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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this property owner had a cheek?

129 replies

EngineeringExcellence · 30/10/2013 12:20

We're just back from a lovely weekend break with extended family.

We rented a house costing £1300 for the 3 nights (10 of us) It was lovely and we had all mod cons etc.

At night i have a bedroom window open, the curtain blew in the breeze (not the great storm!) and knocked a trinket box off the windowsil. It was a heart shaped mirrored box marked made China.

Anyway owner has just called asking for cash to replace it.

AIBU to think there was/should be enough profit there to cover minor damages, which are to be expected, things left in windowsills are always at risk, it was a bit of cheap tatt and it's highly unlikely that she would bother replacing it?

OP posts:

Caitlin17 · 30/10/2013 18:45

Oh come off it, with the ,"staying in some one's home" It is a business.It might have been the owner's home at one point ( who knows, it might have been bought as an investment) but once it's let, it's a business. If there was valuable stuff then owner should either move it or get it properly insured.

When you stay in a hotel and break a glass do you offer to pay for it?

The owner should have breakages accounted for in her business plan and factored into the rental. The tax system allows for this. I'd never dream of counting the plates and saucers when tenants move out; as long as it looks roughly the same that's fine, if something vital gets broken I don't assume my tenants did it deliberately. It'll be replaced and the full cost of replacement is tax deductible.

It'd be completely different if OP had trashed the place or smoked.or taken animals there if that were banned.

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 19:00

It broke when the OP was there. She didn't break it.

If you were in a hotel, you wouldn't pay for a broken glass or plate or vase.. It's the same thing here. She wasn't a guest. She was a customer. She paid (a shitload) to stay there, in the business.

SoupDragon · 30/10/2013 19:40

Is £43 per night "shit loads?"

Anomaly · 30/10/2013 19:49

I think the owner is crackers asking for the money. You're unlikely to book the place again now and even less likely to suggest it to other people. So YANBU.

intitgrand · 30/10/2013 19:49

It was £430 per night soupdragon

Sleepyhead33 · 30/10/2013 19:53

Split between 10 people so £43 per person per night?

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 19:57

If I paid £43 to stay in a hotel, and something small and incidental broke (like a glass), I wouldn't even consider paying to replace it.

karron · 30/10/2013 20:00

One strong curtain. Did you pay insurance in the price? If so owner can claim on that. If not you should pay as long as reasonable amount and ask for a receipt to show had been used to replace object.

SoupDragon · 30/10/2013 20:03

Yes. £1300, 10 people, 3 nights.

CeliaLytton · 30/10/2013 20:08

Personally I would have offered to replace it, so I think YABU. I can see the point of view of those who think accidental breakages should be included in the price but I can't imagine baking anything belonging to anyone and not offering to replace it.

You have a real mixed response so you can probably assume that YANBtotallyU

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 20:11

Question to celia (or anyone else who thinks she should replace it)

If you were in a hotel, would you pay to replace a small broken item?

SoupDragon · 30/10/2013 20:14

If it were a small family run hotel, yes.

Rosieeo · 30/10/2013 20:24

I had the same situation - left a note. Guy got in touch asking for £100 to replace the 'one of a kind' vase that had been left on a wobbly table next to a lamp in a holiday let that had seen better days. I didn't respond.

I agree with those who say that this type of breakage is part and parcel of holiday let. YANBU.

CeliaLytton · 30/10/2013 20:35

Yes, I would offer to replace anything I broke, anywhere. I would not always expect to be taken up on it but I would always offer.

I knocked over a carton of eggs in a supermarket once and offered to pay for them, they said not to and I have no doubt they didn't need the money, but why wouldn't you offer to pay for something you break?

sugarplumfairy · 30/10/2013 21:00

We stayed in a cottage that cost nearly 3k a week in wales in the summer. We fused the lights in the kitchen, told the owner and it happened on our last night, we had a bit of a wild party! and they didn't charge. We also broke a number of glasses, which I forgot to own up about. Never heard anything, I think these things should be factored in to the cost of the rental.

We have rented lots of cottages and have never fused lights before I must add, it is usually the odd glass breakage, have never paid a deposit either.

greenfolder · 30/10/2013 21:20

Find something similar on amazon and send it to her.I would also say how disappointed you were

cakebar · 30/10/2013 22:00

^cakebar that's a great attitude if you're staying in someone else's house.

Whether or not its a holiday home, you're there as a guest. How do you know what's tat? Is that how you view other people's property?^

Like others on this thread I see staying in a holiday cottage as being a customer, not being a guest. Taste in ornaments, vases etc is very personal and I think cottage owners should steer clear. With the odd exception I do view ornaments as tat in whatever setting, but of course I would not be so rude as to say that to someone in rl, on here I can say what I really think!

Owners don't need the ornaments etc to make it feel homely or high quality. Beautiful furniture, pictures and well designed functional items do the job without getting in the way.

If you know things are liable to get damaged, why don't you move them out of harms way? I do, and you'd be surprised how much room it all takes up when you put it in a pile somewhere until you leave. I could do without the hassle.

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 22:08

She didn't break it!

She was in the room it was in when it fell off the windowsill, and broke.

If she has actually physically broken it herself, I wouldn't change my opinion that she shouldn't pay, but I could understand the viewpoint better.

ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 22:17

who opened the window?

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 22:25

ivykaty you are joking! right?

She's to blame for the wind blowing an ornament down, because she opened the window? Calm down.

Unless the ornament was moved by the op to the location from which it fell, or there was a specific instruction not to open said window, then she has done no wrong.

It was an accident in a business.

If you were in a bar or restaurant would you offer to pay for a broken glass? No. It's a business!

NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 30/10/2013 22:28

Yabu

Although I think the owner is being a bit petty, you did break it and they are in the right to claim for the damage you have caused.

ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 22:34

calm down - all I asked was who opened the window? chill out a bit, was it the owner or the lady borrowing the cottage?

As it is pretty obvious to someone that if you open the window then the ornament may get knocked off and break.

No need to get het up about it all just get another trinket if it was the owner and if not then get a trinket and send on to the owner no biggy.

Don't ask a question and then answer it for me though - thats a bit silly as you got the answer wrong as I have manners and would offer to pay and have done so in the past, try reading the post I wrote earlier today

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 22:44

Are you suggesting that in a bar, say, if you broke a glass you'd offer to pay for it?

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 22:44

Because of your manners

ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 22:57

I have broken a glass and gone out and replaced the glass, if I break something I will pay to replace. I actually broke one glass but purchased a pack of 4 and left all four glasses - I would have brought 3 glasses home as I only broke one glass.

A glass in a bar isn't going to cost a lot of money to replace and it would seem petty not to pay for the breakage.

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