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.

That was very nice of you, but can I reassure again from the perspective of someone who used to have a holiday let, that the owners EXPECT things ot get broken, and use plain white ikea etc precisely because it is easy to replace. In fact they probably have a box of spares.

So while it is lovely, please don't think you need to leave money for a whole new set!

As I said in the original post, there was no mention of breakages in the welcome pack. I’m happy to reimburse the owners via bank transfer - £5 is not a big deal after all - but I do think expecting holidaymakers to go out shopping for replacement items or to locate an ATM when the cottage is rural and they have to check out before 10am, is a bit unreasonable.

If a friend was visiting and broke one of my wine glasses of course I wouldn’t expect them to replace it or pay for it 😂 seriously?? Wtf. It’s a wonder how some people have friends at all!

@LookItsMeAgain · Today 13:39
I don't think breaking a glass goes in under the umbrella of 'normal wear and tear'.

Obviously you're not a LL.

Every LL expects a degree of wear and tear, minor breakages etc. Wine glasses and crockery are absolute classic examples. Most of us keep in reserve, a stock of matching-set spares for replacements.

We leave a note with some money if we break anything (usually a glass or something), sometimes we stay as a group of up to 25, there have been some numbers of broken items, several glasses and mugs - nothing extremely irresponsible, just lots of drinks in places with small kids that aren’t our regular homes so things do get broken.
the money has always been gratefully received and we’ve never had any shitty comeback, it’s just the decent thing to do.
one year we broke a lamp when hoovering on the morning of departure, we left a note and they came back to us saying it was an antique lamp base and the value was £185 😂 whoops! We did pay but I did think why would you put an expensive (and frankly ugly) lamp in a holiday home, just whack out the cheap ikea crap, we don’t care! Anyway,
I do think it’s reasonable to leave a bit of cash to cover breakages, even though they’ll have a stock of them somewhere in one of the locked rooms of the house they still need replacing.

We once arrived at a holiday let in France and the property manager turned up with 2 big IKEA bags, because the previous tenants had broken or taken so many things they had stripped half the kitchen!

Apparently this happens a lot in France, and the security deposit was about 200 euros. However, after we had stayed there a couple of times the manager only charged us 50 euros for the cleaning because we were good tenants.

Ignore them, i they can't cope with a broken glass they're in the wrong business.

Owner is being completely ridiculous. Forget about it now.

I'm also a LL by the way, these sort of minor breakages are absolutely expected.

I think the point is, this ISN'T the usual done thing though, that is what OP is asking about? We stay at cottages at least 3 times a year and I've never heard this, the done thing is to inform the owners as any accidents happen and if they would like to be re-imbursed (very petty of them for a wine glass IMO) I'd expect them to mention it at that point.

I wouldn't be opposed to paying for breakages, but I wouldn't do it automatically.

Accidents happen.

They’re being ridiculous, wine glasses are 50p in Tesco.

We stayed in a holiday cottage last week. This is a line from the welcome email the owners sent us a few days before our stay.
"We completely understand that breakages can happen however we would be grateful if you could inform us of any breakages so that we may arrange for replacements for the following guests. "
I think its correct to inform owners of breakages and although most will not expect compensation I would be prepared to pay a fair amount if requested. The £5 rule is not something I have ever heard of.

@SunnySaturdayMorning you are outrageous!

I definitely would not expect to pay to replace a broken wine glass or water glass in a hotel.
I wouldn't pay to replace one in a restaurant. Small accidents like that happen. I have never been to a hotel that was trying to charge for a broken small item like that.

The cottage we use regularly says to tell the owners so they can get a replacement. I broke a mug and even though there was a hardware shop within fifty yards they didn't ask me to buy another.

You can get them for 50p in a supermarket! 😂 I wouldn’t think anymore of it, it was an accident and you informed them.

My god... would I expect a friend to pay me for a broken glass? Absolutely NOT! Cringe. Tacky. Tight.

I think it was petty of them. It’s a glass. Pretty sure it wouldn’t cost £5 either.

Dh and I stayed in a cottage with family and 2 glasses broke - one whilst washing up, the other accidentally knocked off a coffee table by the dog. I just messaged the owner to apologise, she said not to worry as they always have spares.

Last time we stayed somewhere there was a breakages book - you just popped the breakage on there and it said don't worry if it's a glass/plate etc we understand - obviously if was something really expensive we'd have offered to pay it and they would have charged the insurance payment we had to pay!

No, as most have said, it definitely isn't expected that you'd replace something like that. It comes out of the rent you have already paid. It is expected that the odd thing gets broken. You owner is being ridiculous.

Because that's not how you run a business that is, in essence, about making sure your customers have a good, relaxing time.

You include a budget of, say, £10 breakages per visit. You include a reasonable deposit structure. You buy double of everything and sub in replacements as needed.

And you don't act like a penny pinching mardy arse because someone didn't follow unwritten rules. That's asking for a bad review, which is the last thing you want.

I've stayed in many holiday cottages. Cannot recall a single UK one that had written procedures for breakages.

Am currently on holiday and did the same thing - broke a glass. Nothing in the welcome pack about breakages but I messaged the owner on the day that we were leaving, told her I’d done it, apologised and said I was going to leave 10 euros. She replied thanking me for telling her and that repayment wasn’t necessary, but I left it anyway. It was a beautiful apartment, someone had put a lot of care and attention into it and I didn’t want them to be out of pocket because I’m clumsy.

I broke a glass vase in a lodge and they sent me a bill for £20 to replace it. I couldn't be bothered to argue, so sent them the payment.

So let me get this right: a broken wine glass is trivial, so what isn't? A broken table, a vase, a teapot? How about a smashed window or large carpet stain from red wine? It isn't up to you as the guest/tenant to make this decision; it's for the owner or landlord to decide what is 'trivial' Same with Hotels in my (extensive) experience of staying in Hotels etc. I

f you admit to the breakage, they will often say forget it. But that is THEIR decision. Not yours.

I treat all glasses as disposable.

Had you messaged me I'd have thanked you for letting me know and got another one out of the cupboard.

I actually don't like guests replacing them as they never match and I end up taking them down to the charity shop. I don't like mismatched glassware or china at the holiday let.