Self-cleaning ovens - bad smell - is it safe?

[thisparentinggig]

I wanted a conventional gas oven, the only one that was 59.5cm wide (freestanding) was in John Lewis by Zanussi. ZCG63200XA. Smelt so bad (and there was a problem with the oven flame) that JL have agreed to exchange it for another model, this time, one without the catalytic lining.

Did anyone else have problems with the smell? It's supposed to smell bad for the first "burn-off" apparently - how did you and your family, pets etc tolerate that? Were you prepared for the smell and how did you deal with it to avoid disruption? At what stage did the smell disappear? When did you first start to cook with it?

The hobs are fine, as is JL customer services.

Self cleaning ovens smell, that's why I was advised by a friend to always do it on a nice day, open the most windows possible. Cat goes in an other room. The smell nerver lingers on. BTW I use the top of the oven to store salt pepper and the likes. Don't leave anything on the stove my plastic containers lost their original shape. I don't use my oven much in the summer but I don't see why you could not use your oven the same day.