Cynthia Colquitt Cynthia Hanna Cynthia Auld Colquitt Vacation rental infested with mice, filthy, refused to refund $2000 for 4 weeks rental Nashua New Hampshire

Upon arriving at our vacation rental and wrestling with a door for 15 minutes that stuck terribly, we noticed an odor that was unmistakeable.  Rodent infestation.  Well, we figured that it had just been opened up for the summer and cleaned so we started to get settled.  The place was filthy, it was late in the evening when we got there so we got stuff put away, cleaned for a couple of hours and got ready to go to sleep.  The master bed was listing to one side and when we looked underneath we noticed that it was held up by planks of wood, blocks and bricks.  The middle of the bed sagged onto the floor so we could only see the first few inches of the underneath.  Whoever slept in the bed would roll into the wall. The sofa bed, which we pulled out halfway, had a mouse nest in it and the mattress was soaked with rodent urine, caked with feces and nesting debris.  We closed it up as quickly as possible.  

In the morning we knew we had to leave because we all were having respiratory issues, wheezing, coughing, sneezing and in the light of day, we could see that rodent droppings were all over the floors, in the refrigerator and freezer, in every pot, pan, cupboard, appliance, etc.  We opened up the oven to cook some english muffins for the children and there was a powerful, unmistakeable odor of rodent and urine.

We decided to leave immediately and request a refund.  The owner's husband came to the cottage to bring a new mattress for the sleeper sofa but at this point that wasn't enough because the place was obviously unhealthy to stay in, especially with children, and certainly not somewhere we wanted to spend a lengthy, or any, vacation.

The owner's husband told us that we should call the police to get a record of what had happened so we did.  The local authorities noted the infestation and urged him and his wife to "do the right thing" and refund us our money.  They both refused and I am out $2000.  The police suggested that I file a civil suit against them but I live across the country and can't travel to NH for that and it's costly to hire a lawyer.  I had to rent another cottage for the 4 weeks and pay for another rental.  I would like my money returned.  

I left a review on the website through which I found the cottage, vacationrentals411.com, but it was deleted and disabled.

I have photos of the mess and a video was taken of the entire inspection of the cottage by the police.