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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 22:58

I wouldn't have brought 3 glasses home as I only broke one glass - I left the hole packet.

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 23:01

A glass in a bar costs the same as a glass anywhere else Hmm

In all my life I've never seen someone break a glass in a bar/restaurant and replace it.

Anyway, if staying in a holiday home and you break something, and you choose to replace it, that's totally fine. But it doesn't meant that everyone should do that - it's above and beyond what you need to do.

What you need to do is clean it up and apologise.

APartridgeAmongThePigeons · 30/10/2013 23:02

Doesn't she pay insurance for this sorty of thing? YANBU

APartridgeAmongThePigeons · 30/10/2013 23:04

I also think you shouldnt leave "trinkets" around in a holiday home. The person staying there doesn't need you stuff lying around so it is just a liability.

ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 23:14

No it is not above and beyond what you need to do - it is in most of the contracts that are signed and you agree to brandy glass at home
pub brandy glass hardly the same price

Topseyt · 30/10/2013 23:16

It would be ridiculous to leave anything of any value, sentimental or monetary, in a holiday let. Best to leave very little apart from the furniture. Everyone has different tastes, and what is tat to one person is gorgeous and valuable to another. Far too subjective.

£1,300 is a huge amount to pay for three days, even if it was for 10 people. There should be more than enough leeway there to cover a trinket box.

You wrote a note apologising for the damage. Personally I think that should have been that. If the owner doesn't want repeat business from you then he/she is going the right way about it.

It would be interesting to know how much money the owner has asked for.

AlexaChelsea · 30/10/2013 23:20

Ha ha, bloody hell ivykaty.

That's like posting a run down old fiesta, against a brand new Audi.

You've made me laugh!

ZombieMonkeyButler · 30/10/2013 23:24

I agree with Topseyt. As a holiday home owner myself, you just simply do not leave valuable items (whether they are sentimental value or actual cash value) in your property.

What the OP is describing is the accidental breakage of one small trinket. Not the smashing up of the house with a baseball bat. The latter I would most definitely expect to be reimbursed for, the former - no.

ivykaty44 · 30/10/2013 23:34

well you seem to have a very narrow vision on life and everyone should think and do as you do - but we are not all the same and whilst you may wish to drink out of one price fits all glasses - I like to do things a bit differently and drink from glasses that will cost a lot more than a one size fits all and don't care if you do mind Wink

if people are worried about paying for a cheap trinket then they may well have money worries - but if they can afford a weekend away it seems hard to believe they have worry's over money and why not just pay for the trinket, its petty not to pay

Topseyt · 30/10/2013 23:49

Like ZombieMonkey, I own several properties which I rent out, although mine are not holiday lets. It is the same principle though, you put nothing of any value in them, bar what has to be supplied.

Wanton destruction or major damage that is not normal wear and tear I do and have charged for (often via the deposit). I let my properties unfurnished and I don't leave trinkets. It is someone else's home for the duration of the let, not mine. They will make of it what they will, within reason.

Caitlin17 · 30/10/2013 23:55

It's interesting that those of us who actually are landlords and have had to deal with this sort of thing think this is just fair wear and tear.

It sounds a complete try on.

Itsaboatjack · 31/10/2013 00:15

In all my life I've never seen someone break a glass in a bar/restaurant and replace it. Grin

And in my 18 yrs of running bars and restaurants I can honestly not recall anyone ever offering to pay for a broken glass or plate (and Ivykaty I have much nicer glasses than those you googled). In fact if someone accidentally breaks a glass with drink still left in it we even offer to replace the drink for them. Because that's good customer service, trying to charge them for the glass would not be.

ivykaty44 · 31/10/2013 07:08

Itsaboat - in all my years working a bar I did have people offer to pay for breakages on several occasions - possibly having started working in a bar in my teens in the early 1980's this influenced me to be someone who would offer to pay for breakages. I have never worked in a bar where they charged or asked for breakages to be paid for.

I will continue to offer to pay for anything I break as I am happy with that choice.

Chopstheduck · 31/10/2013 07:30

the op didn't physically break it, but if you open a window and it is windy, it is common sense to make sure there is nothing breakable that might get blown off, surely!

OP, you should have told them and offered, and they should have politely declined.

I broke a plate in a holiday cottage, and offered to replace it. They declined, everyone was happy. I think she would have been miffed to go and check up after and simply find one short.

firesidechat · 31/10/2013 07:44

We had a very similar situation this year.

Stayed in a beautiful, modern barn conversion. They had a fatal combo of very heavy resin art piece (lulled us into a false sense of security), sash window, roller blind and windy day. The inevitable happened and I was kicking myself for not moving the wretched thing.

Their house was next door, so I went straight round and told them about it - "sorry, hope it's not valuable" and all that. Needless to say it was a gift from the fil and she laid it on a bit thick. If it was me I would have totally down played it, so that my guests didn't feel guilty and who puts a possibly expensive, sentimental gift in a holiday home? Ahhhhh!

Anyway we spent the next day searching for and buying a replacement at considerable expense. In my opinion our replacement suited the house better and was much more tasteful too. Grin Yes, it was a pain in the bum, but it stopped us feeling bad and I wasn't going to ruin a precious holiday.

In short, if you break it you pay for it. It's only polite.

firesidechat · 31/10/2013 07:58

I've just read some more of the posts on here and wanted to add something to the above.

