Guests' car window smashed by thieves - now what?

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notAgrandma

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This morning, my husband walked out to find his passenger window smashed, along with 3 other cars. One was our guests' car. We don't live in a dangerous city, per se. This has never happened before... to a guest. This is the second time our Mazda 6 has had the window smashed in by thieves looking for guns.
What should I do? My insurance doesn't cover this. I'm thinking comp their 2-night stay?
 
DO NOT COMP!!! You cannot comtrol what thieves do
We do not have fenced in, guarded parking lots. If they were parked on the street anywhere it could have happened. By comping, you are saying you are responsible - you are not.
 
Wow! That's awful, and I don't know the answer either. Anxious to hear some discussion on it.
Sigh. One more thing to worry about!
 
I agree! This was not your fault. They have insurance on their car. If your were at a restaurant and came out to find your window broken do you think the restaurant would pay for it? If the guests woke up to a flat tire would you replace it?
 
I have asked my insurance company a couple times through the years about hypothetical car damages while on our property.
I asked if it was covered under our umbrella policy. The answer each time is no.
Each said it is covered under their personal car insurance.

Now, just because it is not covered by our insurance, I would feel terrible if it were to happen while a guest was on our property.

Before offering any compensation, I would make a police report of the incident and have your guest do so as well. This way you have documentation of what damage it is and if they listed any items that were stolen.

Then you can decide if you are willing to offer any assistance. You surely do not want to jump the gun and comp or otherwise hand over money as they could come back and say there were other damages or that something expensive was taken. The police report stops that.

If I were to offer anything, it would be to pay for the window replacement, paying the company directly...no money directly to guest.

And FYI - If you are ever asked about the safety of cars etc while staying there, never give a sense of false security. (per our past insurance inquiries) State what you have to 'keep things safe' like the parking lot is well lit, but always state that while we are in a low crime area, we can't promise anything as anything can happen anywhere at any time.
 
Curious why you say looking for guns?
As a guest, yes, I would probably be looking to the innkeeper for something. Knee jerk reaction. You checked with your insurance, I assume. Hopefully guest's auto insurance will cover this.
I heard something like this before ... since it happened a few times before that guest cars were vandalized or broken into, the owners of an area bnb were assumed to know that their parking area was vulnerable and were sued. They settled, I don't know for how much. And it's not publicized as part of the settlement because it would damage their reputation.
I would probably offer something to the guests as well. I'm sorry this happenend
 
Thank you everyone for your quick replies. Our first step was to call the police. Our guests also called the police, as did my 4 neighbors whose cars were also broken into. My guests and I have spent the morning calling our insurance companies & repair shops. The guests have AAA & were towed to a shop that will replace their window today so they can drive home tomorrow without a tarp taped to their car. The guests are being super nice and understanding about the whole situation, too. I'm so, so thankful that I didn't have a PITA guest who would be screaming his or her head off about how my neighborhood is unsafe. The guests said, "This could happen anywhere. You live in a lovely neighborhood. This isn't your fault. We know you must feel awful."
Sounds like there's no need for me to offer to comp anything. And as many of you pointed out, comping would potentially make
@TheBeachHouse - yes,pretty much the only reason thieves check glove boxes. It's not like a laptop or tablet would be stored in a glove box.
@Copperhead - that's usually what I tell guests. We have signs on our street telling guests to "Park Smart! Don't leave your valuables in sight!"
 
New development:
Guest's car window was repaired by 1:30pm. They came back to the B&B, packed up, and handed me the keys. They decided to drive 4 hours home rather than attempt to salvage any of their vacation. The entire time, the husband praised our beautiful B&B and said he wouldn't say anything negative about our inn. He wished they could return sometime. Wife was smiling, but laughed and said, "I'll never come back to this city!"
They didn't use the second night of their stay. Now should I comp it?
 
New development:
Guest's car window was repaired by 1:30pm. They came back to the B&B, packed up, and handed me the keys. They decided to drive 4 hours home rather than attempt to salvage any of their vacation. The entire time, the husband praised our beautiful B&B and said he wouldn't say anything negative about our inn. He wished they could return sometime. Wife was smiling, but laughed and said, "I'll never come back to this city!"
They didn't use the second night of their stay. Now should I comp it?.
In the realm of PR, yes, since they are not using it the second night, I would comp that but NOT the night they stayed.
 
New development:
Guest's car window was repaired by 1:30pm. They came back to the B&B, packed up, and handed me the keys. They decided to drive 4 hours home rather than attempt to salvage any of their vacation. The entire time, the husband praised our beautiful B&B and said he wouldn't say anything negative about our inn. He wished they could return sometime. Wife was smiling, but laughed and said, "I'll never come back to this city!"
They didn't use the second night of their stay. Now should I comp it?.
In the realm of PR, yes, since they are not using it the second night, I would comp that but NOT the night they stayed.
.
I agree. I comped the 2nd night. Thank you for the advice & support!
 
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