if 4 stars means “good”, as Airbnb would have people believe. Or even “ok”, as you say. But of course, it doesn’t.

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@faheem if it was mentioned in a review it might be scary to some… I hate rodents and I wouldn’t stay somewhere it was mentioned. Many would stay regardless because the fact is they’re normal in a city environment and not everyone is scared by them.

The problem is you tried to stop the guests from mentioning what they saw; many would see that as shady. Many would also also be embarrassed by being put in that situation.

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Yes, I see it in the same place, after the French one. I translated it and it doesn’t seem to be a bad review at all apart from that mention.

I wouldn’t mention it in advance to guests. But because I know that it’s possible that guests might see a rat if they are sitting on the dock, then I have an answer at the ready. If they are jokey, friendly guests I have the Mickey Mouse one ready but for others I have ‘As you know, rats are common here on the water. See that multi-million dollar home over there? They have the same thing…’

For me, it’s the ‘as you know’ bit that counts. Whenever I use ‘as you know’ guests nod sagely. It’s an Emperor’s New Clothes thing. :slight_smile:

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You need a cat or two!!!

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For all that it is worth: most Germans will discount their review as it is full of spelling errors anyways and they might not even read it to the end …

That said: it is a bit of a warning for the faint of heart that they might cross the path of one or the critter if going to the bathroom at night

If you want to post a reply in German …pm me.

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I feel it is unfair to mention rats outside the house. How can a host control that? Luckily we don’t have rats in my area but I saw a roach once outside in the garden. I really fear the roach may get into the house searching for food (many guests don’t clean rubbish daily I believe). Therefore I use insect bomb every 90 days, and so far so good.

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There is a lot you can do to control rodents on your property. When we bought our house the back yard was overrun with rats and mice. We tore out the ivy and bougainvillea as rodents like to nest in both plants. We keep all food that is stored outside (in our case, dog food) tightly sealed. We don’t plant fruit trees close to our house. Our neighbors on both sides have big mouse and rat problems in their yards, so I believe that our efforts are working. Also, don’t get rid of opossums. They eat mice, rats, snakes and cockroaches.

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Hi @AlexSJ,

Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. :slight_smile:

I think this review is better left unanswered.

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Hi @EllenN,

Thanks for the suggestions.

Yes, like I said, there is a (relatively) large tree in our garden. There is reason to believe this harbors mice and rats. We’re reluctant to take it out; it’s been there for many years. But I’m thinking that we may have no choice.

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Hi @Freya,

Well, the guests didn’t discuss it with me, but perhaps they consider the balcony garden to be part of the house. Which in some sense it is. As mentioned in the review, they have to go through it to get to the bathroom. Though it’s really small; it’s really just a bunch of plants in pots.

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Great post!! Thanks for the reviews!

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I live on 2 acres; its a rural area so there are losts of critters out here;bobcats,coyotes,mountain lions, peacock and unfortunately rats and mice.I also have rattlesnakes and i` bought 2 professional metal signs warning of rattlesnakes(the kind you see at state parks). We do our best to control pests,but dont use poison as that poisons the hawks and coyotes and bobcats. We bought these electric traps from Lowes for $40,you attach a piece of food like beef jerky(superglue it to the back wall.)when they rat walks in…instant death. I think its better than the wooden traps that sometimes do not kill but only injure the pest. We have half a dozen around the house(hidden where the guest cant see) and it seems to have really helped to keep the population down.