We will never go back to that holiday home now because I associate it with acute feelings of embarrassment. If the owner had been a bit kinder it would have been very different. They didn't ask for money or a replacement, but they were a bit passive aggressive about the whole thing ie polite, but going on about it being a gift from a family member and not knowing how much it cost. It left a bad taste.

cakebar · 31/10/2013 08:54

who puts a possibly expensive, sentimental gift in a holiday home?

Someone who didn't like the gift from their fil in the first place Grin

firesidechat · 31/10/2013 09:35

I did think that at the time. Really the thing wasn't very attractive and looked like something you would pick up from a foreign tat shop. But what do I know.

LongTailedTit · 31/10/2013 09:52

Exactly, you don't leave things in your rental that you care about!

My sis is letting her house through a holiday company and has a slightly annoying clause in her contract that says breakages/damages under the value of £100 can't be claimed from the deposit. They have had a lot of damage and breakages of small value items, but only one or two per week so they can't be recouped - they just have to suck it up and replace things themselves.

She did complain to me about some items going 'missing' ie blatantly nicked, to which I replied "But why did you leave them out if you cared about them?".

Accidental damage like in the OP, which was mentioned by the guest before leaving is absolutely fair enough, and no need to offer to pay.
I never understand why some holiday homes are stuffed to the rafters with nick nacks and tat so there's no room to put anything anywhere!

Dawndonnaagain · 31/10/2013 10:39

Just my personal opinion. I don't think a holiday let is the same as an hotel. I think the incredible arrogance of some posters is terrifying. If you break something in a private rental place, it is surely just good manners to offer to pay for breakages. I don't care how little, or how much you paid for it, it's down to manners.

Chattymummyhere · 31/10/2013 10:49

We rent out holiday lets.. The only things we chare for are;

Deliberate damage (punching doors, smashing glass in doors/windows etc)

Cigarette damage as that is banned in our lets

Theft of items

We charge an extra bond if pets are staying

We expect an odd glass to get broken, we keep any ornaments high up so they cannot be broken by children or wind it's the sensible thing to do.

I think the owner is chancing it for what was properly brought from a pound shop or the like.. Most of our ornaments are brought second hand up to £5 or from the little cheap shops it's a rental not a show home. Just as a landlord does not charge for accidental damage only actual damaged caused on purpose by a tennant

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 31/10/2013 10:56

AlexaChelsea - I agree with IvyKaty - had the OP not opened the window, the box wouldn't have been swept off the windowsill. I am not sure she could have predicted it was going to happen - it must have been a pretty strong gust of wind in exactly the right direction, to catch the box and sweep it off, but it was her action that led to the object being broken.

But the OP did tell the owner about the breakage, and I do agree with those who say that someone renting out a holiday property has to accept that the occasional breakage will happen - and if the guests haven't trashed the place, have treated it with the same sort of care they would treat their own home, and have been honest about the breakage, then the owner should absorb the cost of the replacement - I am pretty sure most of them build that into the price they charge for the rental.

And it bears remembering that it was not some essential piece of equipment that got broken - it isn't as if the property cannot be rented out again until the little glass box is replaced. In fact, I bet the next renters won't even notice that there is one less ornament.

alemci · 31/10/2013 10:59

I think it is a bit petty. As someone said it is not as if you made a real mess etc or caused careless damage. It was an accident.

Scrounger · 31/10/2013 11:09

I have had this a couple of times, god I sound clumsy and different owners have handled it differently. I stayed in a lovely converted farm which had a number of buildings on site and was professionally managed. I spilt most of a bottle of red wine on a huge sisal rug, cue a huge stain and visions of hundreds of pounds of damage. I tried to get it out but couldn't and so let the managers know so that they could either clean it before the next guests or replace it and we could sort it out before we left. They managed it to clean it and very nice about it. A second place charged me for a teaspoon, I had no idea one had gone missing and they informed me after the let. Guess which one I would go back to and I also now prefer booking with a larger company and not individual owners. I look after properties but I do want to be able to relax and not worry about every small item.

I assume that rental properties make an allowance for small items and have a store so that glasses etc can be replaced as and when required. I would inform an owner of any breakages but not expect to be charged for a glass. I think it is part of keeping guests happy and wanting repeat custom, obviously large or malicious damage is excepted from this.

Also interested to know how much the owner wants for the trinket, Please let us know.

MrsCosmopilite · 31/10/2013 11:11

It's not the cost though, it's the principle of the thing.

IMHO, the OP is being unreasonable by essentially labelling the broken item as 'cheap tat'. The trinket box may have had sentimental value to the owner of the property. Equally, the property owner is also unreasonable because if the item was of sentimental value, it should not have been left in a rental property where it was at risk of breakage.

In principle, it is not unreasonable to expect someone to offer to pay for a breakage, regardless of whether that offer is taken up. I'd say if you were charging £1300 a week, that should include insurance and therefore payment would be unnecessary.

FWIW, I was recently at a local cafe, and went to put my tray on the slotty-in-tray-stand-thingy (helpful!), like this. However, in a moment of stupidity, I tried to put it on straight on rather than sideways. I watched in horror as in slow-motion, the cups, teapot, and plates fell off, and broke on the floor. Needless to say I was mortified, apologised profusely, and offered to pay. The cafe owner told me not to worry.

So, my point is, the cost of the breakages was likely included in the cost of the food and drink I purchased, but I still offered to pay for the damage I'd caused.

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