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Laura Thieme

Bizresearch President – 11 years - 2008

Fisher College of Business Lecturer on Search Marketing

OSU Russian Studies Grad – 1993

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16th June 2008

Beware Coming to Outer Banks and Staying at Outer Beaches Realty Beach Houses 2 replies

I was looking for the perfect destination for a two-week vacation, to celebrate turning 40 and my baby (15 weeks pregnant). 

 A friend suggested Outer Beaches Realty (www.outerbeaches.com) - and I booked a two-week stay because you can only check in on a Saturday late afternoon - and that didn’t help me with weekend stays or visitors.  So I had to choose two weeks. I could not get a discount at all, even though I was booking for two weeks.  $6400 and some change.

 The wildfire began on June 1st, 2008 - I booked that same weekend.  I did not pay for a few more days because we played phone tag.  I then e-signed my lease Thursday, the day before I left.  At no time, did any of the realtors or representatives at Outer Beaches Realty warn me about the wildfires or smoke advisories or air alerts in the area. 

Heaven forbid they would want to warn you - that would be a great risk to  thousands of dollars for them and the owner.

I’m asking for a refund for each night I have to stay elsewhere to avoid the smoke.  My eyes burn, my throat is dry and I feel nauseous.  I’m stressed - all not good for baby and me.

If you’re planning to come to the Outer Banks right now - don’t - depending on which way the wind blows, you may be surrounded by smoke.  It’s no day at the beach for you - if you’ve paid more to sit on your deck and look at the beach - forget that too - it’s too smoky - dense smoke advisory yesterday suggested no more than 30 minutes outside if you had to mow the lawn, or exert activity in any way. 

I’ve talked to the office manager at the Waves, NC location - they can’t do anything for me - they can’t move me - to a location that does not offer smoke -they can’t refund me anything.  Basically, I should have known about the wildfires coming in -

There is little info on the wildfires in the area - it’s hard to get information on this - even if you’re here.  Why?  Tourist concerns - money concerns - if they shut down I-64 it’s a loss of $2M or more per day in tourist revenue.  There is nothing in the papers about it on the front page, perhaps hidden somewhere.  The realty company offers no solutions, or where the smoke isn’t bad - nothing.

So, when beach houses cost what they do these days - in the thousands per week - I suggest you consider not coming here at all right now - go further south, like South Carolina or Myrtle Beach or further south than that.  Norfolk and Virginia Beach has also been affected, and places as far north as New York.

I’m going to tell the news services back in Ohio and NPR about the situation - perhaps then others will be properly advised of their risks - and then they can decide if it’s worth risking their health, their children’s health, or baby’s health - or dogs’ health - if they come.

I do see some people running today, or bicycling despite the smoky conditions.  The smoke is lifting this afternoon - but if the wind blows back this way tonight - it’s back again. 

As a business owner, you should offer refunds, advisories and/or discounts to disgruntled customers who were unaware of the wildfires, smoky conditions, and health advisories, or air alerts.  You should offer daily news on the topic and how to avoid or take care of the situation best.

Don’t say you can’t do anything - and yes, you can change my air filters, but you can offer refunds for the nights I have to relocate, you can offer plenty of bottled fresh water, and you can offer daily news advisories and alerts.

And then, perhaps, we can all pray for some significant rain. 

2 Responses to “Beware Coming to Outer Banks and Staying at Outer Beaches Realty Beach Houses”

  1. Kristi from CA says:
    June 16th, 2008 at 4:21 pm

    I’m sooo sorry you are going through this! What an awful way to spend your vacation time and you were really looking forward to it as well.

    That is nasty :(

  2. Susan Shepherd says:
    June 24th, 2008 at 8:52 pm

    Sorry you had this experience. I have friends that went there and also had a similar experience.

    Please excuse typos in postings. My son spilled a glass of grape juice all over the keyboard the other day and even though we took it apart to clean it, it’s still pretty hinky. Must remember spell check.

    Big hugs.

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