AIBU to stop pizza oven hire during the wildfire alert?

[Askandyforcompo]

I have a very small glamping business. It borders a field and a small wood. As part of our offering we have an optional Ooni wood fired pizza oven hire which costs an extra £20. It's not there unless the guest pays for it as it's shared between units.

After the government alert on our phones last Friday we decided we couldn't rent the pizza oven out. The field is tinder dry at the moment and the oven can throw sparks out of the back. We've been a bit worried about renting it out recently anyway- we set up a hosepipe last time someone had it- but the alert made us decide to stop offering it

We messaged the guests who were arriving on Monday explaining it wouldn't be available for their stay. They instantly asked us for financial compensation as they had been 'looking forward to using it'. We explained that it was beyond our control and that with the guidance in place if we continued to rent it out insurance wouldn't pay out in the event of a fire. Yes, they understood that but still wanted 'reimbursement'. They hadn't paid anything, we take a credit card when they arrive.

I just think that in light of the alert not to do anything that could cause a fire I didn't owe them any compensation. It's kind of common sense not to start a fire next to a wood at the moment. A random spark from the fire could have set the field alight. But they clearly don't see it that way.

In fact I gave them £30 'as a gesture of goodwill' to buy pizza from the local pizzeria but I'm thinking they wanted a bit more than that! I'm dreading their review.

I think that’s very generous and unnecessary personally. It’s absolutely right to stop the rental currently. Does it have a gas attachment you could fit to it instead which would probably be easier anyway and lessen the risk in future.
we have a holiday cottage on a purpose built holiday village and the site owners have banned all bbqs even gas and electric (not sure how that’s even a bbq but that’s another conversation). So far everyone may be disappointed but they have understood the reasoning.

You don't owe them anything. This is way beyond your control

I think what you did was a reasonable offer of ‘compensation’ as it were.
We hired a glamping place about 10 years ago for a big group of us, around 18 I think. They had a woodfired pizza oven that we booked one night and pre-ordered our pizzas, they came to us ready to be cooked and we had such a fun evening down at the area the pizza oven was, just have lovely happy memories of the evening with all the dc.
Had we not been able to use it we would have ordered some local pizzas in and had a slightly different experience but we would have made fun somehow.
They are being a pain and if they are snotty about it in the review you can just explain what you offered and that you’re sorry they were disappointed in that.

I do think lack of advertised facilities, even those you have to pay extra for, can make a stay far less attractive and worthwhile in some cases. With camping I could see how the appeal of a fresh wood-fired pizza instead of reheated chili might have been the the piece that made the holiday attractive to some people. So I think your goodwill gesture was well made and I hope they see it as the lovely gesture it is.

I would, though, take the opportunity to check your terms and conditions and make sure it is clear that these facilities aren't guaranteed and then you can refer to them if you need to withdraw something in the future.

Hmm, you have a point with respect to bookings made from now on. But popular campsites are booked up well in advance at this time of year. There will likely be many, many other people booked in who booked before this week and could just as legitimately claim that they booked on the basis that they wanted to use the pizza oven.

I don't entirely understand how anyone could ever rely on using the pizza oven though. If there's only one, then presumably whoever books it first gets it and everyone else has to do without. This seems like another reason why they were unreasonable to expect compo.

I do think facilities especially when camping make a big big difference for where people
book.

I have two sites I love right next to each other one offers camp fires and one has a pool 9/10 I pick the camp fire and forgo the pool.

If then campfires where suddenly off the cards I’d be pretty unhappy as I’d booked that site for the campfires when I could have booked the pool site instead. I wouldn’t want to pay camp fire site prices for a non campfire site.

Much like other holiday parks, you pay for the facilities even if there is still an extra charge for the facilities themselves. Annoyingly. It’s just the fact they are even available that makes the site more desirable and more valuable.

Get it on your advertising that it's too dry to use the pizza oven for the time being but the lovely local pizza place delivers ... (or something similar)

We need so much rain before the soil is even damp.

Some people are just ridiculous- £30 was more than decent I think - they hadn’t already paid I just would have said you can’t have it so won’t be charged for it - end of

if someone is stupid enough to leave a review you just reply saying as a responsible business you acted in line with current guidelines, it was a situation beyond your control and client safety is at the heart of what you do - nobody can argue with that.

Tell them to get fucked freeloading chancers

It takes a fair bit of rainfall over a sustained period to rehydrate the plant matter. That bit of rain that has fallen this week doesn't stop wildfires. They'll still ignite and spread rapidly. FFS!

It's arrogant and pig ignorant arseholes who make such stupid assumptions that start so many wildfires.

Can you imagine the review ‘due to the nationwide drought conditions, the owners wouldn’t let us use a wood fired pizza oven on the campsite’.

If they do leave a bad review I’d just respond saying exactly what you say in the post. In light of all the wildfires and the government guidance on open flames (which is common bloody sense really!), you decided not to allow the added extra wood fired pizza oven on a tinder dry campsite to reduce the risk to your business and other people’s possessions. You offered them money to purchase from a local pizza place to compensate them.

We’re out in our caravan this week and have a gas powered Cadac safari chef bbq type cooker. I’d usually place the feet straight on the grass (it’s about a foot off the ground when the legs are up) but this week I’ve put it up on a metal table to keep it well off the ground. It would probably not be an issue, on the ground given it is a very controlled and contained gas burner but I’m being super cautious. We’ve actually had rain overnight the last two nights and it’s raining now too, so it’s not as bad as it would have been last week but we’re still being cautious.

No pizza oven you can live with but not to have the hot tub when you’ve chosen that house specifically for that, then no, that’s unacceptable.

I'm camping right now and when we checked in we were told no fires or bbqs. I could not imagine asking for compensation, it would be mortifying.

Also, its pissed down every fucking morning since we arrived. I may ask compensation for the shit weather.

You did the right thing but should not have given them anything other than a refund, if they had paid, for the pizza oven! What a cheek! I would put a disclaimer on your listing that’s it’s subject to availability and cannot be used in a dry season. If I was reading a listing and saw a review from
someone like that, it would make me want to book with you. Thank you for being sensible

Yea but if there have been a series of extreme wild fires causing destruction across Europe then you’d understand the reasoning as to why you can’t have a camp fire!

YANBU

If they do leave a bad review, then politely explain the reasons for withdrawing the pizza oven, the compensation you provided and counter any other "problems" they make up. All genuine people can see through these unfair reviews.

Is pizza oven hire £20 a night? misses the point entirely

They had no loss by the additional service being withdrawn.
Neither is there a loss to withdrawing bbqs or campfires. It's mildly disappointing, but there is no actual loss incurred.

The thread the other day about not having access to cook food and not being offered refunds was a different issue as it was denying campers access to a reasonal range of affordable food which is a human necessity and pretty fundamental in being able to enjoy a holiday rather than it feeling like a bootcamp exercise in enduring discomfort for the hell of it.

I think that's the mildest case of 'having to amend holiday plans a little bit due to weather' that I've ever heard of.

Write in your contract that access to the oven is weather dependent.

I absolutely wont compensate people for taking necessary precautions that are determined by the weather.

weather dependent, exactly,
they wouldnt use it in the rain, or would they?
and they shouldnt use it in a heat wave

This!

You have been more than generous. If you offered them to cancel their booking, I guarantee they would not as nothing is available at this notice in the summer holidays.

You realise just because it rained where you are, doesn't mean the whole country has had rain, right?

Wow people are trash. I really feel for you!