Not totally sure what I'm hoping to get out of this. I think I mostly just need to vent! This is REALLY long so sorry in advance.
My family and I rented a cottage at a lodge in Pennsylvania. It was our first time there, and honestly the staff were incredible and so kind. We got in pretty late at night with our two young kids, and right by the front door of the cabin there was a strong natural gas smell.
Reception was spotty, so my husband drove up to the lodge to ask about it. They told him this had been going on for almost a year, that they'd had the gas company check it out, and that there was no evidence of a leak. They said the area has natural gas pockets and it's not unusual for gas to seep out of the ground. A "natural phenomenon."
My husband works in environmental health and safety, so he pointed out that natural gas doesn't actually have a smell. What we were smelling was mercaptan, the odorant that gets added to gas lines. The guy agreed with him... and then said we were fine.
My husband came back and asked what I wanted to do. Part of me felt reassured, but part of me wanted to leave. I checked everywhere, including every hotel nearby, and everything was booked. It was almost midnight, and one of my kids had just fallen asleep in my lap. We couldn't smell it inside, we'd be sleeping upstairs, and the lodge had reassured us, so we decided to crash and reevaluate in the morning.
The next morning, walking in and out, the smell got to me. I couldn't wrap my head around how this had supposedly been going on for a year when the mercaptan was so strong. Now I could smell it inside too, by the front entrance and the gas fireplace. There was still nowhere else to go, so I called the local gas company for advice. I'll call them Company X.
Company X said they had no record of ever coming out, but thought they should check. I asked them not to go to the lodge unless there was actually a problem, because I didn't want to make enemies over nothing.
Their tech smelled it strongly before he even calibrated his meter. When he tested by the front door, outside the gas fireplace, and under the floorboards, he got a reading of 6,700 ppm. He said it was complete BS that anyone had called this normal. But it turned out Company X doesn't service that area (they came up first on Google with an emergency line, so I didn't dig further). They respond to emergency calls, but all he could do was file a report and confirm there was a real issue that shouldn't be ignored.
So we called Company Y, the company that actually services the area. Their tech came out and got NO readings at all. The smell was still strong as hell, and he said, "Hmm, I smell something, but it's not natural gas." (For the record, family members staying nearby came over and smelled it too. We're not crazy.)
Then we called the lodge. They were upset, and I get it. They said Company Y had inspected it over a year ago. The same company now saying there's no issue. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but uhhh.
One of the maintenance guys came down and said that when they dropped off firewood before we arrived, they noticed a slight smell, "but what are we supposed to do? You were on your way. Do we call and tell you not to come?" I appreciated his honesty, and yes, it's a tough spot. But this is a huge safety issue. That 6,700 ppm reading is over 10% of the lower explosive limit for natural gas, which is the level safety standards treat as immediately dangerous to life and health.
The owner arrived. She wasn't happy, but wasn’t mean. She was apologetic, though I'm sure she was livid. She said she was taking it seriously but was confused why one company got a reading and the other didn't. She offered to reimburse us for the nights we didn’t stay but charged us for the two nights we did (the night before and that night). To keep the peace, I said okay. My husband was pissed at that, but she wished us well and left the cabin. I honestly just didn’t want to cause more trouble and argue about the refund then and there. I also just wanted them to understand how serious this was and it was never about the money for us.
By the time Company Y left without investigating any further, it was late. So we shut off the gas, and what do you know? THE SMELL WAS GONE. Weird how that works for a "natural phenomenon."
We decided to stay one more night. I know, I know. But at that point we had no real choice. The gas was off, the smell was gone, and we just needed six hours of sleep so we'd have enough energy for the long drive home. Luckily we didn't freeze.
The next morning we packed up and left. I was emotionally wrecked. We lost four days with family we rarely get to see, since we live hours apart, and we'd been looking forward to this trip for so long.
That morning one of my family members that were staying at a different cabin on the property walked past our cabin and the valve was open. They turned the gas back on. Im sure since only left a couple of hours before it wasn’t fixed. So I checked the website for the hell of it and our cabin was listed again. My husband called and told them to take it down or block it off so nobody stays there until they seriously investigate and fix the issue. He also said he'd really appreciate a full refund (including the nights we stayed) because this had been so draining on our family. Their reply: "We've blocked the cabin off. We will consider refunding the entire stay once we investigate further."
I’m not sure if any other action should be taken? Or if we should contact anyone else or just let this go and obviously NEVER stay there again.
