Broken frying pan's handle and bathtub plug chain

[Muslim4]

Dear fellow hosts, today's guest left the property with a broken frying pan's handle and a bathtub plug chain. He didn't tell me about them, but I contacted him and sent him the photos of the broken things. He replied that 'the frying pan was old and it wasn't his fault it had been broken', and regarding the bathtub: 'I didn't use it at all'. Both things are pretty old indeed. I can change the chain, but can't fix the pan's handle. Should I ask for a reimbursement and buy a new frying pan? What would you do in the same situation?

[Marie8425 · Accepted solution]

@Muslim4 

Considering the Guest's initial response and that he didn't tell you, that is an obvious sign he is not in agreement his responsibility.

Now you have to make a business decision not personal.

The cost to your business to  absorb loss compared to your business's cost  ( and that includes your time which isn't free even to your own business) recovering money for the damage.

[Mary1523]

Honestly, these things are minor and at the risk of getting a bad review, just replace and say nothing next time. It's not like its a damaged floor or furniture that costs big $.

Yes its annoying that guests dont tell you about broken things, I have learnt that 95% of the time they will not. The fact you reached out probably means he isn't going to give you a great review now.

I feel this is the cost of doing business.

Kind regs

Mary

[Frances3408]

@Muslim4. Here we can claim the cost of replacing these minor items in the same year purchased so you need to see this as a cost of doing business as yes, they were pretty old and likely to break. Even Airbnb does not do new for old.

I agree with your guest and would not have raised it, let alone asked him to pay.

Just my 2 cents.

[Bronwyn100]

As a host you should be supplying utensils that are good quality and in good condition. I suggest you purchase a new pan and claim it as an expense. Forget about the plug chain. Just remove it. 

[Rebecca]

Hey @Muslim4 👋

Lovely to see you around again and starting such interesting conversations! What did you decide to do in the end about the pan and the plug? 

[Muslim4]

Thank you Rebecca! No, not yet decided, but it's annoying when guests broke things. I changed the plug's chain, but pan's handle isn't possible to be fixed, so make sense to buy a new one.

[Rebecca]

It makes sense to make it safe! Thanks so much for heading back to update us. 

Just a little reminder -  if you type "@" and then the username, this will tag the member that you're replying to. This ensures that they get a notification that you've replied to them specifically 🤗 

[Debra300]

@Muslim4,

I read a review that you received in January 2024, and the guest mentioned that you made them pay for a three year old duvet.  I don't think you want to continue receiving reviews about payment demands for old items because this will certainly make your listings undesirable.  There is a certain level of damage inevitable when hosting and a certain percentage of the nightly rate should be set aside to cover the costs for repairs and replacements.  

Looking at the condition of the pan, it's easily understandable that the handle could have been damaged through usage prior to the guest's stay and simply broke without being touched.  It would be inappropriate to request compensation for a broken pull-chain.  They break all the time because of the way they are used.  I suggest that you buy a small pack of pull-chain connectors because you'll likely need to make future fixes.