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.

It’s par for the course of a being the owner that breakages will happen and what part of the £500 should cover.

They could grab one while already out running errands along with washing up liquid, air freshener, dishwasher tablets etc... they will have to go out replenishing things as hosts so there is literally no 'time and fuel' cost over breaking a tiny item.

We have a holiday let. Our information pack asks that they inform us of any breakage, but no mention of the guests paying for them.

We have a box of ikea glasses/plates etc that we swap in when one gets broken.

Occasionally a guest will replace it themselves or leave money, but we in no way expect this.

Can I just point out that all the people on this thread who HAVE SAID THEY HAVE BEEN IN/ ARE THE POSITION OF BEING HOLIDAY LET LANDLORDS

have said that it is normal, and they budget for it and they would not charge for it.

Anyone still saying anything is missing the point.

Businesses factor this in to their costs, as it is a normal part of letting.

yes handy to know, so it can be repleaced, but event that is not essential.
One change over day the cleaner/owner checks and replaces to put cottage bakc to normal.

Break the washing machine/drop the remote control down the loo? THAT is an issue because it is hard to sort/replace at short notice.
A glass? normal

I mean, yeah, I would… what the fuck 😂😂😂

This is so Mumsnet I can’t even. Such bitter snippiness and moral outrage over an accidental breakage of a random glass in a HOLIDAY LET not the Pope’s private apartments in the bloody Vatican.

I despair and am amused in equal measures about how some of you function on a day to day basis.

We stayed in an AirBnB in Cambridge and I broke a (very cheap) wine glass whilst washing up. It didn't even occur to me to mention it, though I probably should have.
After we checked out the owner messaged us on the way to the airport to ask us to explain what had happened. She then told us that we had to pay for a set of four glasses as they weren't available singly (a complete lie - I came across her stock of spares when I was looking for an iron). I thought she had a nerve tbh, particularly as we'd had to clean the entire apartment and bring rubbish to disposal unit, despite paying a massive 'cleaning fee'.

I've never heard of the leave £5 or replace it thing!

If I broke a glass I'd just replace it if it was feasible.

But at 11pm at night when you have to be out by 10am, then there's not a lot you can do other than let them know which you did.

Any decent holiday property owner would just have a supply of glasses etc... and just replace it.

It's annoying how something so small can end up tainting a holiday. We stayed in one airbnb, and there was no vacuum, just a brush. When we went to leave, we cleaned the best we could but it was near impossible to get sand/grass etc... out of the rugs, staircase carpet and upstairs carpets. The rest of the house was how we found it. The owner left me a really horrible review which I felt was so mean given there was no vacuum supplied and we had also paid a hefty cleaning fee.

Would you expect a hotel to overlook it?

Errr yes, LOL. It's why you pay £££ to stay at these places. OP was hardly house sitting for a free holiday.

They are a business, making money, and part of their cost is overheads. Wear and tear is absolutely standard. If they are wise, they have a stash of catering wine glasses ready to go, which cost about 50p each. Ditto plates/cutlery.

In my experience, breaking a glass in a self-catering place is totally normal. You report it (as you did) and you get told it's absolutely fine, because it's a tiny expense. I once replaced a glass as it was easy to pick a cheap one up in the supermarket and the glasses there were already mismatched. Other times it's been obvious they had their own stash. I've stayed in places with books to report any minor breakages, and in places which said outright that they didn't really care if anything small got broken, just that we reported it so they knew it needed replacing.

I'd question being asked to leave £5 in cash actually. Are they reporting that as taxable income? It's clearly disproportionate to the cost of replacing the glass (unless they have absolutely no commercial sense) so what happens to the rest of the money? It's pure profit for them.

This sort of nonsense is why I am very careful who I rent from now, as people who can't do it professionally can be total pains.

Honestly, OP, you should have bought an entire new set of wineglasses! What were you thinking?

I usually leave the host a new set of mulberry silk bed linen when I stay in a holiday cottage, as a little "thank you". Not doing so is just ungrateful, in my view.

YANBU, I’d expect breakages of cheap items to be expected from time to time and factored into the cost. Plus they’re usually cheap supermarket glasses presumably for that reason. Something expensive or an appliance if I broke it yes I’d pay but not a cheap wine glass. Just ignore her, hardly like she’s going to Sue you for a wine glass cost.

