Good wondering; every time something doesn’t ‘fit’, look for the hustle which of course always involves MONEY. Humans, they are something else.
1 Like
Single night stay: imo the appropriate discount is half. Yes it hurts, no you don’t want to do it, but do it anyway. I would be VERY surprised if they negatively review you because they specifically asked for a PARTIAL discount - in my experience the “tryers” tend to be rude and demand full refunds. But if they do mention it in review, just express apology + disappointment and mention the 50% discount you gave them.
Lesson learned: change the battery twice a year.
1 Like
In California the placement of smoke alarms is part of the building code, so it would be illegal to “kill” the ones that are high.
Tongue in cheek Ellen. Here in Belize, unlike in the People’s Republic of California (
), no one worries too much about such things (
); I do however, but put them low.
1 Like
That happened to us.
We refunded them for the night.
Cost of doing business.
1 Like
The issue wasn’t that OP was unaware that batteries die and need to be replaced. Rather, she wasn’t aware there were batteries in the smoke detector to begin with. Which is exactly what I wrote, and exactly what you quoted.
Oh wouldn’t that be wonderful? Fire Departments, with ladders, arriving to change our batteries! They are so hard to reach for those of us who are vertically challenged.
1 Like
With 10 ft ceilings, I have to use a four-step step ladder to reach. I am by no means a midget, but 10 ft ceilings are a challenge when you are only 5’2".
Not to mention that firefighters are so handsome. Watching them climb ladders would certainly brighten my day.
5 Likes
I took this to mean lack of awareness that batteries were involved. Perhaps I was wrong, but it seems you got the same impression, given you took the time to explain that the system is hard wired with a battery back up. But the point of my post was a lack of understanding as to why some people feel compelled to dispense their advice in a rude, condescending, are-you-an-idiot? manner.
I think it’s time to close this topic. Thanks to everyone who gave me helpful advice and information. From your input I thought about it and ended up giving them a $150 refund and profuse apology, because that is what felt fair to me. They actually were very pleasant about it in the morning and left me a kind review.
It is true that I was not aware that a smoke alarm that was wired had a battery back up! I am not a super handy person - I did not install that smoke alarm and this is the first time the battery notice has gone off in 5 years of owning the house (it is a rental house, not my primary residence - and the room it is in is closer to a 20 ft ceiling, not easy to reach even with a ladder!), so it had honestly never even crossed my mind.
As silly as it sounds, it had also never crossed my mind to preemptively change the battery - I felt it was out of my control because I always just wait until they start chirping to change them! Lesson learned - I will be sure to add changing the smoke alarm battery to my regular maintenance routine every year! I am sure that there are still more of these little things that will come up that have to be taken care of that I never would have thought of…all a part of learning how to be a better host!
@Robert_Dudley thanks for calling me an idiot, you are clearly a really kind and helpful person hanging around and giving your wonderful opinions on this forum.
6 Likes
Name calling is not allowed here. To all members, please refrain from name calling.
So glad it worked out and guests were happy with what you refunded!
You’re not the only person who didn’t think to change the batteries out. My mind has more thought about fire extinguishers and wondering if my guests would know what to do if the fireplace got out of control, or if there was a grease fire. Or what if the dryer caught on fire, etc. But I didn’t think about batteries in the smoke detectors. And…I had never heard of the daylight savings time thing.
So I learned something from you posting this thread. I’m sure a bunch of others did too - but just don’t want to publicly admit it! 
It makes me wonder whether by the time the smoke reaches it, the occupants have been asphyxiated!
I wish someone had mentioned that to the woman who was having a go at me in the famous duvet thread recently 
1 Like
Robert Dudley is asking for trouble again, he needs to start behaving or else…
1 Like
I thought the idea "Change your batteries when you change your clocks’ rule of thumb, was a great one. Easy to remember and best way to stay a bit ahead of those things to start chirping.
1 Like
It’s actually the correct location for it because the warm air rises. You should only wall-mount if the ceiling makes it impractical (for example has pockets where air doesn’t circulate).
I did say something to her.
1 Like
There’s a thin line between sarcasm and hostility.
I thought it was your speciality:hacking and stuff, no??
Who is enjoying rudeness? I personally dont take it as hard as others, because i know whats behind it. But you offend people and dont care about it, and thats what sucks.
1 Like