Unhappy guests due to ants - what would you do?

Hello, we are new to hosting and have an air BnB in the mountains. The house is new (3 years old) and during the winter months ants come into the house to escape the cold/wet. We’ve had a pest control person spray the house only a week ago but we have guests in the house right now that are complaining about ants being in the house and have opted to leave and go home 2 nights earlier than planned. The ants are absolutely not dangerous but I can also understand why someone would be annoyed about them. It’s also entirely outside of our control unfortunately and we’ve done everything that we can. What would you do and how would you handle this? Would you offer the group a refund? Winter is our business period during the ski season so it’d be heart breaking to have to cancel all our bookings or start issuing refunds People say they like to live in nature, but what if they don't like the things in nature? Hi @Ebony-R0 , Ants!  great listing! In our area we have very large black ants called carpenter ants that we have to mitigate for. Not sure of the ants that you have but here's some thoughts. - there are two sides to each story so one thing that occurs is that this guest was looking for a way out (needed to leave early, wanted a refund) and saw some random ants and here you are. - but, a guest leaving early because of ants potentially implies that it is more than just a few ants. That is an extreme reaction in my opinion, to leave for a random ant siting. So if we take the guests side, it seems like it could have been a lot of ants. - about the ants: a few ants? a line of ants all over? hundreds in the kitchen? in the cupboards? in the beds? in their luggage? in the box of cereal? Kitchen ants would be a big issue, one ant in the garage is not a big issue, Ants all over the garbage is an issue and so on. - in our area when the professionals come out and mitigate it causes more ant activity in our home. And so if that is something to consider on your end then you might want to consider the timing of such a thing. - in our case we get a few large ants stumbling around the house half dead (because they went thru the poison barrier).  We had a guest mention an ant in her luggage and so this prompted us to increase our vigilance. For one, we didn't yet have luggage racks and so this was our next purchase. For the guest that mentioned it I gave a credit,  don't exactly remember but it was probably around $100 USD.  - I use cinnamon, 30% vinegar, diatomaceous earth and ant poison (professionals spray) to control ants in and around the interior and exterior.  I use the vinegar to wipe interior walls, floors to remove ant trails for future ants, I use cinnamon and diatomaceous earth at door threshoholds, exterior steps, around trees that I know they as a way to push them away from the property.  I get on the roof with these products, I make sure the patio doesn't have ant activity and so on. Our cleaning crew is instructed to snap a photo of any ants inside so I know exactly where it was found and can then I can come back and take action. - on your end, I would take some action about this ant issue and do some additional mitigation in the area that they saw these ants. You don't want the next guests buying ant spray and then doing weird things inside your house.  I would gauge a refund or credit on what the ant issue was (see above).   - and if ants inside is an annual thing for any/all property in your neck of the woods, like sand at a beach property,  then you might wish to add a disclaimer about it.   Good luck! Hi @Ebony-R0,    What a peaceful view, staying in your home must be very relaxing    Is this the first time that guests raise this type of concern? I see that @Greystone0 has already shared a lot of tips,  I was wondering if perhaps some of out other hosts with listings in nature might have had similar experiences in the past they could tell us about: @Kitty-and-Creek0 @John5097 is this something you've had to manage?   Thanks everyone!   Emilie ----- Merci de jeter un oeil aux Principes du Community Center/ Please follow the Community Guidelines Hello, we are new to hosting and have an air BnB in the mountains. The house is new (3 years old) and during the winter months ants come into the house to escape the cold/wet. We’ve had a pest control person spray the house only a week ago but we have guests in the house right now that are complaining about ants being in the house and have opted to leave and go home 2 nights earlier than planned. The ants are absolutely not dangerous but I can also understand why someone would be annoyed about them. It’s also entirely outside of our control unfortunately and we’ve done everything that we can. What would you do and how would you handle this? Would you offer the group a refund? Winter is our business period during the ski season so it’d be heart breaking to have to cancel all our bookings or start issuing refunds People say they like to live in nature, but what if they don't like the things in nature? Hi @Ebony-R0 , Ants!  great listing! In our area we have very large black ants called carpenter ants that we have to mitigate for. Not sure of the ants that you have but here's some thoughts. - there are two sides to each story so one thing that occurs is that this guest was looking for a way out (needed to leave early, wanted a refund) and saw some random ants and here you are. - but, a guest leaving early because of ants potentially implies that it is more than just a few ants. That is an extreme reaction in my opinion, to leave for a random ant siting. So if we take the guests side, it seems like it could have been a lot of ants. - about the ants: a few ants? a line of ants all over? hundreds in the kitchen? in the cupboards? in the beds? in their luggage? in the box of cereal? Kitchen ants would be a big issue, one ant in the garage is not a big issue, Ants all over the garbage is an issue and so on. - in our area when the professionals come out and mitigate it causes more ant activity in our home. And so if that is something to consider on your end then you might want to consider the timing of such a thing. - in our case we get a few large ants stumbling around the house half dead (because they went thru the poison barrier).  We had a guest mention an ant in her luggage and so this prompted us to increase our vigilance. For one, we didn't yet have luggage racks and so this was our next purchase. For the guest that mentioned it I gave a credit,  don't exactly remember but it was probably around $100 USD.  - I use cinnamon, 30% vinegar, diatomaceous earth and ant poison (professionals spray) to control ants in and around the interior and exterior.  I use the vinegar to wipe interior walls, floors to remove ant trails for future ants, I use cinnamon and diatomaceous earth at door threshoholds, exterior steps, around trees that I know they as a way to push them away from the property.  I get on the roof with these products, I make sure the patio doesn't have ant activity and so on. Our cleaning crew is instructed to snap a photo of any ants inside so I know exactly where it was found and can then I can come back and take action. - on your end, I would take some action about this ant issue and do some additional mitigation in the area that they saw these ants. You don't want the next guests buying ant spray and then doing weird things inside your house.  I would gauge a refund or credit on what the ant issue was (see above).   - and if ants inside is an annual thing for any/all property in your neck of the woods, like sand at a beach property,  then you might wish to add a disclaimer about it.   Good luck! Hi @Ebony-R0,    What a peaceful view, staying in your home must be very relaxing    Is this the first time that guests raise this type of concern? I see that @Greystone0 has already shared a lot of tips,  I was wondering if perhaps some of out other hosts with listings in nature might have had similar experiences in the past they could tell us about: @Kitty-and-Creek0 @John5097 is this something you've had to manage?   Thanks everyone!   Emilie ----- Merci de jeter un oeil aux Principes du Community Center/ Please follow the Community Guidelines False damage claim from host I checked out of an apartment in Glasgow after a 3 night sta... 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