Paying for damages, air bnb, what's fair?

amother

OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 10:39 am

Ok so we've just rented an Air BnB, with my bil, and family. We took it for 10 nights and have incurred some damages, and lost some items.
We told her we'll pay for the missing towels, usb plug etc. We did by mistake take 1 of their towels home, and the plug. The rest , including a garbage bin lid remains a mystery but we said we'll pay for that.
Then she replies with some damages. She wants us to pay for her to get someone to pressure wash the flag stones in the garden because the kids did chalk on it. It was chalk that they had in the house for the kids to play with!
The washing rack broke straight away, when we used it once. It was already bent when we first used it. She wants us to pay for a new one.
My bil used the toilet brush to unblock a toilet, it broke so she wants us to pay for a new one.

We made a BBQ on the wooden picnic table in the garden, even with putting slabs of slate down etc we made a small ish black mark, circle on the table. The table was very old and worse for wear. I'm not sure what she wants us to do, pay for a whole new one or part of a new one. She sent me pictures of all these things.

We paid a lot per night for the house.
What from these things are reasonable for us to pay for? What is considered wear and tear? It was a house made for kids. There were knH 10 kids altogether ages 1-16.

Non Jewish owner if it makes a difference but I don't think it does.

notshanarishona

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 10:51 am

I would have her file it officially through air bnb and go with their policy. I don’t think you need to full price for a new table but definitely need to cover whatever cost it is to wash everything and pay the cost of whatever you broke. They likely have a damages policy . How did you manage to break so many things in such a short time? Was it old and junky or were you guys a really big crowd and not careful?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 10:53 am

amother Orange wrote:

You admit to damage, you should pay for it.
Or have cleaned up eg the chalk, before leaving.
I once rented and by mistake put a hot pan on a new carpet, which burned a hole. I had to replace the whole carpet. An expensive mistake

The rain has mostly washed it away. But they supplied chalk for the kids to play with! If it was our own chalk then I'd understand.

amother

Mauve ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 10:56 am

amother OP wrote:

Honestly, this attitude that non of the damages are your fault and that everything was old or already on it's last leg makes me a bit upset.
Just be menshlich and take responsibility for the damages, and maybe she'll be more forgiving in what she demands you to pay.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:00 am

amother Mauve wrote:

Why should we pay for an already broken rack?

I'm not sure what you're referring to, I wanted to know if we'll need to offer to pay for a new table or not. No need to be nasty.

And to the poster above, yes it's an old house.

The BBQ thing was a mistake that can happen to anyone.

The chalk... The kids actually did it without even asking. I was still in bed. They found chalk, they played outside with it!

Really a bit of both though, we were a large crowd, see above. 4 adults , 10 kids age 1-16.
It was a large house made for so many people.

Tzutzie

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:06 am

The toilet brush, towel, USB, misplaced/lost trash can cover you absolutely are responsible for.
The rack and table, how much you are responsible for is questionable.
The chalk, I'd ask for another recent photo after it rained in that area. Rain washes away chalk. Even dew can get rid of it sometimes.
Personally when I go to such places if there is something on its last leg, I take a photo of it before using it and let the owner know.
Imo, you aren't responsible for the rack, but the marks on the table you are, question is how much.

It really doesn't matter if you let the kids play with the chalk or not, your kids did it. And if it doesn't wash out from the rain, (or if it was under a roof so the rain doesn't get to it, you should have cleaned it) then you likely are responsible for it.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:09 am

Tzutzie wrote:

Thanks.
She sent me current pictures of the chalk. You're right, it would've been a good idea to tell her straight away.

amother

↑ Mauve

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:10 am

amother OP wrote:

This here is exactly what I'm referring to. I'm sure it wasn't done on purpose and it's true that it could happen to anyone, however you need to face that it happened to you. You burned the table. You broke a toilet brush, you lost the garbage bin covers and the rack broke after you used it.
Re the chalk, I would have washed it off well before I left.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:10 am

Tzutzie wrote:

For the missing items, including a new trash can, we are already paying for all of that. We told her so, and she sent me a picture of her order.

amother

Buttercup

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:14 am

amother OP wrote:

First of all- you seem very intent on not taking any responsibility. Saying the kids did things without you knowing doesn’t take away your accountability. Saying it can happen to anyone doesn’t make it less of a mistake you made

