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.

In a business context that would be breakages. Wear and tear is damage over time.

Lol you absolutely are a horrible snooty person, acting as if breaking a glass is some kind of moral failing! Accidents happen, even to “responsible” people.

At no point have I tried to “claim the moral high ground” and I would have made an effort to leave a nice review if it weren’t for the arsey message, so your accusation that it’s because of carelessness makes no sense. It’s a shame you don’t possess half as much logic as you do condescension.

It's all very well to call the landlord 'petty', but where does it end? Would you expect a hotel to overlook it?

No, if you break it, you replace it or pay for a replacement. End of.

Huge apologies. That changes EVERYTHING!

Happy to help!

I wouldn’t expect you to replace it yourself, or to leave cash that could be stolen. I would expect you to notify the owner of any damage to the property and would expect to be billed for a replacement.

Yes, I would expect a hotel to overlook it if I broke a glass while using their facilities.

I would expect a pub to overlook it. I would expect a restaurant to overlook it. I would expect a holiday home to overlook it.

Of course I wouldn't expect a hotel to charge me for a single broken glass.

Sorry, what?
If you broke a glass while staying in a hotel, you'd expect to have to pay for it?

Never heard of that 'rule' OP. Breakages happen. It was a wine glass, of which there was not enough of anyway.

Anyone who gets precious about the accidental breakage of a single bog standard wine glass in their holiday rental is in the wrong business.

I would of done same as you. Apologised and mentioned it, so they could replace it. But wouldn't consider they'd want actual payment or replacement for it. They rent our the property for strangers to stay in and risk of occasional breakages comes as part and parcel of that.

Same as in a hotel. Pay for the room, accidental glass breakage. They wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Totally different if at a friends house and I broke one of their glasses, then of course I'd offer to replace.

But this is a holiday let. They are bonkers for replying with anything other than 'no problem, thanks for letting us know'.

of course I'd expect a hotel to overlook it.

at 11pm, when you're leaving at 10am the next day.

Sure you would. From the magical all night wine glass shop.

Again, you were careless and refuse to take any responsibility for damaging someone else’s property.

You’re not a toddler throwing your toys out the pram. “You’re horrible!” “They were arsey” “I don’t like being told I’m in the wrong!”

We stayed in a lodge and broke a glass, we messaged the owner to apologise and ask if they would like us to try and replace the glass or pay them the cost of the glass. They replied to say not to worry and that they have spare they can put in when the clean the lodge at the end of our stay.

I think most owners would not expect you to pay, however think offering is the right thing to do.

I read posts like this and I wonder if people live in caves.

Have you ever been to a hotel?

It's a business and is just usual "breakages" as part of wear and tear of a hospitality business.

It's only careless/deliberate damage that they'd charge for.

Glasses do break as part of normal handling, i.e. crack when knocked over on a table, cracked when knocked in the washing up bowl or dishwasher.

Some places don't help themselves by buying cheap/fragile glasses that are too easy to break. They'd be better buying more "utility" glasses from the likes of supermarkets, The Range, Ikea, etc where they can buy them for £1.50 each (or less) and treat them as consumables, have a few "in stock" and just replace when the cleaner notices a gap in the cupboard.

In one cottage we stayed in, there was actually a storage cupboard under the stairs with all kinds of "consumables" such as loo rolls, soaps, washing up liquids, dishwasher tablets, and even "extras" for the welcome pack such as boxes of small cereal boxes, catering size portions of jams/marmalades, sachets of tea, coffee and sugar, lightbulbs, etc., and on one shelf were packs of glasses from Ikea - all just ready for the cleaners to set up on changeover day, so the owners clearly regarded glasses in the same way as loo rolls, tea/coffee sachets, etc., i.e. as consumables!!

If I broke something in a pub or restaurant, I would apologise to the staff and offer to clear it up.

I wouldn't just clear it up and pretend it hadn't happened, which is what lots of PP were suggesting.

This is ridiculous! Surely places who rent out their properties account for minor accidents. I’d to pay.

I’d refuse to pay that we supposed to say.

This

In a pub or restaurant you need to let the staff know as you won't be able to properly clean up broken glass with the contents of your handbag, and they need to be sure it's sorted properly because of health and safety.

They don't care about the actual glass.

They should take a deposit and deduct any breakages from that.

I wouldn't expect any fuss over a glass.

I'd apologise and let them know. I wouldn't be leaving a fiver but I'd happily bank transfer them the quid to buy a new glass if they were insistent.

It's part and parcel of running any kind of hospitality and unless someone damaged an extremely expensive item I wouldn't even mention it.

I wouldn't refuse to pay but would be miffed at being asked. If was ever to own a holiday let I would buy a cheap items bulk that can easily be swapped if something breaks. It's what used to happen at the holiday chalets I used to clean. It's part of wear and tear.

You can literally pick one up from any supermarket during the food shop.

Yes, I'm aware of that.

I would still tell the owner of a holiday cottage that something had been damaged or broken (even if it had been cleaned up and disposed of) because I think that's the decent thing to do.

I just think that if you break or damage something, the right thing to do is to be honest. And the right thing for the cottage owner to do would be to say "don't worry, it was an accident".