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.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8477752?istCompanyId=a74d8886-5df9-4baa-b776-166b3bf9111c&istFeedId=c290d9a9-b5d6-423c-841d-2a559621874c&istItemId=ixitixrmm&istBid=t&&cmpid=GS001&_$ja=tsid:59157%7cacid:898-274-0554%7ccid:20247640952%7cagid:%7ctid:%7ccrid:%7cnw:x%7crnd:14138905399508176570%7cdvc:c%7cadp:%7cmt:%7cloc:1006914&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=20247640952&utm_term=8477752&utm_content=shopping&utm_custom1=&utm_custom2=898-274-0554&GPDP=true&gclid=CjwKCAjwhJukBhBPEiwAniIcNTRb1H8qIhpb0axgz-opO83i_ZUxQyfhmb5wHEB64342ByI9RLxUcRoCbUQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

What a ridiculous thing to say. You don’t need to be a fortune teller to know that glassware in a holiday let is going to get broken! The welcome pack tells guests when to the bins out, how to use the washing machine, who to call if the burglar alarm won’t stop, etc. Why not a section “What to do if you break something”?

As I’ve explained many times, we didn’t have any cash on us, and we’d already checked out by the time the host responded, so we weren’t aware of the expectation to leave a £5 note until we were halfway home.

There was no damage deposit but it would definitely have been easier all round if they took one, rather than expecting guests to go searching for replacement items while they’re on holiday.

The cheapest wine glasses in a holiday cottage that I have seen were Denby, which are usually £36 for 2 glasses:
https://www.denbypottery.com/wine-glasses

So, £5 for one wine glass seems really cheap to me.

It's ridiculous. As a holiday let owner surely you expect some collateral damage from time to time? Anyone who puts expensive items in a holiday let is a fool.

I've never replaced or left money if something that has been damaged but I've always let the owner know and they've always been fine about it. My son once had a massive nosebleed in a B&B in Italy and bled all over the pillows and duvet and I offered to pay and they wouldn't have a jot of it. I even emailed them again when I returned.

These things happen, it's par for the course. I absolutely agree OP, a broken glass is general wear and tear and more fool them if they put overpriced glassware in a holiday let. Ikea or Asda will suffice!

I’ve never broken any glassware. I think it’s just known that the etiquette when staying in a holiday property to compensate the owners for or make good on any damages you do. It would be gauche for them to put in a price list of what each item would cost you if you broke it while there.

I think it’s rather entitled to break something and then think it’s ridiculous to have to pay for it. I understand you couldn’t get cash there, but in this day an age it’s easy to do a quick transfer. Instead of complaining about how they asked for £5 you could have gotten bank details and done a quick payment through your banking app.

This is so minor, it’s not this huge insurmountable thing.

unlikely it’s £5 though isn’t it? I might send 75p if I was feeling really petty. £5 for a bog standard supermarket holiday let glass- jog on.

And I bet you'd be the first to complain if none of the glasses and crockery matched in the holiday cottage you'd booked.

The days of using everyone's unwanted tat in a holiday let are long over.

@AP5Diva _ I think you have to acknowledge you are the exception here. Most holiday cottages would use Argos (like the link), or Ikea, or Wilko, or similar, knowing they are expendable.
Any holiday cottage owner putting in valuable stuff for everyday use isn't a using great business plan.

“I’ve never broken any glassware”. Right… well neither had I until 3 days ago! Peculiar thing to brag about.

I already asked the owners for their bank details to transfer £5 but they have so far ignored my message. I guess they are still salty because we did not get up at 6am on the last day of our holiday to go in search of a replacement wine glass.

What is "gauche" is pretending that all holiday cottages come with incredibly expensive crockery and glassware, when anyone who has ever actually stayed in more than one cottage would know that the overwhelming majority of them are Ikea specials.

Bore off, Mrs Bucket.

Yes. It’s quite embarrassing to read!!

I own holiday lets. Things get broken all the time. I always say don't worry about it... I have all the crockery in white and inexpensive. I have a cupboard of all sorts of replacement items -cheap as chips. Its just wear and tear.
There is no " rule", only the owner's own T&C's. They sound very odd

Bloody hell, mumsnet is a weird place. Assuming those who rent holiday lets are not deliberately smashing glasses and plates, surely it is just one of those costs owners absorb? It has been several years now since I have rented even a static caravan in th UK, mainly because it is ££££s and this kind of bonkers. We have stayed in Eurocamp places, apartments and hotels abroad about 3-4 times a year and if an occasional glass gets broken and no one bats an eyelid.

Did I miss the bit where you contacted them first or left a note to say sorry you had broken it and asking what they wanted you to do? Now they have the 50 minute round trip to top up the missing glass without warning.

We have broken glasses in holiday lettings before, left some cash or a note with an apology and offer to pay later. The cottage instructions usually do say to notify of any breakages so they have a chance to sort it out before the next let.

The OP let them know they had broken a glass. It’s in her first post.

If they are making individual trips to buy replacement glasses every time one breaks, they will go bankrupt on fuel costs alone (although perhaps not if rinsing their guests for £5 per glass). ‘Sorting it out’ should mean grabbing a spare from their stock and putting it in. Not setting out to buy one.

It’s not their home. It’s a business.

Yes, presumably you missed the part where OP contacted them first.
Competent owners of holiday lets wouldn't dream of asking for replacement costs for a wine glass. They will have budgeted for a certain number of breakages and wear and tear and this will be included in the overall cost of the let - essentially OP has already paid this. Good reviews are the thing, not petty bickering on the owners' part.
If the owners are not nearby they will have someone to come in to clean and make good the house for the next guests. This person should have access to sundry items to replace breakages. It's a business and it needs to be organised and run as such. And if it's not, then this is certainly not the fault of OP.

Oops, good grief I read it twice and all the OP posts trying to see.
In that case yanbu, put it behind you.

I have not pretended that at all, in an earlier post I commented that I think we have stayed in entirely different sorts of holiday cottages.

I have stayed in many more than one cottage, but the ones I stay in don’t have IKEA, Argos or charity shop 50p glasses in them.

I don’t think I should be ashamed of realising that I apparently stay in more top drawer type holiday cottages or thinking that £5 is cheap for a wine glass. As I said, the cheapest stuff I’ve seen in a U.K. holiday cottage is Denby and that’s £18 a glass.

I think it’s petty to not pay a paltry £5 for damages you caused no matter how accidental. The least one should do is offer to pay, and in a case like this where the owner has asked for £5, just pay it. It’s nothing.

Oh come now. There’s no Denby in a normal U.K. a holiday let, that’s madness 😆

The I’ve never broken any glassware was in response to you saying that glassware is going to get broken, like it is a certainty. It isn’t a certainty. It’s a risk.

Cottage I stayed in on holiday in Devon. It was all matching Denby stuff. Cottage was £3800 for the week though and this was in 2018.

Your normal and my normal must be two different things.

As the OP paid £500 for her week though, perhaps it wasn’t Denby?

Her OP said “over £500” so I didn’t want to presume.
I didn’t think there were any cottages for only £500/week? (I pay more for my cat sitter for the week!)

I know it’s not Denby, Denby is £18 per glass…so £5 a glass at less than 1/3rd seems like a cheap price to me.

Indeed they must be Hyacinth.

I thought Denby and cockroaches were the only things guaranteed to survive nuclear fallout.