Woman billed for broken wine glass by in-laws

A woman has described her shock at receiving a bill for £156 from her in-laws after she accidentally broke a wine glass at their home.

The woman was asked to reimburse her in-laws to the tune of £156, or buy them the glass online.

The woman, who was five months pregnant at the time, had been visiting with her husband when the glass smashed, which unbeknown to her was a “high-end” piece of glassware, although the exact brand of glass was not revealed.

Sharing the incident on Mumsnet, the women wrote: “Went to PIL’ [parents-in-law] home last weekend, had a glass of wine and I accidentally dropped it. No big deal, they shrugged it off.”

However after the couple had left, the women went on to explain that she had later received an email demanding reimbursement for the broken glass, as reported by The Telegraph.

“I didn’t know at the time, but said wine glass apparently happens to be pretty high end,” she wrote.

“FIL [father-in-law] has this morning sent me an email saying that I can just transfer the £156 to him or buy the glass online. At first I thought it was a joke only to realise that these people have no sense of humour.

“Really shocked at this as they are not known for being stingy.”

Asking the forum for opinions on whether she should stummp up, or if her parents-in-law were being unfair, the woman received mixed responses.

“He has the money to buy expensive glasses, but not the class to go with it,” one person commented.

However another suggested that the woman should have immediately offered to replace the wine glass, writing: “If I broke something at someone else’s house I would offer to replace it and expect to do so.

“Your FIL is rude to ask, but it’s even poorer form that the OP [original poster] didn’t offer in the first place.”

Would you expect a guest to replace a glass they accidentally broke while in your home?