Certain things I think are valid, certain things not. The disk rack should be replaced (if you saw it was broken, you should have told the owner instead of using it and breaking it completely), the table should have a small fee like maybe the cost to repaint it. Charging for power wash is excessive unless the chalk is not coming off with a regular hose/rain. I would not pay for that- though I would understand that just because they supplied chalk doesn’t mean they wanted it on their stones; and that even if using it was okay it was NOT okay to leave without washing it off first in any case. I would apologize to them and take responsibility, but admit I wouldn’t pay for it because the rain will wash it away

But she should file it through Airbnb. There should be a certain amount of damages that airbnb automatically covers and reimbursed the owners for so you don’t have to pay

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:18 am

amother Buttercup wrote:

Thanks. But if we do it through air BnB would it be on record for future air BnB landlords to see? That's something we'd want to avoid as we go away a couple of times a year using air bnb.

B'Syata D'Shmya ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:22 am

amother OP wrote:

Ok so we've just rented an Air BnB, with my bil, and family. We took it for 10 nights and have incurred some damages, and lost some items.
We told her we'll pay for the missing towels, usb plug etc. We did by mistake take 1 of their towels home, and the plug. The rest , including a garbage bin lid remains a mystery but we said we'll pay for that.
Then she replies with some damages. She wants us to pay for her to get someone to pressure wash the flag stones in the garden because the kids did chalk on it. It was chalk that they had in the house for the kids to play with!
The washing rack broke straight away, when we used it once. It was already bent when we first used it. She wants us to pay for a new one.
My bil used the toilet brush to unblock a toilet, it broke so she wants us to pay for a new one.

We made a BBQ on the wooden picnic table in the garden, even with putting slabs of slate down etc we made a small ish black mark, circle on the table. The table was very old and worse for wear. I'm not sure what she wants us to do, pay for a
whole new one or part of a new one. She sent me pictures of all these things.

We paid a lot per night for the house.
What from these things are reasonable for us to pay for? What is considered wear and tear? It was a house made for kids. There were knH 10 kids altogether ages 1-16.

Non Jewish owner if it makes a difference but I don't think it does.

As soon as I get to an airbnb if I see something bent or broken, I send a pic to the owner so she cant claim I did it (like your washing rack).
As to the rest, if you broke it, you bought it. The chalk on the stones, I would have washed off before leaving.
You might need to ask airbnb what your level of responsibility is.

sounds like some vacation!!

amother

Holly

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 11:25 am

amother OP wrote:

Thanks. But if we do it through air BnB would it be on record for future air BnB landlords to see? That's something we'd want to avoid as we go away a couple of times a year using air bnb.

If she finds you to be difficult to deal with she can write a review anyway which could affect future rentals. As an aside, I make sure to leave myself enough time on checkout day to leave the house pristine before I leave. This includes sweeping, vacuuming, leaving everything as I found it. I also make sure to tell of any issues as I found them. (We just stayed somewhere and there were a bunch of ants in one cabinet. I emailed him a pic saying there was an infestation and he may wanna bring an exterminator down, that way he knew it wasn’t from us.)

Amarante ↓

Fri, Aug 30 2024, 12:15 pm

You seem intent on minimizing your responsibility

BBQ - It is not reasonable to put a BBQ grill on ANY table whatever it is made of - even stone. The heat from a BBQ is very high - slate or stone trivets protect the surface of a table from a pan that is out of the oven not a high heat source. You haven't indicated what she is expecting you to pay for the damage but you are responsible for this. Once you find out what amount she is asking and why, it may or may not be reasonable.

It is not a normal thing to use chalk on decorative surfaces like flagstone. You should have attempted to hose it down before leaving. Better yet would have been to restrict your children from using it on decorative hardscaping and tell them to use it on concrete or asphalt where it wouldn't have permeated.

It is not normal to attempt to unclog a toilet with a toilet brush. Wasn't there a plunger? If not I would have contacted the host to ask where one was and/or ask for permission to purchase one immediately.

If something seems to have been damaged it would have been wise to take a photo to document the damage. Even if it didn't break, the bending might have been blamed on you. Although I don't understand how the rack actually broke and how the bending might have caused that.