I would not be okay with someone smoking around kids or their car seats either. I had to live with a smoker (my dad) for the first 14 years of my life and I can still recall the nasty smell of smoke in the car because my dad smoked in it. I HATED IT!! He quit cold turkey when he got really sick when I was 14 and my brothers and I were ecstatic! I never had the desire to try a cigarette, EVER. And I knew I could never be with anyone who is a smoker.
I am super sensitive to smoke and my eyes will start burning and tearing up as soon as I walk in a room where there has been smoke. Also, I just cannot stand the smell of it in my hair and on my clothes.
I remember when my friend's mother and father were providing day care for her now 16 year-old daughter (I think they watched her for the first 3 years of her life, until she went to preschool) and my friend explicitly instructed them not to smoke around L, which they didn't. They would go outside. But their entire house reeked of smoke and it was just embedded in everything and L would come home every day smelling like SHE had been smoking all day. My friend couldn't stand the smell and had to bathe L the second they walked in the door.
Sadly, her parents never quit smoking, even to this day even after her dad suffered a heart attack and had open heart surgery. Well, her mother has been on oxygen for well over a year now and has gotten so weak and ill that my friend was going over there about 3 times a week to help care for her. Yesterday she was admitted to the hospital after her oxygen levels were at 60%.
Anyway, I'd be super ticked too if that were my cover that had a cigarette burn in it, plus smelling of smoke! I'd be asking for her to replace the cover as well! I did check the Britax site, and the covers are $79.99 plus shipping.