We've self catered many times (probably 4 or 5 times a year), UK and overseas. I've never been asked to cover the cost of broken items. There haven't been many, just the odd glass here and there, but I've told the owner, apologised and offered to pay. Not a single owner has taken a penny. Even recently when our dog chewed the edge of a rug because he was terrified in a storm, the owner wouldn't take any money - wish she had as I'd have felt less guilty!

Ignore it OP, you've done nothing wrong.

I'm not at all saying the owner was in the right, but I wonder if she behaved like that because you weren't upfront about what happened and left her to find it when she came to do changeover?

So it's not about the value of the item or the fact that it needs to be replaced, it's the fact that you weren't honest with her about it.

I would have replaced. We broke something in the kitchen during our last holiday and popped into the local supermarket to replace. It's just manners to offer to replace or compensate. If you had offered to replace, the host would likely have said don't worry. It doesnt matter what time you checked out, the cleaner or owner would have been there if you called back with it.

Hmm possibly. though I don't like your implication that I was deliberately dishonest - it simply didn't occur to me. Also having to pay for a set of four glasses rankled.

What world is she living in? Who even has cash these days to leave £5? As if you’re going to spend time on your holiday shopping for a replacement wine glass. The mind boggles!

We have a holiday cottage and assume small breakages like this happen. That's why we were told by the agency to provide double of everything. Eg house sleeps 4 so should be 8 of everything.
For anything big, the deposit should cover it.

"Preps
^*So if you broke a glass in a restaurant, would you expect to pay for it?

Or dropped a jar in a supermarket?

Honestly? No, I wouldn’t. I have actually dropped a jar in a supermarket before and the staff wouldn’t allow me to pay even though I begged them to let me because I was so embarrassed for the mess I caused! I don’t think I’ve broken a glass in a restaurant before but when I worked in a bar we wouldn’t have dreamed of charging a customer for accidentally breaking one.

Thanks for the perspective. That makes me feel better.^"*

The bottom opened up on an entire box of lager in (glass bottles) - with two burgundy glass Solar garden lights on top in Sainsbury's the other week that I was carrying. It was mortifying and also cut my foot. The staff were all really apologetic but even if I'd dropped them I don't think any shop or restaurant would charge you. This came to about £30 it's wear and tear and covered on insurance if necessary surely.

Frankly I would message back and say
"As there was not a complete set of anything, I assumed that not replacing is normal"
Then if I was really pass ag, I would amazon a set of the cheapest glasses I could find to them.

I wouldn’t have even let them know, wine glasses break all the time! I’ve we had broken something major like special vase or you somehow broke all of the glasses in the cabinet then that’s a different story, but wine glasses need to be regularly replenished even in our own house so this should just be part of the cost of renting somewhere.

Because she needs to replace the one that was already missing and probably some other bits like a toilet brush.

😂

All the holiday rentals I have stayed in have had a "maintenance" notebook in the hall/kitchen with a message on the front asking you to write any non-urgent breakages/issues in the book. Obviously serious things you'd ring/message them about at the time.

I have reported things like broken wine glasses, blown lightbulb, slow draining bathroom sink etc in the books. From talking to cleaners and owners over the years, the cleaners check the books during cleaning and either fix/replace themselves or let the owner know more needs to be done.

I wouldn't expect the be contacted after the holiday to ask for money to replace a wine glass. We pay hundreds/thousands to stay in the property, and a broken wineglass is just a minor wear and tear accident. I would absolutely expect to pay for a new item if it was a rug or a TV or a window or something!

For the love of all that is holy @Bellaboo01 no need to quote the OP....also a tip? Why leave a tip? £5 is already enough!

OP you did the right thing by telling them. £5 is a little steep I guess.

I haven’t refused to take responsibility. If the owner wants me to transfer £5 then I’m happy to do so. What I’m annoyed about is them having a very specific expectation which they don’t include in any of the information about the property, and then complaining when guests aren’t aware of it.

Also don’t have a problem with being told I’m wrong - plenty of people have voted YABU and explained why in their comments - I just object to the unnecessary spite and sense of superiority in yours.

(Accidental) holiday home owner here - I would always want to know something had been broken, as the cleaners don’t have time to do a full inventory at every clean. I appreciate the offer to cover costs of an item but would always refuse (& that’s in a family-and-friends type accommodation where we charge WAY below the market rate!)