AIBU for not replacing a broken wine glass on holiday?

[OtterlyMad]

My DH and I have just spent a week in a rural holiday cottage. We accidentally broke a wine glass while washing up on the last night of our trip, so we messaged the owner the next morning to let them know and apologise for the inconvenience.

After we checked out, we received a text from the owner complaining that it’s the norm to either replace breakages ourselves or leave a £5 note. Is everyone else aware of this “rule”?Because we weren’t! In fairness I don’t think we’ve ever broken anything in a holiday let before so no experience of this situation. Obviously if we’d damaged something big or stained a carpet or whatever then I would expect to reimburse them, but I suppose I assumed that breakages of small/cheap things like glassware, crockery etc. would be super common and therefore factored into the price. It’s also quite difficult to buy a singular wine glass. Would they not care about it matching the rest of their glassware? Or do you think they would expect a whole new set?

It got broken around 11pm and we had to check out before 10am the next morning, so frankly we wouldn’t have had time to buy a replacement even if we’d known that was the expectation. The rule wasn’t mentioned anywhere in the online listing or in the welcome pack. We also don’t tend to carry cash, so as above, couldn’t have left a £5 note even if we’d wanted to. Most irritating of all is that lots of the kitchen sets were already incomplete e.g. there were only 3 wine glasses to begin with (the property is advertised for 4 people). We didn’t mind as it was just the 2 of us, but it’s clear the owners don’t actually check and replace items that get lost/broken… makes me think we just shouldn’t have mentioned it. Too honest for our own good!

I feel guilty as we strive to be excellent guests, but I also think it’s a dumb rule and I’m annoyed that they’ve cast a shadow over our holiday for the sake of a £1.50 glass (especially as we paid over £500 for the cottage).

Did we act unreasonably?

YABU - the owner is right, and you should have carried change on you to leave in case of a breakage.
YANBU - the owner is being petty, a broken glass is normal wear and tear.

I cracked a wine glass while drying it in a holiday apartment a few weeks ago. I told the host, but mainly because it wasn’t obviously broken and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt (long story, but no proper way to dispose of glass so I had left it out). They said not to worry as they had plenty of spares. Glasses and crockery are essentially consumables in a holiday home.

£5 to replace 1 wine glass?! I’m sure I got mine for 50p each in asda… cheeky to say that to especially as there wasn’t even a full set to begin with!

I quite agree and wouldn't stay in one. This kind of thing is not normal, reasonable or relaxing.

I'd rather stay in a B&B, get a lovely breakfast and not have to do any work. Normally cheaper too.

Well of course you won't charge a friend .... this isn't a friend its a business. Honestly can't understand why you are making such a deal over a fiver.

Well, she’s not in principle. Just over the owners’ unwritten and uncommunicated ‘rule’ of cash or replacement.

Most posters on this thread though very much do think £5 is unreasonable because this is not a friend, who might have paid a lot for the broken glass and be unable to replace it, but a business whose profits should amply cover the cost of replacing a basic and easily breakable bit of kit, and who should figure that cost into their running costs.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean I think it’s remotely reasonable to ask a friend to replace a broken glass. Just that there is actually more sense in doing so than for a business to request it of a paying customer.

My comment was in direct response to someone else’s question asking if I would expect a friend to replace or pay for a glass they broke in my home. They were conflating friends and businesses, not me.

Disagree that sense checking a situation
on MN counts as making a ‘deal’ of it. That’s basically the point of most posts on AIBU so maybe this isn’t the forum for you…

Checking a situation would be do you think £5 is too much for a breakage of a glass?

You have said you are not leaving them a glowing response because you have to pay/replace something you broke and how much this has ruined a good holiday, that's making a big deal out of nothing.

To be fair, I think the owners are the ones making a big deal out of nothing.

No, checking whether it is a rule in holiday cottages that guests have to “replace or leave £5”. It has nothing to do with the amount.

Considering the majority of responses in this thread reassure me that this rule does not exist (and many holiday let owners have outright said that they do NOT want guests to purchase replacements themselves) I am reassured that DH and I have not committed a huge faux pas, and the owners are just a bit strange/petty/unprofessional.

Leaving a review of a place is not mandatory. I won’t leave a bad review, I’m just not going to make an effort to leave a good one like I would usually.

