Hi Everyone,
I stayed at a place in Austin with my partner 5 weeks ago to attend a wedding. The stay was comfortable and smooth and the apartment was clean. We didn't get to meet either the host or the co-host. Before we leave we cleaned up and did a quick inspection, nothing was off and everything looked exactly as when we came in, except we left the towels we used on the chairs in the room to be cleaned. My partner left a good comment and received a nice comment from the host as well.
Today, 5 weeks later, my partner who made the booking received a request from the host for ~$870 and a long message saying that the table was damaged right after our visit with pictures of the dining table attached with white marks on the surface close to one edge. The host claims the table is 20 years old and that the only way to repair it is to refinish the whole surface and that it breaks her heart that she'll lose the original patina. She also attached the quote from the smithers.
I'm pretty sure if the table was damaged as it is in the picture it would've caught our attention before we left, especially that the table is right in the middle of the apartment. Naturally, I had to doubt myself and tried to remember our stay in details, however I couldn't remember anything especially that we stayed out most of the day since we were there for a wedding and only came back at night.
I checked the apartment posting, there are 8 reviews after our review, so at least 8 people stayed after, how do I know that the damage was caused by us and not one of the 8 guests who stayed after?
Also, I'm not sure how much tables cost, but I'm pretty sure $870 is pricy for a table, not to mention a repair.
I'm really not sure what to do, is there a fair way to verify when the damage occured? Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you all 🙂
