Mum disgusted to be told ‘eat mice’ after complaining to landlord about rodents – Mirror Online

A disgusted mum was told to "eat" the mice which had invaded her home for around one year after complaining to her landlord.

The mother-of-two, who does not want to be named, told landlord Orbit of the problem but received cryptic and anonymous text messages from an unknown number, that the company has said did not come from them.

And screenshots, seen by Coventry Live , show the messages read: "We won't be helping with your mouse problem. Eat them instead. Orbit."

"Yum mouse sandwich..."

The mum, of Coventry, West Midlands, reported the texts to police.

"Police are investigating reports of malicious communications after a woman received harassing text messages between Wednesday 30 October and Friday 1 November which caused her distress," the spokesman for West Midlands Police said yesterday.

However, Orbit said it did not "recognise them [the text messages] as communication from any of our employees".

It said it would be willing to investigate if a formal complaint was made and added that it would be assisting the tenant with the mice issue.

"I had a text message from a number claiming to be Orbit telling me they won't help with my problem and that I should eat them [the mice] instead," the furious mum said.

"I couldn't believe what I was reading.

"I tried to ring the number back but it was like it had been disconnected."

Not only has the tenant been left distressed by the disconcerting text messages, she is concerned the mice are affecting her eldest child's health as they suffer from asthma.

She says she reported the problem to Orbit and was told she needed to hire a private team to deal with the infestiation.

She did, and says the private team then warned her that she would need to get her landlord to fill in the holes left by the mice or they would be back.

She added: "I rang Orbit and didn't hear anything from them about the maintenance work.

"The mice were starting to get braver, running across the kitchen floor while I was in there with the kids."

Orbit said contractors made appointments to visit the tenant's home "on four different occasions" but they had been unable to gain access.

The mum said her youngest child has recently been suffering unexplained seizures and she was at the hospital when she claims the unarranged visits were made.

Adam Reid, head of responsive repairs at Orbit, said: "Our contractors made appointments to visit to [the woman's] property on four different occasions but have been unable to gain access.

"We have therefore not been able to investigate this issue. Whilst the issue of pest control is usually the responsibility of the tenant, we are now assisting to resolve the problem."

Paul Richard, group customer services director at Orbit, said: "Orbit has a values-led culture and our employees take great pride in their work. These statements are completely out of line with those values and we do not recognise them as communication from any of our employees.

"We of course take allegations against any of our employees extremely seriously and will investigate fully should the woman make a formal complaint to us, which she hasnt done to date."

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Mum disgusted to be told 'eat mice' after complaining to landlord about rodents - Mirror Online