We've stayed in dozens of self-catering cottages here and overseas and this is not a "rule". It's common courtesy to tell the owner if you've broken something.

Indefinitely don’t think it’s the norm to leave a £5 when you break something! You let them know, great - that’s it. Obviously a bigger breakage would be different!

*I definitely

I could only reply "oh dear - I didn't know that was your expectation though I did check the handbook thoroughly."

And leave it.

As a cottage owner we expect some breakages. We buy glasses etc in quantity to replace so aim to have matching. Odd people leave a couple of quid but it's not expected!
Accidents happen

You mention information in the online listing and the welcome pack. Have you checked the booking Ts and Cs?

I would mention it on check out purely so they didn’t think I’d stolen it ! Plus it would ensure they restocked for the next guests.

I would not expect to pay for it though.

I chipped a floor tile in a holiday home -wine bottle wet with condensation slipped off a counter. I told them but there was no mention of reimbursement and that would have been a heck of a lot more than a wine glass.
If they’d have mentioned it I wouldn’t have paid. When they cost up a rental it includes an element of wear & tear and repairs & maintenance.

Leave a tip? For what?

I agree, they clearly have no idea how to run a business if they're petty about trivialities like this that may lose them future custom and cause bad reviews.

Doesn't even matter if it's in the handbook unless the handbook was viewable before booking. The ONLY terms that can be enforced are ones that the customer knew about before booking. If this nonsensical £5 charge wasn't mentioned in the T&Cs at the time of booking, just ignore.

We stayed somewhere once where it did detail in the documentation that accidents happen but if you break something, please replace it or inform them as they don't have time during changeover.
My husband broke a lamp moving something for a plug socket (accidents happen!) He tried fixing it but couldn't, so we went shopping and bought a new one.
We told the owner and said we had replaced and they said ohh you needn't have worried but we absolutely would have done that even if not detailed. A glass? Probably not.

When you contacted the owner did they reply to say replace it? That was their perfect opportunity to give their demands. I'd chalk it down to experience. I'd do the same as you and not leave a glowing review. I wouldn't leave a bad one I just wouldn't leave one at all.

I can't believe the cattiness on this thread you have received OP. Some people have never broken anything in their lives ever, it seems. It must be wonderful to live such a virtuous life 😇

I’ve run a holiday let and would consider breakages like that as part of wear and tear.

My solution, send them the £5.00, and then write the review honestly saying you were asked to pay £5.00 for a broken wine glass even though there were only three in total. You don’t need to mention there were only two of you.

You soon learn as a holiday home owner to stock the house with nice but non expensive glasswear. I still like to put in good quality bedding and towels though.

One of my clients is a "professional" holiday home owner with several units. I was involved right from the start by helping them with their business plan and we budgeted for "dilapidations" to cover replacements of all the fixtures, fittings, equipment, furnishings, utensils, etc. That helped form their pricing and occupancy strategy and budgets.

It's worked very well and they know they have a "budget" to spend on each property, part of which is replacement "breakables" like glassware, crockery, lampshades, stained soft furnishings, towels and bedding, etc. If they have a good year and don't have to spend much, then they'll use their budget to "stock up" to have a few things in the store cupboards. They very rarely need to go out for a special journey or order in a special delivery for anything, as they usually have spares in the store cupboards which the cleaners can swap over on changeover day.

I would absolutely tell the owner about a breakage so they knew, and offer to pay, but for something small like a glass or plate expect they would most likely tell me it wasn’t necessary. The only time I can think of we have damaged something was staying in a villa in Florida - one of my kids tried to shut the fridge door with vegetable drawer open and cracked it. I emailed the owner and apologised and told him to let me know the cost to replace it, but he was lovely and told me not to worry and that he really appreciated being told as so many people would break or damage things but not report it.

I let a holiday cottage and wouldn’t expect guests to pay for a single broken glass. Ignore this person they sound insane. You expect to have to replace items like cutlery and crockery every now and then, it’s part of the running costs.

I don't see why they should leave a tip, that's meant to be for really good service and since when does anyone leave a tip at a holiday home? Plus a glass is way less than a fiver.

Owner just being cheeky and petty. Ask where in writing is this rule as you must have missed it. They're just pushing their luck trying to squeeze money out of ppl.